“If you hurt me, darling, it’s proof I never should have been knighted in the first place. But I’ll risk it. Now stop dallying and try to get past me.”
She took a deep breath, then lunged at him, just as he first instructed.
A second later, her dagger clattered to the floor and she was caught in his arms, her back pressed against his chest. She gasped. She couldn’t even wriggle out of his embrace.
“Do you understand what happened?” he asked.
“No! What did you do? What did I do wrong?”
“You hesitated,” Rafe explained. “I suspect that you didn’t want to perforate my liver, which is extremely flattering, but not helpful. You need to think of me as an enemy.” He released her and stooped to pick up the dagger, handing it to her. “Now, step back and we’ll try it again. As soon as I say, you need to move fast. Don’t think about me at all, don’t worry about my health. Just go.”
“All right.” Angelet closed her eyes, trying to picture an enemy in front of her, instead of Rafe himself. She envisioned Dobson. “I’m ready,” she said, opening her eyes.
“Go.”
This time she kept the image of Dobson in her mind, and tried to go faster. She lunged forward with her arm held straight. A second later, Rafe grabbed her arm in a defensive move, keeping her from attacking again.
“Well done,” he said.
“But I didn’t do…” She then saw that shehaddone something. Her dagger pierced his cloth tunic, leaving a ragged hole.
“Oh, sweet mercy,” she gasped, putting her free hand to her mouth.
Rafe grinned at her. “That was perfect.”
“I nearly stabbed you!”
“Yes. That was your objective.”
“But…your clothing! I’ll mend it,” she added. “I can, you know.”
“I have every confidence in you,” Rafe said. “But don’t try to change the subject. We’re not done yet.”
“Surely you don’t want me to come at you again?”
“You did it once, very well. But you need to practice. You need to be confident and know how to move without stopping to think about it. Now try again.”
She did. Time after time she lunged toward Rafe, and time after time she got a little better at the move. Granted, Rafe was far, far more experienced than she was, so his reflexes and training meant he was in no actual danger, despite the fact that she had assaulted his tunic once. He admitted he didn’t expect her to be so accurate so quickly, and thus had been a little slack. She never managed to strike him again.
On the most recent attempt, Rafe stopped her in mid-stride to show her that she was instinctively shying away from a direct attack.
“Keep your shoulder up, and don’t veer away. That leaves you less able to defend yourself. Remember how your body moves. Remember this pose. That’s what you need to be able to do almost without thinking. Try again.”
She did.
He caught her arm and swung her close to his body, effectively entrapping her. “Very good, but never lose your balance. You leaned too far forward and I was able to take advantage of that. Understand?”
“You keep saying very good,” she said, “but you keep winning.”
“Darling, I’ve made this my profession for years. You started tonight. What else do you expect?”
“I hoped I’d be a better student.”
“You’re an excellent student,” he said. “Never doubt it.”
At that moment, there was a knock at the door. Angelet dropped her hand, concealing the dagger in the folds of her skirt, just as Rafe instructed.
Meanwhile, Rafe stepped around her to answer the door, his dagger now sheathed but close to hand.
