Torran soon left to take care of his own business related to his duchy and horses, and that left Idelle alone with her men. She still felt awkward calling them that, even in her own mind, but she forced herself to in order to make it seem natural after a while.

On the first day, she simply watched them from the sidelines, taking in their skills and names and asking a few questions about where they had served and what they had done before. She already knew about Sabena, but the older man with the crossbow was named Walliam, and had been a commander in the army back in the days when Aelga's father had been young and freshly crowned. He seemed the most open to talking to her, and even asked her about herself. Still, Idelle had no illusions that he thought of her as an equal, much less a superior. He was nice, but in a distant way that a father might be to a child. She was too young, too fresh, and too new for them to look to for guidance. Not that it was only she who carried the brunt of their suspicions. The fact was, that as she watched them, she saw their biggest weakness was that they moved as independent bodies. There was no cohesion or oneness in their movements. They fought as individuals, and only came together at odd times to laugh about something when they took breaks. They seemed to get along, but they were not friends or colleagues yet.

Idelle knew she'd have to fix that if she wanted them to work like a Queen's Guard should. They should be able to predict where the other would be, and know that their colleagues would have their back no matter what. They needed pure trust, and that was a long way off. She'd have to be the first to gain their trust, and that felt like a daunting task.

The days passed and Idelle found that being Queen's Guard was not as glamorous as it seemed. Most of their assignments were to stand against the wall as Aelga began to see well-wishers who had heard about King Aengus' death. The word had finally been leaked out into the country, and noblemen and peasant alike had made trips to see their queen and mourn their king. While it was still only folk from Wynherst, the longer time that passed, the more likely they'd start seeing dignitaries from neighboring countries. Idelle supposed that might be more interesting, as security would have to be tightened, but at the moment, she and her men were almost at the point of yawning as they stared blankly into the air, still as statues, as people filed into the audience chamber, chatted the same exact lines with Aelga, then exited to let another body in.

Training was the highlight of the day, when they could move and stretch and fill their mind with something productive. Idelle trained with them, but her few attempts at trying to create order had fallen flat. When she'd asked for them to line up, only a handful paid attention, and soon lost interest in her drills. They were good drills, and important in keeping the group agile and cohesive, but no one was quite up to believing that a girl barely out of her childhood could know much about fighting. Sabena was the worst of them all, taking charge of a group of the women, and creating almost her own division within the Guard. It rankled Idelle, but she wasn't sure how to approach her just yet. The empty hole of leadership needed to be filled, and Idelle knew it was up to her to fill it instead of expecting everyone to just leave it alone until she was ready.

After a week, Idelle flopped down, coated in sweat, on the stairs of the barrack buildings and threw her gloves onto the ground. She'd attempted to talk to Sabena about undermining her authority, but the woman had blankly stared at her before cutting her short and running off to correct her group of cronies. She'd started her own drills, which while better than nothing, were focused only on strength with no dexterity or mobility. While Sabena's muscles were impressive, she was also slow and clunky, and her spine might as well have been made of bricks. If someone smaller, fast and fleet, attempted to attack Aelga while Sabena was on duty, they would be able to outmaneuver her if they were skilled enough. In fact, most of the Guard was skilled in strength and the techniques of fighting, but cared nothing for flexibility or agility.

As Idelle fumed over Sabena's dismissal, Walliam approached her with his easy smile. He seemed always relaxed, as if nothing could phase him, and while Idelle appreciated that he was easy to get along with, it also made her angry when he could be so nonchalant about the terrible problem in front of her.

"Giving up so soon?" he asked, stabbing his practice sword into the ground and leaning against a pillar nearby. He was most skilled in archery, but his sword skills were still impressive. Of them all, he seemed the most likely to be able to take on the swifter soldiers in Yseult's army, such as the water monks.

Idelle frowned at him. "No, I'm being forced to," she muttered. She wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her sleeve. "I've been trying to drill all morning, but Sabena keeps taking control from me."

Walliam shrugged. "Well, you're giving it to her, to be honest," he said.

"How? I'm the age of most everyone's youngest sibling or child," she said. "No one wants to listen to me."

"Make them."

Idelle gave him a sidelong look. "Oh yes, let me just somehow scream loud enough that everyone stops listening to the mountain of a warrior woman who's seen more fights than days I've been alive."

Walliam chuckled. "I wouldn't go that far. Sabena isn't as skilled as she makes herself seem, and many of us don't like the way she snaps at us like we're her dogs." He crossed his arms over his chest, looking out over the rabble that was her Guard. "While screaming might do the trick, I think you need only show them that you're more than your age. Show them the fighter. I've seen glimpses of it, but not yet the full thing."

Idelle growled in frustration and pushed herself to her feet, snatching up her sword and stomping back onto the training field. Walliam followed, keeping his eye on her as she hacked away at a practice dummy. She knew he expected her to do something, but her anger was too bright for her to think of anything that would be productive. Her palms stung with each heavy blow and the world slipped away around her. Her whole mind sunk into the burn in her muscles and the strength of keeping the heavy sword in the air. Sweat slid down her neck and her chest heaved, but she loved it all. The feeling of exhausting herself with drills and battle was one she secretly cherished.

It was while she was just recovering from an overhead sweep and setting up for a new set of maneuvers when she distantly heard a shout. Her mind didn't even have time to process what exactly had been said, and instead she felt her arms swing up, her body twisting to the side. The blade of her sword connected with something, slicing through it, and she spun on her heel in a full rotation, landing on one knee, facing out into the practice yard.

A stunned silence filled the area. Idelle's heart pumped hard, rattling her chest, and her eyes darted around her, looking for the danger. It sat a few feet away, in halves. An arrow shaft. The wood was splintered on both ends, like a bundle of hair at the end of a braid, and the head still pointed toward her. Idelle's hand holding the sword shook, and she quickly pushed herself to her feet to disguise the tremors. If she hadn't reacted when she did, she would have been hit. While probably not a killing blow, since it hadn't been aimed at anything vital, it would have hurt.

She looked up at the men approaching her now. Walliam led them, his face carefully arranged in shock, his bow swinging at his side. "Captain! I'm so glad that missed! I was aiming for a target, but a wasp flew into my face at just the moment I let go of the string and I fired too wide!" He paused dramatically, staring at the arrow, his mouth open. "Wait, did you cut it out of the air?" He picked up the arrow halves, holding them slightly higher than necessary, and then spinning to show everyone around him. "She cut it out of the air! It didn't miss at all! She just... slice." He mimicked the motion of a sword.

The men and women took turns passing the split arrow around, a boisterous attitude filling the air. Disaster has been averted, and in a flashy way as well. They laughed and clapped Idelle on the back, congratulating her on her skills and joking that she should have perhaps been a thief and put her swiftness into something that would make her money. Her shoulders unclenched and she smiled briefly, half sharing in their relief and half glaring at Walliam as he kept a smart distance between her and himself. It wasn't until the group finally moved on, back to practice with laughter and jokes, that she stalked over to him and shoved the arrow shafts at him.

"What was that about? Wasps? Are you serious?" she said.

Walliam smiled and shrugged, slinging his bow over a shoulder and taking the ruined arrow from her. "What can I say? I'm afraid of the little buggers," he said, pocketing the arrow. "But, isn't it fortunate indeed, that the men and women saw what you could do? Amazing how a demonstration of the impressiveness of mobility can change their minds about a person and her drills that she wants them to do." He shrugged and sighed.

Idelle exhaled, but she couldn't quite stay angry at him. Sure, he'd almost maimed her, but the men and women in the guard were now nodding as they passed her, offering smiles, and a few even began to do some of the starter drills she'd been attempting to get them to run a few days ago. Even Sabena, who walked by with her group, smiled at her and slapped her on the back.

Idelle turned back to Walliam and pointed at him. "Next time you want to help, try not to kill me," she said.

Walliam tossed up his hands, alreading heading back to the target area. "Maybe next time you won't need my help so I won't have to not try and kill you!" he shouted back.

Idelle rolled her eyes but couldn't keep the smile off her face. Perhaps the Queen's Guard might make some progress after all.