A/N -- A note (and you may have noticed it with her father) to consider before reading on: calling someone 'girl' or 'my girl' in this book is not meant to be demeaning or offensive! It is simply warm-toned Eldian custom, unless specified otherwise. Almost having the same feel as calling someone 'kid' or 'father' or 'mother' or 'dear'. It's just a more personal term.

With the grace of a snake, Kayde edged a bit closer to Iris. She erected herself quickly, making herself look as tall and as intimidating as she possibly could -though she felt like one of those silly, small dogs that thought they were five times as big as they actually were. Kayde's inquisitive, green eyes followed her in calculation as he moved to stand two feet in front of her. She stepped back. Iris wanted to ask him just what he thought he was doing, but thought better of it when she realized that it sounded just like something Renna would say.

Instead, she pointed her sword up at his throat and grit her teeth together. My, did she feel silly. Still, she held her act. "If you're here to take me home, I won't let you." The voice that ripped from her chest sounded more menacing than she'd expected -so much that she was surprised at herself.

Kayde just raised both eyebrows in apparent disbelief -for he surely hadn't expected this reaction from the girl, and a ghost of a passing smirk fell over his face. "It's good to see you too, Iris. It's been awhile since last we were acquainted." And then, he tried to lower her sword with his index finger.

Iris did not let it fall. Instead, she thrusted a bit closer for good measure. "I'm serious, I'm not going home," she told him. "I'll fight you if you have to."

He relaxed, trying to ease her. "Iris, you're father and aunt have sent me to-." He did not get the chance to finish what he was saying.

"I know that," Iris interrupted. "I know that they sent you to come and stop me, and I don't care. I'm going to the army camp -I have to go." She squared her shoulders again, trying to reinforce her words. Even then, though, she knew that Kayde could most likely drag her right back home with relative ease.

"Relax," he said. "I'm not here to bring you back home -I'm here for your protection. I'm here to teach you how to fight -to teach you how to make a convincing soldier. If you'd given me a second to talk, maybe you wouldn't feel the need to make empty threats at me." He paused for a moment, and then emphasized, "I am here to help you." Now, his eyes fell to the blade at his throat. "So put the sword down. Please."

Iris stayed put, narrowing her eyes at him. She didn't know Kayde too well, after all, he was a distant family friend that had been gone from Eda for most of his life. For all she knew, he could be lying to her.

When Kayde saw that she had no intention of lowering the sword, he took a step back from it and met her gaze. "Dear girl, I could disarm you if I wanted. Sticking that against my throat does nothing -especially so since you're not holding it the right way." The words were contemptuous indeed, but they finally made Iris sheathe her sword.

"Good." He gave her a nod. "First lesson, then. A soldier may kill many men, but a good soldier will only kill necessary men. What I mean by that is... don't make enemies out of allies and don't pick unnecessary fights," he said, almost scolding her. "Especially fights that you can't win." The woods seemed to darken at his last words.

"I'm quite aware you'd win, so no need to rub it in," Iris told him. "I'm not, by any means, boasting about my knowledge of fighting or swordplay. I'm just letting you know that I would do absolutely anything for my father. His life is forfeit if I don't answer the draft -surely you know that, if you've seen him recently." She thought for a moment. "And how can I be sure you're not just lying to me -about trying to help?"

"Because if I had any intent on taking you back to Eda, we'd already be on our way," he said, but that hardly assured her. After a moment, he sighed. Another moment, and he knelt to the ground and bowed respectively at his waist. "On this day, I swear my services to you, from this day until the day you no longer have need of me. As a Remorda Guardian, you have my word that I will protect you, not deceive you. I will fight for you, not against you."

He looked up at her, and Iris could feel the honesty in her heart just as surely as she could see it in his face. Now, he spoke again. "I indeed respect what you're doing for your father -now let me teach you how to do it right."

She nodded. And afterward, she held out a hand to help him up. With a courteous nod, he took it and Iris helped pull him to his feet.

"I accept, then," she agreed. "I will count you as an acquaintance unless you prove otherwise." Iris took a deep breath in. "But... I should rest. You probably should too. It's a hard ride tomorrow. Do you have a horse?"

"It's in the town nearest here. I went back to have it packed with supplies for the both of us once I found you resting here," he told her. "So, for now, I do not. We can go retrieve it tomorrow morning if you like. That, or we can share a horse, if you don't want to make the stop. They've been instructed and paid to bring my stallion to camp if I don't show up before the end of tomorrow. I'm leaving that up to you."

"We'll share," Iris said, yawning. "I want to get there early if possible. Now... sleep." The last sentence was frank. Kayde nodded silently and motioned for her to continue resting. Iris just eyed him as she climbed back into her bedroll, still a tiny bit wary of him. She only closed her eyes when he rolled out a bedroll as well. Kayde settled in not too much long later, but Iris still felt his stare burning right into her face.

As she laid down, she couldn't help but wonder her father would send someone to help what she was doing rather than try to bring her home. Inwardly, she remembered that her father was indeed a realistic person -perhaps even he knew that she stood a far better chance here than he did. Elliot Gwenneth was far from a fool.

As far as Kayde went, he kept watching her... much to Iris's dismay. After a few minutes though, she hardly noticed. She was too tired to focus on anything. And on that note, Iris promptly rolled right on her side -putting his stare on her back instead. She went to sleep, as instantly this time as she had earlier.

----

The next morning was terribly hard on Iris. Her body ached --oh gods it ached. Between the hours and hours of rough riding and the sleeping on the forest floor, each of Iris's limbs and joins cried out in agony. Still, when Kayde had awoken her -she quickly rose. Immediately, she noticed he had her sword.

"What are you doing with my sword?" Iris suddenly felt very vulnerable.

He sighed. "Again, relax. I'm here to help you," he said, and handed the blade back to her. "I was cleaning and sharpening it for you. After all, going into a fight with a dull sword is oftentimes lethal. That's your second lesson."

In truth, she had not inspected the sword much at all in the last few days. She'd assumed her father had sharpened it -he'd said he was going to sharpen it. Perhaps he'd never gotten around to it. Once the blade was in her hand, Kayde stood and then began grasping at her fingers. Iris let him move them into correct position around the hilt.

"There," he said. "That right there is exactly how you hold your blade. Swing it about for a second and get used to how it feels."

She did, though her moves were certainly awkward.

"Wonderful," Kayde said after a moment, "now let us begin."

For the next two hours, their swords flew in basic training. Kayde taught Iris simple attacks and parries that would serve as a gateway to more difficult skills later. Iris did her best to take in all he'd told her -but gods was that was a lot to learn.

After the short session was over, they decided to take a quick break before starting the day's ride -more for Iris's sake than for Kayde's. The training had left her breathing ragged and her heart pounding, with several bruises and nicks on each of her arms and legs. Gods in heaven, she was a sloppy swordsman.

During the intermission, Iris didn't even dare to look Kayde in the eyes. She stared down at her feet as she rubbed her palms against the minor injuries. In the back of her mind, she remembered how she'd threatened him on arrival, shaking her head at the thought. Gods, she felt quite the fool for that now.

"You did better than expected." Kayde offered a small smile.

Iris's eyes went wide at the compliment. She'd certainly not expected it, not after her pitiful performance and especially not after the way she'd distrusted him yesterday. She resumed her nonchalance, but offered a grateful nod in his direction. Inwardly, she was irritated at just how much better he was than her, even if that was to be expected.

"You don't mean that," she finally said.

"I do mean that." Kayde held her gaze, unblinking. "Iris, you're not going to become a master in one day. I've been learning how to fight since I was a young child; you've been fighting for a few hours. You did a very good job with the little I was able to teach you. You're a quick learner. We'll train at least couple more times before they see you fight at the camp. You should be fine."

Iris nodded, finding comfort in his words -thought she still couldn't bear to look at him. Kayde noticed this, but decided to leave her alone. Instead, he went and started readying the horses for travel. As he was adjusting the packs on Gretchen, Kayde heard Iris call to him from where she took her break.

"Do you think they will know?" she blurted at his back.

Kayde turned to her. "That you're a girl?" he asked, and subsequently watched her nod her head. For a moment, he considered her question -taking in her appearance once more. She had big eyes and slanted features. She was going to be hard-pressed to pull it off, that was for sure. "I think if you don't say much and act tough, no one will pay you too much mind. There are other small men in the world, after all. Just don't smile at anyone and keep the attention off yourself as best you can."

"Will do."

In truth, that had been her plan all along. At least she'd gotten one part of all this right. Maybe she'd be so small that they wouldn't even entrust her to do the fighting... perhaps they'd put her as a cook or something like that. She could serve the soldiers doing all the fighting, while in secret, she would be just as strong of heart.

Yes, that was exactly what she wanted. That way, she'd keep attention off herself and she wouldn't be sent out to die with all the others. Iris shook her head at the selfish thought, casting it from her mind entirely. To be a soldier, one had to be selfless. Iris indeed needed to work on that a tad more. She just couldn't help it -she was so scared.

She hung her head for one last moment, allowing her to be weak for one final time. She inhaled a big mouthful of air and prayed to her gods one last time.

"Time to get moving, girl," Kayde said from over the horses, prompting her right back into action.

Iris dusted her knees and stood from her spot, readying herself for yet another hard day's ride.