Nalia

The whacking of wood on wood rang through the village centre. As it had every day since the Kingswood Brotherhood had arrived there five days earlier. "Keep your guard up." Ser Karron shouted as he swung down at the much smaller girl. Nalia winced as the stick he was wielding smacked into her forearm leaving a bright red mark. Her eyes narrowed to slits and she lunged forward, a cry on her lips.

"Don't be so reckless!" Ser Karron said, knocking Nalia's stick out of the way before pointing his at her sternum. "How many times have I told you, if your opponent is stronger than you, you must keep a calm head. For if you don't you'll be easily bested." He then stepped back, "Now let's continue."

Nalia rubbed her arm, it hurt like hell but still, she knew Ser Karron wouldn't let her rest till he was satisfied they had made progress. She sighed and went into a combat stance, "Alright I'll do as you ask." For about half a minute neither of them moved, only staring at each other waiting for the other to take action. Nalia's heart was racing, ever since she had started squiring under Karron Lonmouth, commonly known as the smiling knight, she had been put under rigorous training. The constant anxiety of being attacked, had put so much mental strain on her that she nearly didn't get any sleep, but if this was what she had to go through to get stronger then so be it.

It was the smallest of movements that alerted Nalia to Ser Karron's incoming attack but was all she needed. Her stick was already moving upwards when Ser Karron struck, but inexperienced as she was, she hadn't moved her stick in the right direction and received a hearty thwack on her upper thigh. Nalia winced and fell to one knee clutching the injured area. "Much better," the smiling knight said from above her, "now get up or do you want to train your pain resilience again?"

Nalia blanched and quickly jumped up, "No, Ser Karron." He chuckled, "Good, now, get back into the defensive stance!" She quickly did so and began watching Karron's movements again. "You have to loosen up a bit, if you're too tense you won't be able to move as quickly." taking in a deep breath Nalia did as he said and relaxed all muscles she didn't need right at that moment. Karron frowned the scars on his face twisting, "Your stance isn't low enough," and before Nalia could do anything to correct it, Karron had lunged at her stick held high.

This time she managed to deflect it, but it was useless as Karron had kicked her in her legs, sending her face-first into the hard ground. "See, if you aren't careful, your enemy will just use your body against you." He then began walking back to his earlier spot, "Get up." The rage that Nalia had been suppressing for the last couple of days had finally boiled over and picking her stick back up she lunged at Karron.

Nalia grinned as the attack connected with his head, causing a loud wack to round around the village. Her joy didn't last long though as a fist buried itself in her stomach,driving all the air out of her lungs. She collapsed to the ground gasping for air, the pain in her stomach only making it worse. This time it was a boot that drove the little bit of air she had gathered back out of her, Landing on her back, she grasped her stomach as bile filled her mouth. "How dare you!" Karron said from above her. It was the first time Nalia had seen him this angry and now she understood why they called him the smiling knight, he was grinning from ear to ear.

"I better teach you a lesson!" he spat out, and raising his foot he slammed it down on her face. Nalia screamed as she felt her nose break, and her jaw dislocate under the pressure. Raising his foot Karron was about to stomp on her face again but he was pulled out of her field of vision by who she suspected was big belly Ben. Nalia shaking and weeping reached up and touched her jaw which was now just hanging below her skull. She was about to try and push it back in herself when Ulmer appeared before her, "Here let me help." She nodded shakily, and slowly removed her hands, allowing Ulmer to gently grasp her lower jaw. "Alright, this'll hurt. Wenda, could you hold her still please."

Nalia felt someone hug her from behind, locking her movements. "On three, one two." pain, pain coursed through her jaw, and she thrashed back and forth her legs kicking up dust and sometimes even connecting with someone. She heard Ulmer shouting something, and next second her legs were locked in place. It was over as soon as it began and all she felt now was a dull ache in her jaw and nose, which had been fixed alongside her jaw.

"Oswyn, could you please get me some bandages," Ulmer said as he made sure everything was in the right place. Oswyn nodded and released her legs, sprinted towards the storehouse where they were sleeping. "Try not to move your jaw too much for the next few weeks since we want it to heal properly, that also means you won't be able to train with Ser Karron. So I suggest you find another way to spend your time and consume food." Nalia nodded and glancing behind Ulmer saw Oswyn sprinting towards them.

"Thank you." Ulmer said as he began wrapping Nalia's head in bandages. "We have to make sure your nose heals properly, or you might not be as beautiful as before." This caused Nalia to scowl at him, "I don't give a damn how I look, beauty only matters to the weak." Ulmer chuckled and having finished bandaging her head stood up, "Whatever you say She-wolf." Nalia growled and tried to punch Ulmer but he just danced out of the way, "See, like I said She-wolf."

"What're you four doing?" Simon, who had just emerged from the tavern, asked, striding towards them. Ulmer laughed nervously, "I was just trying to cheer her up." Simon frowned, "Well it doesn't seem like you're doing a very good job at it, now does it?" He then turned to Wenda and Oswyn, "I think they might need you inside, he's in a bloody rage, and I can't deal with him right now."

The two nodded firmly and quickly strode towards the tavern, from which loud shouts were coming. Turning back to Ulmer, Simon smiled, "You did good, be proud." That made the young man smile, "Thank you, sir." The older man chuckled, "Go on now, I think Gidden might need a rest."

After Ulmer had disappeared, Simon focused his attention on Nalia, "Does it hurt?" She shook her head, which caused Simon to frown, "You don't have to act tough, I've had my nose broken before and that hurt like hell. I can't imagine how it must feel like combining it with a dislocated jaw." He then bent down and gently picked Nalia off the floor, "Alright, I have an idea, from what I know, you can't train with Karron while your jaw heals. So we'll start teaching you how to read and write during those few weeks and after that time ends we might keep that going alongside your normal training, how does that sound?"

Nalia considered it for a few seconds, before nodding slowly. "Excellent we'll start tomorrow,"