The Smaller The Blade

"It's time for the final segment." Sir Martius announced.

The men silently heaved a sigh of exhaustion, making sure it didn't reach Martius's ears. They had been training nonstop for hours and were exhausted beyond comprehension by that point. 

Davina in particular was the most tired of them all. After the eventful day she had the previous day, she barely got any sleep and now and there she was, back at training with her partially healed body.

"Ryan, Dimitri, come up here."

Davina noticed Sir Martius seemed to derive some sort of incomprehensible pleasure in watching Ryan and her tear each other apart. Despite there being twenty-three other men to choose from, he kept partnering the two of them for the whole day to duel with each other- duels which she obviously won each round.

Cursing under her breath, Davina did as she was told, mentally preparing herself to spar with her newfound nemesis for the umpteenth time that day.

"Starting right now, you'll be sparring with weapons." Sir Martius addressed his class. "You two, head over there and choose a weapon of your choice." He pointed his chin toward the wooden case in the corner filled with all sorts of weapons.

Ryan smirked and quickly walked off to greedily snatch the sword with the golden hilt. Davian didn't know what devil prompted him to believe she was eyeing the sword or which god blessed him with the confidence and pride to look down on her despite losing all his matches to her but she decided to ignore his advances. 

Just as she was about to pick up the other sword in the case, something caught her eye; the sword Caspian gave her to practice with the previous night, resting delicately in the case.

'I thought he took it with him.' She thought to herself, wondering how the dagger got there.

"Might as well put my training to good use." She kicked up the dagger and walked back to the centre where Ryan was already flexing his sword.

'This fool thinks he has an advantage over me because of the fancy sword in his possession.'

"Did you get that from the case?" Sir Martius asked, staring at the dagger in her hands in disbelief.

"Yes, Sir."

"Interesting."

From his reaction, Davina knew her guess was right. That dagger wasn't supposed to be there and judging by the fancy inscriptions on it, it was probably Sir Martius's item.

"Since you've chosen your weapons..." Sir Martius continued, speaking no further on the dagger in Davina's hands, "...The both of you will spar with them. This is just a test to see your skills and how best I can hone them so remember not to kill each other or I'll kill you-"

Ryan ignored the warning Martius gave them and immediately lunged at Davina before he finished his sentence.

Luckily for her, Davina was attentive. She noticed Ryan as he made his move and was able to dodge the attack just in the nick of time before the point of his blade landed on the left side of her face, scratching her eyes in the process.

"Dammit!" Ryan cussed, angered by the fact that his surprise attack didn't work.

Davina on the other hand had already slipped into her analyzing habit. She made sure to quickly study Ryan and look for any weaknesses he had while fighting with a sword in his hands.

Although she hated to admit it, Ryan had certainly improved compared to the first time they sparred against each other. He was now better at concealing his weakness during combat so she was finding it hard to pick apart.

Despite his improvements, Davina was still better. She didn't want to brag but credit had to be given when it was due. Thanks to the training Caspian gave her, she was holding her own in the fight with no issues. Despite having never used a dagger in her life until a few hours earlier, she looked skilled on the court.

Certainly not up to knife master level, but still skilled.

'The smaller the blade, the sharper it cuts.' She remembered Caspian's words from the previous night. Although his reference was the dagger, Davina couldn't help but feel as though his words were also directed toward her, considering her small frame.

With that thought in mind, giving her an extra dose of motivation, she poured all her concentration on the duel, making sure to exert all the skills Caspian taught her, and by the end of it, unsurprisingly, she emerged the victor.

"I'm surprised to see how skilled you are with the dagger." Sir Martius looked impressed by the play Davina displayed before them. "Your swordplay looks oddly familiar, who taught you to fight like that?"

Davina swallowed, unsure of what to say. She couldn't exactly tell him the most powerful man in the kingdom randomly taught her how to use a dagger in the middle of the night. Who would believe that? Even she had a hard time coming to terms with it.

Noticing her discomfort with the question, Sir Martius changed the subject. "That doesn't matter, I'm just glad at least one of you knows what they're doing here." He turned to Ryan with disappointment plastered all over his face.

Although he said it didn't matter and skipped the question, Davina had a feeling Sir Martius had put together what happened, he was a smart man after all. If the dagger wasn't enough confirmation, then the similar fighting style sealed the deal for him. She knew he knew Lord Caspian had taught her something but she couldn't discern the look on his face or what he thought about that.

As Sir Martius was berating Ryan, giving him a stern warning for the stunt he pulled earlier, something caught Davina's eye. A shadow by the door side and golden eyes staring back at her.

'Could it be him or am I hallucinating?' She wondered as her gaze lingered longer on the door but she couldn't see anything else.

That split second was enough for her to doubt herself, making her question what she really saw- if he even saw anything, to begin with

 Aside from that minor hiccup, the rest of the training went by rather quickly with Davina mainly sitting in the back watching the others spar- The perks of going first.