A/N: Hey everyone! I'm a day early in my update. It is midnight and I have to be awake again in five hours. So I apologize for any mistakes, and if it seems like a rush job near the end, because it kind of is. I love all of you, and I realized that I forgot to answer my anonymous reviews in the last chapter. Because of how late it is right now I am not going to do that for this chapter either. I will be doing three chapters worth of anon answers in the next chapter. So if I haven't gotten to you yet I am sorry I have not forgotten you I will get to you. To the anon who brought to my attention the formatting error in the last chapter thank you. It is because I wrote and uploaded the last chapter from my phone. I will fix it as soon as I get the chance. Anyway I hope you like this chapter... and yeah,
Onto the next chapter!
Gail quickly got dressed in the clothes that she had taken such care in picking out the night before. Did it really matter? Absolutely. She had decided in her week off that she didn't care so much about the rules. Holly wanted her and she was starting to realize just how much she wanted Holly as well. After their trip to meet with the human king hopefully Hayden and her services wouldn't be as necessary anyway. All she had to do was hold out for another week at most. She could do that, but there was no rule that she couldn't tease Holly in the process. Which brings her back to her outfit choice. The shirt was 3/4 sleeves and hugged tightly to her biceps and the pants also 3/4 length hugged her legs, especially her hips and ass, perfectly. There was no way, if Holly felt the way Gail thinks she does, that Holly wouldn't be drooling over Gail in these clothes.
Gail swaggered into the castle for her shift earlier than she needed to be there. She walked straight to Holly's door where she found Hayden sitting in a chair facing the door. She snuck up on the brunette, and grabbed her shoulders giving her a shake and shouting "Oh God, we're under attack." Hayden jumped to her feet and got into a defensive stance. Then she saw that it was Gail so she stood up straight with a chuckle. She reached out to smack Gail for scaring her, but Gail blocked it. "Ooh someone is back and ready to go." Gail smirked. "That's right, I'm so ready to kick your ass." They began to shuffle around each other and shadow box. It was going fine until Gail accidentally pushed Hayden too hard and she fell into Holly's door. Immediately they stood up tall as they heard Holly jump out of bed. They stood at attention as Holly came to the door and opened it cautiously peeking her head out. She had expected to see Hayden locked in some kind of fight. Honestly she had no idea what she thought she would be able to do to help, up she couldn't stop herself from checking. Thankfully there was no fight. Instead she saw her two bodyguards standing straight up at attention. When her eyes caught on Gail her instincts took over and she threw herself into Gail's arms. Gail stumbled back half a step, but remained upright and wrapped her own arms around Holly. They stood like that with Holly's head tucked into Gail's neck longer than was appropriate. Hayden cleared her threat and the two jumped apart causing Hayden to shake her head. Holly looked Gail over noticing the way that the clothing clung to the blond and fell into a fantasy. Gail noticed this and smirked realizing her plan had worked.
"What do we have today Princess?" She asked bringing the two back to the present. Holly coughed a little embarrassed by her lack of control. "I have my usual beginning of the week meeting with my father and his assistant to discuss my duties for the week. I will be requesting that the three of us leave for the human kingdom in a few days as long as I have nothing important scheduled for the end of the week. My father has also requested that the two of you sit in on this meeting today. I don't know why, but he does." The two were apprehensive. What could the king possibly want them in this meeting for? Were they in trouble for something? It was Gail's first day back, she couldn't possibly be in trouble already… right?
Despite their nerves they did as they were requested and filed into the meeting room behind Holly. They stood at attention just inside the door waiting for instructions. They did not have to wait long. "Abigail and Hayden, I am glad that you could attend this meeting." Brian began. Gail barely held in her scoff, as if we had a choice, she thought to herself. "Gail, this is your first day back on duty after what happened, and I would like to welcome you back and tell you how grateful I am for what you did for my daughter." Gail did not move. She did not know if she was supposed to nod or say anything. It didn't matter because King Brian continued without any hesitation, "However, as you can imagine I am a little nervous about bringing you back. I would like to see for myself that you are back in top form. I have brought Adilya (Justice) here today. She is one of the academy's top fighters and I would like you to spar with her. Afterwards she will tell me if you have slowed down any. From what I've heard you and she are quite close." That was an understatement. Adilya had practically raised Gail. She had been a recent graduate when Gail was first dropped off at the academy when she was just a year old. Adilya had offered to take care of her until her training could begin. Then when Gail started training Adilya was there to help her. By the time Gail was fully enrolled in the academy it was Adilya who pushed her to her limits, and in many cases passed her limits. The woman knew her and her fighting style very well. After she had graduated was when she was taken under Oliver's wing. He treated her more like a daughter while Adilya had treated her as an apprentice. The latter opting to put her through drills and never letting her slack off while the former allowed her a place of solitude where she could do as she pleased, and she never felt like she had to be anything except Gail. Don't get her wrong, she cared for Adilya and deeply respected the woman, but she loved Oliver with every part of her being, in a father/daughter way obviously.
Gail stepped forward into the make shift ring and was joined there by her trainer moments later. They started circling each other each trying to find an opening to take advantage of. Gail struck first landing a decent blow to Adilya's jaw. They traded blows for almost two minutes before either of them found any sort of opening. Gail noticed that her mentor would lift her chin just slightly before she punched. Gail waited for that movement and when it came she braced herself. As the punch came at her she turned while reaching out and grabbing Adilya's outstretched wrist. She continued to turn and pull throwing her opponent off balance. She used that to reach around with her other arm and throw the woman over her hip and onto her back on the ground. She was quick to wrap her legs perfectly around Adilya's arm and she sat down leaning back trapping Adilya in a perfect arm bar. The other woman instantly tapped out of the fight having no other choice if she wanted to keep her arm in one piece.
The two stood up turned and bowed to the king. "That was very well done Abigail, if you and Hayden could just step outside and allow me to talk to Adilya in private." That was not a request or an invitation, it was most definitely an order.
The two stepped out and Gail immediately began to grumble about the situation. "See if I've lost a step. Pfft yeah right. As if I would come back if I thought I had slowed down. Does he think I've been sitting on my ass for the last week? Besides I was cleared by the doctor who made me spar and run and all that shit. What is this-" Hayden cut her off in a gentle tone. "Come on Gail, you know it's nothing personal. He's trying to make sure Holly is as safe as possible. You should have been dead after what you went through. Of course he's going to be nervous that you aren't at the same level. You would do the same thing if you weren't the one who got hurt." Gail grumbled under her breath. She knew Hayden was right, but that did not mean she had to like it.
Adilya opened the door and walked passed them. She turned to Gail and said, "You continue to improve and impress me little one. Good job." Then she walked away before Gail could respond. She did not say that they were invited back into the meeting so they stood outside of the door in a slightly relaxed stance with their feet shoulder width apart and their hands behind their backs. They stayed like that until Holly came out and they snapped to attention. "You guys can come back in now." She said gently. They gave a single nod before they walked in and resumed their attention stances just inside the door. "At ease ladies." Brian said and they went back to their resting stance. "Holly tells me that you are prepared to leave for the human kingdom in a few days' time. The human king has requested a presentation of our soldiers, so that he can see for himself the strength and discipline that our warriors possess. We have two options for that. I can send you with two other warriors who can be presented and tested. Or the two of you can escort Holly and be presented to the king. Which do you two prefer?" They looked at each other briefly and came to a silent decision. Hayden spoke up first, "We believe it would be easier to protect the princess if it was just the two of us. We are also both more than willing to do whatever the king wants us to do to prove the strength of your warriors." Brian nodded. "May I ask why you have chosen this?" This time it was Gail's turn to answer, "Sir, my job is stealth. The less people I have to hide the easier it will be. It is also easier to cover the tracks of three people as opposed to five." Hayden jumped in, "When tracking and charting our course we will be able to move quicker with less people. We will also be able to travel mostly through the forest avoiding villages where we can." Brian agreed whole heartedly, but this was his baby girl after all. She was all he had left. "You will make sure that she is safe and returns?" He asked. His vulnerability and nervousness showing just a little bit. "Yes sir." The two women said at the same time. Their confidence gave Brian peace of mind and he dismissed the meeting.
That day was spent with Gail and Hayden plotting the best route to be taken. Holly was going over some paperwork that would need to be perfectly in order when they arrived at the king's quarters. Gail and Hayden agreed pretty easily on a route there, but they had different ideas for the trip back. Gail wanted to continue to stick to forest paths and avoid villages. Hayden was adamant that they would need to stock up on supplies after their initial journey so she plotted for them to go through a couple of villages. The last village was only a few miles from the Nimrais border. In the end Hayden won the argument since tracking and navigating were her specialties.
The two warriors were given the next day off to say goodbye to their loved ones. Traci and Andy were being assigned to guard Holly for the day. They took the day off, but also had Traci checking in with one of them every hour at least.
They went to the park with Thalin and Elinath and spent the day playing around. Gail felt like part of the family as they played games and had a picnic.
Unfortunately all things come to an end and before they knew it, or would have liked, it was time for them to head back to the castle and make the final preparations for their journey.
A/N: So what do you think? I know the end was very abrupt and rushed. I might change it in the future, but for now this is all I could come up with. Please leave me a review and tell me what you think. Happy New Year.
Until next Time
Hold the Line and Don't Look Back