Snow was the first to ask a question."What did the guards do exactly?"
"It depended on the assailant. Neal was harsher with her blows, while Tyler was harsher with his words. They both hurt equally as much, but I had time to heal. Regina saw the last time Tyler hurt me."
Emma was next. "Can you describe any of the words or assaults?"
"I was either called a bitch or I was unworthy to live. Tyler kept saying the only reason I was alive was because he loves Emily. I was usually kicked down and at least one bone would be broken, but I got time to heal it. They would come around the same time everyday and it would repeat. I don't think they were aware that the other was doing this, but if they were they had very good planning."
The questions were all about if she was okay and what she wants to happen. She always said she was fine, but tired. She didn't want any punishments for the soldiers, but for them to receive a verbal warning about beating people that end up in the dungeons. She just says she was lucky nothing else happened. The last question was from Tyler and she didn't have a very good response.
"Would you ever be with me after what I did?"
"Tyler, honestly, I don't know. I know you were trying to protect me, but to hurt so much. I never fought because I was afraid to hurt you, so I don't have an answer. I do have feelings, but I'm not ready to act on them. Do you understand?"
"Yes. I am still going to try to earn back you trust, no matter how long it take."
"I don't doubt it. It seems to be getting late in the day, so you should all get back to your daily routines. I will be back and ready to fight tomorrow. There are still a few ogres and I am going to fight them." With that Emily was gone and everyone looked a little worried about this.
They did what they usually did, but Snow, Emma, and David were trying to find out ways to make it up to her. They has an idea, but it could be a bad one, but it was something. They were going to get her a magical sword that was hers and it would be any weapon she wants it to be. They would need Regina obviously, but it would be the perfect gift. Regina was with Emily until it was time for lunch. Emily was given a cane because her leg was still not okay from the break. She hobbled down to the dinning room and ate in quiet. Regina was worried that something happened to Emily, but pushing it was not going to help. Everyone soon joined the duo and they ate in silence. It was a bit awkward, but it couldn't be worse than actually stalking to one another.
They then went their separate ways. Emma told Regina the plan and Regina thought it was a great idea. They started to work on it. Emily was busy reading in her room. She was reading Popcorn Love by KL Hughes and when she finished that she read Flight SQA016 by AE Radley. She liked all the stories, but was getting bored, so she decided to walk around the grounds. She also wanted to see what the guards have been doing in her absence. She didn't seem very impressed because they were all doing simple attacks. She wanted to get back in the game, but was still weak from everything. The ogres have not gotten to the castle, but she also didn't have an update about how many there were out there. She would have to ask her mom about it later. She watched as they practiced and named all the moves. It was very boring because she already knew all the fighting styles. She was so bored and tired that she didn't see that Tyler had walked up behind her.
"Hey, Emily."
Emily jumped and a spark of a fireball started to morph. She spun around and was about to attack when she saw Tyler. She lowered her hands and sighed. "Hi, Tyler. Shouldn't you be down there with everyone else? You are head guard until I return."
"I just wanted to see how you were."
"I am fine since the last time you asked a few hours ago." Emily had a hint of teasing in her tone. "So, why have all the guards been doing the same moves since I left? There should have been something new."
"They don't listen to me like they do with you. They respect you."
"I can help out today, but I am not going down there. I can yell out commands. I will be up here, get all the guards together because they need a crash course in some new moves."
Tyler bowed and ran down to the grounds. He talked to one guard and then they both told someone and it became a domino effect until everyone was in rows. Emily liked this and couldn't wait to get back down there.
"Listen here, soldiers," Emily yelled. "It has come to my attention that there has been some slack since I left. None of you have shown any improvement in older moves or have made an effort to learn new ones. I am quite disappointed, but it can be rectified. I need you all to focus on power and control. It looks like most of you have been using all your strength and weight into certain moves and then you are thrown. Focus on using a certain part of your body for the power. Kicks come from the leg, but also the hip motions. Punches come from arms and your upper body. Strength is not just brute strength, it is also about being smart about your power. Most of you also go into a zone about fighting. You lose control and then some things happen. There is no room for that because when you are blacking out, your partner is begging for you to stop. Control the monster and be the master, not the other way around. I want all you you to learn those two things with roundhouse kicks in the air, right now. Let's get working."
The soldiers all started in sync and Emily could see there were some problems with that. She said to go at their own speed and then they can all be combined. There were different timings and it looked like they were getting the hang of it. She would occasionally throw out some words of wisdom. They seemed to have it almost perfect after 20 minutes, so she started calling out kicks. They were doing better. They were in sync and using enough power and were in control. Emily was proud. She could see that they were all tired, so she dismissed them. They all bowed and then someone shouted, "Our leader is back!" They all cheered, while she blushed and chuckled. She walked back into the castle and saw that Snow had been watching her.
Emily stared wide-eyed at her grandmother. "How long have you been standing there?"
"Long enough. It looks like I can't keep you down long. Good to know now rather than later. It looks like this whole experience haws changed you."
"I guess it has. The rise of a new leader and the fall of an old. Can we not tell Regina? I think she would like to think that I was relaxing all day and not yelling at people."
Snow laughed and shook her head. She led Emily to the dining hall for some food. It was like a normal meal with some light kept glancing over at Emily and telling her to say something. Neal was going on and on about his training. Henry said that most of his studies were boring, but he enjoyed biology because he want over anatomy of animals. Starting with the horse. David said that it was a boring day with diplomats. Emma and Regina were quiet for some reason. Snow agreed that it was a very boring and average day. Emily had a gut feeling like something was coming, but didn't want to bother anyone.
The conversation went on for a little bit and they waited for dessert to come out. Today it was apple turnovers with ice cream. Henry was a bit apprehensive for some reason, as well as Emma and Snow. Regina gave them a look about 'not now'. "Don't worry I didn't make these." Regina sounded a little annoyed, but Emily didn't care. She started to eat ravenously and was excited to have something decent. They all looked at her like something was wrong and she gave them a look.
"What?"
"You are eating an apple turnover." Regina said this blatantly.
"Yes?"
"You remember when Henry was telling you about the storybook."
"Yes. I don't see how an apple turnover fits into this."
"Did he tell you have I tried to get rid of Emma?"
"No."
Regina turned to a guilty looking Henry. "You didn't tell you sister about how I almost killed you!"
"I didn't want her knowing that. Besides, it looks like she really likes apples, so why ruin it."
"You are in trouble. I guess she can hear this story later. Just eat and stop giving me that look whenever you get something apple related. Especially you, Snow."
There was a collective laugh and Emily was still very confused. She didn't want to think about it, so she went on eating. She finished and was about to leave when her steps were interrupted by a voice.
"Emily, there is something we would like to give you," Regina said.
Emily sat back down and waited for further elaboration. Regina continued. "We know that you are a great warrior and we want you to be safe, so we created a special weapon for you as a gift. It is an 'I'm sorry' and an encouragement gift." Emma handed Regina the box and she showed it to Emily. Inside was a sword with the family crest as well as a blue hilt. It was an amazing sword. "There is one last touch. I need one of your hairs." Emily was confused, but just pulled one out of her head and gave it Regina. Regina took the hair and it combined with the sword magically. "There. Now think of any weapon and watch what happens." Emily did so and she saw something cool. She thought about a bow and arrow and the sword morphed into a bow and then arrows appeared in the sheath. She looked at the gift and then her mother and then back at the gift. Regina laughed. "It will change to whatever you want. I think it is up to you to choose the right weapon. Now you can get some sleep. You are leading an army."
Emily hugged and thanked her mother and ran to her room. She placed the gift on her vanity and collapsed on the bed. Her voice might be a little hoarse in the morning, but it would work out. She fell into a blissful sleep and her dreams were about all the happy moments she would eventually share with the ones she loves.
She awoke the next morning at sunrise. She went down to the training area and saw that two soldiers were already there. Neal and Tyler. She smirked at them as she walked. "It looks like one of my good qualities is rubbing off on you. What are you two doing up?"
"Training. We wanted a head start and maybe some pointers from someone that is not afraid to tell me when I'm wrong," Tyler said.
"Okay. Well, you need to keep you eyes up. You look at your footwork and then that gives the opponent the opportunity to attack. You also need to stand farther back. Neal may be shorter, but your opponent won't always be. You need to have more access to their weak points. Also, pop quiz where are Neal's weak points?"
"Uh."
"You don't study the other person, so you aren't properly focusing. His weak point are his right arm and his midsection. Everyone has different ones. You are weak when it comes to your left foot and left hand. I am guessing there are already injuries there, so that changes the game. You need to find these points and use them to your advantage."
"I knew I would get the brutal truth from you."
"Right you were. Now, go practice and I will get everyone else up."
Emily went to the barracks and everyone was up and getting ready. She was happy about this. She got everyone ready and started to give some more pointers. Study the opponent's characteristics and find the weak spots. Look for the places that they protect the most and go there. Keep their eyes up and footwork later. She watched as everyone headed her words and saw much improvements. They have so much potential, but needed a slight nudge. They went on like this until lunch. Emily was requested to join some diplomats today, so she was about to leave when someone yelled, "Long live our new leader! May she prosper and succeed!" She walked off to the sound of cheers. She rushed to her room and looked in the mirror.
"Long live the new me." She spoke into the mirror. She got dressed and then she headed to the lunch meeting. It was supposed to be with Princess Abigail, Knight Frederick, and King Midas. She didn't know much about them, but knew that this had to be important for her to be there. She wore a dress that Regina wore at her age and it looked nice. She hated dresses, but this was important. She checked the mirror one last time and the words of her soldiers attacked her mind and left a smile on her face as she walked to the dining hall to find Regina, Emma, and Princess Abigail.
"Emily, this is Princess Abigail, or Katherine Nolan in the other world. She heard about you want wants to talk to you," Regina introduced.
"Your majesty," Emily said as she bowed.
"Oh please. No need. We are sort of family. Anyways, I wanted to know if you would consider coming to live at my castle to train my guards."
All the other occupants of the room looked shocked at this.
A/N: There are real books and I think they are great. Flight SQA016 was originally a fanfiction written by CurvyPragmatist, but is now published and it a book. I don't own either of these, but they are great.