Chapter 16
Cammie pov
Today I was training with Zach and his men. I woke up early, I'm not sure if it was out of nervousness or excitement, probably a mix of both. Secretly I was hoping to talk to Zach after what happened yesterday. What was he searching for? Why did I say what I did? Why did he seem so disappointed? My mind was brimming with questions, and he was the one with answers.
I got dressed quickly, grabbed my sword and made my way to the castle. It was a little after dawn, despite being here for a while the sight of the sun rising above the castle was still a beauty. I should have learned by now how distracted I could get when I walk.
I didn't hear Amelia call my name until she grabbed my arm. "Cammie!"
"Sorry, lost in thought." She huffed in annoyance.
"I wanted to wish you luck. Zach told me about the training, Don't worry I told him to go easy on you, he's practically an unstoppable force with a sword in his hand. Personally I don't think you should even be fighting, it's not what a proper lady does. I don't think Sir Grant would like you anymore if you don't start behaving properly." I stopped walking and looked at her in shock.
First of all, I didn't need Zach to go easy on me. I could kick his ass, and I have on several occasions. Secondly, I don't give a damn about being a proper lady, look at how far that's gotten me. And finally, I don't share anything romantically with Grant, and I never will, he's a brother to me.
"There's nothing going on between me and Grant, we are friends." I say calmly. Her words have offended me, but I chose not to snap back at her and make things worse. This wasn't the first time something like this has been happening. I've been getting more annoyed with her lately.
I don't know if it's just me but she's been acting differently. She always seems to flaunt her relationship with Zach everywhere she goes. And lately she's been insulting my choices, and being very critical. I have no idea why, or if I'm just imagining it. I want to give her the benefit of the doubt, she is family.
That is why I feel so guilty liking Zach. Even if some people believe they won't last, I won't do anything to jeopardize their relationship. I feel like such a fool.
"Sure you are, we all see the way you two look at each other." She says laughing like what I said was the silliest thing on the Earth.
"Who's we?" I question.
"Me and Zachary silly! We should double date sometime soon."
"Well that won't be possible because we're aren't dating or doing anything close to dating."
"If you say so." Her tone said otherwise.
"I'm coming to watch the training with you. He invited me and I love seeing my boyfriend fighting. Afterwards he's going to take me to the gardens. One day I'll get to meet his parents the King and Queen."
I didn't want to burst her bubble by saying I already beat her to it, but she was getting on my nerves with her flaunting.
Although I wondered what Queen Catherine was like. I haven't had the chance to meet her, and neither Grant nor Zach mention much about her.
I just nodded along in agreement with Amelia tuning out what she was saying until we got to the castle. Thankfully, she left with her friend Tina. Tina somehow brings out the worst in Amelia, all they do is gossip and criticize people they don't even know about. Not to mention Tina doesn't like me for some reason. I know this for a fact because it's a secret she doesn't keep hidden. She doesn't hide the remarks she says about me, sometimes to my face.
And not once has Amelia defend me.
I made my way to the area designated for training, it was a grassy area close to the southern gate of the castle. The sun was already up by the time I got there, and so was Zach. I made my way over to him determined to get answers. Asking Grant this time won't do it.
"Good Morning." I say trying to be casual. He nods, briefly making eye contact, before looking over the small field for his men. When I noticed he wasn't going to say anything else, I took it upon myself to carry on the conversation.
"I wanted to talk to you about yesterday-" And before I could get another word out I was interrupted by Amelia calling out his name.
"We start in 5 minutes." He informed me before walking over to his girlfriend. I sighed, what happened yesterday didn't matter. He was dating Amelia, and from the way he smiles in her company I know he feels nothing for me.
I didn't realize I was staring at them until Grant nudged me. I was startled and annoyed at myself that I didn't notice he walked up beside me. "Why are you staring?" He asked me. I saw Zach lean in and kiss Amelia, and for some reason it made me feel angry inside.
"No reason." I say clenching my teeth. I pulled out my sword, watching as the light reflected off of it. "No reason at all."
Grant gave me an odd look but didn't say anything else after that. We warmed up in silence, the only sound was that of metal clashing against each other.
True to his word Zach came 5 minutes later to announce the start of their morning training. "Knights today we have a guest to help with your training." He began to say.
"Why is there a woman here?"
"What can she possibly teach us about fighting?"
"Does she even know who to wield a sword?" Various voices shouted out. Laugher from other knights followed, I was not impressed, and neither was the prince.
"SILENCE!" I had never seen him take command like that. "She is an excellent sword fighting and you would do well to listen to what she says."
"Oh really?" A man in the front said. Zach stepped forward to deal with him when I gently pushed him back. It was nice of him to try and defend me, but I could fight my own battles.
"Why don't you try me?" I challenge the defiant man. He was taller than me for sure, and more muscular. Not to mention he seemed to have a large ego, one I wouldn't mind deflating.
"Fight me." I say when he doesn't move. "Or are you not man enough?" I knew that would grab his attention.
"Cammie be careful." Grant whispered close to my ear.
"I know what I'm doing." I snapped at him. I'm always being underestimated, now it's time for me to prove them all wrong.
I held my sword out in front of me, swinging my wrist a few times. My opponent wasted no time in lunging at me. I quickly sidestepped his attack, for someone strong, he was slow, and I could use that to my advantage.
He kept swinging his sword, using up precious time to make his attack more powerful, in that time I was able to block his attack and aim a slow cut on his arm. This would anger him even more, and his attacks became more frequent and quicker. It made no difference to me, I was holding back.
I feigned going to the left and quickly struck my sword upwards to the right giving him mere seconds to react, and he did so barely. Our swords clashed, locked in a battle of their own. With his strength he was able to push both of our swords closer and closer to my neck. I could see Zach reaching for his own sword out of the corner of my eye.
While it may seem impossible looking at the situation, I was in control. My greatest asset in this fight was my speed. Thus, within a split second I pulled my sword away from his effectively knocking his own sword out of his hand, kicking his feet out from under him and pushing him to the ground with my sword at his throat.
"You have so much to learn." I say to him smirking. I could hear some cheers in the background. When I turned around I saw Grant was the main person cheering, Nick, and Jonas were there clapping, and Zach nodded his head at me with a faint smile. I almost missed the frown on Amelia's face.
"Does anyone else need a demonstration?" Zach asks assertively. No one said a word. "Good, let's begin."
Zach and I had another sparring match, once with swords and another without to emphasize that knights need to be prepared in any circumstance. Zach was getting better each time I faced him, both of our fights were a stalemate. By the end of our demonstration, I was sweating profusely, it was not pleasant.
The rest of the knights were sectioned off into pairs to practice fighting. Zach, Grant and I would walk around to make sure they were doing everything correctly, and gave them pointers on the way.
"Cammie where did you learn to fight like that?" Nick asked me as I walked by.
"My father taught me from a young age." I told him ambiguously. Nick was kind but I don't feel comfortable talking about my father with him, or most people for that matter. Hopefully he would get the hint.
Of course nothing ever goes that smoothly, as he continued on. "Where did he learn to fight? Your training reminds me of Sir Joseph's, his training was brutal. I don't know if you heard of him, Joseph-"
"Solomon, yes I'm aware of who he is."
"How?" I had no idea what sparked this curiosity in him.
"Focus on the fight, distractions are your enemy." I give him this quick piece of advice and move towards Grant whom he was fighting.
"Nice fighting back there Cammie." He complimented. "Zach was certainly impressed, he couldn't keep his eyes off of you." I knew where he was going with this. Zach doesn't have feelings for me, none at all.
"Of course he was, we were fighting each other, where else was he supposed to look?"
"I thought you said no distractions!" Nick shouted. I rolled my eyes at him, gave Grant a small smile and walked to another pair of knights. I gave them pointers on improving their stance, but for the most part their fighting was descent.
I was in the middle of instructing a beginner knight on how to block a sword when I heard a loud and obnoxious laugh. I turned my head mid-sentence to see Amelia throwing her head back in laughter, her arm resting on Zach's chest. He peered down at her smirking. He turned his head slightly and caught my gaze for a brief moment. He took a quick look at me before leaning down to kiss Amelia in front of everyone.
My heart sunk.
Now it seems like he's flaunting their relationship too.
A/N: Another chapter up, and the next is coming soon! I want to focus my time on finishing this story completely before starting a new one, it'll slow me down in writing new stories but it will be worth it in the long run.
By the way the next chapter starts where this one ended, give or take a few minutes ;)
As always let me know what you thought of this chapter in the comments! Don't forget to vote, comment and share this story!