Touchstone's hand was cramping up from what felt like the millionth letter he'd written that day. Most of them had been responses to reports from Belisaere and to answers from the noble families that had survived the interregnum concerning their support for his claim to the Kingdom.
He and Sabriel were staying at the Abhorsen's house for a while. Touchstone had plans to visit the nearby villages, and Sabriel had decided that before doing much else, she had to learn more about Charter magic and the many other things she had to know in her role as the Abhorsen.
He looked up from his work.
Sabriel was gathering up several books on Charter Magic that she'd been reading keenly for the past week.
"Finally taking a brake?" He asked.
She shook her head brusquely. "No. I'm going to try practicing some spells, and I think the library might not be the best place for it."
Though she practiced the individual marks she learned as she read, it was stringing them together into a myriad of complicated spells that really required practice.
Touchstone rose to follow her "It might work better if you had a partner. I've addressed the most urgent letters, and I should like to spar with you."
She frowned "I will be practicing spells that I will use to injure Free Magic Creatures… and necromancers, if I comes to that, I might accidently hurt you, or you me, for that matter."
"Then we could practice healing spells. Besides, it will be good practice for the both of us, and I would love to knock you off your feet. You forget, I was a Royal Guard, so I've been practicing battle magic for years." He replied cockily, somewhat ruining the effect by bashfully looking at the ground and running a hand through his hair.
She smiled and raised an eyebrow. "Well now we must spar."
Touchstone grinned and walked over, kissing her lightly before taking a couple of books from her and, hand-in-hand, they made their way towards the practice rooms.
…
The practice rooms were large stone chambers that showed evidence of their purpose only in the form of old holes in the stone, as the sendings had managed to remove all other traces of damage. At one end of the room Sabriel and Touchstone entered, there was a small, sturdy table, the only part of the room that was at normal height. The rest of the room had lowered floors covered with a fairly thick layer of sand that served as the practice arena. They dropped their books on the table.
"Shall I tell you what I would like to practice?" She asked, reaching for one of the volumes.
Touchstone shook his head. "Surprise me."
They positioned themselves in the arena and Sabriel quickly drew together several marks to of injury, directing the spell at his left side.
He ran to dodge them, and was already sealing his spell as they passed him. He sent his spell at her, and she blocked it, though the force of the spell pushed her backwards somewhat. She wasted to time in firing another spell back at him.
Touchstone could feel marks lining up in his mind, ready to be used in the combinations he learned and used for years. It had been 200 years to the Kingdom, but for him it had been less than a year since he was a guard, and he reacted almost without thinking, drawing on his one of his favourite formations. He pulled together marks for change and movement, as well as many others, and sent the spell at Sabriel.
Her block was too high, and the ground beneath her feet rapidly shifted, the sand pulling out from under her as if moved by a great wind. She fell hard on her right side, her arm taking the worst of the blow.
Touchstone ran over. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine." She said snapped, pushing herself up with her left arm. He was taken aback for a moment before realizing that her anger was directed at herself and not at him.
She took a deep breath before looking back at him. "How did you do that?"
"The marks themselves are not that dissimilar to those you would use to change the direction of an attack spell, just interspersed with marks drawing them to the earth and causing it to shift."
She nodded slowly. "Show me."
He showed her the individual marks and she tried bringing them together as a spell.
Then she was pensive for a moment. He knew she wished to concentrate, and really he should be too, because practice was always a good thing, but he had powerful urge to kiss the gentle curve of the base of her neck and then to draw her shirt down so that he could continue to trace his lips down to her shoulder and then across to her collarbones and down... He realized she had said something.
He blinked to push that fantasy to the back of his brain. "Pardon?"
"Could you try that spell again?" she repeated.
"Of course." He quickly began readying the marks, still trying to distract himself from letting them go and simply kissing her instead.
He cast the spell at her again, and this time she almost succeeded in blocking it.
They tried it a few more times before she managed not only to block it, but also to promptly turn it back on him.
"Good." She remarked, "A new one?"
"Shall I start this time?" He asked.
Sabriel nodded.
He wove together marks for stunning and confusion and sent them out at her with a spell meant to land a blow, but she managed to get a block up in time. They fought until she fell once again. She instantly rose.
"Another."
…
After several hours proceeded in much the same manner, though with an impressive range of battle spells and healing spells, as well as and many breaks to practice the newly learned spells, Sabriel fell and did not immediately rise or retaliate. Touchstone went to her as she slowly pushed herself up.
"I don't think I can do anymore today." She said softly, closing her eyes and running a hand over her forehead.
"Honestly, I think I'm quite done as well." He concurred, his bruised body and aching head throbbing in agreement with his words.
She looked away, jaw tensing.
"Don't do that. Don't lie. You won each spar, I could barely touch you." She replied sharply.
"You think I did that easily?" He demanded.
"Perhaps not easily, but you still bested me each time."
Touchstone shifted so that he was directly in her line of sight.
"Sabriel, I've been training with battle magic for years."
"So has everyone I'm going to fight." She answered quietly. "I cannot remain so incompetent."
Touchstone shook his head at her words. "You know you're not incompetent. You're just stressed because there is much you have to learn, so you forget there is so much you already know. You told me the same thing not three weeks ago. What's more, if you were really fighting some…creature, you would have your bells and your sword. You know you'll pick this up quickly."
He reached out to hold her hand. "So you need to learn more spells and practice them. You've already made good headway. I will practice with you until you have me thoroughly trounced in less than a minute, at which point I will need to improve so that I can do the same to you. We will push each other to be better."
He could feel her relax somewhat.
"And in the meantime I shall appreciate being able to knock you off of your feet."
She scoffed and then pushed him into the sand.
He laughed and used the shifting spell again before she could get move than two paces from him, but she was ready and instantly blocked it. He blocked her next spell and shot a spell at her to bind her legs. This time she laughed as she fell.
"Well I suppose if isome/ibody's going to knock me off my feet…" she said, rolling her eyes.
Then he did kiss her, wrapping his arms around her to draw her closer even as she did the same. She pressed against his chest and he lay down, drawing her with him. He decided that being pressed into the sand was by far preferable to being pushed into thistles, though if she was the one pushing him down, really what he happened to be lying on was quite unimportant.
She broke their kiss to sit up and pull her shirt over her head and he eagerly rose to clumsily undo her wrappings and to kiss the bared skin of her chest, his hands running up her sides across to her back pressing her closer to him even as she tried to divest him of his shirt as well. He quickly pulled it off and tossed it away, shivering with pleasure at the touch of her cool hands against his bare skin.
She captured his lips again, kissing him almost violently. He responded in kind, drawing her lower lip between his teeth.
She rocked her hips against his at that, drawing a low groan from his lips.
He slipped one hand into her breeches, causing her to cry out as his fingers teased her. With the other hand, he clumsily tried to untie his own breeches, but she pushed it away to complete the task more efficiently.
"No." She moaned as he withdrew his hand to undo loosen her breeches.
He kissed her neck as he attempted to push them down, thrilling at the rapid pulse that pounded just bellow the flushed skin.
"No?" He murmured.
With a frustrated sigh she stood and stepped out of her britches before returning to him.
She settled just below where he wanted her, rolling her hips to press against him again, the feeling intensified now that there was nothing separating them.
He dropped his head to her shoulder as she pressed against him more firmly, his breath ragged.
"Sabriel."
She kissed the center of his curls.
"Touchstone."
He shivered again as she took him in her hand and guided him into her.
He gripped her hips tightly as they slowly came together.
He closed his eyes, trying to control his swirling mind, to make this last.
She kissed his ear.
"Are you alright?" She teased.
He choked out a laugh. "Charter, yes."
He could feel her smile against his skin.
They moved together, drawing her up along him and back down again, their movements rapidly becoming faster and more unsteady.
They both cried out as she clenched around him, her body tensing as he held her tightly, his body still screaming for release.
As her body relaxed, he couldn't help himself, and his hips jutted up.
She reached a hand down to wrap around his base as she rose up once again, and he threw his head back and called her name as he spilled into her.
After a moment, Touchstone became aware again of the feeling of the sand beneath him, of the sounds of the world outside and of Sabriel's hand lightly running up and down his back.
She kissed him softly as he opened his eyes, and he threaded a hand into her hair, lightly holding her close.
They said nothing for a long while.
Sabriel broke the silence.
"I much prefer this form of practice," she commented, and then added, grinning, "It's much more fun."
Touchstone nuzzled her neck "Mmmhmm. I think all of our sparring sessions should end with this practice."