Knighted (me and Lady Sin)

[Raziel99]

(picture it without the spikes)

Alexander De la Cruz was in the training square of the castle courtyard, his sword at the ready as he stared down the person that had challenged him. He rushed forward, holding himself in a more defensive position than his opponent. he crashed his armor against the flat of his opponent's blade before his own blade came down, knocking the sword from the man's hand. A steady kick knocked the opponent to the ground, before the tip of his blade was pointed to the man's neck. After a long, tense moment, Alexander pulled his blade back, sheathing it before helping the man back up. "Raphael, that was good. But remember, your armor is hard for a reason. Use the plates to defend instead of relying on the blade."

Raphael nodded before retrieving his sword and heading back to the barracks. As Raphael entered the building, two people came out, one being a older man, just barely higher ranking than Alexander. The other was a woman. Alex couldn't tell her age, but she looked at least 18. maybe younger by a few years. She was outfitted in leather armor, which surprised him, until the older man reached him, holding out a scroll. Taking it and opening it, he read it quickly.

"You have to be kidding me." Alexander said, a little more gruff than he wanted. He picked his head up to look at the blond-haired woman, the new recruit, so the scroll said. His eyes looked into hers, almost like he was boring into her own, but soon he smiled. "Ok then, there is training to do." He might be having major second thoughts about taking her under his wing, training her to be a knight, but he had taken harder tasks before, and he was up to tough challenges.

 

[prettylykSIN]

• • • • • • 
            
            
            
            Her first day as a squire could not have gone more horribly. Even though the king had decreed that women could train as a knight nearly a decade ago, people were still unwilling to accept female warriors. Meredith was the first girl to try for her shield since the law was passed. Most noble families would never allow their daughters to try for such a dangerous position. Better to send them to a nunnery or to the Palace to become Ladies of the court. But no, not Meredith. She had dreamed of knighthood since she was a child, and her parents were the sort to let their youngest daughter do as her heart desired, even if it was as insane as wanting to become a knight. That was the problem of having a noble family. They all realize you're insane, but they're too polite to point it out to you.
            
            She had barely been here an hour, and already she felt like a fool. The men laughed and jeered at her, whistling as she passed. She stared straight in front of her, ignoring them all, but they still noticed the dark flush staining her cheeks. The training master had jeered at her as well, making a lewd comment about handling his sword. She bore it all in silence, clenching her fists at her sides, her nails digging into her palms painfully. At last the training master wrote something on a sheet of parchment and passed it to another man, telling him to bring it and the 'chit' to Sir Alexander De la Cruz. The man had smirked as though it were some private joke between the two men before leading her from the room.
            
            Now Meredith stood before a tall, impressive looking knight; this Sir Alexander. She glared mullishly up at him as he looked her over. Instead of feeling reassured at the knight's smile, she only felt more weary. The general welcome she had received so far made her suspicious of the intentions of these men. She remained silent while the introductions were made, bowing stiffly before the dark-haired knight as she was present to him as his new squire. Meredith of Olau reporting for duty.
            
            [ My God that sucked. Sorry. I'm working off three days of no sleep. ]
            [/list:u][/list:u][/list:u][/list:u][/list:u][/list:u]

 

[Raziel99]

(That is quite alright. I know people that have bad days with posts. I have worked off of less to start with.)

He bowed almost as low as he watched her, wary of her every little movement, to the minutiae of her eyes and creases in her face. He saw the annoyance on her face, apparently from the rude behavior of the other soldiers. He would take care of that in time. He stood up fully again, turning to the Training Master. "I'm taking her under my wing. Make sure the others know this."

He turned to her, a soft smile on his face. "If they bother you, make sure to tell me. I will take care of them. Now, lets go, we have training to do." he moved to the training dueling circle, drawing his blade as he reached near the other side, turning towards her. He adapted a purely defensive position as he watched her.

"Enter the circle." he said in a low voice. "Take a weapon over by the side. I want to see your style. Then I will adapt and hone it after I see how good you are at it." The rack that he vaguely gestured to had a large array of weaponry; ranging from long and broadswords, claymores, battle axes, daggers, throwing knives, even a bow and arrow. All of them for her choice at the moment.

"Don't keep me waiting." he said, in a slightly louder voice. "I want to get a lot done for today. It will be hard work, turning you into the warrior you need to be to be a knight of the realm." He took the time that she was getting her weapon to adjust his armor - it got moved slightly from the crash against Raphael.