22 IF IT COMES TO THAT

[LENA]

Luca was right.

The wooden sword was better. Still heavy, but much lighter than the real one.

But there was no way I was admitting that.

"Give me your hands," Luca said.

"What? Why?" For a second, I imagined him asking for my hand. Not literally, but as in, asking for my hand in marriage. I blushed like an idiot at the thought and pulled the wooden sword close to my chest, my hands wrapped tightly around the handle.

"If I may?"

Without waiting for me to respond, Luca extracted the sword from my hands and set it aside. He grabbed my hand, and a jolt of electricity burned my skin where it made contact with his. A good kind of jolt.

"Wh–what are you doing?" I stammered.

"We need to protect your delicate hands." He began wrapping a long strip of linen fabric around my hand, weaving it around my palm and fingers. "The sword is light enough, but the wood could still splinter and hurt you."

I barely paid any attention to his words. All I could think about was how his hands felt against my skin. His hands were a lot bigger compared to mine. His palms were rough and calloused, but he was very gentle as he worked.

I wanted to touch his hands. Explore every inch with my fingertips. In that way, maybe it would tell me more about what he went through the past couple of years.

But I didn't.

It took all of my concentration to keep my hand frozen as inexplicable waves of pleasure radiated through me.

And then he let go. He was done.

But then another wave of pleasure came as he took my other hand and began to work on wrapping it.

I realized my breathing had quickened. I tore my eyes away from our hands and trained them on Luca's face. I instantly looked away.

When did he become so handsome?

Okay, that was silly. Luca's face hadn't changed at all, apart from the new scars. But why haven't I noticed it before? Why am I reacting this way to the smallest touch from him? Why am I suddenly feeling this bewildering attraction to him?

"You're all set. Is it too tight?" His voice broke into my thoughts.

"Umm… no, it's fine," I squeaked, flexing out my hands. I wish he'd hold them again.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Huh?"

"Your face is all red."

"I'm fine! It's just… a bit hot, that's all." As if the world was trying to expose my lies, a gust of cool wind enveloped us.

He looked at me curiously. "Really? Do you want to rest for a bit? Or do you want me to get you refreshments?"

I forced a laugh. "No, I'm fine, Luca! Let's just start."

"If you say so."

I followed him to a group of training dummies, carrying the wooden sword with both my hands. I could easily lift it with one hand, of course, but as we walked deeper onto the grassy field, the heels of my boots began sticking into the damp earth, bringing up chunks of mud with them. Maybe it rained last night. I didn't know, but I sure knew that my choice of footwear was questionable.

I trudged behind him, my heels making sucking noises every time I pulled them up.

"What's wrong?" Luca asked. He had reached the dummies and turned around to see me quite some distance from him.

"Nothing." I hastened my footsteps, pretending to walk normally and failing miserably.

Luca glanced at my feet. "Didn't I tell you to change your shoes?" he said, frowning at the heeled boots I was wearing.

"They're fine. Leave them alone," I muttered. The heels added about four inches to my height like I wanted, but I just realized they weren't practical at all for my training. I should've listened to him, but then again, I wasn't admitting that.

I turned my attention to the nearest training dummy, which was a head taller than me. It had a heavy base with a wooden pole sticking out in the middle. A stuffed burlap on the top was shaped into a torso of a man; straw was peeking out from where the armholes should be.

"What do I do first, Captain Luca?" I asked. I lifted the wooden sword with both my hands and whacked the dummy. Pathetically. The sword fell from my hands as soon as it made contact.

I heard Luca's familiar chuckle behind me. I shot him a dirty look and scrambled to pick up the sword, almost tripping on my heels if he hadn't grabbed my arm on time. He bent down and retrieved the sword for me.

"Why don't we skip the dummies for now," he said, keeping his hold on my arm as he escorted me to an empty area right beside the battlements.

Suddenly, it became easier to walk. Somewhat protected from the rain, the ground was firmer there. No loose mud to get stuck on my heels. I glanced up at Luca in surprise. He hadn't reprimanded me for my footwear mistake, but instead, had shown me consideration. My heart gave a little leap.

"Okay, first things first," he said. "Let's work on your posture. Take a step forward with your left foot like this… okay, not that big of a step, just a little closer… that's perfect. Now bend your knees lightly. Make sure you have a good balance… Now, keep your back straight..."

Luca demonstrated the proper posture, but trying to imitate him was hard. My body wasn't used to it. It felt weirdly uncomfortable. I sighed. We've only been on the first step and I was already having difficulty.

"Now, practice lifting the sword and swinging it down straight forward." He showed me how to do it with another wooden sword he brought along. "Make sure your feet are planted firmly on the ground… and swing."

I swung.

"Okay, not too forceful or you'll fall on your face. Remember, you're center of balance is your body and not your sword. Get to know the sword… how it feels in your hand… make sure you have a tight grip on the handle, but not too tight to hurt your hands. Just enough that it wouldn't go flying once it gets hit."

To prove his point, he gently tapped my sword with his, and my sword escaped my grip and dropped to the ground. I scowled at him as he picked it up for me.

He smiled. "Again."

This time, I was determined not to make a fool of myself again.

"Use the strength from your arms, Lena, not just your hands. Then, once you get familiar with the weight, try doing horizontal slashes…"

Several minutes into the training and my arms were already hurting. My legs and back were aching from trying to maintain the stupid proper posture. But I persevered. I didn't let my pain show.

Once Luca was satisfied that I could hold my stance, he showed me the basic angles of striking — straight down, straight up, diagonal, and horizontal slashes; and how each type was used to counteract different forms of attack from the enemy.

He emphasized defense rather than offense. I didn't need to focus on the latter because the purpose of my training was only for self-defense. He set out various scenarios for me and showed me how to defend myself. He pretended to be the 'enemy', slowly swinging his sword at me while I tried to block it with the techniques he had taught me.

We did it multiple times until I was able to properly block off the majority of his attacks.

"And then, what?" I asked breathlessly.

"What do you mean?" he replied.

"What happens after I block successfully? How do I incapacitate an enemy?"

Luca frowned. "You will do no 'incapacitating' of any sort, Your Highness."

"Huh? So what am I going to do, then? Just stand right there and wait for them to recover?"

"No. You will run away."

"What?! No way I'm running away. If we get attacked, then I have to fight too!"

"No," he said sternly. "Your royal guard will protect you. I will protect you. But just in case, heavens forbid, we are not able to, then at least you're not helpless. You will not engage in any fighting. The first thing you need to do is keep yourself safe. Run, if you have to."

"No! If ever that happens, I'm not leaving you behind!"

"Yes you will," he said, almost forcefully. He quickly regained composure and spoke again calmly. "If it comes to that, save yourself. My life is nothing compared to yours, Your Highness."

"No, it's not! Your life is as worthy as mine! Every life is! Don't talk like that!" The morbid subject was getting me frustrated and sad at the same time. It was exhausting. "Besides, these are all just hypothetical, right? It's never going to happen!"

"We can never know, Lena. The world is a dangerous place."

"But I have you! Just as long as I have you, I… I know I'll be safe."

His eyes widened in surprise, and then he gave me a smile that made my heart skip a beat.

"You trust in me that much?" he said softly.