The knock on the door causes my body to stir as my heavy eyes remain shut, but once a hand rests on my shoulder I flinch awake and throw the person over my body. Pinning them to my bed I jab my forearm into their throat and slide the knife I was given from out underneath my pillow.

"You like to go rough in bed I see," Alaric gently pulls my arm off his throat and lowers the knife as he sits up.

I sigh and relax a little as I slip off his lap shaking my head trying to cool my nerves, "it's just you."

"Is that a good thing?" He asks hopping off my bed.

"If it weren't I would've stabbed you," I tuck the knife under my belt and reach for my bow.

"You won't be needing that," Ric takes my hand and pulls me away from my bow.

"I don't go anywhere without it," I yank my hand away and wipe it on Issy's shirt which lays on her bed.

"But after I train you you'll be so good at self defence you won't need it."

I give an unimpressed look before gazing back at the bow.

"In order for me to trust you I need you to trust me a little. Give me a sign that you aren't going to kill me in your bed, I like it rough but not that rough." Alaric walks to the door and opens it.

"Ew," I groan, "you don't have to say it like that." The complaining tone dulls as I follow Alaric, fiddling with my knife as I notice that everyone in the house is gone but Adam who sits at the table glaring at me.

"Also you were right Adam," Alaric rests his hand on Adam's shoulder which he immediately shoves off.

"Don't touch me." Adam glares with daggers in his eyes, "get out of here before I gut you."

I stare at the wild-eyed Alaric as he kicks the legs of Adam's chair off the ground. He spins on one leg like a spin top before Alaric finally stops the chair so that Adam faces him. Alaric's icy eyes freeze over and he slams the back of the chair into the table which is behind Adam.

"Don't threaten me," Alaric glares back, his light eyes only darkening, light no longer reflects off of them but is absorbed into the abyss. "Don't make me regret giving you a place to live. I can and will make your life a living hell if you treat me with that disrespect again."

An uneasy silence scrapes the walls, begging to be let out of the tiny, suffocating room. Uncomfortably I inch towards Alaric and tap his shoulder, "we should go before it gets late."

He lets go of the back of the chair and holds the eye contact with Adam who shifts his gaze to me before returning to Alaric. I walk out the house and Alaric follows his eyes steady as the darkness seeps out of them. He reminds me of Luke in that way, one second he will be kind, the next dark and unfamiliar— the only thing is that now everything about Luke is familiar.

We walk to a park where men are training, some groups larger then others, but each one practicing their techniques. I shift uncomfortably as some of the men's eyes move to me and off their opponents as they scan my body.

God, are all men here desperate?

I roll my eyes and cross my arms giving them glares.

"You know it wouldn't kill you to be nice," Alaric sighs.

"I think it would. I'm not a fan of being an object that is examined by men."

"Do you need me to make you a sign that says no looking only touching." Alaric snickers to himself as he greets some of his friends.

"No thanks," I growl, "I think I can handle myself."

"Good to know, when we are on the battle field I need to know that you can take care of yourself. Hence why I am giving you lessons during the time men usually train."

"We that explains the outstanding male population here," I mumble tossing my coat onto the ground and fixing my long sleeve shirt.

"I'll have to get you new clothes," he shakes his head looking at me, "it's horrendous."

"Yeah," I roll my eyes, "it smells horrid too."

This earns a chuckle from Alaric as he sets himself into a fighting stance. "Okay, first we warm up. Once we're finished that I want you to come after me, a surprise attack."

I nod as we jog around some trees and do a few pushups and planks. Taking a quick sip of water I try to shake off the eyes dig into my skin, but they remain.  I shift uncomfortably before my feet carry me into a sprint, Alaric turns around just in time to notice me fake a punch which he snags out of the air and manages to throw me over his shoulder.

I land on my back and groan rolling over, "how..."

"I'll teach you, but first you need to listen and ignore everyone watching you. You're tense, who cares what they think? You don't know them so you don't need to impress them."

I stand up and wipe the dirt from my shirt and tie my long dark caramel hair back. "Point taken."

     《《《《《《《《》》》》》》》》

Fighting for what feels like hours I plop onto the ground and sigh. Alaric passes me a water and I gratefully take it.

"You're better than I thought," Alaric watches a few guys pack up their stuff as a couple girls walk past them. "Good technique, but you need to improve your strategy on how to counter attacks and add variety to your offensive moves."

I nod and sigh. It feels good to train with someone instead of working alone. I missed having someone by my side to give me pointers, that was always Luke's job. I shake my head and rub my eyes, I need to stop dreaming of Luke. If he goes to our camp and we aren't there he's going to be devastated. The only way I can be with him and my mom now is to kill Lady.

"Hey you," a ginger haired boy who looks to be 16 walks over to me, "let's fight."

I scoff and shake my head before taking a swig of water. "No thanks, I'll pass."

Alaric looks at me to him, "you should, it will be good. That way I can assess your weak points from a distance."

"Your kidding?" I ask looking to my side as he stands up.

"Nope, come on." He offers his hand but I don't take it and stand up on my own.

Knowing I'm not getting out of this I set my water on the ground, "okay but I'm going to hurt him."

The boy scoffs and rolls his eyes, "I'd like to see you try."

"Your loss," I smirk and catch his punch effortlessly. I swing my leg and kick his temple light enough to just knock him over.

He throws his legs underneath me but I jump up avoiding them. Shifting up he goes to tackle me to the ground but I turn sideways just as his arm hooks around my hip. I slam my elbow into the small of his back and I hear a small crack as he tumbles to the ground. I'm taken down with him but land on top as I throw a punch to his face hitting him in the nose. It begins to bleed and he shifts his weight so that he moves on top of me. He throws a punch but I move my head out of the way so he tries again. Hitting my cheek bone I feel it already starting to bruise, anger boiling inside me and I swing my legs up and wrap them around his neck by his chin and yank him back. He flies off and smacks his head into the soil, I quickly grip his legs so he can't kick me. Trying to pry my legs off him with his arms fails effortlessly so he resorts to punching my legs repeatedly. I wince as he hits the same spot over and over again but I only press my feet into his neck harder making him choke and his face turn blue. His body goes lip and I hold my grip for a bit longer to ensure he's out before I release my legs grip. His face goes soft as he lays unconscious on the grass from the lack of oxygen to his brain and I unwrap my legs from around him.

I stand up and Ric walks to my side touching the blood dripping down my cheek from the boys punch.

I wince and pull away, "ouch. Stop that!" I swat his hand away and begin to walk away from the boy and grab my knife and water.

"I'm glad you kept your grip until you knew he was out," Alaric moves the hair out of the boys eyes, "at least you learnt something today."

The boy finally comes back to his conscience and looks directly at me with a hurtful glare, "whore."

"Sore loser," I stick my tongue out at him and throw a water bottle at his chest, "see you around weakling."

The boy catches the water and opens it before drinking some. "See you around slut."

"Bye bye duckling," I offer my hand and he takes it I yank him up before he can get the chance to pull me down.

The boy stumbles past me and catches himself before he falls over again. "Bye ogre."

I smirk and turn around to see him smiling at me and I nod my head which he returns. A mutual respect fills me, I call out to him one last time knowing Roxy would be proud of me, "be careful carrot top."

I hear a distant chuckle before he is completely gone. I take another sip of my water and swing my jacket over my shoulder walking out of the park.

"Who said we were done?" Alaric calls out to me.

"I did."

Quickly he catches up and shakes his head, "We're finished now so you can go." I roll my eyes and suppress the urge to slap him as he follows me. "You weren't always like this, weren't you?" He asks staring at my straight face.

"What makes you say that?" I ask staring into his strong eyes.

"Intuition," Alaric's face is soft and calming trying to cox me to relax under his delicate gaze. "You have moments where you seem carefree and happy but that quickly fades into this dark and cold persona you put up to protect yourself."

I stay silent and clench my jaw, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You can deny it all you want but that cute clench in your jaw tells me something else."

I immediately relax my jaw and sigh, "if you think I'm going to open up to you about my problems, you have another thing coming." I groan and begin to walk faster hoping he'll leave me alone.

"I'm sorry for whatever happened to you, it must of been hard." Alaric stays caught up and continues to talk, "I'm sorry you had to go through it alone."

"I still am," I growl lowly before stopping and facing him, "I can walk myself home from here."

I sprint off and hope I'm heading in the right direction before Alaric calls out, "you missed a turn!"

I stop and turn to him as everyone looks at me. Embarrassment creeps into my cheeks and I pull the neck of my shirt over my mouth which makes him smile softy. I point to my left and he nods his head so I head in that direction.

"It's to your right!" He yells one last time and I run hoping to lose everyones confused stares. The sun is setting and the kids are being ushered into their homes as warriors and workers join their wives in their arms.

I envy their love, their ability to be in each other's arms. At this moment in time I'd do almost anything to be in Luke's, being happy and safe is a foreign concept.