Winter 4987, 25 Ginmoth 

Even on winter break, Shon slept in just long enough to get up at fifth bell. While most of the others continued to sleep, he dressed and made his bed the same as always, walking quietly to the courtyard to stretch and run. He liked the routine and was soon joined by two other Squires and a handful of adult Paladins who felt the same.

Ryuuko yawned widely and waited in the courtyard while they ran around the fortress the standard ten times, then went their separate ways. Some returned to the fortress for an early breakfast, while others remained in the courtyard for drills. 

Shon worked through his unarmed kata first, and by the time he moved on to his sword forms he was the only one still doing drills. He tried not to think about the upcoming match, but was forced to face it as Ryuuko let out a whistle of greeting. The little dragon sent him an image of Lily exiting the fortress, looking around and waving to him from the door. She moved with the grace of a dancer, heading straight for the sparring rings and starting her own kata without rushing him.

Finishing his exercise, Shon went to his usual water barrel to splash his face and neck. He had to punch hard to get through the layer of ice and down to the water beneath. A few more days, and it would be completely solid. Streaking his hair back, he turned to find Lily still going through her forms but now surrounded by the usual group of six Squires.

Their voices carried through the still morning air, “... sure you don’t want to start with someone closer to your level?”

“And how do you know my level?” Lily asked sweetly. Far too sweetly. Dangerously.

She was wearing a sleeveless tunic and loose-fitting pants like the day before and had her long golden hair braided in a thick plait down her back -though strands had already managed to escape around her ears and forehead. Shon could see the muscles in her arms move under her skin and scales as she worked through the twisting motions of her kata and would bet money her legs had filled out with muscle as well.

She was good. Very good. She definitely hadn’t been exaggerating when she'd told him she practiced every day. It had only been a year, but the improvement was apparent to anyone with half a mind and at least one eye. 

With a sigh, Shon went for the weapons rack. Ryuuko landed on one of the wooden sparring swords and twittered at him. She'd given him the option of staff or his favored weapon. Considering her noticeable improvement, he went for the sword, brushing Ryuuko off to fly ahead of him.

Lily wanted to test her abilities. It wouldn’t be fair to only give her half his effort.

Shon stopped at the edge of the ring to watch her finish her form, but the other Squires had noticed him and called out, “Hey Shon, about time!”

"Way to leave a lady waiting..." 

"The sword? Really?"

His friends exchanged nervous looks and a few more Squires filtered out of the fortress to watch. 

Lily finished her form, facing away from him. From behind, he could see her taking slow, steady breaths until she turned just enough to tilt her head back and smile over her shoulder at him. “Ready?” she asked.

Shon nodded sharply and stepped into the ring, meeting her in the middle with a bow. She mimicked the motion, and they both took their fighting stance.

At the edge of the ring, the six Squires had become ten, and were all cheering Lily with things like, “Knock him down a peg or two, Lily!” and “Don’t hold back Lily!”

Shon had a sneaking suspicion that a few of them might still be a little bitter over the hand-to-hand sparring from the previous few weeks. He blocked them out, focusing past his sword at Lily, who was still grinning.

Ryuuko whistled to start the match, and Lily struck first, swinging the staff down at an angle. Shon deflected the blow, but she pivoted off the sword and swung up from the opposite side with the other end of her long weapon. She was fast, but so was Shon, who anticipated the move and had countered accordingly. Lily wasn't deterred, coming back in right away. Shon countered each of her attacks, but he wouldn’t have said it was easy. He waited for an opening in her assault, and when it came, he took it without hesitation, aiming a one-handed swing at her upper arm.

She managed to block some of the force but not all of it. The dull wooden sword smacked hard into her bicep. She flinched and the watching Squires moaned and cried out in anger, “Hey, take it easy!” and “What the hell, man?!” but he wouldn’t have been able to pay them any mind even if he wanted to. Lily countered hard from below, hitting him in the thigh with a loud SMACK that would definitely leave a mark.

They separated, Lily shaking her sore arm and Shon shifting his weight onto his hit leg to check its stability before bringing up his sword again. Lily did the same with her staff. Shon didn't manage to get a good look at her face before she was attacking again, even faster than before.

He blocked the first few swings then stepped into them, closing the distance and attempting to take away her reach advantage. He pivoted behind her, but just as his sword swept low from behind, she bent backward and flipped over the blade. He was still recovering from the impressive move when she was back on her feet in a crouch and thrusting her staff straight for his face.

Without thinking, Shon twisted to dodge the gab, letting go of the sword with his left hand, he spun on the balls of his feet to catch it from the air with his right, ending the maneuver with an upward swing into her ribs. Lily hadn’t been idle when her strike missed and stepped forward, bringing the staff's far end up to strike his leg again.

Ryuuko squawked, and they both flinched under the strong blows, Shon with a “tch,” and Lily with a hiss as she closed the eye on the side of the strike and folded over the sword. They were both breathing hard, with sweat wetting their hair at the temples.

Shon's leg buckled. He stumbled closer, barely managing not to fall by driving his sword point into the ground. Still bending over, she was only a few inches from his face. Lily opened her closed eye and stared into his. He could feel her hot breath on his lips.

Shon gasped, “Match,” his bladed weapon having made a fatal strike. Lily laughed between breaths, and Shon couldn't help but smile as her eyes twinkled.

“Squire!” Shon and Lily separated at the sound of Master Daunas’s angry voice.

Marching towards them came not only the Weaponmaster but Major General Selibra as well. Neither was smiling. “Tell me I did not just see you go full force on a civilian!”

Shon looked from the oncoming officers to the scowling and angry Squires, then to Lily. She was tilting her head at him with a worried expression, still breathing hard, a large white welt surrounded by puffy red skin forming on her arm where he'd hit her.

“Shon?” she whispered. But he didn’t have an answer for the question in her voice.

***

Shon had never seen the Weaponmaster or Major General so angry. Unhappy and stern, sure, but this time it was definitely anger. He stood at attention in the Major General’s office, staring straight ahead and taking their berating without changing his expression. Lily had tried to defend him, but they'd cut her off and left her outside with orders to see the Cleric. In the end, he was given dawn duty the morning after the Winter Solstice. Effectively reducing his night to only a few hours. Shon was lucky it hadn’t been worse the way they were yelling, and he wondered if Lily’s attempted defense had an effect after all. 

Leaving the office, Shon made his way towards the showers. He didn’t go out of his way to avoid any of the Squires in the halls, but by the fifth one he passed, he wished he had. Ryuuko hissed at their scowls, but that didn't stop them from glaring at him.

When he reached the showers, Baradin was blocking the door, arms crossed. Shon looked past the senior Squire as he'd done for the officers in silence, waiting for him to either speak or move out of the way.

Baradin’s nostrils flared as he glared down his nose at Shon. He let the silence stretch but finally said, his voice calm and quiet, “What in the hells were you thinking?”

Shon had already heard enough from the command. Exasperated, he sighed heavily and said just as calmly, “It was a sparring match.”

“Against an inexperienced civilian girl.” Baradin’s voice had gotten louder toward the end of the sentence, and he breathed deeply again, returning his voice to its quiet calm, “You’re lucky you didn’t break her ribs.”

Ryuuko hissed low and threatening, and Shon’s icy glare snapped into focus on Baradin. The older Squire took a half step back, his breath coming out in white wisps as he exhaled. Shon's sword pommel had gone clear as glass.

“I’ve never broken your ribs while sparring,” Shon’s voice didn't rise as he spoke, staying cold as he glared Baradin down, “I have enough control not to break hers.”

Pushing past the stunned Baradin, Shon jerked the shower door open -they were mercifully empty- and slammed it shut behind him. Leaving the senior Squire to shiver in the hallway.

Shon took a moment to try and calm himself, Ryuuko's angrily twitching tail, mirroring his frustration. What had they expected? For him to let her win? How would that have tested her abilities? Or helped her learn?

He stripped off his sword, brushing the pseudodragon off in the process, and leaned it against the wall. Sucking in a pained breath through clenched teeth, Shon removed his pants. His thigh was swollen and already turning an impressive shade of blue and purple. He'd given Lily a real fight, and she'd done well. She could've beaten him if she'd landed another strike on the leg or anywhere on his torso. That thrust to his face had been particularly brutal. 

Shon resisted stomping to the first showerhead, but wrenched the handle, still breathing deeply as hot water splashed down on his head and mist filled the room. She was a girl, but that didn’t stop her from being a fighter -there were almost as many female Paladins as male. The hot water was cold by the time it reached his feet, fleeing for the drains. She was a civilian, but she trained hard. Harder than some of them could claim…

But as Shon’s temper calmed, he started to feel guilty. He'd been training for years with the bastard sword, and in combat in general even longer. Maybe he should've gone with the staff. Maybe he should've let one of the others fight her… He closed his eyes and saw again the welt on her arm and her flinch as she bent to try and ease some of the force from his hit on her side.

Ryuuko scrambled to perch on his wet shoulder and nuzzled his cheek, “It was a sparring match…” he whispered to the empty room. But that hardly seemed to matter anymore. 

***

Lily stabbed at her steak without really seeing it. She was watching the door to the mess hall -waiting for Shon to come in for lunch after he'd skipped breakfast. She sat at the Squires' table across from his usual spot and tried to smile reassurance to each of the Squires and even some of the Paladins as they softly enquired about her health. It seemed word of her sparring match had circulated even to those few who hadn't witnessed it. 

All heads turned towards the door when Shon entered. Ignoring them, Lily stood to wave him down. Ryuuko took off from his shoulder and flew to her, landing on the table in front of her plate and stealing a piece of meat. Shon walked with a limp and didn’t look at her. His sword pommel swirled in shades of navy streaked with sky blue.

Lily watched him closely, narrowing her eyes as Shon retrieved his food and made his way toward the table. The Squires -scattered around at the Paladin tables- had all turned their backs to him, giving him the cold shoulder as they stared angrily at their plates, a few glancing her way -trying to judge her reaction. They both ignored them.

Shon didn’t take his usual spot and sat down at the other end of the table, alone and as far away as he could physically get from her. Ryuuko whistled sadly, and Lily’s frown deepened. Picking up her plate, she moved toward his end and sat down. He didn’t look up.

She took a bite of steak, thinking for a moment before smiling wide, saying, “You got me good on the arm there, I think I’m going to name the bruise Gerry.” she held her smile as she spoke, “The one on my side's even better, but Selibra said I shouldn’t show too much skin.” she tried winking at him. He still didn’t look up.

Ryuuko took its place on her shoulder, and Lily kept smiling. She had just opened her mouth to say something more when Shon interrupted with a quiet, “I’m sorry…”

Lily blinked at him. Then glared. “Don’t you dare…” she whispered, but he still wouldn’t look at her.

Slamming her hands down on the table with enough force to rattle the plates, she stood. Ryuuko took flight and circled the table. Startled, Shon finally looked up enough to see her hands in front of him but his eyes didn't reach her face. With a snarl, Lily grabbed him by the jaw, forcing his eyes up to hers. Around them, the Squires and Paladins were silent, staring at the two of them as she leaned forward, the anger in her eyes holding him in place.

“I would never forgive you,” she growled. Shon furrowed his brow in confusion, looking from one eye to the other. She moved just a little closer, her hand still holding his jaw firmly, preventing him from looking away, “If you went easy on me,” she continued, “I would never forgive you.”

Shon reached up and took her hand off of his chin, she let him, but she didn’t break eye contact. Still holding her hand, he sighed, closing his eyes for a moment, then opened them again with one of those soft smiles she loved so much.

Letting her hand go to run his fingers through his hair, Shon said, “You got in some great hits. There’s a knot the size of my fist on my left thigh.” 

Lily laughed out loud and plopped back down in her seat, stabbing some more food and shoving it in her mouth with a smiling bite. Ryuuko landed on the table between them and let out a happy whistle. Shon actually chuckled, shaking his head and looking back down at his plate. Spearing some of the meat onto his fork, he added. “I won’t be surprised if it ends up the color of my hair.” which made Lily snort little giggles between chewing. 

Around the room, the Squires exchanged confused looks. At a complete loss for words. 

*** 

Shon and Lily sat together on the bell tower, their legs stretched out over the roof as they watched the sunset. It was still a few hours until dinner, but with the longest night of the year only a day away it got dark early.

“They better forgive you soon,” Lily said out of the blue, causing Shon to look up from his journal, his drawing only half-finished. “They're being really stupid.”

Shon sighed, and Ryuuko twittered what sounded like a little dragon chortle. “They think I should've gone easy on you, or at least not hit you hard enough to leave a bruise,” he explained. His eyes were inevitably pulled to her arm. The welt had turned dark, though not as dark as his own after having been hit twice. “Why didn’t you have the Cleric heal it?” he asked. 

“Gerry?” Lily asked, looking down at her bruise. For some strange reason she was smiling at it as though it were some cherished pet, “Why would I? This way, I know better to work on my blocks on that side.” she prodded the bruise, flinching at her own poke. Ryuuko purred, shifting on Lily's lap closer to the arm and gently licking the wound.

They were still letting him heal slowly after taking hits intentionally, so Shon shrugged, going back to his drawing.

Lily continued, “I knew they would go easy on me. That's why I wanted to fight you. Partly because I knew you wouldn’t and partly because I wanted them to see what I could do.” she stared down at her feet as she smacked her toes together, “They still think I can’t take care of myself. That I need to be protected.”

“Is it really so bad? To be protected by those who care about you?” Shon asked in a whisper. Hengist's primary tenant was protection.

Lily sighed, pulling her hair over her shoulder and running her fingers through the long strands, “I don’t suppose you know how it feels, do you? To work so hard only to be told that you'll never be good enough. That no matter what you do you'll never be able to do or be what you want.” she huffed, looking up at the stars just starting to blink into life, “It sucks. Not being trusted with your own life or skill. It makes you wonder what that life is even worth…”

Ryuuko's purr sounded concerned, and Shon furrowed his brow in confusion, “Shouldn’t it make you feel more valuable? Knowing that someone wants to keep you safe?”

To his surprise, Lily snorted and rolled her eyes, “I know I’m valuable. That's why every Mage under the sun wants to collect my blood and rip my scales out at the root.” she ran her fingers over the strips on her cheek, “But no one really values me, Lily, as a person. I didn’t even have a name… before you.” she smiled at him and Shon swallowed at the look in her eyes. A moment later, she looked away again and sighed, “They all want to keep me locked away. ‘Safe,’ they say, but safe is boring. I want to fight, to learn and explore. That’s why I’m going to travel.” she spoke as though such a journey would be easy. To her, it probably seemed so.

“What would you do?” she asked him suddenly, “If they told you you couldn’t fight after all your training? Years of work, and they put you behind a desk to do paperwork for the rest of your life?” Ryuuko squawked, and the horror of such an idea must have shown on Shon's face because Lily laughed at him. “Exactly!” she said, not needing a verbal answer. 

“They wouldn’t,” Shon stated, “Paladins fight injustice. It’s what we do and why we train.”

Lily just shrugged, “It's just an example. So you have an idea how I feel.”

Shon looked down at his drawing. It was of Lily as she thrust her staff at his face. When it was done, it would look like she was about to strike the observer right out of the page. “I understand why they want to protect you.” he admitted, “But I can’t understand why they don’t want you to learn to fight.” he shook his head, “We can’t always be there, and even if we are, what’s to keep us from being surrounded? Wouldn't it be better if you could defend yourself for as long as possible? Even defend us?”

Lily laughed and leaned over to rest her shoulder on his, “If you ever figure it out, you’ll tell me, won’t you?”

Shon nodded, returning to his drawing.

***

Shon wanted to go to the chapel after dinner, so Lily went to the library to look for the other Squires, leaving Shon to his prayer and solitude. They were still being cold to him, Baradin and Zihler, in particular, had glared at him throughout dinner, and only Shon’s soft foot on hers had stopped Lily from snapping their heads off. 

“Hey Lily, wanna learn a new game?” Rehlien asked from the middle of the usual circle of Squires as she entered the library. She approached the table and tilted her head at the game. A wooden board with a six-pointed star sat between the six Squires. Each point was full of different colored glass marbles placed carefully in grooves carved into the wood to keep them from rolling away.

“What is it?” she asked, taking a seat regardless of what the answer would be. She was always eager to play new games.

“Sternhalma,” Zihler answered with a smile and no further explanation.

Next to him, Thom rolled his eyes, “Your goal is to move your pieces from your triangle to the opposite triangle.”

“You can jump pieces like this,” Kefir continued, placing two pieces down in the middle and using one to hop over the other.

Rerves reached across her to place another piece, “You can hop as many times as you have space but only one at a time,” he took Kefir’s piece and returned it to its starting point, then hopped the first piece then the second one he'd added.

“Easy.” Rehlien finished, “You in? You can have my spot.”

“Sure, I’ll be red.” Lily twisted the board on the table so the red triangle faced her, then took the first move, using one of her pieces in the second row to jump over the first row, “Like this?”

“Yep, now it’s Thom’s turn.” to her left Thom took his turn and the game continued in a circle moving back towards Lily, who did a double jump from her back point over her third and first rows.

It was a simple and relaxing game until Baradin cleared his throat and asked quietly, “How’s your arm?”

Lily barely resisted flipping the board over in her frustration. Instead, she threw her hands into the air, “It's fine! Just because I’m named after a flower doesn’t mean you need to treat me like one.” she snapped at them all.

They at least had the decency to look ashamed of themselves, “It's just…” Thom started, “We’ve all been hit by Shon before.”

“He doesn’t hold back for anyone,” Kefir added.

Lily glared at them both, “And why should he? You’re training to fight, aren’t you? Do you really think a draken is going to hit soft or give you time to breathe?” they looked at their hands and wouldn’t meet her eyes.

Zihler tried next, “This is training. It's expected that we pull some of the more painful or dangerous hits.”

"Especially without armor," Thom added,

“That's stupid,” Lily stated firmly.

Rehlien gaped at her, “You sound like Master Daunas.”

“You’re right, Lily, but,” Rerves pat the air to try and calm her, “Most of us had to break the habit of going easy on each other. We didn’t want to hurt our friends, but Shon never had that habit.”

Lily made a show of rolling her eyes as dramatically as possible, moving her whole head with the motion and crossing her arms, “Why do you think I wanted to fight him? How else am I going to get better if you go easy on me all the time?”

“Look-” Zihler started, but Lily smacked her hand on the table,

“No, you look. I’m going to fight whether you like it or not, so you can either help me or get out of my way.” she glared at them each in turn and spoke her next words in a whisper, “Shon is the only one who has ever respected me enough to encourage me to do what makes me happy. He protects me by giving me the knowledge and skills to protect myself. So unless you plan on following me around and fighting my battles for me for the rest of my life, then shut up about trying to ‘protect' me.”

Thom finally looked up from his hands, a sheepish smile playing about his lips, “Shon really is the most ‘Paladin’ of us, isn’t he?” he said.

Zihler snorted but also forced a smile, “He can’t even wear armor,”

“And yet he can kick your ass without it.” Rehlien countered with a laugh.

“Squire!” all six of them jumped, looking as one towards the Paladin who was acting librarian for the night, “Push-ups, now.”

Rehlien jumped to his feet and immediately started his punishment while the others tried, and failed, to hide their snickers, “You lot can join him.” The Paladin snapped, and the boys fell over themselves to find space in the library to start push-ups. Lily laughed out loud, and there was nothing the Paladin could do to stop her.

Shon came in then, Ryuuko flying ahead of him to land on Baradin's head as he continued his punishment. Shon stared in apparent confusion for a moment, then wove around the Squires to Lily’s side and arched an eyebrow.

“You kicked Zihler’s ass,” Lily answered the unspoken question with a shrug.

The Paladin looked like he wanted to snap at her but caught himself and instead shouted, “I didn’t say you could stop!” to the panting pushing Squires. Shon could only shake his head, still confused.

Lily laughed again, throwing her head back, then leaned to the side to rest it on Shon’s shoulder. Even through his uniform, -two layers of cloth- the cold of his skin was refreshing on her cheek, “You really are the most Paladin of all of them.” she repeated Thom’s praise. He'd said it with enough emotion that it probably meant more than she understood, “Even though you’re not. Yet.”