Evolution of a Queen

Training

“Get up, Winter!” Ash roughly pulls me to my feet, “Never just lay on the floor when you get knocked down, that’s when your enemy will attack you the hardest.”

I put my hands on my hips, “I’m sorry, but I thought you said we were doing the basics today, not full-on sparring.”

“I’ve been doing the same moves on you all day today, and you have yet to block a single one. Once you can block these, then I will get to the basics. Pay attention and get it right this time!”

I grunt and get into the fighting position, the only thing Ash taught me today. Without warning, Ash throws a feint towards my face that has me stumbling back in shock. He immediately follows that with a roundhouse kick that I successfully ducked under to avoid. I then saw him pivot his supporting foot, and I was knocked back down to the ground as his foot came down on my back.

“What did you notice this time, Winter?” Ash grabs my hands and helps me up. 

“You threw a feint at the beginning to make me off balance followed by a roundhouse kick. You then pivoted your supporting foot before knocking me back to the ground. It was one move after the other, and you didn’t allow me to counter.”

Ash nodded, “Correct. When you have the upper hand on an enemy, don’t stop fighting. Keep pushing your opponent until they fall and don’t get back up. The moment you get cocky and stop your attack, they will attack, and you will fall. We are lucky in that there are no rules we have to follow when we fight. We can do anything if it means we win for our country. Now, what type of fighting were we doing?”

“Boxing?” I look at him with uncertainty.

“Correct. There are two styles that I will be teaching you personally, boxing and karate. You will then learn two different styles from others in my crew.”

I stiffened, “How long will this take for me to learn?”

“Six months for each style if you train all day every day. If you don’t train every day, then it will take you longer.”

“Everyday will be the same fighting techniques?” I bit on my lip nervously.

Ash chuckles, “For now, yes. We’ll start with boxing….”

“Yo, Ash! Check this out!” Someone came running up to us, holding up a screen with the news playing.

“Cam I’m busy training the new girl at the moment.” Ash sighed.

The boy, Cam, burst out laughing, “You’re training a girl? She won’t last a day here. Send her away, and we can go back to being the strongest.”

“How dare you?” I burst out, “Women are just as strong as men. For all you know, I could be just as strong as you in a year!”

This makes Cam laugh harder, “A girl being as strong as I am, sure. How about a year from now we’ll spar and see how true that statement is.”

“Cam, what did you need to show me? The second should have more important things to do than gossip,” Ash shook his head in disappointment.

“The princess is missing,” Cam held up the screen that looked like an email from the King, “His majesty would like to send our best warriors to find her. He fears she’s been kidnapped.”

Ash faked a confused look, “Princess Seriah was there to greet me when I visited the palace yesterday. How did she go missing in less than a day?”

“Not Princess Seriah, Princess Lilly is the one that is missing.” Cam looked back at the screen.”

Ash instantly looked alert, “How long has she been missing?”

Cam shook his head, “They don’t know. She had locked herself in her room for weeks before her mother went in to look for her. From what the email says, Prince James may have had something to do with it, but they are still investigating. The King wants us to start looking for her immediately.”

“He never cared about her,” I mumble to myself, “Why is he bothering to look for her?”

Cam shot me a glare, “You haven’t been here long. The Royal family loves each other and would never do anything to harm anyone. It is our job to protect them. When one goes missing, it falls on us to find them. We are the best trackers and the best fighters in the kingdom. I suggest you leave if you think badly of the Royals.”

I shrug, “I’m not going anywhere. I will stay here for as long as Ash allows it. Then, when he finally kicks me out, I will finally go live my life.”

Cam snorts, “No one wants a weakling like you here. Go live your life somewhere else.”

I glare at him but don’t say anything. I slowly made my way closer to him, making it so he didn’t notice what I was doing.

“Who do you want to send Ash? I suggest myself and Aiden.” With Cam turned away from me, it made it easy for me to sneak closer to him. When I was close enough, I swung my leg and kicked his private area, hard.

Laughing at him as he doubled over in pain, I said, “Remind me again how weak I am?”

“You b***h!” He grunts out in anger, “I’ll make you pay for this!”

“Well I would go get that checked out sometime,” I snort, “I don’t know if you’ll be having children anytime soon.”

With that, I turned and walked away.