She crooks her finger and smiles. Sigh. No point in stalling. Really, there’s nothing to be wary about. By now, I’m an expert at getting my ass kicked by her.

Hmm. I wonder what that says about our relationship?

Forget it. Not like we had a conventional partnership from the start.

“If you’re not going to come to me—”

Ah, thinking too long. I quickly bring up my guard as she rushes me. I deflect her first two strikes with open palms, dodging the third before stepping back to put some space between us.

Kierra allows it, circling me. I turn my body to keep her in front of me without moving, eyes flicking to the ground quickly to make sure she’s not trying to lure me into a trap. She’s done it before.

“Much better. I can almost forget that terrible reaction at the hotel,” she teases.

I wince. Can’t she let that go? It was my first assassin, geez. “Are we going to chat or fight?”

“How bold. Just giving you the chance to get ready. There won’t be any breaks once we start.”

“Great. That’s what gets me out of bed.” My sarcasm is so thick I can taste it.

It’s bitter.

She charges forward. Despite the monstrous strength she can bring to bear, she prefers a fighting style that relies on speed and flexibility. Getting in close and overwhelming her opponent with a rain of blows, each aimed at a weak point. I can’t allow a single one to land or I’ll go down immediately from the follow-up. Too bad she won’t give me the chance to breathe.

If I step back, she steps forward. My arms hurt from blocking her blows as I have to give up on only deflecting. The short jabs I throw to try and break her rhythm during her manufactured openings are useless as she dodges them with such tiny movements I have to wonder if my aim is off and her counterattacks are brutal.

I slip during one of our exchanges and take a blow to the stomach. I gasp as the air is knocked out of me. She follows up with a combination; one to the throat, one to the nose, and a third hit with some power behind it to the chin.

I stumble backwards, eyes watering and struggling to breathe. Blood trickles through the fingers of the hand holding my nose.

She moves forward slowly, showing she’s stopped her assault and I can relax. A hand cups my cheek and her spell rushes through me, easing my injuries. I blink away my tears as she puts some distance between us. “Ow.”

“Again.”

I can’t think of doing anything more than defending. She smacked that nonsense out of me day one. You don’t go head-to-head with someone who clearly outmatches you. I have to be patient, endure the blows, force her to make a mistake. Sweat soaks my back and my breathing is labored as I focus on keeping up my defense. Dammit, this is hard. Hold on, hold on.

My chance comes when she goes for a low kick. I widen my stance, pushing out her already unstable leg, and go for the throw.

If we were really fighting, there are a dozen reasons this wouldn’t work. She could break my hold on her. Hit me before I had a chance to blink. Simply refuse to move as I try to throw her. However, I wouldn’t learn anything in that case so she pretends to be an ordinary fighter and graciously allows me to throw her to the ground, smiling the whole time.

I straddle her waist as she raises her hands to guard her soft face and throat. I push one of them down and lock her in a submission. “How’s…that?” I ask through my harsh breaths.

“Not bad,” she muses. “Tuck your head in tighter, wouldn’t want me getting any easy shots. Yes, good. Except—”

I yelp as she rolls us over but keep my hold. “I’ve told you about locking the legs so they don’t have leverage to roll. Now look.”

“I’ve…still got you.”

“That you do. Love a good struggle snuggle.”

“What?”

Her answer is to force her arms around me. Dread twists my gut and I try to tighten my grip. All the good that does me.

“You struggle,” she whispers with obvious pleasure as she lifts me up as high as she can while on her knees, arms slowly constricting until my ribs start to scream. Then she slams me down with all her strength. “I snuggle.”

Trying to make it sound like something cute instead of a brutal attack. The second time I manage to hold on but my arms slacken after the third. By the sixth, I’m sprawled on my back groaning in pain, vision swimming after one too many impacts to the head.

“Come on, Lou.” She squeezes me tighter even though I don’t have the strength to resist. At this rate, she’s going to squeeze everything right out of me. Great, now I’m feeling nauseous on top of the rest of my problems. “What happened to all your energy from before? After your…performance, I expected a bit more, hmm, stamina.”

Saints teach her the virtue of forgiveness, do you let nothing go? I admit, things got a little out of hand that night. Using Geneva to give me limitless stamina to match her physical endurance led to…well. But it’s not like it stopped her! Once again, I was reminded how much of a monster this elf is. It’s got nothing to do with magic or affinities. She’s just insatiable.

Another wave of mana and then she gets off me. Ugh. Honestly, if it were anyone else, I would have already stormed off. Still might have if she weren’t so clearly enjoying herself; eyes bright as she bounces on her toes. The sight heals me just as much as her magic, I think. Without it, I might not be able to scrape together my motivation and slowly push to my feet. She waits until I raise my guard and give her a confirming nod.

“Aga—”

“Enough!”

I relax as Alana comes marching towards us. Wow. I’ve heard of the expression seething with rage but this is my first time seeing it. Her face is so flushed, she looks like she’s burning from the inside and the knuckles of her clenched fists are white.

She levels an accusing finger at Kierra. “What kind of instructor are you? This can’t even be called training anymore. You’re just trying to break her.”

“Hoh?” A smirk turns up the ends of Kierra’s mouth as she places her hands on her hips. “Does she look broken to you? I have a much better understanding of what she can take than you do so just go sit down quietly.”

“Alana,” I throw in, getting her attention. “Really, it’s fine. I told you, the two of us have an understanding.”

“No, Lou. Just because she is a teacher here doesn’t mean she gets to do what she wants. I’ve ignored her unusual methods but singling a student out is unprofessional and not tolerable. She should be reported!”

By now, we’ve got the attention of the entire class. I bury my face in my hands. On the one hand, this is troublesome. On the other hand, I can’t be mad. My friend is ready to go up against someone who could crush her with one hand, her little finger even, to stick up for me. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

But she is seriously misunderstanding the situation. Sigh. How do I stop this?

“You’re right. I have been singling Lou out and pushing her harder than the rest of you. However, you’re confused about my motives. It’s not because I dislike her. In fact, it’s the exact opposite.”

My hands are suddenly pulled away from my face and my chin tilted up. I have a single moment to see Kierra’s devious smile before she leans down, bringing our lips together.

Several exclamations erupt behind me. I can feel them. The stares burning into my back and one particularly strong stare coming from the side. Ah, they’re all watching. This is uncomfortable in so many ways.

Kierra stops the kiss. I hide my face in her chest, peeking around from the corners of my eyes. Heh. It’s a little funny seeing the way their eyes are all about to pop out of their heads but the annoyances of later are stopping me from enjoying the moment. When this gets out, it’s going to be like back home but ten times worse.

“You see, Lou isn’t being trained by the Grand Hall’s standards or even human ones. She’s being trained by my standards. As my wife, she—”

“You’re MARRIED!?”

That sets off a new barrage of exclamations. Kierra chuckles. “Yes, we’re married. As I was saying, as my wife, she is far more capable than any of you know. What I’m doing may seem harsh but I would never do any lasting damage. I love her.”

She punctuates that sentence by nuzzling the top of my head and humming. I look at Alana, who looks lost. “I’m alright,” I shout, jolting her out of her thoughts. “It’s definitely as bad as it looks but I’m going to be paid back in full, so don’t worry.” Heh. Might actually be the one paying back a debt right now.

“My Lou is such a spoiled girl.”

“Spoiled? I earn everything I get in blood, sweat, and tears. Literally.” And a few other bodily fluids but that’s not something I’ll say in front of our current audience.

“…um. Well, I’m…going to sit down. Sorry for…intruding.”

“Hold on.” Kierra lets me go and walks over to Alana, whose anger has deflated, replaced by embarrassment. “Speaking up like that was really brave of you. Don’t feel ashamed about it. It was impressive. I’m glad Lou has a friend like you.”

She reaches out and ruffles her hair. The future knight becomes bashful though I can still detect a hint of confusion. Someone else weak to a compliment, I see.

Kierra lets her go but then scowls at the rest of the initiates. “Who told any of you to stop? If this is too boring, I can have the dogs brought back out—”

She doesn’t get to finish before the students are hurrying to continue their exercises, though I’m not fooled. They may look absorbed but they’re watching the two us. I have a feeling that a lot more of my peers are going to be interested in me now, especially the nobles. Ah, I was trying to avoid all this. What a pain.