Another Lesson

It has almost been a week since I started attending Royal Private Middle school, my homeroom teacher was debating on whether to send me up a grade, but I convinced her to allow me to have free time.

I excelled in history, that even Ms. Jennifer ran out of things to teach me. I took the homework anyway to do something, but the only thing at school that I looked forward to was lessons.

Lieutenant Jones only does two lessons in a week, which was the sad part. Meaning, I have to find a way to have him train me privately.

During lunch, Elias would sit at my table in the corner, when his class was dismissed since he was a grade higher than me. If I moved up in grades, all of the girls in his class would become jealous, for his best friend was in the same grade, and countless problems would come up.

In the fifth grade class, I could only find two girls that didn't fawn over him, and they became my friends instantly. These girls' names were, Alice and Julie, both were avid book readers, though, they couldn't understand my love for history.

I didn't tell anybody of my after-school activities, for many girls would question how things were run in my family, I also didn't like to be in any part of rumors. However, that didn't stop kids from spreading senseless rumors.

"Your Highness, don't you hand anybody else to hang out with?" He placed his tray down on the table, pulling out the chair.

This indicated that he didn't plan on going anywhere, letting out a sign I placed down my fork. Picking up my quill and notebook, I started writing notes, ignoring the glares from all of the ladies.

"What are you doing?" Pausing writing the word 'battle', I looked at his dark blueish-green eyes. Setting the quill down, I gave him my attention, feeling the glares intensify.

"What does it look like?" I asked, he smirked. A young girl walked up and slipped on-air, catching her and her tray, I lifted her. She smiled, slightly looking guilty.

Handing her the tray, I watched her walk in a different direction, to the table of smirking friends. 'ah, so they finally sent a warning.' I thought to myself while smirking at the table of girls.

"Elias, if only you weren't famous," I muttered while watching the girls giggle about something. He looked at the table of girls and flashed his boyish smile that stopped their hearts.

Taking a seat again, I went back to my notes. Luckily nothing landed on my uniform, however, it wouldn't matter anyway, since I would change into gym clothes for the lesson with Lieutenant Jones.

"How is it my fault?" He chuckled looking at the young girl, as she finished her notes.

That trip was purposeful, everyone could see it. The goal was to ruin the young duchess's uniform, making her a laughing cause. 'Her reflexes are amazing though.' he thought to myself.

"It just is," I muttered and he chuckled again. When the bell rang again, I followed the fifth-graders back to our classrooms.

The girl that was the cause of the incident, was another daughter of a Duke. Her name is Sophie Francis, luckily she wasn't in any of my classes, except for etiquette lessons.

When class finally ended, I left since History was being taught by Ms. Jennifer. Ms. Jennifer allows me free time since I was ahead of the class. During this free time, I usually would study in the library, however today I went to the Lieutenant's classroom.

Knocking on the door, I stepped in when he told me to come in. Walking on the hardwood floor, I stood outside his office. This classroom was like a miniature gym, however, the gym didn't have swords lining the wall.

"Willow?" I turned to his gruff voice. Picking up the wooden sword, I twirled it for a distraction. "What is it that you want to speak about?" Leaning against the wall, I balanced the sword.

"Lieutenant Jones, I came to ask you a request. Since I have etiquette class, I was wondering if we could train during my free time." He raised a brow as a questioning look was crossing his face.

"I excel in history that I don't have to attend the classes. Since the tournaments are within four months, I want to train with a real blade next month." He nodded, he knew that the next step would place a blade in her hand.

"You know that there are more dangers with a real blade." He spoke to me, this wouldn't be the first time that I held a blade.

"I know, I've practiced with wooden blades, that there is nothing more to learn. It's time for me to move on to the next level." He nodded again.

"We'll have lessons with wooden blades until you get armor, I have an extra blade that you can use until you're gifted with one." Walking away, I changed into my gym outfit, with extra padding.

"Young one, what is the blade?" We sat across each other, looking into each other's eyes. I thought about the question, there are many ways to answer that question.

"It's an addition to the arm, we sometimes think that it's just an item that we can move around. However it can only be moved with the wielder's will, the blade of a sword is something that has killed many, but has won many wars." I looked into his brown eyes, he nodded with a glint of approval in his eyes.

"Yes, the blade of a sword is indeed an addition to the arm, that can only be moved by the wielder's will." I smiled, there was a reason why I was fond of the sword.

"There was something that caught my eye, about the way you fight." I paused remembering some of my moves in our last match. "Your drop and slice is interesting, but do you ever wonder how fast a blade can be driven into your back?" I shook my head, disagreeing.

"It depends on who my opponent is. As a burly man, your movement in your armor will be slow, as well as mine, however, if I know I can slice something in the lower region then I'll take that chance. However someone with the same amount of mobility as I, I will not drop and slice." He tilted his head as he processed what I spoke about.

"So you know your risks?" He asked and I nodded in response.

"I think we can move on." Picking up his wooden blade, we stood up walking to the middle of the room. "Spread your legs wider, and shift your shoulders a bit, the blade should be like this, while you have perfect balance. With your final move that matches, I noticed while you were trying to keep your vitals covered, the blade wouldn't have done as much damage."

Looking at his stance, he was indeed more balance, and the blade was slanted slightly, although if shoved forward, it would slice through the skin with great force. Following through the stances of our past match, I realized why we were doing this.

"Willow, it is indeed review but moves that you haven't learned yet. While we wait on your armor, we will go over all these moves and every week we will battle.

"If you are joining in the little leagues in the tournaments, then you have to master these." I nodded, with just this little lesson, I could see the difference in the way, my blade felt in my hand.

"By the time we start with real blades, is there a way we could do private lessons, at the Willow estate?" I asked, he paused looking into my eyes.

"We'll see, have you held a real blade?" I nodded, the last time I picked up a blade was two weeks ago, I even swung it. Mother panicked at the sight, she was still worried slightly.

"Yes." Leaving to change out of the gym clothes, the classroom became full of boys. Each left to change into their outfits, coming back to sit in front of Lieutenant Jones. I watched them until it was time to officially leave for the etiquette class.

Waving goodbye to Elias, I stepped out of the room, walking to the dreadful lesson. Pulling out a chair, I sat in it straight as Madam Dorthy stepped into the room.

Sophie Francis was the only one who received the glare, as she didn't hear the door open, she was too busy talking to another student.

There were only six of us kids that stayed in this class, two girls dropped the class, as Madam Dorthy bluntly spoke her opinion about the students. It made me wonder how many kids managed to learn from her.

"Today, we'll start with posture." She pulled out a chair, he back straight as a board, and her legs slanted to the side. We followed the suit, knowing that this woman would be checking.

This is the one time that I wished I had a dress, I hated sitting in a position that didn't feel comfortable. Watching her walk down the isles, looking at our postures, she stopped in front of me. Placing her hand on my back, she pressed until my back straightened to her satisfaction.

"A lady should always watch her posture, we must look well in the presence of men." She spoke aloud, looking around the room, three girls instantly straightened their pose. "Isn't that right, Miss Willow?" Turning around to face me, our eyes clashed with our ideals.

Holding my tongue, I spoke while looking at the whiteboard, "It is what a lady must do." Internally, I was throwing up, honestly, I never thought that women should be trophies, instead, they were free.

She looked at me with sharp green eyes, studying me, before moving on to the next student. Watching her make her rounds, with her additional comments, she finally dismissed us. Relaxing my shoulders, I let out a sigh of breath.

'This class is torture, and it's only been a week.' I glumly thought as I walked down the marble steps, to the first floor. When I paused at the last step, Sophie came into view, with her friend group.

I watch the trio walk out the front entrance, and pause, Sophie looked excited to be talking to someone. Clenching the handrail, I continued to the ground floor. With the light pad of my footsteps, I opened the door quietly planning on sneaking up on the group.

When Elias came into my view, I narrowed my eyes at him, Sophie giggled like a lovesick idiot. His eyes had a pleading look in them, as he looked over the girls. Stepping forward, I popped up behind Sophie and her friends.

"Did you bow to His Highness?" I questioned as I curtsied to the boy, the girl's faces turned red with embarrassment, they quickly curtsied then dismissed themselves. Looking over her shoulder, Sophie glared at me, I returned it with a smirk.

"She'll become a problem, that Sophie Francis," I muttered, we stood there waiting for my driver to arrive.

"Meet at the hill?" I asked, he smiled looking at me gratefully. "We need to meet earlier, Mother and Father are getting suspicious, I think they've questioned the stable boy." I looked at the entrance, relieved that my vehicle was in sight.

"We can meet thirty minutes earlier, that's all I can do." He spoke in a stern tone, I nodded. It didn't matter to me, I would be there as soon as Mother fell asleep.