Something slightly shorter for you all today, my apologies, but the chapter ended up getting so long that I had to split it in two! Also I'd just like to say a massive thank you for all the follows and reviews on the story, while I don't reply to reviews individually I want you to know that I read and truly appreciate each one, I love this character and story so much so I'm glad you all do too!
Chapter 7
The next morning, as promised, Anya rose extremely early. She wanted to get down to the training ring before Alrid and practise everything he had already taught her, so that he could spend more time teaching her how to actually wield the staff. As she was part way through dressing herself there was a gentle knock on the door. Brow furrowed, wondering who could possibly be calling on her so early, she threw on a robe and went to greet the visitor. In the hallway stood a small boy carrying a large, flat box. "A gift from the Queen, Lady Anya." He bowed his head slightly as he presented her with the box. Anya thanked him as she took the package from his hands, heading over to place it on the bed. In the box she found a note, written in Frigga's delicate handwriting. 'I thought you might like to have these.' She set the note aside and pulled back a layer of soft paper, underneath lay some neatly folded material. She lifted out the first layer which unfurled to become a tunic, which looked like it may be tight fitting, of a light, silvery grey and covered in small blue embellishments. She set the top on the bed and pulled out what she assumed to be the matching breeches, which were a striking sky blue that matched both the embellishments on the tunic and Lady Anya's eyes. Finally, remaining in the box, were a pair of high, leather boots, which Anya carefully removed from the box as if they were some form of rare gemstone. Her heart swelled at the kind gesture from the Queen, who had chosen to pass down her own combat clothes, at least that's what Anya assumed as the outfit looked as if it were well worn. However, not wanting to waste precious training time, she didn't dwell on the Queen's kindness for too long. She made a mental note to thank Frigga profusely later, as she shimmed her way into the outfit and tied her hair up in a tight, high ponytail. Just before heading out she took a long look at herself in the full length mirror. She had been right, the tunic was fitted, but in a way that hugged her body perfectly while still leaving her plenty of room to move freely. There were high slits running up either side of the garment that ended at her waistline, meaning that her legs were not at all constricted, despite the tightness of the trousers. Anya practised a few of the stances and moves that Alrid had taught her yesterday, to get comfortable with her new outfit, and she quickly decided that she liked it much better than the dress she had worn yesterday. In fact she liked it much better than any dress she had ever worn. Not wearing a heavy skirt felt so liberating. However she didn't spend too much time admiring her new clothes, the sun had just begun to fully rise and she needed to make it down to the training grounds soon so that she could fit in as much practise as possible.
As she arrived at the grounds Anya was somewhat surprised to see a great number of guards already sparing in the rings, although she supposed that the greatest warriors in the nine realms must train from sunrise to sunset. Despite most of the men now being aware that the Lady had begun training she still managed to turn almost all the heads of the soldiers. She presumed that her new training gear had something to do with the attention she was getting. One brave lad even dared to go so far as to wolf whistle at her, however he was quickly silenced when she eyed him with a deadly glare. When her eyes were set back front, she held her head high and let a small smirk grace her lips, revelling slightly in the looks of admiration she was getting from the soldiers. She strutted into the armoury, threw a chirpy "Good morning" at the guards assembled there, picked up a quarter staff and strolled back out again, before the men even had chance to properly register her presence. Anya headed straight for the training ring that Alrid had taught her in yesterday, which was tucked away from the main area, and was relieved to find that it was empty, probably because most of the boys wanted to show off when they were sparring. She placed the staff to the side of the ring, like she had yesterday, made her way to the middle, took a deep breath to centre herself and slowly stepped a leg back, raising her fists into a defensive stance. Anya ran through all the sequences in her head and then began to move through each one. Slowly at first. Placing every foot and hand deliberately and delicately. Making sure to get every move exactly right. Then, when she was sure that she had each flow of movement just right, she started to speed them up. She created an imaginary enemy standing in front of her and landed every blow and kick with as much force as she could muster.
She wasn't sure how long she had been going at it, but she knew should couldn't remember how many times she had run each sequence. Just as she landed one particularly forceful punch, which she had emphasised with a feral roar, she heard a voice call from behind her. "Careful Missy! You'll tire yourself out before we even begin."
"Alrid!" She sighed, turning to face her teacher. "Never, I've got buckets full of energy." She lied slightly, trying to cover her gasps for air.
"Oh yeah?" He chuffed, as he tossed her a waterskin. She managed to catch it gracefully and sent him a silent nod of thanks as she began gulping down the drink. "You've been practising hard." He observed. "Your form has already improved." She sent him a hum as a form of thanks. "Who were you picturing just then?"
"Oh, no one of consequence." She finally managed to speak. "Just an old flame."
"Ah, it's always men. Lady Sif does the same thing. She says she pictures Prince Loki."
"Are they old flames?" Anya asked.
"Oh no." Alrid laughed. "She just loathes him. He used to terrorise her when she was a girl. It was just boyhood pranks, but she's always resented him for it." Anya nervously laughed along. "But it's of no consequence to me how she feels about him. As long as she fights with the same passion she always has." He eyed her deliberately now. "The same goes for you Anya. Whoever you're thinking of, keep him in mind and you'll keep that passion." He clapped her on the shoulder and walked towards the other side of the ring, stooping to pick up the staff she had placed down earlier. "Now, let's see if you can put that anger into the weapon." He tossed it over to her and she just about managed to catch it in time. Taking one last swig of water, she rolled back her shoulders and headed into the ring to take her place opposite her teacher.
Alrid spent the rest of the morning teaching Anya the basic defensive stances of the quarter staff, he had brought along a range of weapons to come at her with, so that she would be able to defend herself no matter the situation. It hadn't taken her long to pick up the theory of the movements, but when it came to running them at full speed Alrid bested her nearly every time and when he could sense that she was getting frustrated he decided to call it a day on this session. "You do the same thing tomorrow morning, missy." He called over his shoulder as he collected up the various weapons and she continued trying to run the movements with an imaginary partner. "Get here early to practise without me and you'll have me on the floor as soon as I arrive, I'm sure of it." Alrid approached her cautiously and as she began to slow down with the staff he plucked it from her hands and looked her dead in the eye. "Go and do something else with your day, you'll drive yourself mad if you stay here." She let out an exaggerated groan but she knew he was right, she could already feel her body growing weary, she needed to sit down and relax. Luckily, she knew just the place.
Solveig was relieved when Anya entered her chambers in a much calmer manner today, the whole of the previous day had set her completely on edge, so she was glad to know that she could now relax. The young maid helped to peel her mistress out of the tight training attire and into a much more loose fitting dress. Anya gracefully lowered down into the seat in front of her dresser and asked Solveig if she would be so kind as to do something with her hair. The young girl began arranging Anya's long locks into a loose but neat bun at the base of her skull, and Anya's eyes fluttered shut at the sensation of someone playing with her hair. Anya took her time in her room today, even though she was heading to the exact same place as yesterday, but this time she was in no great hurry.
Eventually, she retraced her steps from the previous afternoon and found her way, once again, to the library. This time she gasped in awe as she opened up the door, wondering how she could have possibly missed the grandiose nature of the room yesterday. Each wall was lined floor to ceiling with books of different shapes, sizes and colours, and there were so many of them that Anya was sure that no man could ever read them all in one lifetime. At the far end of the room a grand fireplace crackled with logs and in one of the armchairs she could see a familiar figure reclined, feet kicked up on a nearby table. She slowly made her way over, making sure to survey everything she could see, peering down each isle and every time being amazed that all the shelves seemed to go on forever. When she reached the fireplace and plopped down in an empty armchair, the Prince opposite her didn't even look up from his book as he drawled. "Good afternoon, Anya."
She hummed, stretched and fell back to settle in her seat, her feet coming up to rest next to his. "Good afternoon, Loki." She echoed him. Anya leaned back in the chair and let her eyes flutter shut, revelling in the warmth of the fire. Loki lifted his eyes from the book to watch her for just a second, a small smile playing on his lips as he took her in in her truly relaxed state. Her head lolled back, chest softly rising and falling with each deep breath, feet crossed at the ankles balanced just perfectly on the edge of the table. A picture of serene beauty. He felt privileged to finally get to see the lady with all her barriers down. Loki let her rest, continuing to silently read his book.
After about 20 minutes of comfortable silence Loki, still not lifting his eyes from his book, opened up a conversation. "So how was your training session this morning?"
Suddenly Anya sat bolt upright, her eyes snapping open, glistening with excitement. She began without taking a breath and spoke as if she had been waiting for him to ask her about her training for the past twenty minutes. "It was amazing." She punctuated each word with a pause, for emphasis. "Alrid says I have already improved my form. He taught me how to block a number of different weapons, I need to practise again in the morning, but he says as long as I continue to fight with such passion I could be a great warrior!"
"Really?" Loki's eyebrows shot up.
"Well, he didn't say that exactly, but I'm sure that's what he meant. Oh it's so exhilarating Loki, it makes me feel so... so powerful." She sighed.
The Prince hadn't felt himself moving, but he soon found himself leaning forward, completely enthralled by the way she spoke. He didn't want to say anything, lest he break her exhilarated state, so he simply left her room to go on.
"Oh! And I must remember to thank your mother!"
"My mother?" He asked quizzically.
"Yes! She gifted me some of her old clothes, you know to train in. A tunic and breeches, they were so freeing Loki, so much better than one of my dresses, I felt like I could actually move, gracefully, without being weighed down at all. The difference it made, it was just incredible. And the thrill of having to fend of actual weapons, it's such a rush!" She paused for a second, and took in a deep breath. "Goodness, listen to me, I sound like one of the Warriors Three!" She laughed at herself.
Loki laughed along. "Yes, but you are much more interesting to listen to." He said sincerely. The pair, both still grinning, shared a small moment as their eyes locked, neither feeling a need to speak nor wanting too, lest they break their strengthening connection.
Luckily, neither of them had to break the bubble. Unluckily, the bubble was broken for them when the library doors crashed open and Prince Thor came striding in. Both Anya and Loki snapped their heads towards the door and both inwardly groaned, not only at the interruption, but at the fact that the interrupter was Thor.
"Ah Brother! I should have known you'd be here." He boomed as he made his way over to the fireplace. "And Lady Anya too!" He added as he arrived by the armchair, as if he had not noticed her there at all until he was right next to her. "How was your training this morning?"
"Oh most excellent, thank you for asking Thor." She smile gently and spoke with much less enthusiasm than she had five minutes ago.
"That is good to hear!" He still spoke as loudly as he had when he had been on the opposite side of the room. "Speaking of training," he turned his attention to his brother. "How would you like to go for a spar or two, Loki?"
The Young Prince looked towards Anya, who gave him an encouraging nod and a look that seemed to read 'You don't want to miss another day of training do you?' Loki smirked slightly at her and turned back to face Thor. "Of course Brother. Will you be quite alright on your own Anya?" He asked, once again trying to use her ass one last 'out', and once again she foiled his plans. "Oh yes of course, I think I will stay here and read for a while. Whatever you were reading seemed to be extremely interesting Loki." She picked up the first book she found on the table, flipped to a random page and started drinking in the literature, giving the boys their cue to leave. Thor had already turned to leave the room and Loki stood gracefully, trailing behind his brother slightly. Just before he reached the door, he turned back to take one last glace at Anya. His face instantly split into a grin when he saw that she was already watching him, his smile widening even more when a blush began to rise on her cheeks, having been caught staring. 'Have fun' She mouthed at him, a smirk playing on her lips. He mirrored her, smirking and rolling his eyes 'I'll try' he silently replied. Both of them struggled to stifle a laugh when they heard Thor calling out "Come along Brother!"
