Soaring hawk & midnight84118: Thanks for your reviews! I really appreciate them! I hope you like this chapter too.
A/N: Hello all. This chapter is a lot about trying to give you a better feel for the castle. Let me know if makes sense. It also, hopefully, starts to answer questions about Saba's training. Life is still sort of insane for me, but I'm going to keep trying to work on this when I can. I hope to have one more chapter at least up this month.
Chapter 14: Training Day
[Becoming One with the People/Legend of the Seeker Soundtrack/Krull-Love Theme, Last of the Mohicans, Underworld, The Last Samurai, Batman Begins, Dark Knight]
While Sabine filled Aleeria in on some of her thoughts regarding the Lycans in general and the future of an elite class in particular, Sabas and Lucian prepared themselves for their training. After speaking with Khan, Sabas and Lucian were led from their barracks cell to the kitchen where they received a heartier breakfast than either of them could recall ever having consumed before in their lives. Generally, the Vampire's outlook on feeding their slaves seemed to be to feed them enough to enable them to continue toiling for them, but not so much that they could consider rebellion or escape. They applied this rule more strictly to the Lycans than to their human slaves since the humans were sometimes food and the idea of their successful rebellion was laughable at best.
Sabas and Lucian glanced at each other in a shared look of surprise at their full plates before beginning to devour the food set before them. Recalling Aleeria's words about civilizing his personal habits now that he served the House of Markus, Sabas tried as best he could to eat his food in a more dignified manner in spite of not being given utensils. Not that he would have known what to do with utensils if he'd been given them. Fortunately, their breakfast, while hearty, was easy to eat with their hands without making too much of a mess.
All through breakfast, Sabas hoped that Khan would take them up to Sabine for inspection before their training began and by extension, to where Aleeria was, but no such luck. He would have cheerfully sat through another one of Sabine's scathing lectures, dripping with barely disguised threats against his life and more specific parts of his anatomy just to see Aleeria for a few moments. He was comforted by Lucian mentioning that she asked about him. Still, it was not the same as actually communicating with her or sharing the same space. He didn't have time to dwell on it though. All too soon, their plates were taken away and Khan returned to lead them out to the practice arena. Sabas had only seen it before in passing as that space was not used by the Lycans, but could be viewed from some of the wall openings on their way down to their barracks.
The castle was split into five sections: clear divisions to remind those within where they fit in the scheme of things. The stone fortress was known as Castle Corvinus, guarding over the valley and facing the east. Decades ago, Markus's father had inherited it from his father. In those days, the castle was split into four main sections; the center section was by far the largest and housed the great hall, the council chambers, the vaults, archives and library and deep underneath the rest: dungeons and the torture and interrogation rooms. On three sides of the central section were three smaller castles unto themselves, the two facing each other were for William and Markus respectively, and their eventual families, leaving the third and largest, that faced the main gate, for Alexander. Of course, things had not gone as Alexander Corvinus planned. Markus's house still resided to the southern end of the castle, but it was Amelia's house, not William's that rested to the north. Viktor took over Alexander's house in the western, section of the castle- naturally, the largest and most protected of the three. The Houses of Viktor, Markus, and Amelia were all carved so far into the mountain than very little of them actually received sunlight, which suited their purposes perfectly as Vampires cannot abide the sun. What had once been a defensive design enabling the areas housing the ruling family to remain safer under siege, was now a survival measure of an entirely different sort and perhaps an even more necessary one.
Since the days when the Vampires had taken it over the original castle, the castle had nearly doubled in size. Not only had the original areas been expanded to go deep out and down into the mountain side, but the front of the castle now had two sections, a central yard, walled in and used for training that housed the armory and the stables, and was bordered by the barracks for all three houses. The outer yard was where the Lycans labored, continuing to build and expand along the outer wall. It also was where Lucian's Blacksmith's shop was located along the outer northern corner. Beneath the outer yards, lay the Lycan barracks that were more cells than anything else, used for the slaves that preformed the labor before the time of the Lycans. Since the days when the immortals were first turned, the principle building project was always reinforcing and repairing the outer wall from attack by William's wild Lycans. Even now, decades later, it remained a high priority to as the ranks of werewolves grew faster than the Death Dealers could kill them and the regular skirmishes meant that the walls needed frequent repairs. Vampires and Lycans referred to the wild Lycans as Werewolves to differentiate them from true Lycans who could revert to human form much as Vampires could shift their features when their passions overtook them. It saved confusion, but also made referring to a Lycan as a werewolf a vile insult.
As they stepped out into the training yard, Lucian observed that if there was to be a privileged class of Lycans they would need improved their living quarters, which likely would be build on the backs of the less privileged Lycans. He shook his head. Things might be getting better for his kind, but they were far from moving fast enough or far enough to his way of thinking. For some of his Lycan brethren, it would never get better enough to keep them from the mire unless they were freed entirely from Vampire rule
The training yard was a broad expanse of dirt and cobblestone enclosed by stone walls with raised seating along one side for nobles to observe safely. Within the yard itself, were various pieces of training equipment and a large stone training ring in close proximity to the raised seating. Khan indicated with his hand for Lucian and Sabas to stand in the center of the training ring: a raised area surrounded by torches suspended in brackets on stone spires that stood four feet high at regular intervals around the circle. Three tiers of stone steps ringed the circle as well and Lucian and Sabas ascended them as indicated. Khan took a torch from the inner wall of the training yard itself and began to light the torches surrounding the circle. Fire was more dangerous to Vampires than Lycans, but both feared it on a primal level, Vampires because it was so lethal to them and Lycans because the wolf that were part of the essence of their blood, feared fire. Fire was also the only way to destroy the body of an immortal so it could not be resurrected by blood.
Lucian and Sabas shied away from the lit torches, instinctively driven by their wolf blood, thus propelling them closer to the center of the stone circle.
Khan noted this and smiled broadly. "Good, that is the point of the torches: To keep you inside the circle while you train. You can, of course easily, exit the circle between the torches without risking being burned, but while you are training, your first rule is to stay within the light."
Both Sabas and Lucian noted that since the platform was raised off the ground, the light did indeed only illuminate the area within the circle.
Sabas imagined that the rule was born initially out of a Vampire's ability to hide unnaturally well within the shadows. Lycans had that skill as well, but due to their more instinctual, animalistic nature, it was rarely honed. Lycans could rely on their speed and strength to overcome their enemies, especially when allowed to take wolf form. Vampires had greater need for stealth, particularly since their hunting times were more limited. However, because vampires were so well-trained to use shadows and stealth to their advantage in hunting or warfare, a combat ring that forced vampires to rely on skills outside of stealth would be most valuable in their training.
"You will start your training by showing me your skills in hand to hand combat," Khan continued. "I am sure, from what I have observed in the Lycan yard and . . . barracks," Khan almost caught himself saying "cages" instead of barracks, which was how most Vampires saw the enclosures the Lycans were kept in. Barracks generally didn't have bars like a prison. The Lycans were fed like dogs, they ate like dogs, and fought like dogs with each other and they had straw to sleep on instead of beds, just like animals in the stables. In short, neither their treatment nor their behavior indicated that their living conditions belonged to anything vaguely resembling soldiers, but barracks is what the Council insisted on calling them when in front of the Lycans. Khan always thought it was just another form of mockery, but Viktor insisted it was to remind the Lycans that their living conditions could be worse. "I am certain," Khan went on, "that you are able to fight on at least a basic level in that way and I want to see what skills if any you have in that area that could be refined. If there are none, it is no matter; we will start at the beginning either way. I merely wish to gauge for myself how rapid your progress might be."
[Mortal Kombat score- Control, Panic Kontrol & Techno Syndrome]
Sabas and Lucian nodded at Khan in acknowledgement and faced each other, spacing themselves out, and squaring off. They made eye contact, silently communicating their mutual assent to the fight to come. It would not be a fight to cause true harm, but they certainly weren't planning to pull punches. That sort of training would not serve their purposes at all. They had to train hard to guard well. They both had too much to lose if werewolves overtook the castle to go easy on each other no matter how long they'd been friends.
Sabas personally thought it would be interesting to see how he did against the oldest and strongest of his kind. He certainly would never have challenged Lucian while they were in the yard or the barracks and not just because they were friends. After all, fighting amongst the Lycans wasn't always about the best sleeping corner or more food or blowing off extra energy. Sometimes, it could be just a friendly tussle between friends to test each other's strength and skill. It was the closet any of them ever got to play. However, it was also a way to establish the pecking order in the pack. Lucian was their alpha, no one questioned that. It was something they all knew and acknowledged as a primal awareness of the first of their kind, the only naturally born of the Lycans. Still, there was much infighting to determine the ranks below alpha.
Sabas himself had taken part in his fair share of fights over the years to earn his rank as a one of Lucian's trusted friends and lieutenants. Raze and he were the pack's betas, Lucian's seconds-in-command. Raze's sheer size made him nearly unstoppable, but he preferred to follow Lucian, than lead. Sabas himself preferred to follow Lucian unless he was in a position to be on his own. He didn't want to lead particularly, but he had no fear of being on his own and he had more sense than Xristo. Sabas was also one of the first turned and that made him stronger than almost all the others. Nearly every other Lycans that had turned when he did had died one way or another in the days since, most while trying to escape. Sabas's age gave him the power he required to become a beta and his long friendship with Lucian had given him wisdom enough of tactics to be an asset to his pack.
Biorg, and Thrasos were the only other Lycans that survived from that first turning. Raze and Xristo had come from the one after. Xristo was the only one of the older Lycans that still chaffed against his position much. Sabas still had to face challenges from him periodically. Lucian was too strong and too established for Xristo to challenge outright and Raze was far too physically dominant for nearly any of them to challenge. Sabas was older than Xristo, but he wasn't significantly larger than Xristo and so he took the brunt of the challenges. He was also a more skilled fighter than Xristo, but that didn't stop the hot-headed Lycan from trying. Sabas chuckled recalling the last time he'd put the Xristo in his place before returning his attention to Khan.
Khan replaced the torch on its bracket along the outer wall and then began to circle around them, keeping out of the torchlight so it would not impede his night vision, which made Sabas and Lucian as easy for him to see at night as it would be for humans to see them by day. Khan's voice was like a bell sounding when he uttered the word, "Begin."
The moment Khan gave them his go-ahead, Lucian and Sabas leapt at each other. They tussled like dogs in a yard at first, rolling, and wrestling in the center of the circle, rolling over and over, each trying to pin the other. Then Lucian kneed Sabas off of him and kicked his leg out to keep Sabas from leaping back on top of him. Lucian kept the fight on their feet from that point on, dodging out of the way any time Sabas tried to drive him to the ground. Sabas in turn was forced to quickly roll back to his feet to keep from rolling right outside the circle, propelled by the momentum he'd intended to use to force Lucian off his feet. After several failed attempts, Sabas became concerned that he might not manage to stop himself from tumbling beyond the boundary of the torches, so he stopped trying.
Sabas understood why Lucian was directing the fight this way as he noticed peripherally that Khan's expression seemed more interesting and approving than disdainful the longer they fought in this way. More like soldiers and less like dogs, Sabas thought bitterly. Sabas was similar in height to Lucian, but Lucian was stronger and thanks to Viktor's interest in him from a young age as an anomaly, Lucian was far better trained. Eventually, Sabas began to slow and when he slowed too much, Lucian pinned him in a choke hold. Sabas was very grateful Aleeria wasn't watching. He would have been quite embarrassed for her to see him defeated so easily, never mind that Aleeria surely knew Lucian was superiorly trained. Sabas didn't want her to think he was weak or unskilled. He didn't want her thoughts traveling down any path that could lead her to select another, stronger mate.
From the outside of the circle of stone and flames came the staccato sound of clapping. At the interruption of the sharp outside noise, Lucian released his hold on Sabas immediately. Sabas and Lucian crouched near the center of the ring, positioned defensively back to back, panting lightly for breath.
"Well done, both of you." Khan praised. "You both did far better than I anticipated. There is no point teaching either of you how to grapple. You both can do so well enough and in any case it will be far different doing so with a werewolf and that's certainly something that no amount of training in you human forms will be able to prepare you for, so again, no point continuing that line of training. You will start with hand to hand, which you will be able to use with mortals or werewolves, and then progress to blunt weapons eventually leading to sword play. Ideally, you will take down any werewolves with ranged weapons like the crossbow, but if they do come within range, beheading is the next best option and for that, you will need to be able to wield a blade skillfully. The blunt weapon instruction will help you develop the dexterity and muscles necessary for that."
Lucian and Sabas nodded their understanding, rising slowly to a standing position. Khan beckoned them to come out of the circle and they did so. Then he spent hours teaching them hand to hand combat. They started with form, which required a great deal of holding a single position as it's many applications and the finer points of its proper technique were elaborated upon by Khan. Khan circled them both, adjusting their form and stance, pointing out to both of them what they did well, and what they did poorly. Khan had them moving into combat maneuvers and then holding them to be evaluated, corrected, focusing on perfecting their form. At the end of their lessons, as their muscles were more exhausted than either of them could have imagined after hours of mainly remaining motionless, Khan sent them back into the ring to fight again. They were far too exhausted to make a best showing of their newly learned techniques, but Khan was satisfied that they were utilizing the basic moves well enough and had come far in a single evening.
Sabas concluded after spending the final hour sparring with Lucian that it was far less tiring to fight than to train and he told Lucian so on the way to the underground bathing area Sabine had mentioned to Aleeria that Lucian generally used when the Death Dealers slept. It was nearly dawn now and the Death Dealers had returned hours before.
"It will all gradually become easier my friend," Lucian assured him. "I remember that being the case anyway when I was younger and Viktor delighted in seeing how many of his guards I could defeat in combat before exhausting myself." Lucian stretched out his arms, rubbing the sore muscles as he began peeling off his leathers. "That said, I am still feeling rather sore. I suppose it's been longer than I realized since I trained formally."
Sabas nodded, unbuckling his leather tunic and frogging, trying not to let his thoughts wander too far to memories of when Aleeria had put his clothes back onto him the day before. As he was about to bathe, Sabas didn't want Lucian to get the wrong impression while he was thinking about the touch of Aleeria's skillful hands, even if Lucian had no interest in males. Sabas could hear the rush of water ahead of them and feel its soft spray on his face as they began to move out of the tunnels. It felt relaxing after a long night of training. Then he saw a shadow move outside the entrance to the tunnel and stiffened.
Lucian slowed as well until a familiar scent filled his nose, causing him to rush forward. He glanced around the grotto swiftly and upon seeing no other, rushed into the arms of the shadow, who Sabas could now see was Sonja, Viktor's only daughter. He relaxed immediately. Sonja was no enemy to the Lycans and Sabas knew of the relationship that had developed between Sonja and Lucian. They hid their feelings well from others, but Sabas and a few other Lycans knew their secret and helped to guard it. Sabas privately relished the thought of the sheer irony of Viktor, the greatest danger to Lycans, not knowing that his daughter was involved with one.
Sabas walked up to Lucian and took his friend's leather tunic from his hand as he walked past. Lucian was entirely engaged in his woman and barely noticed. Sabas walked the perimeter of the cave, assessing that they were truly alone and then he went to the waterfall. The sound of its pounding waters vibrated through the cave. Sabas put his tunic and Lucian's on a flat rock out of reach of the worst of the spray. He didn't want all Aleeria's efforts on behalf of his clothes to be erased too quickly.
Sabas took a final visual sweep of the cavern and then finished stripping off his pants and boots before putting them with the rest of his clothes. He turned his back to Lucian and Sonja, letting them have some privacy while they embraced. Sabas stood under the water, letting the pounding water wash away the dirt and grime while massaging his much-abused muscles. The rushing of the water over his skin was soothing, drowning out his awareness of everything else. He stole glances around the cave every so often to make sure no one snuck up on the lovers, but otherwise he let his attention drift as much to give Sonja and Lucian more privacy as to soothe his spirit after a long day.
Sabas thought of Aleeria, the only thing he seemed to think about much anymore. While the waterfall felt wonderful, he would have much preferred to have her bathe him instead, even if it meant being chained up again. Those damn chains. He'd been so busy thinking about her since the night before that he'd forgotten the chains and the wear and tear that over a day of being imprisoned in them would do to him. No wonder he was so sore and so easily defeated. His body was still recovering from being bound and half stretched for a full day. Sabas chuckled under the rough flow of the waterfall. Aleeria was really something to manage to make him nearly forget all that physical strain entirely. Gods, he wished she were with him now; that awed, hungry look in her eyes. He would much prefer to have her massaging away his aches and pains to the pounding water.
Sabas took another glance around the cave, seeing the Lucian and Sonja were talking softly, their heads pressed close their bodies touching at as many points as possible. As he observed, Sonja began to rub Lucian's shoulders while she whispered into his ear. How nice it would be to come home after a long day of toil to a woman who would take care of you, see to your pains and aches, to listen to your tales of the day's adventures and bear witness to the whole of your life? He thought about Aleeria filling that void in his life and it sent deep waves of warmth through him.
He wasn't fool enough to think it would be easy, but he did hope that it would be easier for him and Aleeria than it had been for Lucian and Sonja so far. They'd been involved for many years now, but it was never safe for them. Sabas recalled the long, secret looks they'd shared in the years before they finally admitted the feelings that had grown between them.
Sonja was still a young woman when she and Lucian had first spoken of their feelings. She was training to be a Death Dealer, but her father was overcautious with his only daughter and he sent Lucian to run alongside her and act as an additional protection for her. They hunted werewolves together many times without mishap. Then one night the patrol Sonja and Lucian rode with was ambushed by a great number of werewolves. Only the two of them survived. To evade the werewolves, they were forced to backtrack to a cave to wait out the day, so Sonja could travel again. There in the cave, while they waited for the day to pass so they could try to slip past the werewolves, they admitted their feelings and let their lives be forever changed by them.
Sabas wanted that for himself and Aleeria. He wanted the sort of love that made every obstacle seem insignificant and made dreams seem tangible. It was dangerous, because you could forget the very real dangers, but it could burn away everything dark in your life like a forest fire and allow for new life and new growth. If nothing else, Aleeria made him burn; with longing, with hunger, with acute awareness even as it distracted him as nothing else could.
While Sabas alternated between keeping watch and ruminating about Aleeria, Sonja and Lucian spoke in swift whispers. It was always this way when they were alone. The pressure would build between them in the absence of privacy, fueled by memory, stolen glances, the scent and sense of each other in the castle in the passages they both travelled though not together, never together, until they could be truly alone. Then when they could barely stand the weight and pressure of their secret, they would find a time and place hidden away and then pressure would begin to release, first in the hiss of words and reassurances, then progressing to a release of a more satisfying sort.
Their time was always limited, so they had to balance between swiftness and savoring. Lucian told Sonja what events of importance had passed since their last meeting and she told him of her world beyond what he was privy to. As each spoke, the other listened and pressed closer, absorbing the words and the feel of the other. Eventually, the words became less important and lips and tongue were used to communicate needs instead of events. When they could not be alone, Lucian preferred them to be together face to face so Sabas, or whichever Lycan was keeping watch, would be less likely to see any of his beloved when he scanned the room to keep them safe. Sabas might not see anything intentionally, but Lucian was protective nevertheless. While many Lycans helped to keep their secret, only Sabas and Raze were permitted to keep watch for them. Lucian trusted their discretion and honor above all others. Sabas even more so now, since his eyes were for Aleeria alone.
Lucian let himself drown in the scent of Sonja's hair as he kissed his was from her lips to her ears and then back. Sonja felt her incisors lengthen and the desire to sink them into her lover's shoulder begin to grow more insistent. Lucian felt a similar urge, to mark her as his with teeth and claw, but they had to resist as their blood was poison to the each other. So instead, they focused on other delicious ways to claim each other while the waterfall surrounded them with mist.
Lucian kissed his way down her neck, nipping at the cool flesh, but not enough to break the skin. While his mouth was busy with her neck, he unlaced her bodice along her back until he could pull it free, then he pulled her long-sleeved tunic over her head revealing her to him from the waist up. Sonja tangled her fingers in his long hair as Lucian continued to trail open-mouthed kisses down her chest, now unencumbered by her clothes. Her legs wrapped more tightly around his waist as he captured one dark, tight nipple in his mouth, rolling it around with his tongue. Then he released it, to her groan of protest, before kissing around the edge of her breast, then the top, slowly circling his way back until he recaptured her nipple and suckled it back into his mouth to Sonja's delight.
After he'd administered to the other breast in a similar fashion, Sonja pushed him back to lie on the broad, flat rock they'd been perched on. She nipped along the column of his throat and then lower, over his chest, pausing to lick and nip at his nipples while he groaned, arching into her touch. She slid down further, continuing to lick and nip at the waistline of his pants while she worked the laces impatiently with her hands. When they released, his hardened length sprang free and she caught it between her lips, wresting another strangled moan from Lucian.
She swirled her tongue around the tip then nibbled down his length before drawing in all of him. She repeated until his fingers dug into her shoulders and his stomach went tight. "Sonja," he rasped. It was only a single word, but she understood that he was close and so she stopped, releasing him and then sliding off entirely long enough to lift her long woolen skirts. She moved back over him, kissing him deeply as she slid him inside. They moaned as the visceral connection was made once more. It always felt so right when they were connected physically and emotionally in this way. She began to move over him, slow and savoring at first and then faster until they both cried out.
They lay together murmuring sweet words only they could hear for awhile shrouded in mist from the waterfall before Lucian grabbed her waist, lifted them up and rolled her under him, never separating himself from within her. Then the dance began again.
All the while Lucian and Sonja enjoyed each other's company, Sabas intermittently kept watch, carefully averting his eyes from Lucian and Sonja just as he would wish Lucian to do should he every need such a thing to be with Aleeria. No one approached the caves, which was no surprise and this was why the pair often met here. Sabas didn't mind keeping watch anyway, but he was happy when he could return his thoughts to Aleeria and dream of a future with her where they didn't have to hide anything.
A/N: Sorry there's not more heat between Sabas and Aleeria in this chapter, but I need some story for a little while. I'll get back there. I'm still licking my wounds so please be as patient as you can with the updates. Your reviews really help cheer me up and wanting to write in spite of everything.