231 Basic Training (1)
The next day, Anna got dressed and made her way into the training ground, guided by Becca who led the way for her. She had woken up as early as Dawn so she could catch Levi and Azazel in training, but after showing up in the training ground, not only Azazel and Levi where present, but most of the royal warrior guards as they stood in a uniform line in four rows, drawing out their swords and making a fighting pose.
“One has to remain dedicated to their practice if they have no wish of slacking off in a battle field, maintain a stance!” Azazel hit his staff on the ground, and all the warrior guards did a uniform stance at the same time, displaying their skills.
“Hah!” They thrust their swords forward and remained in that stance, looking like immovable statues. Azazel’s gaze took each of their stance into notice as he walked in their middle, making sure everyone maintained the right stance.
“Adjust your feet.” He said to a guard and used his staff to move the guard’s feet forward, and it was obviously a hard stance since some of the guards had issues remaining in that torturing stance.
Anna’s eyes widened in speculation at the training that was going on. The morning sky was beautifully blue and it seemed all the snow had been swept away from the training ground. The air was naturally cold which is one of the reasons Anna came prepared for today.
She was so excited she didn’t think about the cold and rushed here to come join them.
Looking at Becca who had an infatuated look on her face, the maid was currently admiring how His Highness took charge of the training with such authority and boldness.
“His Highness is so good.” She purred, leading Anna to shake her head at Becca’s flushed expression as she admired Azazel from where she stood.
Meanwhile Levi was leaning against a pillar, standing all by himself and sharpening his sword till it sparkled.
.....
Just the sight of him reminded Anna of last night, and everything she thought was a figment of her imagination came rushing back. His expression last night hasn’t left her head yet, but seeing him now, he looked nothing like the devastating being she witnessed. He was whistling to himself while happily taking care of his sword, enjoying the cold weather that fluttered his hair and outfit.
“Milady, I think you should go now so you can begin training.” Becca said to her, and Anna took a deep breath before nodding her head in agreement and going down to meet them.
“A sword is made for one purpose, to kill, but if it is for the good or bad, all are determined by whoever wields it.” Azazel boldly made his statement while correcting the stance of another guard as they took a different position at the perfect time, maintaining a straight line.
Anna’s presence in the training ground made Azazel halt in his speech, and when the guards took notice of her entrance, all heads immediately bowed at her presence as they stopped training, startling Anna who wasn’t expecting such a welcome from them all.
“Greetings, Lady Anna.” The guards uniformly greeted. Already aware of her status as His Highness Roshan’s future wife.
“Oh.” Was all Anna could say, she was unsure of how she was supposed to respond to this type of greetings, but luckily for her, Azazel stepped in.
“Rise, you’re making her uncomfortable.” He ordered the guards who immediately stood straight at his command.
Holding back the training, Azazel’s attention fixed on Annalise as she stood before him, bowing her head with a smile on her lips.
“Greetings.”
“You came.”
She nodded, feeling happy that Azazel was already expecting her, “yes, I was afraid I wouldn’t wake early but thankfully I’m here.”
“It’s good to see you here, but my hands are full, Levi doesn’t appear busy so he should be able to assist you with the basics first.” He pointed out before looking at Levi who was still whistling to himself.
“Levi.”
At the mention of his name, he stopped whistling and turned to look at Azazel who had called for him so abruptly, but when he spotted Anna standing beside him, his amber-colored eyes brightened, looking surprised to see her here.
“Anna’s here?”
He sheathed his sword in place before marching to go meet them. Turning his body so he could look at Ann, he bowed his head respectfully before smiling in a friendly approach that reminded Anna of a calm summer.
“It’s so early in the morning, you should be getting some rest and not biting your skin with the cold.” He pointed out with concern flashing in his eyes. At first Anna had no idea how to respond despite what happened last night.
He’s acting so freely like nothing happened at all. It couldn’t be her imagination, those scenes were too vivid to be a dream.
“I am here to train,” she informed Levi, “Roshan gave me permission to join you all in training, so I’m here.”
Azazel nodded as well, indicating she was right, “I need you to teach her the basics,” he turned to Levi, “she might be skilled already, but it’s necessary she goes through the basics, she’ll advance further and we’ll get to know what situation her Swordsmanship level is, and then know how to fully begin.”
“Not a problem,” Levi placed a hand around Anna’s neck, standing right beside her and giving Azazel a thumbs up with his other hand, “I’ll teach her what I know, you can trust me on that.”
“Not like I have a choice.” Was Azazel’s indifferent response before he left them alone to go focus on the guards.
Rolling his eyes at Azazel’s statement, he swatted his words away and looked at Anna who silently kept staring at him with questions in her eyes, as though she was trying to figure out something, or wondering if she could ask him something.
“If you wanna talk, let’s not do it here.” Levi’s voice finally made Anna blink, but his reaction towards her suspicious stare remained gentle and sweet, like he understood, and that made Anna feel a bit guilty as she lowered her head.
“There’s a more quiet place to train, let’s go there before we get infected by Azazel’s leadership strictness.”
Returning Levi’s smile, Anna obliged to his words and followed him.
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