Loophole.

My training was in no way complete, but I had progressed even faster than I thought I would and had already become more than capable with the first of three techniques.

"Lady Siya." I heard a knock on my bedroom door.

'It's going to be hard to get used to hearing that title without a punchline.' "Come in!" I shouted, continuing to read pages from the magic Tome Catherine had given me.

Nillous walked in, quickly looking away and clearing his throat. "My lady, you are still not dressed."

I looked down. I was wearing my thick fur nightgown. With the way he acted, I felt like I should have been embarrassed, but it was hard, as I once again noted it was more modest than my training clothes. 'This again…' "Have you ever seen Catherine answer the door?" I grumbled.

He let out a sigh. "I fear it's too late for you to become a lady after all."

"Hey! I could be elegant or whatever if I wanted. It's just not important right now."

Snickering, he shook his head. "I guess I will have to wait and see then. Anyway, your father sent me to fetch you. He is in his office."

'His office…' I hardly even knew where it was. Most of the time it was empty, and when he was there I wasn't allowed near it, not technically anyway. "Ok… I'll be right down."

He bowed, closing the door behind him as he left.

I thought back to the last time I had seen him in his office. I was only about 5. I walked in the way a child might, knowing full well I wasn't supposed to interrupt him, but not caring. I was cold, and I knew he wouldn't ignore that fact… He wrapped me up in a blanket and let me stay while he worked…

By the time I was done reminiscing, I had finished changing and was already downstairs in front of the door, my feet carrying me there the same way they did all those years ago. 'Somehow I don't think this experience will be similar…'

I opened the door, silently walking in, closing it behind me, and stepping to the side. As he read over several documents, I couldn't help but glance at them, reading them from across the room.

[trade agreement.]

It had something to do with the wood that was harvested from the trees growing in our province, but I couldn't understand much else. After all, I was only seeing it from across the room. Of course, reading the text upside down took extra effort as well.

"Siya, I heard your training went well. Do you think you can stop a blade with your body now?" He didn't even make eye contact. 

"I'm not sure, but I guess it probably depends on the sharpness?"

Without looking he flipped a knife straight up in the air. "Don't dodge." The moment it landed in his hand he hurled it straight at my head.

I froze time. 'This power really is pretty amazing. I'll have to thank agis next time I see him.' The more I used it, the more natural it felt. So much so that I was thinking about that, and not the fact my father had just thrown a knife at my face.

I looked at the knife flying towards me. 'He wants me to just let it hit me?' analyzing its spin and trajectory, sure enough, it was headed for my head, and the blade was going to hit first. However, it wasn't pointed, and he could have certainly thrown it harder too.

'Even if he's going easy on me, I'm not fond of catching a knife with my face…' I looked closer at the knife's spin. 'A Loophole then.'

I let time resume, toughening my skin and raising a hand out in front of me at just the right distance so that the handle would hit rather than the blade.

I felt the impact, just before the blade clanged across the ground and I simply brushed my hand across my shoulder to try and ease the pain from the hit. "I don't appreciate the way you are acting…" I grumbled, folding my hands neatly behind my back, making sure I stayed standing straight.

He grumbled back, finally glancing up at me. "How is it that you always find the easy way out…" 

My jaw clenched. "Well, maybe if you actually explained what you were trying to have me do I would be able to do it without being so disappointing…"

The tension only continued to build. I maintained my chill, but on the inside, I was screaming. 'He just threw a knife right at my head and told me I couldn't dodge. It's hard to think of anything that screams (go die) more

Finally, he let out a sigh. "No, finding the best solution is a part of any test I suppose..."

'Does he hate explaining things that much?'

He slowly rubbed his eyes before finally putting down the paperwork. "Alright, let's get going."

'Going?' "Going… Where?"

"We're going to take another shortcut. Even if you could have blocked the knife by toughening your body, you didn't have the confidence to. That's a problem."

'Fairy dust…' Nothing good ever came after he said the word shortcut.

Before I knew it we were in the stables and he was saddled up, grumbling about somebody taking his favorite saddle.

I went up to Fritz, rubbing her neck. 'How far away are we going that we need horses?'

"No need for that, you will ride with me, it'll be easier this way."

Fritz snarled as if she perfectly understood him. I tried my best to smile, but I was disappointed just the same. "Sorry girl, not today either."

As he rode up to me he offered me a hand, jerking me up onto the horse in front of him. Looking back, I couldn't help but notice an extra horse was missing, just one, so it couldn't have been from the guards, who always left in groups of two.

Without a word he road out the gate and we were heading off into the forest. I had never gone more than a handful of miles away from the castle, much less left the plains surrounding it, but I still had some understanding from the others.

To the east was a great gorge and a canyon, it was possible to cross, but one wrong step would lead to a fatal fall. To the north was the coast, as well as the town that my family governed. Forests covered the southern and western areas. For hunting, the southern forest was used, as it contained mostly animals and wildlife.

When we left the castle gates though, we didn't head south… I looked back at my father, who sternly continued along the path. "Why are we going west…"

I told you. You're going hunting. You say you can use the first technique, we are going to test your abilities, while also making them stronger."

'So that's what we're doing…'

Before long I heard the gathering howles of dire wolves, echoing that someone had encroached on their territory.

To the south was the hunting grounds but to the west… To the west lay monsters.