The next morning the clash of metal swords echoed in the palace hall. Castor's muscled strained as he pushed downwards, his face screwing up in concentration and effort. I held the hilt of the sword firmly, sweat dripping from my forehead down the side of my face. My knee hit the training mat, and the hybrid smugly grinned, thinking his strength had finally overcome mine. With a sudden movement, I threw my weight in an opposite direction, using my sword against his to divert the point of his blade into the training mat, in the same place I had been a second before.
His balance is thrown at the movement, and he caught himself from falling with an awkward step. I came up behind him, and Castor barely had the time to block the swing of my blade. The sound of metal on metal was grating, but I didn't continue to press downward once he was forced to take a knee. I stepped back and smirked at him. The hybrid scowled.
"Don't be a poor loser." I cooed. He suddenly smiled at the words. I twirl the hilt of the sword in my hand like it was the lightest thing in the world, and turned around to where Vladimir stood with his hands behind his back. "Pick up a sword."
"My Lady you flatter me." Vladimir answers, without any inclination that he would be joining me on the mat. The Hall of Mirrors- modeled after the one at Versailles, has been my personal training room since we first moved into the palace. We moved in the training mats and I introduced Castor to a variety of medieval weapons. He was still learning, so when I trained with him and Michael- it was me teaching them. But Vladimir had very intimate knowledge with this kind of stuff. Even if he never talked about it. Even if I rarely needed his skills.
"I'm not trying to flatter you. I'm trying to train with you. Your skills are probably equal to my uncle Elijah. And I had to beg him to train me too." I retort. Vladimir glanced at Michael, who was sitting on a bench still recovering from getting his ass beat. The vampire wasn't as enthusiastic to play swords as Castor was, but he occasionally amused us.
"Don't look at me, Alice never has to beg me for anything." Michael tells him. Vlad glanced back to me, the smug look on my face.
"You ask me nearly every day. I always decline the invitation. It's not in my job description." The older vampire says, as he does almost every time I ask. It's not my job as your Seneschal. He reminds me, always keeping it strictly business. If you wish for me to take an enemy's head off with a sword, I shall do so. He always offered afterwards. He was more than capable. Maybe he thought he might hurt me and I would replace him with someone else. Which was ridiculous. Vladimir was the most honorable vampire I've ever known. Who could take his place?
"Very well." I looked back at Castor. The hybrid was shirtless, exposing that incredibly built upper body, and wore a pair of brown britches that was tied off below his knees. He gave me a little confirming nod that he was ready to go again. I looked back at Michael. The vampire stood up as answer to my silent inquiry and grabbed the other sword. He wore a loose fitting shirt and similar britches to Castor's.
My long hair was pulled into a messy bun on the top of my head. Emphasis on messy- after an hour of doing this, strands were pulled out this way and that. I wore a basic tank top and shorts. Sweat stuck the fabric to my back. Compared to what the boys wore, I was the only one who looked properly dressed for the time period. They looked like two knights that walked out of the dark ages, and I looked like any typical chick dressed for the gym.
In a few days we would all be on a plane to New Orleans. Once we were there, I didn't think we'd get more chances to sword fight. Especially with real swords. The risk of being seriously injured was mitigated considering everyone wielding a blade was immortal. Besides, when it came to Castor and Michael, I pulled my punches. They were new to this whole thing, and I could still take their head off with real steel and kill them. I didn't want to, but it was in my capability. And sometimes, when I got bored, I even let them win.
