Little Viper

It had been a few days since Adrik swore his service to me, and since then I've convinced him to continue my training. At dusk we dress in our gossamer and quietly leave the safehouse, sneaking along the rooftops until we reach the outskirts of town. It is there that an old, abandoned barn about to crumble to the ground, lies in wait for us.

"You do remember my nickname, right?" I ask Adrik, who insists on starting with the basics so he can get a good baseline for my skills.

"Yes, I do, Little Viper. '' Adrik spoke, a hint of condescension in his voice. "However, at the castle you were being trained as the Princess, the youngest and most treasured by her father. Now, I shall train you as a street rat, or perhaps... street viper. You will learn to play dirty, the way most assassin's do."

At this I raised one eyebrow, silently chuckling to myself. My private training with the captain of the secret guard was kept on a need-to-know basis, consisting of the captain, his attendant, and myself. I had the talent and the drive to learn, and the captain thought it important to progress my studies in the art of stealth. Little did I know what these "studies" had in store for me. The captain took me beyond sparing, inserting me into lethal situations of which I had to use my wits and training to figure out how to escape. I've been drowned, burned, stabbed, poisoned, starved; I almost believed the man was seriously trying to kill me.

"If I didn't think you could handle it, I wouldn't have put you in this situation." he said after we started my "advanced" lessons. I had been taken from my room in the middle of the night and awoke, drugged, and chained to a cold wall. The stench of stale air, urine, and death filled my nostrils. I was in the dungeons, probably the very last cell in a forgotten wing, darker than night and silent, except for the rats scurrying about. I was down there for what felt like a week, but was actually only one day. I was able to break my thumb in a way that I could slip out of my chains, using rat bones to pick the lock on the cell door. I half crawled, half ran out of that cell and down the hall, colliding with the captain in my frantic escape. I collapsed to the ground recounting what had happened to me. The lack of response and movement made me look up at him, a sly smile forming on his lips. I stared in horrific confusion as he began to explain that this was a test and that I had passed.

"What are you trying to do, kill me!" I yelled in disbelief, ready to have him arrested for treason.

"Princess, a time may come that I will not have been the person to devise the deadly scenario you are stuck in. To truly master the art of stealth, you also need to master the art of survival." His calm voice stuck with me through every situation I was put in. He had me clean myself up before returning me to the castle, claiming I was taking lessons from an old friend of his in a neighboring town, the excuse we used every time I was almost killed - I mean learning the art of survival.

Looking back on those days, I'm sure whatever Adrik had in store for me wasn't so bad. I took my stance, considering the most effective way to shut him down, weighing our size difference and possible methods I could use. At first he came at me with his short sword, a few quick strikes told me he was going easy on me. Cracking a smile, I made him pick up the pace. Realizing I needed more of a challenge, he smiled right back at me. As we fought, we kept upping the difficulty until we were going all-out, one mistake could lead to fatality. It felt good to train again, having a sense of control and understanding of my surroundings. As we continued to duel, I saw an opening, dodging a strike and rolled away from Adrik, figuring it was time to show off my skills with throwing knives.

"Hold on, ok, I underestimated you." A rapidly breathing Adrik yelled at the post I was behind. "How about this, we set up some targets, I get a feel for where you are at all across the board, and tomorrow when we come back, we play a game of hide-and-seek." I crinkle my face, trying to figure out such an odd request. As if reading my thoughts, he continued to explain. "We start on opposite ends of the property, both of us doing the hiding and the hunting. If I catch you, I win. If you catch me while remaining hidden, you win. Understand?" I nod to myself as I continue to crawl up the post I was hiding behind, suspecting my entrance exam wasn't over yet.

The barn grew silent as I clung to my hiding spot in the rafters, waiting, listening. I watched as Adrik grew closer, his demeanor almost too casual. I slid out one of my knives, ready to strike, when one of his came slicing through the air, burrowing itself into the wood beam next to me.

"Just like that." he said, a shit eating grin spreading across his face. Grabbing the beam I was crouched on, I swung myself over the side and dropped to the floor. "Are you going to get that?" Adrik asked, pointing to his knife, as I started dusting myself off. I paused and just looked at him, which was usually enough to make people think twice about what they just asked. "That's not going to work on me, Princess." He said, still smiling.

"You do remember when I told you to stop calling me that, right? In the tunnel? Remember?" I asked, making my way back up the post and retrieving the knife. I tossed it behind me, the blade embedding itself into the earth between Adrik's feet, and hopped down once more.

He chuckled and clapped his giant hand on my shoulder. "For what you've shown me so far, not bad. Just a brisk workout and we can go back. Tomorrow the real training begins."