There were some things apprentices weren’t privy to and that much was certain as Sir Gunnar and Sven went off with the mages to investigate the situation in the forest much more thoroughly. When the knights returned, there was nothing to share with the apprentices.
From that point forward, Leif, Irene, and Felix were told not to tell the other apprentices about what they saw. The situation of footprints in the mud and snow going towards the Duke’s Tower was too strange for them to tell the others. It gave the place a bit of a mistrustful edge, and Irene felt unstable for the first time in a long time since she had been there.
What the others referred to as false spring happened in the following week after what they found in the forest. Everyone near the Duke’s Tower fell asleep to a heavy frost having settled in and woke up to snow pouring over the earth and recovering what had been melted. The days that felt so warm and invigorating were chased away.
It was certain then that whatever was left in the forest was certainly long gone. Whoever coached the wagon that once carried the bodies of dozens of goblins had gotten away with everything.
That wasn’t enough to stop the apprentices.
Rather than remaining idle, the snow made them feel as if there was something for them to prove.
Their warm-up didn’t require moving the snow since it must have only just started falling heavily, but as they moved and thick snowflakes fell, everything felt dull. Even the clashing of wooden blades against each other seemed to be somewhat silenced in such an environment.
Eventually, they were paired up with sparring partners and, as much as Irene hoped that she would get Felix because he was the toughest challenger, she was paired with Leif. As their swords met he seemed just as begrudging as she was to be paired up with her.
She found that irritating enough to do something about it.
Determined to prove herself better than him, the girl was quick on the offensive and she rushed forward the second there was an opening, bringing her wooden sword down and striking his brace with pure intensity. He was forced to place a hand on the flat side of his blade to keep his arm from collapsing as Irene put so much force into her strike.
They weren’t locked together so Irene quickly backed away the moment he started to push her away and she held her wooden sword out in front of her, hoping he would come back with something good.
For an entire few months of being by the other apprentice’s side, and, even though things felt strange between them at that moment, she had learned his style of fighting. Whether she had meant to or not was a thought for another time.
He always started on his left foot when he was going to take off after someone and the girl jumped to the side at the last moment when he tried to side-swipe her with his blade. He began to swing again and Irene decided while he didn’t have the directional advantage and was facing somewhat away, she would give a fast strike.
Even if she didn’t have height or pure strength advantage, she was certain she hadn’t found someone amongst the apprentices who was faster than her. It had been since before the snow that she could test her theory a bit better.
Before Leif could fully react, he felt a wooden blade being thrown down against his back right side and he knew that she had gotten him. If it was a real match and they were genuinely trying to kill one another, she would have succeeded.
The blow was enough for the wind to get knocked out of him so he dropped his sword and crumpled forward with his hands on his knees for a few moments before he was able to stand up and face the other apprentice who had evolved before his eyes without even realizing it.
"Fine, Iro," Leif uttered once his breath returned to him. "You win."
Sir Gunnar, who had begun focusing on their sparring when he noticed something interesting change in their demeanors, let out a pointed chuckle at the older apprentice’s admittance. The youngest apprentice had become a force to be reckoned with as she started to take her emotions and use them as fuel. If it got too intense, that wouldn’t always work, but for now, he didn’t see an issue with it if Irene used it to get ahead and challenge the others.
There were many more days like that. Irene found reliance on herself when she stopped relying on other people to make her happy. The next level could only be reached if she was the one who pushed herself forward and not the others.
This growth led the girl into spring when the snow finally truly began to melt and the knights who were once in all corners of the duchy returned to the Duke’s Tower to learn all that had happened while they were away. There was also a roundtable in a meeting room in the upper levels of the northwest wing where he was also updated about what had been going on in the duchy over the winter.
However, as the Duke sat at the desk in his study with all of his knights, apprentices, and squires giving him updates and him offering feedback, the Commander leaned into his desk as a coughing fit struck his frame.
He seemed to hardly be able to breathe in.
When the handkerchief over his hand fell away from his hand, he coughed again and black specks littered the polished wood of the large oval table in front of him.
The Duchess, who no one understood why she was attending that meeting in the first place, rushed forward and seemed to cover the Duke—not because she was comforting him but because she was hiding from the others what was happening to the man.
"Get out!" she shouted.
There was a pause as many stared in disbelief. Even the apprentices stood still seeing that the knights they respected hadn’t moved an inch.
"Disobedience!" the Duchess shouted.
That was enough to send them off. Even though she wasn’t the Commander, she was his wife.