11. First Sword Lessons/ Running Contest

The next morning found the two of them lying in the grass by 'Angel lake.' Van had brought Hitomi here the night before and had made love with her. Now they were both sleeping in each other's arms. The suns rays broke through the trees and hit Hitomi full in the face causing her to wince and turn away from it. Then she remembered what had happened the night before and smiled. She turned around and saw that Van was still asleep. Her smile broadened. He looked so peaceful when he was asleep. She moved some stray hair away from his face causing him to smile. She pulled her hand away and Van spoke.

"Don't stop. It felt good."

Hitomi smiled again and started running her fingers through his unruly hair. After a while she spoke.

"I'm going to get dressed. We have to head back soon or people will wonder what happened to us."

She got up and got dressed. When she was done she saw that Van had gotten dressed as well (minus the shirt). She walked over to him, kissed him, and smiled.

"Good morning, My Angel."

Van smiled at the nickname. Suddenly he picked her up and jumped, wings erupting from his back.

"You don't have to carry me, you know."

"I don't want anyone to see your wings."

After landing on their balcony, they quickly changed and went down to breakfast. People asked where they had been, but they just smiled. They did however tell Merle and Kyria, but only after much pestering on Merle's part. Kyria hadn't even asked, saying that it was their own business.

. . . Meanwhile in Zaibach . . .

"I'm sorry, My Lady. They didn't come to the mountain so I assumed the seer had a vision of it and warned the Dragon. I went to the Palace in the hopes of getting the seer for you. Luck seemed to be with me for on my way I saw her on a path by herself. I confronted her and was about to take her when the Dragon showed up. I fought him and seemed to be winning when something hit my back. It surprised me for a second but in that second the Dragon attacked me. He then flew off with the seer. I failed. Forgive me. You know many things, do you know what hit me?" (Suck up! HAHAHA/ Sorry that just popped into my head when I was writing this.)

"Yes," she hissed. "The seer has discovered another one of her powers. A ball of flame is what hit you. She was inexperienced so it did no damage. But it was enough to distract you. This news tells me that the seer is finding her new powers. We must get her before she discovers any more. Go! I must think."

Dilandau did as he was told but inside he was seething. He hated being told what to do. But this woman, this sorceress, Marianna, held his life in her hands. She gave him his life back and she could take it away just as easy. He couldn't cross her if he wanted to live. After all she was a very powerful sorceress. He had no choice but to obey her. He walked off to the training area to train his dragon-slayers. She had revived them too. That was the one thing he was grateful for.

. . . Back in Fanelia . . .

Van found Hitomi sitting in the garden looking at the flowers. He went over and sat next to her.

"Do you still want to learn to use a sword?"

"Yes, why?"

"I have the training room ready. You don't have to do it now. I just thought I would tell you."

I'd like to do it now. Just let me change into something more appropriate. I'll meet you in the training room when I'm done."

With that she ran to their room to change. Five minutes later she met Van in the training room. He had two wooden swords in his hands. He handed her one. It felt surprisingly heavy, so Van gave her the other one, which was lighter but still slightly heavy.

"The first one I gave you was the same weight as mine. That one is the same weight as the one I was planning on making you. How does it feel?"

"Good. Why are they heavy though if they're wood?"

"It's a special wood that can be made heavy or light. Now let's start your training."

For the next several hours he worked her vigorously until she was exhausted. She was learning quickly though. He was planning on training her until she was as good if not better than him. That last thought amused him as he helped Hitomi back to their room.

Hitomi had found the training extremely difficult, but didn't complain. She wanted to prove to Van that she could do it. Now she just wanted to sleep, knew she needed to cleanup first, so with Van helping she got cleaned up and ready for bed. Van had cleaned up while helping her. Now he helped her in bed and climbed in beside her. He had scheduled the training for the time he did because he knew that Hitomi would be exhausted when done. In fact she was already sound asleep. He smiled then fell asleep himself.

The next morning Hitomi woke up earlier than usual. Her muscles felt sore and cramped, so she decided to go for a run. She hoped it would however was still sound asleep and had his arms around her. She gently tried to disentangle herself from his arms which only caused his hold on her to tighten. Hitomi sighed, rolled around to face him and saw that he was still asleep. Hitomi sighed again. She wouldn't be able to get out of his arms while he was still asleep, but she didn't want to wake him up. He looked so peaceful when he was asleep. She figured she would wait for him to wake up, but instead she fell back to sleep waiting.

An hour later she awoke to the feel of someone messing with her hair. She smiled, she knew that it was Van. She opened her eyes to see Auburn eyes looking at her. She would have felt really happy, but her muscles seemed to scream at her for a stretch. She kissed Van, then got up, ignoring his protests.

"I'm going for a run this morning, to stretch out my muscles. They're cramped because I didn't stretch yesterday before training. I would have gone a while ago, but you were still asleep. You want to come with me?"

"If my advisers don't have anything planned for me, then yes, I will join you. If I can't though ask Merle."

"I was planning on asking her anyway. She'd claw me to death if she discovered that I went running without asking her."

Van laughed. He knew she was exaggerating a little. He also knew that Merle would have a fit if she wasn't asked. His thoughts were interrupted when Hitomi walked over to him. She sat down, put her arms around his neck, and leaned in to kiss him. Van also leaned into the kiss. It was passionate and sweet, but not very long. After they broke apart, Hitomi ran her finger down his cheek.

"I'll go talk to Merle, while you get dressed. We'll meet up for breakfast. Talk to your advisers and see what they have planned."

With a final kiss, she left to find Merle. As she passed Kyria's room, she decided to ask her if she wanted to join them. She knocked on the door and waited. The door opened to reveal a tired looking Kyria.

"Morning, I was wondering if you would like to go for a run with me, Merle, and maybe Van. He has to ask his advisers if they have any plans. Do you want to join us?"

The sleepy look on Kyria's face vanished and was replaced with a smile.

"Sure, just let me get dressed."

"We're not going now. I have to ask Merle, then we're going to breakfast."

"Ok. I'll meet you for breakfast then."

Kyria closed the door and Hitomi went on to Merla's room. Just as she was about to reach Merle's door, it opened and Merle came out on her way to breakfast. Hitomi caught up to her and walked with her.

"Morning Merle, Kyria and I and maybe Van are going for a run after breakfast. Would you like to join us?"

"I'd love to! But how would Lord Van be able to go?"

"He's going to talk to his advisers and see if they have anything planned. He'll tell us at breakfast."

"Then let's go!"

Just as Merle was about to drag Hitomi down to breakfast, Kyria came out of her room and joined them. The three went down to breakfast together. Van wasn't there when they arrived, so they sat down to wait. Five minutes later he came in and sat down. He had just had an argument with his advisers and it hadn't ended pleasantly. He did have good news though which he told to them.

"I can go with you. It wasn't easy though. When I asked them if they had anything planned they became suspicious. They told me no, they didn't. Then they asked why. I told them. That's when the trouble started. They said a King should not be playing childish games, he had more important matters to attend to. I lost my temper at that and yelled at them. I finally won but it wasn't pleasant at all. But at least I'm going."

He stopped here because the food arrived. Everyone was looking a little shocked. They hadn't expected this, least of all Hitomi. The advisers knew how important running was to her. She decided to have a talk with them and give them a piece of her mind. But for now she would eat then run.

An hour later Van and Kyria were watching Hitomi and Merle go through the stretch motions. Then they tried to copy them. After everyone was done, Hitomi's muscles felt better so they all started jogging. Almost everyone was trying to copy Hitomi. When they had almost reached a field that Hitomi liked to run in, they slowed down to a walk. When the field came into view, Hitomi stopped. The field now had a strip down the middle. Hitomi walked over to it and saw that it was 150 meters. There were even starting blocks at each end. Hitomi turned around and looked at Van, who was watching her to see if she liked it. Suddenly she threw herself at Van knocking him over. She hugged him tightly, then helped him stand up. She looked at him with a smile that could light the night.

"It's wonderful! When did you do it?"

"About a week ago. I had it made as a birthday present. I'm glad you like it."

"But my birthday isn't for a few more weeks."

"I know. But I wanted this to be done before your birthday."

"Thank you."

She kissed him. Then she took off the pendant Van gave her and handed it to him. He took it looking puzzled.

"I want you to time me."

Van nodded his understanding. Hitomi took her place at the starting block. When she was ready, Van yelled," Ready, set, GO!." At go he released the pendant letting it swing.

They spent the rest of the morning taking turns running. This was the score:

Hitomi: 10 swings

Merle: 14 swings

Van: 15 swings

Kyria: 25 swings

When Kyria was done she collapsed on the ground panting. She had never run that far before and she was utterly exhausted. Hitomi giggled lightly.

"I take it you've never run this far or fast, have you?"

"No."

"Well, you can rest for a while then we can go. I want you to jog for as long as you can, then you can walk to cool off. We'll meet you back at the palace."

After Kyria had caught her breath, she got up and everyone started jogging. Halfway back, she slowed to a walk. She let the others go ahead. When she reached the palace, she saw the others stretching again. So she sat down and stretched as well. When she was done she felt a little better but she needed a drink. Hitomi led the way to the garden where a servant was waiting with water.

"Don't drink too fast or you'll get a cramp."

They all sat down to drink their water. Hitomi stretched out on the grass and sighed.

"That run was more refreshing than I thought it would be. I think I'll try to do it every morning for a while. Anyone who wants to can join me if they can."

"Count me in," Merle said grinning.

"Me too. It'll do me some good," Kyria said.

"I'd like to, but it depends on my morning schedule," Van said dejectedly. "When you go running though, I want you to take it easy. You don't want to exert yourself too much, especially in your condition."

"I know," Hitomi replied.

"We'll watch her," Merle promised him.

"Yeah," Kyria agreed. "We'll make sure she doesn't overdo it."

Van and Hitomi had told them the morning after Van had found out. So they knew that Hitomi was pregnant. Everyone finished their drinks and went inside. Little did they know that they were being watched, and that the spy had heard everything. With a smile he headed back to report to his mistress.

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