A Stroll off the Grounds

The fight started as all their other formal fights had. Astraea and Drystann picked up their weapons, bowed, and began to circle to each other. Music began to play in the background to signal the beginning of the time limit.

Astraea lunged first this time. She saw no point in waiting for him to attack and being defensive like she usually was. Tonight she wanted this over and done with fast.

Their swords met with the clang of steel. Drystann pushed against her blade so Astraea dodged left and under to come up beneath Drystann before he could react.

She slashed at him and managed to knick his arm before he stopped the blade.

Drystann grunted in pain as he briefly dropped his sword to check on the cut. Astraea smiled a little as she saw red begin to soak through his shirt but was quickly distracted when he attacked her again.

This time Astraea's let got scratched and she hissed out a breath before stabbing forward and ignoring the pain.

Parry and dodge. Parry, dodge, and slash. Parry, dodge, slash, and parry again. They continued dancing around the room clashing swords in this manner, missing each other by a narrower margin each time.

Astraea could feel her leg start to tremble as her skit got darker and darker with blood but Drystann's shirt sleeve was starting to drip on the floor so she couldn't give up now.

She began to fight more aggressively, forcing Drystann to retreat to a corner.

He switched tactics as the music started to reach its crescendo, pushing back against Astraea's assault.

Astraea tripped over the hem of her skirt and fell backwards. Her sword clattered to the floor as she fell. She scrambled toward it but Drystann advanced too quickly.

He raised his sword ready to slash down when the music faded out. He stabbed downwards anyway and buried the end of his in the floor next to Astraea's head. He released the sword handle and bent to pick her up.

Drystann carried her to a nearby bench and gently set her down to get medical attention before collapsing on the chair next to her and holding out his arm to get it wrapped.

"Thank you," Astraea said weakly as a woman raised her skirt to wrap her leg.

"We have a truce now." Drystann said. "Now, until the war is over."

*****

Daphne glanced around before dunking behind the loose wooden plank she had discovered while exploring the Roxte estate grounds. She ran along the fence until she reached the road to the Academy. Daphne pulled the hood of her cloak up this time to protect her ears from the cold and hide her identity. There was supposed to be no one who knew who she was or what she looked like but she was ok with being extra cautious.

The Academy of Medical Arts looked just as intimidating as it had the first time Daphne remembered seeing it. The big stone arches that stretched over the gates to the entrance were covered in green ivy that wrapped its tendrils around the iron fence surrounding the school.

Daphne dunked under a curtain of ivy and slipped through a hole in the wall. When she eventually got to school, she would have to send a note to her guard to get the holes in the school's fence and holes in the estate's fence but for right now they were helpful in getting her to where she wanted to be.

She ducked through another curtain of ivy and made her way to the roof of the academy just in time for the first bells of the day to ring. Students flooded out the buildings and into the courtyard between all the buildings. Daphne scanned the crowd and saw Teresa emerge talking to two other students.

She watched Teresa walk inside another building before rolling onto her back so she could watch the clouds instead. There were only a few in the sky today but they were still big enough to cast shadows along buildings.

Daphne rolled back over and scanned the courtyard again but there were only a few stragglers running late to classes speeding into buildings. She pushed herself up and stretched. She backed up a couple of paces before eyeing the distance between the building she was on and the one Teresa had gone into. The gap was too much for her to cross in a single jump but based on the layout of the surrounding buildings, she could take an alternate route. Daphne rolled her ankle around and looked down at her feet happy that Duchess Roxte had let her get some pants. This would've been nearly impossible in a dress.

The gravel under her feet made a slight crunching noise as Daphne got a running start to leap over the gap between buildings and continue to hop from building to building until she landed on the roof of Teresa's building. She carefully climbed down a wall before finding a perch on a tree outside Teresa's classroom. Daphne could see the teacher at the front of the classroom with a book in her hand as she pointed to bones on a diagram.

Teresa was sitting near the back of the classroom reading a book on her desk and looking up occasionally to take notes on what the teacher was pointing to.

Daphne was sad that this was the only way she could see her sister but it was better than nothing. Eventually, she would have to figure out which room was Teresa's so she could leave her sister notes but for right now watching from afar was best.

The sun was still high in the sky when Daphne made her way back to the Roxte estate. She needed to get back before anyone came to check on her to get ready for dinner. Her nanny knew where she was of course as Nicola helped her stay athletically fit and ready for anything but if a maid came in, Daphne would be reported straight away and wouldn't be able to see her sister until she enrolled in the Academy's school for younger students.

Daphne made it through her window and had arranged herself in a chair across from Nicola just as a maid came in with Daphne's dinner clothes. Nicola raised an eyebrow at Daphne as if to say: Cutting it a little close?

And in response, Daphne shrugged to say: I still made it, didn't I?