Like a dance, William spun his sword around his hand. Pulling Aria into a trance, for his powerful yet graceful moves were hypnotic to her. The rays of the fading sun shined upon the dirt covered field that was fenced off into a large circle. The golden sky was enough for them to be alone, but not enough to hinder their vision. He turned her way, aiming the tip of his sword at her while his fingers curled. 

Aria's grip tightened around the hilt of the dull daggers. She grabbed them from the weapon's  rack per William's instructions. He continued to use his custom sword, with the vines and lightning carved into the blade of the sword. 

She pulled her feet closer. Her back slightly hunched over. Watching as he moved his left foot in front of the other, she spaced the distance of her arms. Both of his hands wrapped around the hilt of his blade. Feeling the leather against both his hands, he tilted his body while he eyed Aria.

Charging after him, she raised the daggers into the air. William raised his sword. Blocking her, he kicked at her stomach and knocked her back. She clenched her teeth. 

Without a moment to spare, William went to strike at her left. She hopped back, losing her balance momentarily before lunging after him once again. This time she focused on the right side of his stomach.

Just as she was in range, he quickly changed the direction of his sword. He blocked it. She felt her palms shake and sting from the impact. Not long after, he began to push his weight towards her.  A laugh escaped him. He parried her blade, and stopped his sword at the base of her neck.

"You'd have been dead already," he chuckled while he pulled back his sword.

Dropping her hands to her sides, Aria clicked her tongue. Turning her head, she looked over at the bare archery range. It was what she would have preferred to be training, but William insisted on seeing her in action first. 

His hand slapped against her shoulder. She jerked her head, realizing the tip of his sword pointing at her gut.  Her lips curved down into a frown. 

"You'd have been dead there too. Focus," he said. 

"Ok, I get it. Focus," Aria said while adjusting her ponytail. "But I haven't been fighting all of my life." William dropped his blade, and took one quick glance at her. 

"I'm well aware of that. Your form is horrendous," William said harshly. Aria crossed her arms, while she tilted her head to the side. "Bad, it means very bad."

"Ah," Aria acknowledged and proceeded to point at him. "You're also horrendous."

He quickly shot her a glare the moment the word left her voice. A smile painted itself on her face. A small laugh left him while he placed his hand on his hip.

"No," he began, causing Aria to roll her eyes. "I'm actually the embodiment of perfection, quite the opposite of horrendous."

"So...horrendous."

"You're on thin ice, Aria." He placed his sword into the ground, using it as a rest for his arms. He once again glanced at her from head to toe. His trailing eyes made her look away. "Show me your stance again."

Aria stood completely still, her arms remained crossed over her chest. William placed his thumb under his chin, tapping his fingers against the hilt of his sword. After a while of being still, William raised his eyebrows.

"I don't know what stance means," Aria grumbled. "You forget I don't know a lot of what you're saying."

"I'm asking how do you stand before and during a fight. So, show me how you stood before coming after me."

Aria began to bend down, watching as William ran his hand through his long hair. She pulled her feet closer together while she raised her arms. William strolled around her, leaving her standing in a fighting stance. Until, his arms wrapped around hers.

Her body went rigid. Ever muscle taut from a simple touch on her arms. It all flashed through her eyes. Every beating. Every insult. Every lie. She saw his face. His twisted smile and dark eyes pierced through her soul. She could feel his large calloused-covered hands, as if they were the ones wrapped around her. 

"Hey," William called out while he pulled his hands back. "Are you ok?"

Aria looked down at her arms, noticing how much they shook without her control. Dropping the blades, she placed her hand around her wrist. Pain surged through her, feeling it as she dug her nails deep into her skin. 

"Yes," Aria said. She lowered her head, turning it away from him. "Please. Just. Don't touch me."

"I'm sorry, I overstepped a boun...your personal space. I won't do it again. Take a moment to calm yourself and we'll start again when you're ready."

She heard him take a step back, and soon he came back in front of her. When she lifted her head, she noticed that he scratched the back of his head and kicked at the dirt below his feet. 

Taking a couple of breaths, she continued to dig her nails into her wrist. After a few moments, she managed to stop shaking. With a long sigh, she reached for the daggers. Once they were in her hand, she looked at William and nodded her head.

"About your stance..." his words trailed into silence as he looked away from her. Adjusting his collar, he returned his gaze. "Your feet need to have some space, try moving them apart a little."

Shuffling her feet, she slightly spaced them apart, then looked back at Will, only to see him motion for more space. William then pointed at her left foot, and curled his fingers to signal her to bring it forward. 

"Good, this will give you better movement. Keeping yourself hunched a little is a good move. Make sure you move on the balls of your feet though." William noticed Aria shaking her head with raised shoulders. He turned his foot to the side and lifted the back of his heel. "The balls of your feet are in the area of your toes. So try not to put your movement on all of your foot."

Aria nodded her head. Lifting her heel, she attempted to run around for a bit. She didn't like the feeling at first, to her it was strange not using all of her feet, but she did feel it was more effective. Stopping before William, he nodded his head.

"Does that feel better?" He asked. Aria nodded her head in return."Good, now, as for your arm work. I noticed you make a lot of big movements. You are using a short weapon, go for more closer attacks."

William brought his arms closer to his chest, mimicking a stance for her to copy. She pulled her hands near her chest with the blades pointing their noses towards the ground. Her left hand was slightly higher and more pushed out than her right. William wrapped his fingers around his sword, and yanked it from the ground. 

"If I was to do something like this." He began to move his sword slowly near the left side of her lower waist, hovering a few feet away. "You have a greater chance of blocking it with ease and you'll be less open. Another thing, don't be afraid to block with both daggers sometimes you'll need to. It's better to block first then counter attack.

"Wait," Aria voiced. "What do you mean by being open and counter attack?" William moved his sword towards her chest, and trailed down to her waist.

"You were an easy target here. That's what I mean by open, you had spots that someone could hit easily. Counter attack is a little more complicated to explain. It's sort of like attacking directly after someone makes a move. I'll go more into detail about it another day."

William looked towards the darkening sky. He turned back to her, and gave her a smile. She noticed that he began to sheath his sword, which was enough for her to know what he was implying. He signaled for her to follow him, which she did. 

They went towards one of the smaller rings, where Wolfram was sparring against a wooden dummy. The boy moved slowly. At one point, he raised his sword above his head to strike at the dummy's shoulder. William ducked his head under the fence, and not long after he was at Wolfram's side. 

Aria watched as he placed his hands over his son's. The pair moved at the same time, showing Wolfram to move his sword horizontally rather than above his head. She heard faint noises leave William's mouth as he whispered.

She averted her eyes, looking around for the weapons rack. Walking over, she gently placed the training daggers where she originally found them. For a brief moment, her fingers lingered at the blade.

"It's getting late." William's voice made her skin jump, and she quickly turned around to face him. At his side, Wolfram stood while he held his wooden sword. "I need to get him home. You should return to Sam's inn and get something to eat."

Wolfram's lips curled to a beaming smile. Aria couldn't help but give him one as well. Placing her hands on her knees, she lowered herself to his height. 

"I'm sure your mom is worried about you. Be safe going home," she said softly.

Her eyes widened as she noticed Wolfram's smile faded. The color of his face drained and his hand tightened around William's sleeve. He dropped his head and walked past Aria.

"She's gone," William began. "She died shortly after Wolfram was born."

"I'm sorry," Aria said while she lifted herself up. "I shouldn't have--"

"It's fine," William said with his hand raised. "You didn't know."

"But what happened to--"

"Aria," William interrupted. "I've respected your space so please, don't ask. I don't want to talk about it."

Aria clamped her jaw, and watched as William and Wolfram walked away from her. A sigh left her as she fidgeted with her sleeve. Not long after she walked down the path back to the inn, opposite of what William and Wolfram took. 

The streets were still buzzing with life. Merchants, peasants, and guards were mainly still out for the night. The town square was still being fixed, and was littered with supplies meant to fix the damaged buildings. She walked past beggars, smokers, strange dealings, and many drunk people. 

Eventually, she entered Sam's inn where she found Leo eating at the counter. She took the seat next to him. Lifting her body onto the stool, Sam placed a bowl of food in front of her with a spoon. The smell of cooked meat smothered in a type of herbal sauce and steamed vegetables made her stomach rumble. It was like a dog barking to get her attention. Quickly, she scarfed down a couple of bites

"Your friend has been telling me a little bit about you guys," Sam said as he wiped down the counter.

"Really?" Aria asked. Her eyes drifted towards Leo with a glare. 

"Relax," Leo said once he noticed her piercing stare. "He already knew about us being slaves for Venom. But, I mentioned you used to be one of their bandits. I left out the thing you don't like to talk about though."

"Has it crossed your mind that I just don't want everyone knowing my life story," Aria stated while she poured water into her cup. 

"No, I know," Leo said with a mouth full of potatoes. "It took you awhile to even say anything to me. But look at us now, two friends who got away from them!"

Leo raised his cup towards Aria. A small laugh left her as she reached for her own. The two lightly tapped their wooden cups together.

"May they suffer a new death from every wicked deed they've committed," Aria added before she took a drink of her water.

Every wicked deed. Those words echoed at the back of her head. Would it just be them that Imir would punish? After all, she was one of them. Blinded by Aldrich's words, she committed wicked deeds as well. Would she suffer the deaths alongside Aldrich?

"Did you give yourself your name or did you have it when you went to Venom?" Sam asked, snapping Aria back to reality.

"My name?" she said with a faint voice. 

"Yea, how did you come up with your name?" Sam repeated. He placed his elbow onto the counter, pointing his thumb at Leo. "Leo told me the story of how he came up with his name. So I'm curious where you got Aria Sparrow from."

Aria looked away, dropping her gaze to the floor. She filled her lungs and suppressed the thoughts that rushed through her. Aldrich's devilish grin flashed before her. He was so close. As if she could smell the ale on him, or feel his hot breath against her face. 

"I didn't pick my name," she croaked. "He gave it to me."

Hey guys! Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you have anything you want to say, go ahead and leave a comment below! Have a fantastic day!