Secrets of the Crown

Chapter 11

I kept my distance from General Wiltone because I couldn't pretend not to feel my body hurting. I went over my head and my body didn't take it very well.

The next morning was one of the worst I've ever had to face, but I couldn't just sit back and do nothing. I asked for this, and I must do it.

The attendant was really nice and made sure I had hot water for my pains and gave me lots of bandages to keep everything in place.

She asked me if I would like to join the other trainees for breakfast in the mess hall and, of course, I agreed. This is a first for me.

General Wiltone was not aware of any of the events taking place. He was in a private meeting and everyone around us was pretty quiet about it.

They must have been aware that if he were to find out that I was training alongside the others, he would immediately terminate my training.

The platoon I am assigned to invited me to sit at their table. As the only female in the squad, I was met with a strange look from the female servers. The sight must be unusual, but that doesn't matter to me.

As I put my tray down on the table, one of them asked, "So, Maud, how are you dealing with the pain? Pretty tough, huh?"

I exclaimed, "It's the worst!"

We all laughed. “I don’t know how you do it every day. I am so impressed.”

They all flushed as if this was the first time they had been acknowledged for their work.

"I wanted to ask you," the other one said, "did General Alfred personally train you?"

"Yeah, I am curious too! You know, you have amazing skills!"

"She has to be! After all, she beat Lieutenant Philip."

Everyone was waiting for me to respond. "Y-Yes, he did," I lied.

How am I supposed to tell them that my father didn't give me any training? He's the one they look up to. If I told them the truth, they might look down on him.

They started to ask more questions, but I tried to ignore them and concentrated on my meal. I was done talking about my father. It's a good thing someone saw this and said to everyone to just not ask me any more questions and let me eat.

"Have you heard that someone is here from the palace?"

I side eyed the guy who said that and pretended that I was not listening.

"Why? Do you think it's because they let a lady train with us?"

"I don't think they know."

"They must have some palace matters here. Who knows?"

I was afraid to ask if they thought it was the prince. I wouldn't want the answer myself. I am fine with thinking it was just a messenger for the general. I'm just hoping they didn't find out I was training.

After breakfast, we went through the usual routine of training. I was a bit slower than usual due to the pain I was experiencing throughout my body, but I had to put up with it to make sure I wasn’t holding up my team.

After some time, I think my body simply lost its sense that I was no longer feeling pain. The timing was perfect because I was asked by Lieutenant Philip to compete against one trainee.

My team, on the other hand, did not approve of the idea. I'm sure they must have been worried about me, but I assured them that everything was fine and that I could handle it.

For all I know, Lieutenant Philip is putting me to the test.

He then called out the person I was going to battle with. When everyone saw him, they all mumbled something. I've heard that he's really good at swordplay and no one has beat him yet because he uses dirty tactics.

Without any warning, the man charged his sword towards me. As I had no weapon at the time, I merely evaded the blow. I exchanged a brief glance with the man, who only smirked at me.

One of my team gave me a sword and shield and the battle started. The skilled swordsman deftly parried every attack I threw his way. As he moved around me, he continued to swing his sword quickly. He flashed his sword and it nearly pierced my shield.

I was obviously on the losing side. I wasn't prepared for him at all. But with a deft move, I lunged at him in a determined counterattack, but his response was so fast and sharp that I barely had time to recover. The next thing I knew, he did this amazing thing where he spins his sword around in the air and then he strikes. I didn't have enough time to avoid the attack, so I used my broken shield in my hand.

I braced for impact, but it didn't happen. As soon as I took the shield out of the way, I saw a man in front, protecting me with his sword.

"What the hell is happening here, Lieutenant Philip!" He exclaimed, thrusting his sword and sending the other flying.

"You are interrupting our training, Sir Slyfield." The lieutenant stepped forward to confront Reed.

Reed gave me a questioning look. “Are you on this training?” he demanded.

His eyes narrowed in anger that I hesitated to speak. "I-I am."

He grabbed my arm and pulled me away. "Then, you're not anymore."

Nobody did anything to stop Reed from taking me out of training, not even Lieutenant Phillip. I decided not to take his wrath out on me, but he was squeezing my arm so hard that I had to tell him.

I asked Reed to let go of my arm, but he did not respond. He continued to pull me in a direction I did not recognize. "Reed, my hand is hurting. Let me go!" I yelled.

He heard me, but instead of letting go of me, he grabbed my arm and held it against the wall. He said, "What were you thinking? You could have been killed!" I've never seen him get so mad, and his eyes were like they were on fire.

I could not help but feel frustrated and angry. "It was just training! Do you really think they are going to kill me?"

"You didn't see what I saw. That i***t was definitely going after you!"

"Lieutenant Philip was there, and he would have stopped him if he thought I was in trouble!" We exchanged annoyed glances. "Did you even consider that before you did what you did? Why are you here? Did you come for me? Did Luke send you?" I was rambling my thoughts.

Reed punched the wall beside my face, which had stopped me from thinking. It never occurred to me that he could be intimidating when he is displeased. He sighed heavily. "No. I'm here because I have matters to attend to."

He seemed at ease somehow. "I didn't think you'd be here," he said, "but when I did see you, you were fighting, so I didn't have time to think."

I took a deep breath to loosen the tension. "We came here just the other day, I asked General Wiltone to allow me to train. It should have been a simple training but I challenged Lieutenant Phillip and defeated him, so I made him train me with the others."

He, then, released his hold on my hand and said, "I apologize, miss, I misunderstood what I saw."

Why do I feel like he cares about me so much?

"It was a misunderstanding and, besides, I believe that you may have saved my life, yet again," I smiled a little, trying to mask the unease that was building up inside me.

I could see a small smile on his face but it only made my heart flutter more. "Then, it's settled," I said nervously. "I think it would be best if you kept that hand away." I pulled his hand back from the wall, but the sight of the blood stopped me.

I was about to tell him he'd hurt his hand, but he caught me by the arm and held both my hands up to his face. "I will not let these hands be stained with blood."

The sight of his face so close to mine, the warmth of his body against my hand, caused my heart to quicken to the point of bursting.

What's he doing? Why is he doing this to me?

"Reed," I whispered his name when I thought it was only in my mind.

"Please, don't say my name like that," he mumbled. "I'm about to lose my mind." He released my arms and turned away.

I was tempted to call him again or to even grab his robe, but I managed to restrain myself. I can't give in to this feeling.