Bird in the Golden Cage

Chapter nine

Aislinn fought back with her sword. Sloan dodged her lunge. Steel sang as it collided with steel. Again and again, their blades met. Sloan grabbed Aislinn's hand. The blade slid down the blade with a clang. Sloan twisted and elbowed Aislinn in the face. Her vision blurred, she staggered and fell to the ground. The sword slipped from her hand. It landed on the stone pavement with a thud.

Prince Nathaniel ran to Aislinn's aid. "Are you okay?" he asked. He gently caressed the gaping wound above her eye. A trickle of deep red blood ran down her cheek.

Aislinn pushed Nate's hand away. "I don't need help. I'm fine," she said.

"Can you stop being so proud for a second?" Nate said.

"Could you stop your over-the-top care for a moment?" Aislinn said. "I'm not a porcelain doll. I can stand something."

"It's just a little blood." Sloan joked.

Prince Nathaniel turned to Sloan. "You should have trained her in combat and not tried to kill her," he glared at her.

"It was her idea," Sloan defended. "She didn't want me to spare her, so I didn't."

"Are you out of your mind or has Sloan beaten it out of your head?" said Nathaniel to Aislinn. "Sloan is a general of the royal army. She's the best. You cannot go against her as an equal. And the same goes for you, Sloan." he warned her.

"How am I supposed to learn to fight if she's going to be soft on me? I learn better when I have no choice," said Aislinn.

"She just happens to be getting pretty good at it since we started training this way." Sloan defended Aislinn's way of learning. "She is good in attacks, only in defense she still lags behind."

Prince Nathaniel stood up and offered Aislinn a helping hand, which she accepted warmly. She raised her sword and gripped it tightly in her hand, ready for round two. Nathaniel pressed her back against his chest. Aislinn felt the pleasant warmth of his body on hers. He grabbed her by the waist with one hand. He grabbed her wrist with the other.

"What are you doing?" Aislinn asked him.

"I'll teach you defense," Nathaniel said. "It's good that you can fight now, but you also have to know how not to let your opponent get too close to your body."

"Two against one, that's a bit of an unfair fight, don't you think?" Sloan said.

"You can take down an entire army Sloan, the two of us won't be a problem," Nathaniel said.

"I know," Sloan said proudly.

"Now listen to me," Nate said in Aislinn's ear softly. "Relax and let yourself be guided," he whispered softly to her.

Aislinn nodded.

"The main mistake you make in defense is that you focus too much on your own movements. You concentrate on what to do with your hand, where to go with your feet. You can't see your opponent because of it. Clear your head, Aislinn." he told her.

"My mind is blank," Aislinn said.

"All right. You have to look where Sloan's sword is pointing, not yours. Watch your enemy's movements and yours will match them."

Sloan attacked. Aislinn and Nathaniel dodged her strike. Aislinn let her prince guide her. She listened to his words and did everything exactly as he told her. Sloan attacked again. Nathaniel raised Aislinn's hand and they intercepted her attack.

"See?" Nathaniel said. "Follow Sloan and your hand will automatically move to where it needs to go. Your feet will go where they are supposed to."

It was like a dance. One foot there, the other there. A turn. A step forward and a step back. It had its own rhythm. She already understood that. Prince Nathaniel let go of Aislinn and left her alone to fight Sloan and she was able to fight back. She defended herself from one blow, a second, a third. In a matter of minutes, Nathaniel taught Aislinn what Sloan had been trying to teach her for weeks.