The Salle, Monday Morning

[bitchprince]

On Friday, Arthur had reached a decision. After the weekend, he wasn't in the best mood to follow through on it, but there were few reasons to let his mood interfere with what was, essentially, a duty of some kind.

The duty of survival. As Crown Prince, it was a real one.

Still, he thought, as he arrived in the salle, Dinah had best be grateful. And it was all tactics. His gut still twinged with the sting of clear betrayal, but his sense of morality was as confused on this subject as anything else ever was, and so he ignored it.

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[notyourpawn.livejournal.com]

"One would think my arms would be decidedly less limp," she said, holding the sword out carefully and placing her feet firmly. "I would be surprised if dead beetles could hold swords, unless the swords were affixed to their limbs."

A dead beetle army. Which no one had ever implemented, for obvious reasons.

[bitchprince]

"You're right," he said, agreeably, as he paced around Alice to examine her stance, "I should get you something adhesive for that blade. Straighter."

[notyourpawn.livejournal.com]

"So you're saying I haven't improved at all, from last week?" she asked lightly. "Hardly speaks to your tutelage. It's astonishing they let you lead knights, at this rate."

If he was allowed to mock, then so would she.

[bitchprince]

He wasn't teaching any hapless villagers here. If he was to train Alice to be more than desperately semi-competent, the mockery was heavily required.

He shot her a look. That was a distinct insult, completely going in against the unspoken terms of training. "Yes," he said, flatly, "I believe I am astonishing. Now. Strike to the left."

[notyourpawn.livejournal.com]

Alice slashed the blade out to her left, trying to keep her arm straight.

"Am I aiming at anything in particular?" she asked.

[bitchprince]

"The general idea of swordfighting would be to make sure the sharp end winds up in your opponent," he said, "But the art of it involves maintaining control over your blade. That would be a 'no', for the time being. Keep your own movements in mind."

[notyourpawn.livejournal.com]

"Only clarifying," Alice said easily. She struck out to the left again, hoping the blade was steadier.

It was still quite hard for her, in some senses. Her vorpal blade was compact; no need to balance the length of it with each stroke.

[bitchprince]

"Do it slowly," Arthur replied, "Until you've got a handle on the weight. Then we'll proceed." He was watching her with a practiced eye, a little like a hawk. Or a panther, although the latter was usually saved for battle.

[notyourpawn.livejournal.com]

She slowed her movements considerably, trying to think her way through them. And then, trying to let her body learn so she could stop thinking directly and let the movements proceed by themselves.