A/N: I am new to this so please excuse any mistakes with my apologies. I do not own VA. Richelle Mead is the proud owner of the series.
Ed./N: Jimmy is helping to edit. Those mistakes are all his (mine).
The first sentence that came out of his mouth shocked me. I couldn't believe it. He wanted to start training me so I could work with him once I got out. My first answer was not only no, but HELL no. I was planning on being Lissa's Guardian.
He and I discussed things for awhile and eventually it was settled. I must admit he was extremely persuasive and made the job seem like a fantastic chance for me. He was going to leave one of his guards here to train me while I am still in school and after I graduate than he will be back to discuss things, and my future.
The guy he was leaving me is named Zander. He was supposed to teach me different languages, other ways to fight, and how to control myself better. I don't know how he is expecting me to be able to control my temper better, but we will see...
On my way out Dimitri cornered me,"How do you know him? What did he want with you? He is a man that you don't want to get involved with."
"Whoa, slow down there cowboy. I just met him today and he never really told me his purpose or why he was interested in me. How do you know him?," was my response. Turns out that he didn't know him, he only knew of him.
All throughout the day people were asking me what was going on. Since I didn't know what was really going on, I couldn't give them any answers. Lissa kept asking me and the more I didn't answer her questions the more upset she got.
At the end of the day, including my time with Dimitri, I met up with Zander to learn some new things. Dimitri and I were putting things away when Zander walked in. "You can leave the mats out; today is just going to be an evaluation of the stuff you know." That was the first time I had ever heard him speak. He wasn't bad looking at all. In fact he was hot. He had jet black hair and emerald green eyes. His eyes were actually closer to the color of an emerald than any other green eyes that I have ever seen. but despite their bright color, his eyes were dark and guarded. He was about 6'-even, while I am only 5'4". I'm used to being the smallest so I wasn't intimidated by that. What did get to me was just the way he stood there; it commanded your attention. He may have looked good but there wasn't anything that would catch your eye while walking through a crowd. His muscles were big but not bulky, I definitely could tell there were some there and that he took care of himself.
I was being introduced to something known as Extreme Martial Arts (XMA for short). It is basically Tae Kwon Do and gymnastics combined. It was really cool to watch.
When we started sparring, I noticed right away that I was in over my head when it came to fighting with him. He moved so fast that I couldn't even see him move. By the time he got three hits on me, I had only attempted to hit him and missed. I saw him move and went to hit him straight in the face only to find out that he had other thoughts. He swung his leg out and kicked me in the stomach so hard that I flew a few feet. Hmph. I thought Dimitri could fight (he was still a god in my eyes) but damn this guy was good.
After I royally had my ass handed to me in this one sided sparring match, he showed me some of the moves from XMA. As I walked over I yelled, "Holy Shit!, I have never seen anything or anyone move like that. I didn't see you do any moves. You were too damn fast. And you expect me to actually beat you in a fair fight?"
"This is why Mr. Mazur has assigned me to mentor you, and you will continue your training with Guardian Belikov," he said in a voice that was totally void of any kind of accent Or emotion. I couldn't place where he was from or what he was about. I just knew that he scared me; I would never admit that to anyone.