Chapter 46
AN: Hello peoples of the internets! I appreciate all of the questions that are now FLOODING in. I am going to actually limit the questions I answer! This is great! You probably don't care! Just bear with me. 3 more chapters to ask your questions! Be sure you do that! CHAPTER:
Three days had passed without assignment from the Grandmaster Tactician, but I was officially promoted to squad leader of this little venture. Honestly, that was just making it official, and I had more pressing matters on my mind.
Liv was pregnant.
On one hand, I am super excited for us, and I know Inigo and Rose are relieved for obvious reasons. On the other hand, what kind of place is a battlefield to raise a child? Erin says that it could be twins from the fact that she appears like she is further along than she should be. (All knowledge obtained from a copy of a book called a midwife's guide to pregnancy.) What kind of battlefield can stop for a while so that we can take care of children? How can we focus on raising our child or children when we are looking over our shoulders for an ambush? It is impossible.
I shook my head to clear it as I observed the dueling reinstated shepherds keeping loose. Everyone wielding a sword except Marcus and Rose. They used an axe and lance respectively. I drew my sword, and went to challenge one of them.
"Hey honey?" Olivia called to me. "I am getting tired. Do you want to spar against Rose for a while?" She looked more than a little tired to me.
"You shouldn't be pushing yourself Liv."
"Weren't you the one talking about how the battlefield was not about to let a pregnant woman rest?" She punched my shoulder lightly. "Make up your mind would you?"
"I am just worried about you and the baby's safety." I shook my head. "I want to be as good of a father as possible Liv." She placed her hands on my cheeks. I was so glad that Inigo had made himself scarce for the afternoon. His complaints on the lack of eye bleach really were getting annoying.
"The fact that you are already so worried about us is a good sign you will be." She kissed me on the lips quickly, and backed off. "Now. You need to practice in order to continue to protect us right?" She was right as per usual; I told her so as I formed up against Rose. She just laughed as she returned to our tent for a nap.
I could not read Rose's facial expression as I formed up against her. Her insecurities actually had given her several advantages in battle. She spoke up from behind the guise of a demon.
"I am probably not good enough to do this. I am much better at fighting on top of a pegasus..." She tightened her grip on her lance.
"Rose..." I looked straight into the only thing I could see of my daughter: Her eyes. "If you have confidence, you can do everything better than you do now. Now try coming into this spar believing you will win. You have the better reach, and it is until you tap me on any portion of my body. You have every advantage."
"I can win?" She sounded unsure, so I smacked her lance to the right, and slided left.
"Great Rose. Say it again, but mean it this time."
"I can win." A sudden steel went into her eyes, and she shot forward like a bullet, and tried to "impale" me on her mock lance. I barely rolled out of the way.
"Good." I jumped to my feet. "What do you do when fighting a swordsman?" She rolled her eyes as if she had heard this question about a hundred times.
"Keep him at a distance." Her monotone made me grin at the reprimand I was about to give her.
"Then what was that speedy, reckless charge for?"
"Um... Instinct?" She straightened her mask slightly, giving me a momentary view of pink lips.
"Normally instincts are good, but this one might get you killed. Try it again." This time when she charged at a lightning speed, I subtly dodged to my left, and whipped my arm across from where I held it at my side and slapped my practice blade between her shoulders. She collapsed in a heap on the ground.
"Keep the fight at a distance, and for Naga's sake make it a cautious one." I helped her up, and she took a place about 3 feet away from me. She brought her lance into a tentative thrust, which she easily brought back to herself. I gauged her thrusts carefully, waiting for an opening. Almost every time I saw one however, it resulted in a block, and a counter attack that almost ended the match. Her defense seemed impenetrable. Then I began to notice a pattern; She was aiming her counter thrusts too low. I thrusted at one of her false openings, diverted the counter so that it hit the ground, and snapped the tip off of the practice lance. She drew back, and went into a staff wielder defensive position. I did an overhead chop, which she blocked above her head with the practice blade in between her hands on the staff. I kicked her in the stomach, and she folded up onto herself. She laid on the ground motionless for one second. That was long enough to place the tip of my fake sword on the back of her neck. I allowed her enough space to roll over.
"I don't think that this is a fair comparison. If you kept both of your arms, you probably would have became the best swordsman in the world."
"Flattery will get you nowhere Rosie." I told her. I saw her eyes lose their steel from under her mask.
"I knew I wasn't good enough to beat you." I poked the top of her mask with my fake sword.
"Your defense was perfect honey." Her eyes widened in shock. "Just raise the elevation of your counters slightly so that they can't do what I just did." I grabbed her tipless training lance. "Try making your counters at face level."
"But then all they would have to do is duck, then roll under your guard." She rose to examine my position.
"Then use your foot to kick them." I rotated my right foot counter clockwise once, then mimed a kick. "It is just an idea, but I think it is worth a try."
"I don't think I will be good enough to pull it off... But I will try." She really was skilled, but she needs some confidence. I guess you can lead a horse to water... With that thought, I ran through the spar again.
After about three hours of practicing land sparring with our resident pegasus knight, Inigo walked back into camp with a nervous tension that I recognized. Singular hand in pocket, face that looked like a puppy that had just gotten kicked, every muscle poised to flee, I had seen this happen with almost every living male 1st gen shepherd alive.
"Rose, try to get some practice against Marcus. I am sure you need to run through some exercises with an axe user." I set my training sword in the grass. "I have to go talk to your brother." I walked over to Inigo, grabbed his shoulder, and pulled him into his tent.
"Alright." I sat down and cupped my hand out in between us. "Let's see the ring."
He extended his hand out, and showed me the ring that he got from his mother in the future.
"Not that one you daft idiot." I sighed at his obvious reluctance. "The one you have in your right pocket. The one you are about to give to Ilithyia." He recoiled at the mention of his girlfriend.
"W-what gave you any indication that I wanted to ask her to marry me today?"
"I have seen more men than you can count with your fingers and toes agonize over the decision; You show all of the obvious signs of it. Now... Show me the ring." He reluctantly held out the tiny object for me to see. It was silver, with four gems inlaid on the top. There were two emeralds, and two sapphires inserted inside with gold holding all of it together. It all looked very fancy and expensive. I gave a low appreciative whistle as I handed it back.
"Do you think she will like it enough to accept it?" Inigo... That isn't how this works.
"The ring doesn't matter."
"What?"
"It is about her love for you, not the ring. If she loves you, she will take a ring made of wood, and splinter her finger every time she puts it on." Inigo tucked that ring back into his pocket.
"I am scared Dad."
"Honestly, you really should not be frightened. She fucking adores you man. Now go out there and be your confident self." I clapped his shoulder, and opened the tent flap for him. He took a deep breath, and walked to the sparring grounds. I trailed behind, watching his progress from my place in the background. He marched into our impromptu sparring ring with his roguish grin on his face, and a spring in his step.
"Hello Ilithyia my love." Ilithyia looked up from her practice with her mother.
"Oh! Hi Eph- I mean Inigo. What's up?" All eyes drifted to the scene that unfolded before them. Inigo falling to one knee. The clichéd, but oh so common movement of the woman bringing her hand to her face to cover her gasp. The question. The answer. The swirling cyclone of happiness, laughter, tears of joy, kisses, and applause. And finally, the bittersweet feeling in the gut of the father who always supported him. The one who realizes that he has to back into the shadows. The one who realizes that he is only going to grow farther away from his son. I think, that I may be the one of the only men in history to be experiencing both new feelings of fatherhood at once. The feeling of intense responsibility, and the bittersweet feeling of losing it at exactly the same time. I eventually found my way back to my tent, and just watched Liv as she slept. Only one person will stay with me for all time. Through the whirlwind of emotions that exist in me. It is her.
It was always going to be.
AN: For some reason, chapters about family always end on a tone like this. Anyway, this is going to be posted on my dinner break at work, so no one expect replies to PM's or anything else for at least another 4 hours. Anyway, follow, reveiw, and ask your questions! I will see you guys later.
