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Rayla had been avoiding the courtyard at midday ever since Soren had insisted that Callum take up swordfighting again.
The first day that Callum resumed training, he’d been returned to her with an ego that was more than a little battered, along with a few scrapes and bumps that she’d volunteered to nurse.
“Oof, what is he doing to you?” She’d asked, indulging him while he in such a crummy mood. She gently picked a rather large piece of gravel out of his knee and immediately covered the wound with the wet rag in her hand. Uncharacteristically, in the time she’d known him at least, his mouth remained set in a distant, displeased frown. “Seriously, you’re not that uncoordinated. I’m going to come tomorrow and see what he does with you.” At this, his expression darkened even more.
“No!” He exclaimed, forgetting himself. His voice quieted. “I mean, no, I don’t want you to come.”
“Why not?” She dabbed at his knee, seeing that it had stopped bleeding. When she looked up, she frowned at seeing his cheeks redden. She was the only one allowed to make him embarrassed.
“I’m so bad, Rayla. You don’t want to see. Trust me. I don’t want you to see.” He grimaced. She lifted his leg off of her lap and moved closer to him, their sides touching.
There was no reason for him to be in such a sorry state in her mind. To her, he was talented...impressive, even—a self-taught human primal mage! So what if he wasn’t good at sword fighting? She thought back to that heartfelt speech that had prompted their detour to the Banther Lodge. She hated thinking about how little confidence he’d had been before becoming a mage. Rayla didn’t like seeing her sad, sweet prince actually so sad.
”Okay, Callum. Whatever makes you happy,” she’d agreed before laying a kiss on his cheek.
A month or so later, she’d obeyed his wishes...mostly. Except when she’d found an excuse to be in the library at midday a couple of times a week. She never looked out the large windows facing the courtyard for longer than a minute or two, but she couldn’t but peek to satisfy her curiosity. Guilt kept her from actually spying on his training, but from what she’d glanced through the window, she thought he might not be too embarrassed if she happened to stroll through the courtyard today.
So, she did. She appeared in the archway that led into the courtyard as he stretched, sleeveless, jacket discarded in a pile with his bag and sketchbook.
“Oh! Hey, Rayla!” He waved. Relief bubbled up, knowing now for sure that he wouldn’t be upset that she was here.
“Hey,” she called back. “Do you mind if I stay?” She asked, with a smile, head cocked to the side. She tried to convey as much encouragement and sweetness as she could from afar.
”Uh...” He looked a little unsure, glancing at his wooden sword. “No, that’s fine.” He shrugged. She sat in the grass and leaned against the wall, shaded from the late summer sun by a tree.
Noticing the quick glances he stole at her while Soren spoke to him, Rayla looked around to find something to busy herself with. Maybe if she was just a tiny bit busy, she wouldn’t be a distraction. She found nothing but dandelions. She pulled a few and started to braid them, watching her fingers instead of watching Soren adjust Callum’s stance. She glanced up to see Soren following Callum’s line of vision directly to where she sat. It made her smile when Soren spun Callum around so that he was looking in the other direction. She chuckled and placed the braided dandelion stems at her side. Now, she could openly watch.
They began slowly, Soren walking Callum through seemingly choreographed steps. This satisfied some of Rayla’s concern. She’d worried that Soren was just having Callum come at him senselessly again and again rather than actually teaching what it would feel like to actually successfully parry and strike. He’d never be able do it in the moment if he couldn’t do it in slow motion. She thought back to the painstaking adjustments to her form that Runaan had put her through as she’d grown confident with her blades.
Her eyebrows raised as they picked up speed. She was surprised to learn that Callum was...fast. Faster than she expected him to be, at least. Soren, skill backed by strength and brute force, seemed believably challenged by his unexpected agility. Rayla was sure that he was still allowing Callum’s quickness to be an advantage, but she could imagine Callum actually besting an equally matched opponent. It wouldn’t be a pretty fight, but his quickness would certainly trip up another novice without that strength. She almost audibly called out in disappointment when Soren landed a blow. Callum’s eyes cut to her as they reset. She beamed at him, a little more than proud.
Then went around and around like that for nearly twenty minutes. Soren paused to explain where Callum had gone wrong whenever he fell or was struck. Rayla gazed at her beloved proudly, a tiny smile permanently fixed to her lips. She tried to look a little more neutral as they finally finished and he approached her, but it was no use.
She practically bounced up to hug him as soon as he was in range, sweaty as he was.
“Well, hi,” he said as she embraced him.
”That was so good!” She pushed him away by his shoulder so she could look him in the eye.
”Really? I mean I thought it was a good day for me, but—“ He brought his left hand up to the back of his head and shrugged.
”Yes, really! Callum...you’re quick.” She grinned at him admiringly, eager to boost his ego.
Soren had wandered over. “Hey, I noticed that too,” he confirmed. “Does that come with the wings, or what?” He made little flapping motions with his hands.
”Oh.” Callum continued to awkwardly rub the back of his head. “I don’t know. Maybe?”
”Well, either way, I don’t know what you were so embarrassed about. In fact, I think we should spar sometime.” She crossed her arms and smiled even more smugly when his eyes widened.
”Wh-what?” He gestured wildly as he refused. “No way. Rayla, you’re like scary fast. Scary good. Nuh-uh.”
”Oh, come on. I’ll go easy on you.” She punched his arm playfully. “No acrobatics. I’ll fight fair and everything. No tricks. I’ll even use one of the dumb wooden swords. Easy mode.” She shrugged.
“I don’t know—“
”It’ll be fun,” she encouraged. She leaned toward him with a wink. “Do I need to...sweeten the deal?”
Seeing a particular glint in her eye that he was quite acquainted with, Callum glanced to Soren, still clearly involved in their conversation, nervously.
“Great idea!” Soren chimed in, to the sweethearts’ chagrin. “If Callum can last...five minutes against Rayla then, he wins...”
They both stammered nonsensically to try to stop him from continuing the thought.
”...a week’s supply of jelly tarts!” They exhaled in relief. “I’ll deliver them myself!
”Deal?” Rayla asked.
”Fine,” Callum relented with a sigh. “Tomorrow.”
She had, indeed, sweetened the deal herself too, whispering sweet nothings that made him blush as they left the dining hall that evening hand in hand. She smirked remembering their private deal now. She twirled the wooden sword around her arms like a baton as they waited for Soren to arrive to be their referee.
”What are you smiling at?” She asked, noticing the familiar dopey, lovesick smile. She was trying to retain some level of distance and bravado before this little match. She didn’t want to be too distracted.
”Just that this is really win-win either way for me.” She thought back to all of the possibilities she’d whispered in his ear.
”Don’t be so sure. You don’t know how I’m planning on using my free favor when I win.” She now leaned on the sword, propping herself up. Truthfully, she wasn’t sure yet either because she wasn’t sure she’d have to decide. As much as she’d considered it, her pride wouldn’t let him actually win, but she did think she might make it easy enough for him to last five minutes.
“Well any of the things you mentioned yesterday sound like a good deal to me,” he shrugged and bantered back. “Do you even know what you’re going to use it for?”
”Maybe, maybe not,” she said, feigning innocence. “Do you?”
”Yup.”
”What?”
”Not telling.” He glanced up towards the ceiling of the building and shrugged.
”A hint?” She prodded.
”Mmmm...equal parts fun and fun. But you might hate it.” She blinked. What kind of naughty endeavor could he be on about that he thought she’d hate?
”Well, I hope you’re ready to fight for it,” she said, seeing Soren approaching out of the corner of her eye.
”Well, kids, here are the rules: no backflips, no magic, no dirty tricks, no leaving the courtyard. If you drop your sword, fall, or get hit, you lose. Got it?”
”How about cartwheels?” Rayla asked facetiously. Soren looked puzzled.
”Very funny,” said Callum.
“Uh, anyway...ready?” Soren asked. They both nodded. “Set.” Rayla crouched. Callum stepped a foot back to split his stance. “Spar!”
They circled each other, hyperaware of each others’ agility. Rayla let Callum step a little closer without mirroring his movement around the circle and swung the clumsy wooden sword in his direction, offering an easy blow to block. He did. She couldn’t help but smile a little, especially seeing the way he stepped to prepare to strike back. She didn’t bother blocking, instead electing to simply step to the side. She spun as she stepped around to his back and attempted another strike. He’d anticipated her movement and parried.
“Not bad,” she commented and, subsequently, increased the pace, but not yet the difficulty, of her dance. Intermittently, he’d extend to attempt to land a blow of his own, clearly testing, looking for an opening. She side-stepped most blows, but a few she’d had to actually block. She let him attempt to strike her a few times in a row. Then, she decided it was time to have some fun. She stepped closer to him after his next attempted blow, forcing him to stumble backwards at her unexpected lunge.
“Careful now,” she taunted. They began the pattern of parries again, but now Rayla did everything in her power to surprise him with her movement, messing with his footing with her unexpected steps. He was handling it well, considering. He certainly was adjusting to what she did instead of just reacting to what he thought she’d do.
She’d intentionally backed up their battle to the tree in the corner of the courtyard. Now, she tried to trip him up by spinning and lunging overtop of the roots, which she easily danced around while he stumbled, parrying her blows the whole time. She sighed as he, at last, finally lost his footing and reeled backwards. With one hand she caught him by the scarf before he could fall and pulled his lips to hers.
”Sorry, Callum.” She said as they separated, and she righted him. They exchanged small smiles.
”Well, Soren, how’d I do?” Callum asked as they crossed back to the center of the courtyard.
”I mean, you lost.” He shrugged.
”Obviously. I mean, how long did I last?”
Soren looked up at the clock tower, and moved his mouth as if he was counting ticks on its face. “Hey! Six minutes! Free jelly tarts!”
Rayla reached for Callum’s hand when he turned to her grinning. “See? You’re not so bad after all.”
”Next time you’ll have to make it a little harder,” he smiled. She was glad to have helped to make this not such a sore subject for him.
”Next time, I’m teaching you,” she declared. “If you want to be fast, I can help with that. No offense, Soren.”
He held up a hand with a shake of the head. “None taken.” He traipsed away to sit on the bench and observe.
”Now, then, Callum, come here and show me your stance.” She smiled as he followed her directions. Once Soren was out of earshot, she landed a kiss on Callum’s cheek, and she whispered: “Good job.”
”Oh no. No, no, no.” She said staunchly as they’d rounded the corner and their destination had come into view. It was a lake. Admittedly, she was being a little overdramatic. After all, it was quite a pretty sight with the sun setting just above the horizon.
”Aw, come on, Rayla.” He took her hands and pulled her towards the edge of the water. “You’ll be fine. I’m right here. Plus, I can...distract you.” She rolled her eyes at the silly wink he shot her.
”Oh yeah?” She asked. She wasn’t thrilled about going in the water, but the prospect of having Callum kiss her fears away was all too appealing.
”Yup.” To her surprise, his fingers started to peel off her wrist armor. She inhaled sharply. “You don’t want to swim in all this, do you?” He asked with a sweet, permission-seeking smile.
“Guess not.” She blinked, realizing what he’d meant by fun earlier. Rayla felt color rise to her cheeks, mostly out of excited anticipation with just a hint of embarrassment about showing Callum her body. He helped her remove her armor, kissing her wrists and her shoulders as he worked. Wordlessly, he then turned around and started to remove his outer layers. The corner of her mouth twitched up a little bit thinking about if he hadn’t...if he’d helped her undress start to finish.
She shook off the risqué thought and took the opportunity to turn around as well to discard her shoes, wiggle out of her pants, and lift her shirt over her head. In nothing but her underclothes, she found herself chilled a little despite the summer night. She pulled her arms in around her waist. When she turned back around, he was already knee deep in the water, looking back at her, holding out a hand to encourage her to join him. She just barely caught the brief moment that his eyes wandered.
”Come on. Water’s warm.” He said. She dropped her arms to take his hand and then she stepped into the water. They waded out to their hips.
“Where’s that distraction, then?” She cringed at the water hitting her waist.
He pulled on their joined hands to bring her to him and kissed her. He didn’t dare to bring his hands up to her waist until she put her hands on his bare chest. She was much more well acquainted with his bare skin than he was with hers. When he pulled away, it was only just far enough to look her in the eyes.
“Thanks for today,” he muttered, pulling away to dip down further into the water, floating in place serenely.
”No thanks needed. I told you it would be fun, and it was,” she added with confidence she hoped was contagious. She kept her feet planted instead of sinking down into the water, but she tentatively followed him out a little deeper into the water. She splashed him, attempting to sweeten his sour mood that had returned. The smile on his lips didn’t hide the dark and stormy feelings betrayed by his eyes.
“Callum, I wish you wouldn’t be so down on yourself about all this.” She frowned and looked at him with concern. Didn’t he know how wonderful he was?
“I mean, you basically let me win. I just...wish that I was good at this stuff.” She reached her arms out to take him by both hands, which lay floating on top of the water.
“So, you’ll get better. You’re learning. I’ve been practicing my entire life, for hours a day, since I could walk.” She pulled him closer easily, helped by his buoyancy in the water. Her arms draped around his neck, elbows on his shoulders.
“You can’t be good at everything, mage,” she said with a wink. At this, his eyes lightened a little to actually match his blushing smile as he brought his hands to her waist beneath the water.
“You’re the best,” he said with a grin.
”I love you, Callum,” she said, returning his grin before leaning in to kiss him. She squealed a little when he lifted her up, wrapping his arms tighter around her waist in the water. She smiled against his lips as he set her back down, his arms keeping her unsure footing steady in the loose sand below. He leaned his forehead against hers. She couldn’t help the lovesick smile that spread across her face. He gently laid a kiss on her cheek.
“So...same deal next time?” He mused, arms still wrapped around her
”What?”
”A free favor? For the winner next time?” He shrugged. She didn’t catch on to his meaning.
“Oh. Sure, I guess.”
”Good,” he nodded with a wry smile, “and don’t take it too easy on me. I’m interested in some of those favors.”