Praeceptor {A teacher, or instructor}

As Arya sat on the cold ground, she let her mind wander. It was one of the few things she did before meditating. If her mind wasn't clear of the senseless thoughts, she would not be able to achieve the peacefulness. Meditation was one of the first most things that Zelie had taught her. When she was younger, she had found it pointless to be sitting on a cliff for hours long. However, after months and years of sitting, it had turned into something else. Zelie had heightened her hearing by making her sit still for hours. When Arya's eyes were closed, she became reliant on her ears to act as her guide. In this way, she was able to sense and hear things much better than the rest of the world. Her ears had become used to listening to every little sound and alongside her brain; she was able to visualize how close they could be.

Arya took in a deep breathe before letting nature reel her in. As usually, it took a little while but Arya was able to hear the things closest to her: the spring which they had filled their water canteens from, the birds chirping and rustling around in the trees, and the various noises that the animals were making. Arya further extended and opened her mind to be able to hear further, what she was expecting was nature but all she heard were the clanks of metal.

Arya summoned her mind to draw a visual symbol. She could hear the movements and visually see them. It seemed to be two women fighting, as their blows weren't as hard as they could have been. They both weren't exceptional fighters as their steps and movements were out of sync. Curiously, Arya got up from her meditation and went back to where their camp was. She was right, Bianca and Silvia were missing.

Sighing she grabbed her sword and search for them. She had a vague idea of where they would be as they rest could be found out by hearing the noises of the swords. Arya knew she was going the right way when the sounds of the swords became louder. Walking a bit deeper, in the clearing she saw Bianca and Silvia facing each other holding their swords.

There were a couple of things that Arya noticed at a first glance. The first being that their stances were incorrect as their feet weren't positioned correctly. The second was how uneasy they were with the blade. A fundamental part of being a swordsmen was that you need to be at ease with your weapon. Knowing every groove and the general feel would allow your instincts to take over. Thirdly, their reflexes weren't fast enough.

Arya stood there in the clearing wondering if she should approach them or let them continue their practice. She was generally someone who didn't stick her nose in the business of others but Zelie had assigned them to her in hopes that Arya would be a good influence on them. At this moment, Zelie's wise words came back from earlier.

I wouldn't be a good headmistress if I didn't teach my students.

Well she wouldn't be a good person if she didn't help them improve. What if they were in a battle? Would their blood be on Arya's hands as she didn't teach them?

Shaking off her thoughts she made herself visible. Silvia was clearly rattled by her presence as she lost her footing and tumbled to the ground.

"Rule number one; don't let any distractions move you from the task at hand." Arya's felt weird as this was something that she didn't do, ordering people around.

Silvia nodded and brushed herself off the grass. Arya was satisfied. Silvia at least had one thing down, to never give up. Getting up from the ground symbolized that she was ready to learn, and quickly. It was often arrogance that got in the way of learning from someone who you didn't think much off. But Zelie had once told her there was something that you could learn from everyone, even ones closest enemies. Docere et Doceri meaning to teach, and to be taught, Zelie would often say.

As Silvia faced Bianca Arya unsheathed her sword. Bianca's eyes became wide but Arya didn't know if it was off fear or surprise. "Are you fighting with us, Fidelem?"

Arya shook her head indicating a no. "Watch my stance."

Arya placed her left foot behind her right foot keeping herself on the balls of her feet. "This position allows me to move back and forth between the enemy and safe ground quickly and efficiently."

Bianca and Silvia nodded. "Bianca, attack me." Arya commanded.

If the guard found her instructions weird, she didn't question them. Instead she gripped the pommel of her sword tightly and tried striking Arya. Arya blocked her blow with her own sword and the sounds of metal clashing echoed.

"When you attacked me, what did you notice about my stance?" questioned Arya.

Bianca looked confused so Arya turned the question onto Silvia. She would have had a better view of it anyways.

"You planted your feet on the ground?" she answered timidly.

Arya nodded, "Correct, when blocking a blow, plant your feet firmly in the earth to avoid being thrown off guard."

The two women nodded. "Rule number two, be familiar with your weapon. Think of it as an extension of your body. You need it, and it needs you."

Arya took out her own sword Anaz. "Keeping your sword cleaned and sharped is one of the most important things. Without your sword being sharp, it is a dull, useless object."

"Now, I want you to face each other again as you were once doing. I will point out your errors with the tip of my sword. These things could get you killed so be wary of what you are doing." Arya stepped back as both women lined up in the middle and respectfully placed their swords against their chest and bowed. That was the traditional Kalvarian way of showing respect to your opponent. It was done before and after a duel.

Arya watched every move like a hawk trying to pin point the mistakes they were making. She stopped them countless number of times, correcting as their duel went on. She was surprised they didn't give up as she kept pitting them against each other pushing them to try harder. A glance at the sky told her that a long period of time had passed. They were behind on their journey. Today they would have made it out of the forest but it seemed as though they would be spending another night here.

"Enough." Arya said quietly.

Both women stopped as stepped back from each other. Their clothes were drenched with sweat and it seemed as though Silvia had ripped a part of her dress. Arya took her blade and approached Silvia. She skillfully cut the torn part leaving the dress in a better state then it had been.

"Thank you Fidelem," she said graciously and bowed in respect.

Arya nodded accepting her gratitude. "We must hurry, we have fallen behind. The king is expecting us."

They made their way back to the camp and gathered the rest of their belongings. They mounted their horses and Arya led the way. Like the day before, the two women chatted amongst themselves.

Silvia tried asking Arya a question. "Where did you learn to fight like that?"

"The Academy," was Arya's clipped reply.

The red haired woman seemed to understand that she wouldn't be gaining any information so she turned her words to Bianca.

"My brother, who is part of the Royal Kalvarian Forces, would train and I would spy on him. When he wasn't looking, I would take his sword and play around with it." She said with a nostalgic smile playing on her lips.

It was Bianca's turn to ask Silvia a question. "How did Lady Zelie choose you for this task?"

Arya's ears perked up with curiosity because that was a question she wanted to know as well.

"As I told you, I arrived at the academy recently. Lady Zelie had selected me for the archery portion of the competition. My strong suit remains with the bow. However, she also informed me that approximately ten-fifteen candidates would be chosen for Heres Gladii dueling portion. She believed that I was weak with the sword and just for my protection, I just go on a mission with Ar- excuse me, Fidelem to explore the lands and get better." She finished looking at Arya to see if she was listening.

Arya pretended not to be listening while she was. She had correctly guessed the purpose of her extra guests. Silvia had only confirmed her suspicions that she had from the beginning.

"We'll stop here." Arya said.

She dismounted Eclipse and tied him to a nearby tree. They had already got the horses to drink water and replenish their own water supply before they had left. The stream was further now and there was no point in going back. She started gathering stones like she had done the previous day for a fire. The other two women got the hint and started their own separate tasks.

It almost felt like a déjà vu of yesterday until Silvia came back running bow flying behind her and her red hair bouncing around her. She looked frightened.

"What's wrong?" Bianca asked trying to calm her down.

"There...I can't believe...two children." She was panting hard.

"Sit." Arya commanded and gave her the canteen. "Drink up."

She nodded gratefully and took big gulps of water. When she was done, Arya turned to ask her gently. "Could you please tell us what happened?"

"I was hunting for game when I heard voices. Naturally, I was curious so I followed them quietly until I found the source. What I saw was horrific." Silvia shivered but continued on. "There was a group of men chatting and drinking, their faces dark but what was worse were that two children were tied to a rope with tears streaking their faces."

Bianca gasped, while Arya motioned for Silvia to continue.

"I didn't know what to do so I can back here as fast as I could." She finished.

"That was the correct thing to do." Arya replied.

She took a step back from the girl who was still shivering. Bianca grabbed one of the blankets and wrapped it around her. Meanwhile, Arya strapped her belt on her hips and gathered knives around her hip.

"Where are you going?" Bianca asked.

"Scouting to see if what she is saying is true. I need to see it situation before I am able to make a move." Arya replied.

"I'm coming with you." Bianca declared.

Arya shook her head. "I know this forest better than most people, you need to stay here with Silvia and guard everything. I'll be fine."

Arya approached Silvia, "could you tell me where exactly you heard the noises?"

Silvia pointed to where she remembered vaguely on the map. "It was around this area."

"Thank you," Arya said before leaving the two women behind her.

Ideally, she would have taken Eclipse with her but her horse's hooves would have been heard and that was not the point of scouting. Here all that mattered was stealth. Arya walked deeper into the forest occasionally stopping to listening to her surroundings. In the faint distance, she picked up on light sounds so she assumed she was going the right way. After walking for a fair amount of time, Arya came to a clearing.

She could clearly here the voices.

"Sir, do yeah think that these vermin are going to be worth much?" A gruff voice asked.

"Oh yes, you see, they are the children of nobles. There is a very high price for nobles these days."

Arya hid herself in the trees and peered over. There was a man with a big beard and he was creepily stroking both the children's faces. They children looked absolutely terrified. Arya felt a pang in her heart. They were younglings. The boy looked to be about seven and the girl could pass for four.

Even though Arya wanted to rush and free the children, she knew that she had to be rational. Randomly running from her place and confronting three men by herself was a stupid idea. Besides, she didn't know their strengths or weaknesses which made it worse. Arya found a better place to spy on the camp. At closer view, she noticed that they were all dressed rather horribly. Their accents were not the same as Kalvarians so they were probably foreigners. The only question was of which country?

Arya thought about lying low and finding more information. If she could find the country, it would make the life of the guards much easier. In the distance Arya heard rustling.

"Did you here that boss?" Another man asked.

"Go check it out." The man commanded him.

Arya held her breathe hoping that they would not be coming her way. She heard shrieking, it was a girls voice. There were clanks of metal and moments later, the two men returned with a female in their hands.

Arya's heart leaped. It was Bianca. 

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I bet you guys didn't see that coming, did you? What do you think is going to happen to Bianca? Comment below so I could here your thoughts. Also remember to vote please. Thank you all so much for reading! The next chapter is going to spice things up for sure;)