Chapter 6
The next day, after some fond partings between good friends, including a promise between Edge and Yang to visit each other's castles and have another good battle, Edge, Rydia, Kain, and Larisa boarded Edge's airship in high spirits. Kain and Larisa were planning to return to Baron in Edge's airship, with some of Edge's men to pilot it back to Eblan after dropping them off.
"So where exactly is Eblan, anyway?" asked Larisa, who'd never been further outside Mysidia than Mt. Ordeals.
"At the foot of the Tower of Bab-il," Edge answered cheerfully. "It really gets in the way of my tanning spot sometimes, but for the most part we don't mind it."
"Oh, I thought it was in a cave," Rydia said mildly. Edge shot her a look, but couldn't take his eyes off the course for very long.
"When Golbez attacked the town, the people of Eblan hid out in a nearby cave," Kain explained to Larisa. "Although it's pretty mean to refer to it."
"Can't help it," Rydia protested. "I thought the people of Eblan were incredibly brave when I met them in the cave, you know. And headstrong. Well, perhaps that was just the prince, whom we found mashed on the floor by Rubicant."
Kain hooted. "She's wicked, this one!"
"I don't appreciate that," Edge said huffily. "I was just trying to get my revenge."
"I know," Rydia said softly. "I'm just kidding. I thought you were incredibly brave, too."
Edge thought that he was in terrible danger of blushing. Instead, he said, "So Larisa, Kain tells us you're an amazing shot."
"Oh, I wouldn't say that," she laughed. "I have a decent eye."
"Maybe you'll show us your skills back at the castle," Edge suggested. "I've got a great training room."
"Only if I can see your skills as well," Larisa said courteously.
But she wasn't too hesitant the next day, when they all decided to head to the training room for some relaxing practice. Edge offered her a beautiful practice bow and several arrows, and without too much prodding, she aimed at a target across the room. Larisa hit the bulls-eye, then split her previous arrow in half -- four times.
"Not bad," Edge said, impressed. He drew a long blade and threw it across the room, dividing her last arrow in half himself.
"That's an old blade, right?" Kain asked. At Edge's nod, Kain leveled the Lance of White at the target, which fell to the ground at the incredible impact. When they rushed over to see the results, they discovered Edge's blade split in half as well.
There was a pause. Then Rydia said, "I could summon Bahamut and have him Meganuke you all to pieces."
They all laughed. "But seriously," Rydia continued, "here's my battle prowess." And she pulled out a battling rod -- and proceeded to twirl it above her head, threw it up high and caught it, then tossed it under her leg and caught it again. She bowed among the laughter.
"Cheerleading moves? I was battling evil with someone whose greatest non- magic power is cheerleading?" Kain joked.
"Hey, don't make me set Odin on you," she warned lightheartedly.
The week passed quickly with the four of them having fun together. Edge and Rydia found Larisa to be delightful company. There was some slight awkwardness when Edge saw Kain and Larisa, er, kissing, but mostly, it was a most enjoyable week.
The night before Kain and Larisa were to leave, Edge asked Rydia -- in private, of course -- whether she was staying or leaving.
"I think I'll stay for a while longer, if that's okay with you," she said.
"Of course it's okay with me!" he said quickly. "That's more than okay -- that's great! I'm glad you're staying. You're having fun above ground, aren't you?"
"Yeah, I am," she said, smiling at him. "I'm glad that I came. I've missed spending time with people, I found out."
"Missed spending time with me, you mean," he leered playfully.
Rydia smiled. "Well, yes," she admitted. "I did miss spending time with you. I'm sorry I didn't write back that last time. I think I didn't want any more letters from you."
Edge tried to look hurt. Which wasn't very difficult, since he was a little hurt. "I guess you accomplished it," he said.
"No, not because I didn't want to hear from you," Rydia hastened to say. "Just because I guess I missed spending time with people, and I didn't want to be reminded of it any more than I needed to be. You know what I mean?" Her eyes begged him to understand.
"Yes, I do," he said slowly. "Well, at least you're here now, and I can hear from you now," he added, and, uncharacteristically, he pulled her close to him and hugged her.
She relaxed into his embrace after a moment, although she was genuinely surprised. It felt nice.
Edge smiled at her as he pulled away, and she felt an odd pang of disappointment. "Goodnight, Rydia," he said, and he returned to his room.
~~~
The next day, after seeing off Kain and Larisa, Edge and Rydia were chatting in the throne room when the Chamberlain entered, looking distressed. "Sir, I'm sorry to disrupt you, but now that some of your guests have gone, I know that you have other guests, but I must ask, you see, you have been so occupied for two weeks now -- "
"Spit it out, Sam," Edge said lazily.
"I must ask you to return to your kingly duties," the Chamberlain said frankly. "The rebuilding of the city went well, but there are still issues -- the people haven't seen you in two weeks, you must realize, and they want to know that their king will still walk among them."
Edge bit his lip. "Of course, Sam, I'm so sorry," he said.
"Don't apologize to me," the Chamberlain replied. "All I ask of you today is that you walk the town."
"Oh, Chamberlain, I'm sorry, too," Rydia said, although Edge put a hand on her arm to let her know that she definitely wasn't at fault.
"Oh, my dear," the Chamberlain said with an odd smile at her, "no one would possibly blame you. Why don't you go along with Edge? You can see the town, as well."
"Well -- that sounds like fun," said Rydia, smiling at Edge. Edge, who had been scowling at the Chamberlain for his not-so-subtle ulterior motives, quickly smiled back at her.
"All right," Edge said, standing. "Let's go."
Rydia eyed his outfit, just a normal outfit, no crown, no royal crest, no nothing. "You don't need anything?"
"It's not like anyone would attack me," Edge laughed. "They know who I am." The Chamberlain and Rydia merely gave him pointed looks. "All right, fine," Edge huffed, grabbing a royal-crested robe and swinging it around his shoulders. "Is this suitable enough for you?"
"I suppose," Rydia replied.
"It'll do," the Chamberlain sniffed.
Edge rolled his eyes, sheathed two long blades, and grabbed Rydia's hand. "Let's get out of here before he starts scolding me about my bedtime," he said.
"You know," Rydia said slowly, "you have been sleeping rather late these days . . ." At his incredulous look, she winked outrageously at him.
"You two will be the death of me!" Edge said, but he still had her hand in his.
They walked out of the castle, getting bows from all the footmen that they passed. But they had soon entered the town, which wasn't too big.
"The fountain wasn't there in the old days," Edge said, indicating a beautiful fountain in the center of the town. "But it runs from a fresh water source and is recycled, so that people can get their water there, too. The people just make sure that none of their children play in it. That's what the other one's for."
A number of children were crowded around and in a smaller fountain to the side of the large centerpiece. At Edge's approach, two of the older boys broke away and, when they met him, pounded their little fists against his stomach. "Edge!" they shouted, "Edge, where have you been?"
"You little rascals!" Edge answered and, to Rydia's astonishment, wrestled them to the ground. And they laughed!
"Prince Edge, I got you a cup of water," a very different voice said shyly, belonging to a tiny girl with huge poofy brown hair, holding out a cup of clear water, presumably from the other fountain.
"Aw, thank you, Celsia," Edge said gratefully, accepting the drink. "Rydia, would you like some? Kids, this is my friend, Lady Rydia."
"I'm not technically a lady," she whispered to Edge as she took a sip of the water.
"Close enough," Edge replied.
Another little girl was tugging on Rydia's long dress, saying, "Wow, your dress is soft, Lady Rydia!"
"Thank you, little one," Rydia said, smiling down at the little head.
"My mom weaves fabric," the little girl continued earnestly, "but she can't make stuff as soft as that."
"Well, perhaps I can show her how," Rydia said. "What's your name?"
"Feria," she replied.
"I'll introduce Rydia to your mom," Edge said to her with a smile. "For now, we're going to walk around, okay?"
"Can we come?" the two boys who'd tackled him asked eagerly.
Edge raised an eyebrow. "Okay, but we're going to be walking around talking to your moms and stuff," he said mildly.
"Oh, forget it," the boys said disappointedly. "We thought you were going to fight someone or something," one added as they turned back to the fountain.
Rydia laughed. "What?" Edge said. "That's what I was like when I was a kid."
"That's what you're still like," Rydia responded.
"True," Edge admitted. "Well, let's go in here."
Inside one of the houses was a sturdy-looking boy and an older woman, presumably his mother. "Hello, Therese," Edge said, giving the woman an elegant kiss on her hand. "Hey, Benone."
"Oh, hello, Prince Edge!" Therese beamed. She had a habit of incorrectly calling him "prince," since she'd known him since he was a little boy. Edge didn't mind, though, and wouldn't dream of correcting her. "We were all wondering how you've been these past couple weeks! How was the ceremony at Baron?"
"Perfectly lovely, and I brought back a friend from there, actually," Edge said. "This is Lady Rydia."
"Oh, you can just call me Rydia," she said quickly.
"Oh, pleased to meet you," Therese said, shaking her hand.
"Benone, are you excited to start sword lessons tomorrow?" Edge asked him. Benone nodded vigorously but wordlessly.
"He's part of this year's Ninja trainees," Therese told Rydia proudly. "Their sword lessons start tomorrow, and he can't wait to try them out."
"Good!" Edge exclaimed. "Therese, how's the cloth stuff coming?"
Therese laughed. "The 'cloth stuff' is good, thank you, sir."
"Oh, that's right," Edge said, turning to Rydia, "this is Feria's mother. Feria just commented on the cloth that Rydia's dress is made of."
Therese touched Rydia's dress gently and said, "Oh, my, that is soft!"
"Oh, it's just made out of normal cotton," Rydia said excitedly. "It's just a special way of weaving that the Syl -- my friend Sylvie taught me. I'd be happy to teach you sometime."
"That would be wonderful!" Therese exclaimed. "I'm sure some of the other seamstresses would love to learn how to use it, too. Do you think you could teach all of us?"
"Absolutely!" Rydia agreed warmly. "Why don't we hold an informal class or something like that?"
"That would be wonderful," Therese said.
Edge, who had been standing nearby, smiling at these arrangements, intervened. "Rydia and I can talk to the others in the town and get some interest. We'll talk tonight about when would be a good time, and maybe the class can be held tomorrow or the day after? There will be ample room in the castle, of course, if the women wouldn't mind bringing their weaving . . . stuff . . . there."
"Looms," Therese hinted to him.
"Right. Looms," he said. "Well, I think we'll be off for now."
"It was a pleasure meeting you, my lady," Therese said, kissing Rydia's hand affectionately.
"Oh, please, no need for that," Rydia laughed. "Call me Rydia."
As they exited the house, Rydia became a little worried. "I hope it's okay, that I want to teach this class?" she asked Edge.
"Oh, I think it's a great idea!" he smiled down at her in response. "I'm glad that there's going to be, um, some soft cloth around here."
"Great!"
The two visited most of the houses in the town, and many of the women who were in their houses sounded greatly interested in the new weaving technique and were excited to learn. Rydia's class seemed to be growing quite large.
"Well, that was a pretty productive day," Edge said to Rydia as they strolled back to the castle. "This year's crop of Ninjas-to-be is a pretty good batch of youngsters. I'm excited to start teaching them tomorrow."
"You're teaching them swordsmanship?" Rydia asked curiously.
Edge nodded. "You're welcome to come and watch, if you'd like."
"Well, I -- " Rydia tossed her hair rather self-consciously. "I was thinking about asking if I could perhaps -- join your class."
Edge was surprised, but tried not to show it. "You'd like to learn?" he asked.
"Well, I was just remembering the other day, how you all had your things to show off with, you know, bow and arrow, lance, and swords, and I'd like to be able to do something like that."
"Rydia, you know that your summoned monsters were worth ten of my blades."
"Oh, I know," she replied, in a frank, self-assured tone that made Edge laugh. "But I never got to really be good at anything physical, even during that whole trip on the moon. And I'd like to try." He remained silent as they walked forward, into the throne room. "Oh, please, Edge? I won't be any bother at all, I'll stay in the back and you won't need to help me out or anything."
"Well, it's a small class, mostly of thirteen- and fourteen-year-olds," Edge told her. "I'm pretty sure they'd notice a grown woman, even if she was standing in the back. But -- I think that it would be okay. And you may join."
"Oh, thank you!" she said gratefully, throwing her arms around him for a hug as warm as the summer evening.
"But -- " Edge warned, trying to extricate himself, although not really wanting to, "I'm a rather different person when I'm teaching Ninjas. Now, I won't expect you to follow my orders, but don't you dare laugh at me or treat me as anything but a superior during the class. That would cultivate disrespect, and I can't have any of that."
"I promise I won't cultivate any disrespect," Rydia said, looking up at him, and in that moment he felt that she actually respected him, as well. She had no need to -- she was his equal in every way, from being a warrior to her high rank -- and that was all the more reason that it felt good.
He smiled. "Thank you."
The next day, after some fond partings between good friends, including a promise between Edge and Yang to visit each other's castles and have another good battle, Edge, Rydia, Kain, and Larisa boarded Edge's airship in high spirits. Kain and Larisa were planning to return to Baron in Edge's airship, with some of Edge's men to pilot it back to Eblan after dropping them off.
"So where exactly is Eblan, anyway?" asked Larisa, who'd never been further outside Mysidia than Mt. Ordeals.
"At the foot of the Tower of Bab-il," Edge answered cheerfully. "It really gets in the way of my tanning spot sometimes, but for the most part we don't mind it."
"Oh, I thought it was in a cave," Rydia said mildly. Edge shot her a look, but couldn't take his eyes off the course for very long.
"When Golbez attacked the town, the people of Eblan hid out in a nearby cave," Kain explained to Larisa. "Although it's pretty mean to refer to it."
"Can't help it," Rydia protested. "I thought the people of Eblan were incredibly brave when I met them in the cave, you know. And headstrong. Well, perhaps that was just the prince, whom we found mashed on the floor by Rubicant."
Kain hooted. "She's wicked, this one!"
"I don't appreciate that," Edge said huffily. "I was just trying to get my revenge."
"I know," Rydia said softly. "I'm just kidding. I thought you were incredibly brave, too."
Edge thought that he was in terrible danger of blushing. Instead, he said, "So Larisa, Kain tells us you're an amazing shot."
"Oh, I wouldn't say that," she laughed. "I have a decent eye."
"Maybe you'll show us your skills back at the castle," Edge suggested. "I've got a great training room."
"Only if I can see your skills as well," Larisa said courteously.
But she wasn't too hesitant the next day, when they all decided to head to the training room for some relaxing practice. Edge offered her a beautiful practice bow and several arrows, and without too much prodding, she aimed at a target across the room. Larisa hit the bulls-eye, then split her previous arrow in half -- four times.
"Not bad," Edge said, impressed. He drew a long blade and threw it across the room, dividing her last arrow in half himself.
"That's an old blade, right?" Kain asked. At Edge's nod, Kain leveled the Lance of White at the target, which fell to the ground at the incredible impact. When they rushed over to see the results, they discovered Edge's blade split in half as well.
There was a pause. Then Rydia said, "I could summon Bahamut and have him Meganuke you all to pieces."
They all laughed. "But seriously," Rydia continued, "here's my battle prowess." And she pulled out a battling rod -- and proceeded to twirl it above her head, threw it up high and caught it, then tossed it under her leg and caught it again. She bowed among the laughter.
"Cheerleading moves? I was battling evil with someone whose greatest non- magic power is cheerleading?" Kain joked.
"Hey, don't make me set Odin on you," she warned lightheartedly.
The week passed quickly with the four of them having fun together. Edge and Rydia found Larisa to be delightful company. There was some slight awkwardness when Edge saw Kain and Larisa, er, kissing, but mostly, it was a most enjoyable week.
The night before Kain and Larisa were to leave, Edge asked Rydia -- in private, of course -- whether she was staying or leaving.
"I think I'll stay for a while longer, if that's okay with you," she said.
"Of course it's okay with me!" he said quickly. "That's more than okay -- that's great! I'm glad you're staying. You're having fun above ground, aren't you?"
"Yeah, I am," she said, smiling at him. "I'm glad that I came. I've missed spending time with people, I found out."
"Missed spending time with me, you mean," he leered playfully.
Rydia smiled. "Well, yes," she admitted. "I did miss spending time with you. I'm sorry I didn't write back that last time. I think I didn't want any more letters from you."
Edge tried to look hurt. Which wasn't very difficult, since he was a little hurt. "I guess you accomplished it," he said.
"No, not because I didn't want to hear from you," Rydia hastened to say. "Just because I guess I missed spending time with people, and I didn't want to be reminded of it any more than I needed to be. You know what I mean?" Her eyes begged him to understand.
"Yes, I do," he said slowly. "Well, at least you're here now, and I can hear from you now," he added, and, uncharacteristically, he pulled her close to him and hugged her.
She relaxed into his embrace after a moment, although she was genuinely surprised. It felt nice.
Edge smiled at her as he pulled away, and she felt an odd pang of disappointment. "Goodnight, Rydia," he said, and he returned to his room.
~~~
The next day, after seeing off Kain and Larisa, Edge and Rydia were chatting in the throne room when the Chamberlain entered, looking distressed. "Sir, I'm sorry to disrupt you, but now that some of your guests have gone, I know that you have other guests, but I must ask, you see, you have been so occupied for two weeks now -- "
"Spit it out, Sam," Edge said lazily.
"I must ask you to return to your kingly duties," the Chamberlain said frankly. "The rebuilding of the city went well, but there are still issues -- the people haven't seen you in two weeks, you must realize, and they want to know that their king will still walk among them."
Edge bit his lip. "Of course, Sam, I'm so sorry," he said.
"Don't apologize to me," the Chamberlain replied. "All I ask of you today is that you walk the town."
"Oh, Chamberlain, I'm sorry, too," Rydia said, although Edge put a hand on her arm to let her know that she definitely wasn't at fault.
"Oh, my dear," the Chamberlain said with an odd smile at her, "no one would possibly blame you. Why don't you go along with Edge? You can see the town, as well."
"Well -- that sounds like fun," said Rydia, smiling at Edge. Edge, who had been scowling at the Chamberlain for his not-so-subtle ulterior motives, quickly smiled back at her.
"All right," Edge said, standing. "Let's go."
Rydia eyed his outfit, just a normal outfit, no crown, no royal crest, no nothing. "You don't need anything?"
"It's not like anyone would attack me," Edge laughed. "They know who I am." The Chamberlain and Rydia merely gave him pointed looks. "All right, fine," Edge huffed, grabbing a royal-crested robe and swinging it around his shoulders. "Is this suitable enough for you?"
"I suppose," Rydia replied.
"It'll do," the Chamberlain sniffed.
Edge rolled his eyes, sheathed two long blades, and grabbed Rydia's hand. "Let's get out of here before he starts scolding me about my bedtime," he said.
"You know," Rydia said slowly, "you have been sleeping rather late these days . . ." At his incredulous look, she winked outrageously at him.
"You two will be the death of me!" Edge said, but he still had her hand in his.
They walked out of the castle, getting bows from all the footmen that they passed. But they had soon entered the town, which wasn't too big.
"The fountain wasn't there in the old days," Edge said, indicating a beautiful fountain in the center of the town. "But it runs from a fresh water source and is recycled, so that people can get their water there, too. The people just make sure that none of their children play in it. That's what the other one's for."
A number of children were crowded around and in a smaller fountain to the side of the large centerpiece. At Edge's approach, two of the older boys broke away and, when they met him, pounded their little fists against his stomach. "Edge!" they shouted, "Edge, where have you been?"
"You little rascals!" Edge answered and, to Rydia's astonishment, wrestled them to the ground. And they laughed!
"Prince Edge, I got you a cup of water," a very different voice said shyly, belonging to a tiny girl with huge poofy brown hair, holding out a cup of clear water, presumably from the other fountain.
"Aw, thank you, Celsia," Edge said gratefully, accepting the drink. "Rydia, would you like some? Kids, this is my friend, Lady Rydia."
"I'm not technically a lady," she whispered to Edge as she took a sip of the water.
"Close enough," Edge replied.
Another little girl was tugging on Rydia's long dress, saying, "Wow, your dress is soft, Lady Rydia!"
"Thank you, little one," Rydia said, smiling down at the little head.
"My mom weaves fabric," the little girl continued earnestly, "but she can't make stuff as soft as that."
"Well, perhaps I can show her how," Rydia said. "What's your name?"
"Feria," she replied.
"I'll introduce Rydia to your mom," Edge said to her with a smile. "For now, we're going to walk around, okay?"
"Can we come?" the two boys who'd tackled him asked eagerly.
Edge raised an eyebrow. "Okay, but we're going to be walking around talking to your moms and stuff," he said mildly.
"Oh, forget it," the boys said disappointedly. "We thought you were going to fight someone or something," one added as they turned back to the fountain.
Rydia laughed. "What?" Edge said. "That's what I was like when I was a kid."
"That's what you're still like," Rydia responded.
"True," Edge admitted. "Well, let's go in here."
Inside one of the houses was a sturdy-looking boy and an older woman, presumably his mother. "Hello, Therese," Edge said, giving the woman an elegant kiss on her hand. "Hey, Benone."
"Oh, hello, Prince Edge!" Therese beamed. She had a habit of incorrectly calling him "prince," since she'd known him since he was a little boy. Edge didn't mind, though, and wouldn't dream of correcting her. "We were all wondering how you've been these past couple weeks! How was the ceremony at Baron?"
"Perfectly lovely, and I brought back a friend from there, actually," Edge said. "This is Lady Rydia."
"Oh, you can just call me Rydia," she said quickly.
"Oh, pleased to meet you," Therese said, shaking her hand.
"Benone, are you excited to start sword lessons tomorrow?" Edge asked him. Benone nodded vigorously but wordlessly.
"He's part of this year's Ninja trainees," Therese told Rydia proudly. "Their sword lessons start tomorrow, and he can't wait to try them out."
"Good!" Edge exclaimed. "Therese, how's the cloth stuff coming?"
Therese laughed. "The 'cloth stuff' is good, thank you, sir."
"Oh, that's right," Edge said, turning to Rydia, "this is Feria's mother. Feria just commented on the cloth that Rydia's dress is made of."
Therese touched Rydia's dress gently and said, "Oh, my, that is soft!"
"Oh, it's just made out of normal cotton," Rydia said excitedly. "It's just a special way of weaving that the Syl -- my friend Sylvie taught me. I'd be happy to teach you sometime."
"That would be wonderful!" Therese exclaimed. "I'm sure some of the other seamstresses would love to learn how to use it, too. Do you think you could teach all of us?"
"Absolutely!" Rydia agreed warmly. "Why don't we hold an informal class or something like that?"
"That would be wonderful," Therese said.
Edge, who had been standing nearby, smiling at these arrangements, intervened. "Rydia and I can talk to the others in the town and get some interest. We'll talk tonight about when would be a good time, and maybe the class can be held tomorrow or the day after? There will be ample room in the castle, of course, if the women wouldn't mind bringing their weaving . . . stuff . . . there."
"Looms," Therese hinted to him.
"Right. Looms," he said. "Well, I think we'll be off for now."
"It was a pleasure meeting you, my lady," Therese said, kissing Rydia's hand affectionately.
"Oh, please, no need for that," Rydia laughed. "Call me Rydia."
As they exited the house, Rydia became a little worried. "I hope it's okay, that I want to teach this class?" she asked Edge.
"Oh, I think it's a great idea!" he smiled down at her in response. "I'm glad that there's going to be, um, some soft cloth around here."
"Great!"
The two visited most of the houses in the town, and many of the women who were in their houses sounded greatly interested in the new weaving technique and were excited to learn. Rydia's class seemed to be growing quite large.
"Well, that was a pretty productive day," Edge said to Rydia as they strolled back to the castle. "This year's crop of Ninjas-to-be is a pretty good batch of youngsters. I'm excited to start teaching them tomorrow."
"You're teaching them swordsmanship?" Rydia asked curiously.
Edge nodded. "You're welcome to come and watch, if you'd like."
"Well, I -- " Rydia tossed her hair rather self-consciously. "I was thinking about asking if I could perhaps -- join your class."
Edge was surprised, but tried not to show it. "You'd like to learn?" he asked.
"Well, I was just remembering the other day, how you all had your things to show off with, you know, bow and arrow, lance, and swords, and I'd like to be able to do something like that."
"Rydia, you know that your summoned monsters were worth ten of my blades."
"Oh, I know," she replied, in a frank, self-assured tone that made Edge laugh. "But I never got to really be good at anything physical, even during that whole trip on the moon. And I'd like to try." He remained silent as they walked forward, into the throne room. "Oh, please, Edge? I won't be any bother at all, I'll stay in the back and you won't need to help me out or anything."
"Well, it's a small class, mostly of thirteen- and fourteen-year-olds," Edge told her. "I'm pretty sure they'd notice a grown woman, even if she was standing in the back. But -- I think that it would be okay. And you may join."
"Oh, thank you!" she said gratefully, throwing her arms around him for a hug as warm as the summer evening.
"But -- " Edge warned, trying to extricate himself, although not really wanting to, "I'm a rather different person when I'm teaching Ninjas. Now, I won't expect you to follow my orders, but don't you dare laugh at me or treat me as anything but a superior during the class. That would cultivate disrespect, and I can't have any of that."
"I promise I won't cultivate any disrespect," Rydia said, looking up at him, and in that moment he felt that she actually respected him, as well. She had no need to -- she was his equal in every way, from being a warrior to her high rank -- and that was all the more reason that it felt good.
He smiled. "Thank you."