Book 1 Chapter 3: Wake Up Call

Vero rose early to the sounds of metal striking objects. He squinted and rolled over. Who could be making this racket so early in the morning? He quietly rolled off his bed and hobbled over to the door. As soon as the door was ajar, he felt a whoosh and froze as a dagger passed a few inches from his scalp, burying itself into the wooden door next to him. His eyes were wide as he looked back at the source of the frightening experience.

His mistress, the new Ulrikan, panted for a second as she paused. She was poised with a few other weapons in her hands. She saw him and her eyes calmed from the wild and fighting state they had been in, when he had seen them moments before. She muttered something as she put the other daggers away.

“You could have killed me! What in the world are you doing!?!” He yelled out in anger and also, if he was honest, fear.

“Training,” she said cooly, as if this was normal.

“Isn’t it a bit early, ma’am?” he said, trying to steel his trembling limbs. She brushed off her clothes, briefly, before side glaring at him.

“It’s actually late,” she said, and Vero wondered just what kind of schedule the mistress followed. Very few servants ever rose this early to do anything, let alone voluntarily. She seemed finished with putting things away and she strode over to him with a proud, yet silent walk.

“Well?” she asked, startling him.

“Huh?” he said, looking into her cold eyes. “Well what?” he dared to ask after some silence.

“Don’t you have something to say about this?” she said, probably the longest thing she had said since she had gotten here. He looked at her with a scrunched, confused face. What did she mean by that. It seemed like she was asking for some sort of reprimand perhaps? But what for…

“I don’t understand what you are asking,” he grumbled, taking on her tone. Her eyebrow raised at his tone and she looked at him quietly before speaking.

“Nothing about this isn’t proper, or whatever you Ulrikans call it?” she prodded. Vero realized where she was going.

“Well, if you know it isn’t proper already, then you probably shouldn’t be doing it,” he muttered, shifting. He heard her sigh, and he didn’t really feel like being on her bad side from the onset of the day. Thinking quickly, he continued his words. “Either way, I doubt you… er rather, probably no one could stop you ma’am. Besides, I am not over you, like… well, like some commander, but under you,” he said. Her expression remained neutral, but it seemed like she was processing what he was saying. He didn’t want her to feel like she could do anything though, so he quickly added, “If it goes against the rules of this place, and our land, then I will tell you so, but so far, there isn’t anything about training, especially if you aren’t, yet, the wife of the master.”

The gleam in her eyes that had begun to glimmer, flashed away, and he figured that whatever her schemes were, they had been dashed by that last statement. However, she seemed not quite so annoyed with him, and that was very relieving.

As one final act of good will, he decided to retrieve the dagger she had unintentionally thrown at him. Reaching up, he grabbed the hilt, his eyes growing wide. It didn’t budge. Somehow, the dagger was so lodged in the wood that he would never be able to pull it out.

Behind him, he heard the mistress ‘tch’ before coming over. He saw her hand reach for the dagger, then stop. He looked up at her face and she seemed to think twice about the dagger. Her mind was made rather quickly and she turned to leave.

“Uh,” his voice resounded in the area, “don’t you want your dagger ma’am?” he asked, confused and curious.

“Hmph,” she grumbled and left into the morning mist.

“What on earth?” he mumbled.

Either she could tell in one glance if it was too buried to remove quickly, or she wasn’t interested in the dagger anymore. At least, that was what he supposed, then his thoughts changed course and a new idea fastened itself into his mind. Perhaps, she had left it there for him to get it out… like a challenge. Maybe she was testing him to see if he was strong enough. But what if that was a test… He scratched his head and decided that he better go after her for the moment, just to make sure that she wasn’t getting into trouble or terrorizing the other servants.