A Rose Trapped Inside a Fist

Disclaimer: I disclaim owning anything of the Lord of the Rings trilogy or The Hobbit. I only own my own characters brought forth from my own wild imagination (Narloth, Erebwen, Rhovan, Belegor, Tindir, Dagorast and Ashare).

Hope all my readers had a fabulous New Years! Enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 7- A Gentleman's Smirk

I stare at his straight, dark hair, his bright green eyes.

He's handsome, I realize(again). He has been so kind and patient but I am afraid. Afraid he could be like Morlyg. I shake my head. Rhovan is nothing like him and Narloth has known Rhovan for a long time. Even if I don't completely trust him, I trust her.

It seems that no matter what I do, the conflicting thoughts wage their war in my mind.

I see him walking towards me and my heart flutters. I cannot deny that I like him. But am I really ready to delve into another relationship? I decide that I don't know the answer to that yet.

He sits down, right next to me and before he can say anything, I blurt it out.

"I need some time alone."

He looks at me in surprise and then hurt flashes in his eyes. He thinks he's done something wrong.

"You've done nothing wrong," I tell him. "My mind is in turmoil right now and I can't seem to think straight. I need time to think, to sort things out. I know you like me and I'm beginning to like you too. It's just moving so fast for me."

I stop speaking and look at him. He's smiling, a big grin on his face.

"I understand," he says. "Narloth keeps telling me to slow down, that it's not a race. It's difficult though, I've liked you for so long."

I smile, my heart hammering at his words. I need to change the subject before I go into cardiac arrest.

"What is our dear friend up to anyway? Seems like an age since I've seen her. Oh, you don't think she's angry do you? We've probably been making her feel left out."

"You're right," he says, shaking his head. "I haven't been helping her practice. I'm surprised she hasn't asked me to help her."

"Probably didn't want to intrude on us getting to know each other," I say.

"She is something else," Rhovan says, smirking.

I giggle and realize how much I miss her. Then I see that smirk of his and I can barely think.

"Lady Erebwen, I shall take my leave," he says, bowing dramatically and wearing the same smirk.

"I will send word to you soon, my lord," I reply, just as dramatically. I love how silly he is. He makes me laugh so much and I'm glad he understands and isn't mad at me for wanting some space. Morlyg would have reacted very differently.

He laughs and before I can change my mind, I run towards him and kiss him on the cheek. Before he can react, I'm gone and in another part of my house.

After a few moments I hear him leave and I let out a deep breath I didn't know I'd been holding.

I watch him go from a nearby window and if I didn't know better, I'd say he was almost skipping. I turn around and do what any normal girl would after telling a man that you like him- I jump up and down and know I have to tell Nar.

I drag myself out of bed and walk to the practice field. I arrive early, before dawn. I sit down on the grass and relax. I try to envision what will happen today but I'm clueless and nothing comes to mind. I have no idea what will transpire today.

Belegor is very different from Rhovan both in personality and his training methods, which could end up being a good thing…or it could be bad. I have a feeling that either way it's going to be rough.

"Are you going to sit there all day or are we going to practice?"

The voice jolts me out of my thoughts and I turn to see Belegor standing behind me.

He turns and begins to sprint down a nearby path. I stand and follow him, easily catching up. If he plans on starting the day with a run I have an easy task ahead of me. I'm a good runner and always have been. My Father used to tease me, saying that if I was ever being chased I'd be out of sight so quickly they'd think I was a ghost.

We continue running for a long time at a brisk pace and he never says a word.

Eventually, we've circled around and are near the practice field again. Belegor makes a beeline for the field and I follow.

He unsheathes his blade and I do the same. His sword is ornate and fine with designs. When he sees plain Firefrost he scoffs and is unimpressed. Apparently, he's much wealthier than I am.

In this moment, I wonder what I ever saw in him. It makes me realize how much I've changed and how much he hasn't.

Just wait until the swords start swinging, a fancy blade won't help you, I think to myself.

"Your posture is good," he remarks, circling me. "I've seen you practice with Rhovan. Your hand to hand combat skills are exceptional and I know from watching you that you've begun to incorporate it into your swordsmanship. Many swordsmen never learn a lot of hand to hand combat, which gives you an advantage. However, your swordsmanship is lacking. In fact, it's terrible."

I look at him in surprise. Rhovan had told me I was getting better, I thought I was doing well.

"I've only been practicing for a few months," I say in defense.

"Yes, and for only having practiced that long you're not horrendous but an orc could cut you down easily at your current level."

"Well, I guess that's why I'm here," I say.

He scowls at me and almost before I can react, he is swinging his sword mercilessly. He hacks and slashes in a manner I've never seen before. This isn't how he normally spars. His movements are jarring, harsh and unharmonious.

He relents after several more swings.

"THAT is how an orc fights. Their blows are strong and powerful. They can be quite quick too. Occasionally, they make the mistake of leaving parts of themselves unguarded which is where your hand to hand combat will prove useful. We have a lot of work to do. You're quick but it takes too long for you to recover from a strong swing."

I nod, thankful he's stopped. His movements were so foreign from what I was used to and were difficult to anticipate.

"Now we're going to fight normally, like what you're used to. I'll be able to assess your level better and we'll go from there."

We spar like normal, like elves- swift and fluid, graceful and deadly. I can tell he's going easy on me and I'm glad because I can barely keep up.

"I'm disappointed," he says. "Sadly, your sword only exhibits fear. When you attack, you fear killing. When you counter, it's because you fear being killed. And I sense that if you were protecting someone, you'd fear letting them die."

I try to contain my annoyance but I'm sure it's evident on my facial features. I'm not sure why he's expecting me to be perfect at something I just started.

"At this point," he continues. "the only thing your sword speaks is senseless fright. Nothing will come of your fear. When you counter, you don't let them cut you. When you protect someone, you don't let them die. And when you attack, you kill."

I want to attack you right now, I think to myself. But I know he has a point. There's a lot of room for improvement and I was going to have to work very hard.

"How good are you with a bow," he asks.

"Worse than laughable," I reply, grimacing.

His mouth twitches and I think I almost made him smile.

"It can't be that bad. Show that target what you've got," he says, pointing to a target several hundred feet away.

I balk, knowing that I couldn't hit the target even if I were thirty feet away. Lucky for others on the practice field that they're no where near the target.

As I grab my bow and knock an arrow, Belegor immediately steps in, showing me the fastest way to load an arrow.

Once that's sorted, he's scolding me on my position and posture.

"Did you and Rhovan ever practice this," he says, incredulously.

"No, and if we had he probably would have given up."

"Just aim for the target and try to hit it," he says.

I pull my arm back and aim. When I release, my arrow flies straight and true, right into the ground, near the target. Well, at least my arrow made it that far, I'm actually impressed I did that well.

He instructs me to move closer. And closer. And closer.

In the end, I'm no better than when we started.

"Alright, stop, please," he says, as though the sight of such horrible skill pains him.

He pauses a moment, thinking, then shakes his head.

"I think that's it for today. I need to come up with a plan to improve your archery and I'm going to have to get creative. Really creative."

"Okay," I reply, glad to be done. "How much do I owe you?"

He names a price and I realize that while I can pay him for today's lesson, I can't afford lessons two or three times a week like I'd hoped. I voice these concerns after paying him and he frowns.

He's silent for awhile, thinking.

"I have a son, about ten years old. It'd really help my wife and I if someone watched him a couple days a week. Would that be alright?"

It's certainly not what I expected or what I wanted to do but I accept his offer.

He explains that Tindir, his son will need to be watched twice a week and that I can begin two days from now, after our next practice.

I gather my things, thank him, and head home.

When I arrive, I find a letter on my doorstep from Erebwen. It reads:

I really need someone to talk to. I'm having a lot of conflicting thoughts right now. I also have some exciting news! Spend the night at my place?

-Erebwen

I smile and immediately begin packing my things, wondering what's happened.

When I finish packing, I set my bag near the door and at that precise moment someone knocks on said door.

I open it and there stands Rhovan, smiling and giddy. Here we go, I think to myself. What's happened?

"Hello there," I say, smiling.

He laughs and says,"hheeeeyyy."

I look at him sternly.

"Are you drunk?"

"No," he says, seriously. "Why would you think that?"

"You're acting funny," I reply.

He starts smiling again and laughs, "Erebwen likes me, told me today."

"Really? That's great!"

"I know," he says, still smiling.

He looks down and notices my packed bag.

"Going somewhere?"

"Erebwen invited me to spend the night."

His smile grows wider, "you're going to stay up all night and talk about me, aren't you?"

I give him a wink and say, "don't flatter yourself."

He gives me a puzzled look and asks what my wink meant.

I roll my eyes and shake my head.

"Yes, Rhovan, we're probably going to talk about you."

He nearly jumps up at my confirmation and I'm reminded why I don't read romance novels.

"You are the silliest person I know," I tell him, smiling.

"I'm also one of the rudest," he says, suddenly serious.

I look at him questioningly, I don't know where this is coming from.

"I'm really sorry for not practicing with you," he explains.

Now things were about to get awkward. I hadn't told anyone about practicing with Belegor and I hoped Rhovan wouldn't get mad.

"About that," I say. "I just began practicing, paying for lessons, with a guardsman."

"Oh," he says, taken aback. "Who?"

"Don't laugh, okay?"

"Okay." he says.

"I'm practicing with Belegor."

He laughs. And it's a hysterical, hardly able to breath kind of laugh. It escapes from his mouth, amid snorts and other odd noises.

Before long, I join in, laughing more at his reaction than anything else.

"And how'd that go," he asks, still laughing.

"Not terrible. Although, I think he almost fainted at how horrendous my archery skills are."

"That's a lost cause," he says, shaking his head.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you," I say.

"It's alright, there wasn't much left that I could teach you," he admits. "In fact, I've been thinking of becoming a guardsman."

"Really?"

He nods and says, " I've been talking to Erebwen's Father about it."

"Well, it'd be nice knowing that I'm not the only one going through the torture. Let me know what you decide!"

"I will," he says.

He gives me hug and says, "have fun tonight."

I nod and watch him leave. Then, after making sure I have everything, I head to Erebwen's, wondering what kind of crazy things we'll talk about and if she's as giddy as Rhovan.