Luminary by Nicole Zoltack

Author:Nicole Zoltack [Zoltack, Nicole]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Nicole Zoltack

Chapter

Seventeen

The training session for Alena that night went terribly. She was too anxious about the coming dawn, and her mind was elsewhere. The gentleman never grew upset or cross with her, and she appreciated that, but she also knew he was hiding how much she was letting him down.

“I am sorry.”

“Just do better,” he urged.

Earlier, they had the same conversation, only then, he had said, “Just try to do better.” A subtle difference and yet, now, Alena found herself striving harder and succeeding in a series of strikes and counters, a difficulty combination, one that he had been trying to teach her for a week now.

Once she finally managed through it once properly, the man clapped his hands. “Wonderful. Now you must repeat that a thousand more times.”

“A thousand?” She gaped at him.

“Not all tonight, but yes.”

“For the muscles to memorize how to do it properly.” She sighed and settled in to start working.

When she woke, Alena was sorer than she had been since the first few nights of training. She had pushed herself so hard that she noticed bruises on her legs when she changed. Before she went to join her ladies, who waited for her, she stopped by the kitchens and asked for some trays of fruits and fresh rolls and pitchers of water and juice to be brought outside. The ladies would need their energy levels to be up.

Most of the ladies were excitedly chattering, although a few seemed rather distressed by their lack of wearing a dress. A handful was silent.

Alena had her sword with her, and she held it across her shoulders as she approached.

“My ladies-in-waiting, soon, you will be known to the kingdom by another term.”

She waited, gauging their reactions. The full words of the prophecy Marvina had given was not well known, and most of the ladies appeared confused. Only a few looked eager, a sign that did not bode well for her.

Still, Alena smiled. “You will be my lady knights.”

A cry rose up.

“Lady knights?”

“Ladies need knights, not the other way around!”

“I cannot use a sword!”

“This is preposterous!”

“Preposterous?” Alena fixed Selma a cool stare. This lady laughed quietly but also was prone to thinking spells. “Nay, I say to you that preposterous is waiting for a knight to rescue you. The Scots are our allies, but the Picts remain our foe. Doubtless, other foes may rise up in the future. Why should ladies not have the means to defend themselves?”

“That is what an army is for,” Selma protested.

“Ah, but the army may be off fighting another battle. I tended to the Scots, and what happened? Much to my dismay, the Picts attacked. They struck when we were vulnerable. They killed children even. In years to come, when you have bairns of your own, would you rather wait and wait for a knight who might not come or take up a sword and fight off the foe by yourself?”

Linnette clapped her hands. “I will not wait. I will not wail. If Queen Alena wishes for me to be a lady knight, then one I shall become.

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