You Don't Know Self Defense?
“Pardon?” Jon asked, startled. He finally looked up from his paper and he gave Martin a slightly confused look, like he wasn’t sure if Martin had meant it to be directed at him.
“Do you know how to fight?” Martin repeated, taking another book, ‘scottish mythology’ and cataloging it, and putting it on the shelf.
“No I don’t. Where are you going with this?” Jon asked, confused. He grabbed another book and wrote down the title and name before putting it on the shelf.
“Would you like to know how?” Martin asked, setting the book he had down. Jon didn’t respond at first.
“If you want me to.” Jon said finally, setting the book he was holding down.
“That’s not what I’m asking you. Do you want to learn how to fight?” Martin asked. He wasn’t sure if Jon was always going to be this stubborn, but he seemed to be pretty stubborn about this topic.
“I have work here I need to do.” Jon said, picking up another book. Martin took it from him and wrote the title and author down before putting it on the shelf.
“What if there's an attack on the palace and there’s no one around to help you?” Martin said, grabbing another book. Jon looked like he was actually considering the idea. Martin wrote the title and author down before the book on the shelf.
“I suppose it wouldn’t hurt…” Jon said. Martin smiled and stood up, holding his hand out to Jon.
“Great! I’m sure you’ve got a bit of time now, don’t you?” Martin said. Jon looked like he was about to protest the idea, but nodded and took Martin’s hand, standing up.
“I believe I do.” Jon said. Martin thought he caught a slight glimpse of a smile on Jon’s face, but it could’ve been his imagination
“Wonderful. C’mon.” Martin said, leaving the library with Jon following him. Passing guards and maids dipped their heads respectfully when they passed. Jon stopped when they came across the stained glass windows. Jon looked up at Elias’ portrait.
“It’s nice, isn’t it?” Martin said, standing next to him.
“I haven’t seen it this close before.” Jon said. The portrait depicted Elias on the throne. He wore a green suit, that was bedazzled with emeralds and jade stone. The crown he wore on his bleach blonde hair was the same green as his suit, with a light green fur trim. The crown had an emerald on the front, which was one of the most expensive stones on the crown. He seemed to be smiling, but also seemed smirking. It was an inbetween smile, that gave an off-putting feeling, and it made Martin feel small. The scepter he held was in his right hand. The handle was made from jade, and was polished and the stone on the top was emerald and in the shape of an eye. The green tones of the glass gave it a bit of an unsettling feeling, but one Martin couldn’t pinpoint.
“I’m going to have one of my own in a few months. Right next to my father’s. Tim and Sasha are also getting windows, because father wants them to be remembered along with me.” Martin said.
“That scepter he’s holding…” Jon murmured. The scepter was very intricate in the window. The real scepter was made of polished jade and had an emerald eye carved onto the top. Martin had been told that he was going to have to hold in for his portrait too.
“It’s used in portraits and coronations. Stuff like that. I haven’t gotten to see it in person yet.” Martin said. It was true. While he hadn’t been able to see the real scepter yet, he would when he assumed the throne.
Why don’t we continue?” Martin said, walking away from the windows and down the stairs with Jon following him. They went over towards a door near a tower and Martin opened it. The 2 went down the stairs, with guards occasionally passing by and bowing to Martin. They made it to the main gathering room of the guards quarters, which was empty except for one person. Basira, who was leaning against a ledge and eating an apple.
”Basira! How are you?” Martin said to get her attention. She set her apple down and walked over to them.
“Doing good, Your highness.” She bowed. Martin raised his hand in the same way his father did and Basira rose.
“Need something?” She asked.
“Can we use a training room for a bit?” Martin asked. Basira raised an eyebrow.
“If you two have an argument, you understand that you can’t settle it with a duel here.” Basira said.
“Not an argument. Thought it would be good to teach him some self defense.” Martin said. Basira looked over at Jon, and then back at Martin.
“Of course. I can arrange for a guard to-”
“Myself. I’d like to train him myself, Basira.” Martin cut her off. Something flashed on Basira’s face, but it went as quickly as it came.
“I see. Follow me.” Basira said. Martin and Jon followed Basira towards one of the private training rooms.
“You can use this one. What training equipment do you need?” Basira asked.
“We can use wooden swords for now. Possibly shields too.” Martin said.
“I’ll go get those.” Basira said, leaving the two alone.
“You sure you want to train me yourself?” Jon asked.
“Best option.” Martin said.
“Is that just pride?” Jon asked.
“No. I mean it literally. Any of the other guards would do it begrudgingly if I ordered it. Daisy doesn’t train people, as she doesn’t have the patience to teach people. Tim wouldn’t go easy on you even if it was your first time. Sasha might be a good option, but she’d focus more on blocking with a shield than fighting with a sword. Basira would be a good option too, but she’s got a new group of recruits to train today too, so that leaves me.” Martin said.
“What made you suggest this?” Jon asked.
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“I’m not sure if you wanted these in the 3rd or 7th section.”
“7th, Martin. Give them to me, I’ll put them in the 7th.”
“Alright.”
“Martin~”
“MARTIN RUN.”
“I'M NOT LEAVING YOU!”
“GET OUT NOW”
“C̸̣̭͖̤̒̈͊͟ȍ̸̢̢̮͚̐̚m̶̷͔ͪ̽͡ę̷̵̧̖̫̗̆̊ h̶̯̰̝̻̿̓͢ę̷̵̧̖̫̗̆̊r̶̷̲͍̭͐̾̀͟ę̷̵̧̖̫̗̆̊, M̶̷̲̊ͥ͋͟ă̶̸̝ͦ͊̿͋͞r̶̷̲͍̭͐̾̀͟t̴͕͖͓̀i̵͓͙̱͚̎͟n̷̶̯͉̊̽̐ͦ͘~~”
“MARTIN. RUN.”
“M̶̷̲̊ͥ͋͟ă̶̸̝ͦ͊̿͋͞r̶̷̲͍̭͐̾̀͟t̴͕͖͓̀i̵͓͙̱͚̎͟n̷̶̯͉̊̽̐ͦ͘, s̩͙͖̋͛͟t̴͕͖͓̀ă̶̸̝ͦ͊̿͋͞y̯̤͑́́̓́ ~”
“WE NEED TO GO NOW, GERTRUDE!”
“RUN. NOW..”
“I̶̴̗̗̦͍ͨͭ̉͢͟ s̩͙͖̋͛͟ę̷̵̧̖̫̗̆̊ę̷̵̧̖̫̗̆̊ y̯̤͑́́̓́ȍ̸̢̢̮͚̐̚û̶͙̽̿͆̈ ~”
“C’MON. WE NEED TO GO NOW.”
——————————————————————————————————————
“Lets just say, there have been a few unpleasant happenings in the palace. Everyone should know how to defend themselves.” Martin said. Basira had returned with 2 swords and 2 shields.
“Thank you, Basira.” Martin said, taking the swords. Basira set the shields down and left the room. Martin handed Jon a sword.
“Alright. Before we begin, I want to see what you know.” Martin said. Jon nodded. Martin held his sword in his right hand and ran at Jon. He raised his sword over his left shoulder, and swung down at Jon. Jon held his sword out to block it, but it wasn’t flat like it should’ve been. When Martin’s sword came in contact with Jon’s, Jon’s sword moved back from the force and hit him in the nose.
“You alright?” Martin asked.
“You gave no warning!” Jon snapped. No one other than his father and his siblings had ever snapped at him like that…
“If I was trying to kill you, I wouldn’t be giving you a warning.” Martin said. There was a slight mark on Jon’s face, but it was one that would go away quickly.
“Alright, that’s one.” Martin said, backing up.
“Excuse me?” Jon asked, confused.
“I have a few more things I want to try before I actually train you. I still need to weigh where you’re at to see where I should start.” Martin said.
“Alright.” Jon said.
“You know I’m going to attack you this time. Let's see if anything changes.” Martin said. Jon nodded. Martin ran at Jon again, this time keeping his sword down. Jon looked ready this time, and when Martin swung his sword at Jon, Jon blocked it with his sword, this time the right way. Martin used the force that came from his attack to take his sword and strike at Jon’s knees. Jon fell to the floor and dropped his sword. Martin stood over him and put his sword to Jon’s neck.
“And you’re dead.” Martin said.
“Right, well as I said before I’ve never fought before.” Jon said. Martin took his sword away from Jon’s neck and offered him his hand. Jon took it and stood up.
“Alright. Bit of feedback there before I actually start teaching you how to fight. The first time I attacked, you blocked it sideways. If I had attacked with more force, your sword would’ve gone through your skull. The second time, you weren’t defending anything other than your upper body. Don’t drop your sword either, that’s how I got mine against your neck.” Martin said.
“Alright.” Jon said, picking up his sword.
“Let's start with a stance. Try to mimic what I do.” Martin said.
“Got it.” Jon said. Martin dropped into the proper stance, but didn’t extend his arm that held his sword. Jon took a few seconds before slowly moving his legs apart to almost mimic Martin’s stance.
“Now, extend your arm out, like this. That’s the final bit of the stance.” Martin said. As soon as Jon did, he fell backwards. Martin returned to standing normally before walking over to Jon and offering him his hand. Jon took it and Martin pulled him up to his feet.
“That was close, do you know what you did wrong there?” Martin asked.
“No, I don’t.” Jon said.
“Show me the stance again.” Martin said. Jon went into the stance again, but didn’t extend his arm yet.
“Move your left leg a little farther out.” Martin said. Jon did, and a look of realization washed over his face.
“Oh.” He said.
“Yep. Your feet have to be a bit farther out than shoulder width.” Martin said. Jon looked at him confused for a few seconds.
“Did you plan on explaining why?” He asked. Martin nearly flushed pink. He hadn’t been explaining things to Jon.
“Oh! Yeah, sorry.” Martin said. He set his sword down and walked over to stand by Jon.
“Alright. Can you go back to the original stance you did?” Martin asked. Jon nodded and moved his left foot back in.
“With this stance, the center of your gravity isn’t where you want it. When you put your arm out earlier, it shifted, causing you to fall. If you put your foot back, your center of gravity is right where you want it.” Martin said. Jon moved his foot back and stuck his arm out and didn’t fall.
“That… Actually makes a lot of sense.” Jon said. Martin nodded.
“Why don’t we start with defense? Here.” Martin said, handing Jon his shield. Jon took it and Martin stepped back to where he was so he was standing in front of Jon again. He raised his sword and dropped into a fighting stance.
“Protect anything above your torso first, as that’s the most crucial part you don’t want to lose.” Martin said. Jon nodded and brought his shield up more. Martin stared at it for a few seconds until he saw Jon’s shoulders relax slightly and then he struck. He launched himself forward, and Jon blocked his attack, but not with his shield. That gave Martin the perfect opportunity to use Jon’s shield as a block of some sort and he jumped back off of it. Jon wasn’t expecting that and fell to the floor. Martin slid a few feet before readjusting his sword and running back to attack Jon again. Jon seemed to understand this time and blocked the raised attack with his shield. He even got a few hits in on Martin’s ankles, although they wouldn’t do much but leave little cuts if it was a real sword. Martin used his sword to overpower Jon’s stance, and sent him falling again. Martin put the end of his sword under Jon’s chin, and when Jon looked up at him, Martin was smiling.
“That was good. You tried parrying my attack with a shield though.” Martin said.
“This is… confusing…” Jon said, his chest heaving. Martin hadn’t noticed before this.
“We can continue again later. You look really tired.” Martin said, tossing his sword to the side and offering his hand to Jon.
“Sounds good to me.” Jon said, taking his hand.