Page 32 of Waking Roslyn

I tried to teach her a block next, but she flinched at everything, always retreating and never standing her ground. Her instinct was to avoid at all costs.

This was my third attempt at swinging my sword toward her in slow motion and trying to get her to block, but she just skittered away again.

I let out a sigh.

“I know!” she said, dropping the staff and putting her hands over her eyes. “I’m sorry. I know I’m being ridiculous.”

“No need to apologize. We just need to find a different approach.” Trying to teach her specific skills wasn’t going to do her any good unless she was actually willing to engage. I thought back to what she had said after I asked her if she needed to learn out of necessity. She’d said she only wanted to be prepared, but I had a niggling suspicion that there was a specific person, or multiple people, whom she feared. Maybe I needed to focus on teaching her to react to a threat first.

It was worth a shot. She stood there, a frown marring her face, though she still looked ridiculously pretty. Finally, an idea struck me. “Stay right there.” I took my sword and drew a circle around her position. I made it big enough that if she stood in the middle and reached her hand out, and someone else stood outside the circle and reached in, they would not be able to touch. “All right,” I said, coming around to face her. “This is your circle. You are the sovereign ruler of this circle.”

A smile curved her mouth. “It’s quite the kingdom.”

“Yes, it is. Now, since you are the only occupant of your sovereign circle, you are responsible for keeping it safe. That means that if someone comes inside it, you must get them out.”

One brow lifted in question, but nodded.

“Just as important, if you leave your circle, you no longer have control because you will be in someone else’s territory. So you must stay in the circle, and you must keep all others out.”

She looked a bit confused, but willing. “All right.”

“And that includes me.” Without warning, I stepped into her circle and had a hand at her throat before she’d done so much as raise a hand. Instead she stared up at me with her big blue eyes, her mouth formed into a startled O. “You lost your kingdom, milady.”

She blinked and pushed away from me, her eyes narrowed in a glare. “I wasn’t ready,” she said, tilting her chin up.

Good. Sass was good. I immediately backed up and out of her circle. “Very well. Now you know how it works.”

“But how do I keep you out?” she asked, raising the staff tentatively.

“Any way you can.”

I advanced again, but she was more ready this time. She tried to keep her staff pointed at me, but I easily managed to push it aside and get close enough to grab her arm.

She looked up at me, her breathing a little heavy, but she didn’t look alarmed. I wasn’t making the point I needed to. I pulled her a little closer and she took in a little breath. “Would you be so reticent if you thought I wished you harm?”

Her brow and her mouth turned down again, but she shook her head. “Of course not.”

“Then imagine that I do.” I backed away again, out of her circle. But I didn’t come at her right away; instead, I let myself prowl the perimeter, hoping that my face looked hard enough that it might remind her of a true foe. I had no wish to frighten her, but she needed to at least see me as an opponent worth engaging.

“You’re not attacking,” she said after several moments, and her voice shook just a little.

“Predators rarely announce themselves,” I said, my voice tinged with a dark edge.

“So…” She turned to keep me in sight as I circled. “I just wait?”

I didn’t answer, just backed up a few steps and then took several large steps right at her. She jumped a little, but swung the staff in a horizontal arc in front of her, and I backed up to avoid it.

“Very good,” I complimented with a smile, then raised my brow to goad her—just a little. “What else could you do?” I moved forward slowly this time.

She swung again. “I don’t know,” she said, clearly frustrated as I circled around and she turned to keep me in her sights. “Tell me what I can do.”

“You have a voice.” I stepped forward again.

“Get back!” she shouted.

“Good. If you ever feel threatened, be as loud as you can. You want people to pay attention, and you want to make your feelings clear. People are cowards, and they won’t interfere unless they are certain you need it.”

I took a large step into her circle, and this time when she swung her staff, I blocked it with my sword and then disarmed her.