Tangeret {touch} 

"Strike faster and harder," Lady Catherine yelled at Arya.

She was currently dueling with one of the knights from the academy using her left-hand. It was not her dominant hand but Catherine was left-handed which is why Sir Gideon has left the training up to her.

Arya was struggling with getting used to using her left hand. The weight felt different and when she was up against a knight who was using his dominant hand, she was outmatched. Lady Catherine knew it as well which is probably why she still had the match going on. Arya was aware of the fact the Lady Catherine did not like her but she sucked in her pride to learn from the best.

Lady Catherine held up her hand, "That is enough for today."

Arya stepped away from her opponent to wipe the sweat that had accumulated on her face. The training with the knights was not light and she knew everything she was learning would only help her become a better knight one day. If she practiced enough with her left-hand she would be able to wield two blades better than she was currently doing. Lady Catherine had been making her utilize her left hand since the early morning in order to get her into the practice of using it more often.

Lady Catherine glanced at Arya before turning away. "You are dismissed." She said before walking away.

Arya waited until she left the room before she started putting the room back into place. Although Madame Kenna had allowed them to use her room for practice, she still expected that everything be put back into place. When Arya had finished, it was nearly breakfast time.

She went back to her room and took and quick bath before changing into the academy uniform. Arya joined Silvia and Yasmin for breakfast in the great hall. As she looked around the room, she saw many of the tables and chairs empty. This fact didn't go unnoticed by Silvia either.

"Where is everyone?" She asked.

"Gone," Arya said softly before continuing, "they believed that the academy was no longer safe so their parents took them back with them."

"That is insane." Yasmin pointed out. "Where else would you find such a heavily guarded place expect the royal palace?"

Arya shrugged her shoulders. She ate the rest of her breakfast in silence and allowed Silvia and Yasmin to continue the conversation. Glancing around the tables and chairs once more, Arya was deeply impacted by how many empty seats there were. The academy was always busy with students chatting and having a good-time but now it felt different. Arya almost missed the loud noise, something she never believed she would. Something in Arya's gut told her this was just the beginning for the students that were leaving. There would be a lot more absences.

A light tap knocked Arya's train of though and she turned to see that Yasmin had been talking to her. "I was asking if you want to go to herbs and healing now." She repeated.

"Sure," she said. The two of them got up to go to their class while Silvia was headed towards Madame Annie's embroidery class.

"Have fun," is what Arya had said when she had told her the class she was expected to be at. Silvia had glared at her in response.

Yasmin and Arya walked towards the infirmary. Today's class was going to be held there. When they arrived, Madame Guinevere was still busing mixing potions per usual. It seemed the Arya and Yasmin were the first ones in class but that suited her just fine. Besides, Arya was hoping to get a moment alone with the healer.

Arya approached Madame Guinevere before lowering her tunic to show the bruise that had developed there. "Should I let it be or add something to make it better?"

Madame Guinevere looked at the injury before gently prodding the area. Arya hissed out in pain and Madame Guinevere smiled. "This wound is perfect. We shall talk after all the students have arrived for class."

Arya pulled her tunic back up and waited for the other students arrived. There were the late comers as always but Madame Guinevere paid them no heed and began her lesson.

"How many of you have treated an injured person?" She questioned the girls in front of her.

Yasmin raised her hand as did a couple of more girls in the room. Madame Guinevere nodded satisfied with the numbers.

"Well how would you like to be able to assess an injury first hand and make the cure you think is suitable?"

There were mutters of excitement through the room but Arya did not look pleased. She had a feeling of where this was going and she did not like it. She was proved correct when Madame Guinevere called her to the front of the class a few moments later.

"Could you please show us your injury?" Madame Guinevere asked her politely.

Arya knew that she did not have a choice in the matter so she tugged on her tunic allowing her injury to be apparent for everyone in the class.

"You will be creating an antidote for the pain of this injury. Simply by glancing at the wound is anyone able to guess where the injury came from?" Madame Guinevere asked.

Arya raised her other hand. Madame Guinevere ignored her hand and picked on another girl in the class.

"It looks pretty clean and the opening isn't the large so I'm going to guess a sword?"

Madame Guinevere nodded her head in approval. "You are correct but on a battlefield you cannot make guesses. You either know how to cure the person, or you end up killing them. Their blood will be on your hands if they die."

"Now, for this exercise you will each be making a potion and I will allow the best three in the class to be tested on Arya. She will be the one picking the winner and there will be a prize for that person in the end." Madame Guinevere explained. "You have sixty minutes now, you may begin."

The girls began scampering around using different ingredients to make their potion. Arya walked over to the table to select her own ingredients. She was not going to let the faith of her shoulders rest on these imbeciles. If Madame Guinevere believed that the girls could come up with a potion, her injury was not as bad as it seemed.

For the next sixty minutes Arya worked alongside Yasmin in order to create the perfect potion. For the most part they remained quiet as they worked in unison. When they began brewing the potion, Yasmin turned to ask her a question.

"Did you end up replying to Aaron's letter?" There was a faint smile playing on her lips, something that Arya did not particularly like.

This was the fourth time Yasmin has asked her the question. Every time she had asked, someone had been there to save her. But right now glancing around the room, Arya knew there was no one. She was all alone.

Trying to put an end to all the questioning, Arya answered with a yes. If possible, Yasmin smiled wider than before. Arya chose to ignore it and continued stirring the potion.

"Ladies, time is up. Transfer the potion into a bottle and bring it to the front of the class."

Arya awaited her fate as Madame Guinevere smelled everyone's medicine. Finally she selected the top three and called Arya forward. Arya lowered her tunic and allowed Madame to apply the thick paste onto her shoulders. There was a soothing relief in her muscles after the application. Madame Guinevere almost made her try the other two medicines but it was clear it was the first one that had worked the best.

Madame Guinevere congratulated the girl that had created the medicine.

"What is the prize?" The girl asked.

Madame Guinevere smiled "You helped save a life. There is no better prize than that. On the field the patient will not reward you for saving their life. Instead, you will reward yourself."

Sufficient to say, that was the end of the discussion.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I want you to go to Evenna."

Arya looked at Lady Zelie as if she had grown three heads. Evenna was Arya's birthplace and she had never returned after being admitted into the academy. It was a palace that held many memories, most of which she wanted to relinquish.

"I think it would be a good experience for you something to help clear your mind." Lady Zelie elaborated.

Arya was still not seeing the point of her going to Evenna. She didn't want to go.

"Arya," Lady Zelie began softly, "I am doing this to help you. Not to punish you. It's time that you faced your memories head on. Not only will this make you a stronger person it will clear your mind and give you back your focus once more."

"What about the academy?" Arya questioned. "It's dangerous to travel as well."

At this Lady Zelie smiled. "You know as well as I do that you could perfectly handle any threats that were to arise."

She handed Arya a scroll. "I also want you to deliver a message for me. The traditions of Evenna are unusually different from the rest of Kalvaria and I want to make sure that we are all a unified kingdom in these troubled times."

Arya sighed. She could not refuse an order and Lady Zelie knew it.

"Oh and one more thing, Lady Catherine will be escorting you till the castle. From there you will have a different escort."

It was wonderful. Not only would she have to visit her childhood city, she would have to be escorted by the one knight that despised her. The only silver lining was that Arya would be able to visit the palace one more.

"When do I leave?" Arya asked.

Lady Zelie smiled. "Right now, Lady Catherine is waiting outside for you. I dare as to say that she will not be too please with you as a companion but I promised her that the first visit out of the academy would be hers. She feels stuck in the academy. I'm sure you will find her more pleasant on the road."

Arya was sure she would act the same way but she held her tongue nevertheless. As their custom, Lady Zelie wished her before she left, "May you have a safe journey."

Arya nodded saying her farewells before leaving the office. She went to her room and quickly gathered her things adding the ocarina to her belongings in the last minute. If she was going to be heading back to Evenna, the ocarina was a big part of city.

When Arya came to the front gate, she found Lady Catherine tapping her feet impatiently. Clearly Lady Catherine was not happy to see her arrive so late. Arya placed her belongings on Eclipse and made sure everything was in place.

"Are we ready to leave?" Lady Catherine asked moments later.

"Yes," Arya replied before jumping onto Eclipse.

With the two of them silent, Arya knew it was going to be a long journey to Kathoria.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Arya arrived at the castle, there was already a knight waiting to take her horse. He bowed in greeting to Lady Catherine as they exchanged pleasantries. Apparently Lady Catherine could be civil to everyone except her.

Arya left her outside and entered the castle pleased to see that nothing had been changed. Lady Zelie had told her that she would have the same room she had during the Heres Gladii which made it easy for Arya to navigate without the assistance of a servant.

She opened the door to see that everything was relatively the same as before. It brought a smile on her lips as she replied the memories of the Heres Gladii. Just as she finished setting her bag down, there was a light knock on the door. Opening it, she found a servant outside.

"You are requested to have dinner with the King and Queen in approximately one hour." The maid said.

Arya nodded and thanked the girl before shutting the room door once more. Lady Zelie had failed to mention that she would be having dinner with the King and Queen. She opened the closet to see that the clothes were all still present and untouched. It was bizarre. She was sure that Lady Zelie had planned this trip long before she had come to the academy. However when Arya had been speaking to her, it was as if Lady Zelie had only though of the trip recently.

The first thing Arya did after placing her bag down was take a bath. She needed to remove all the grim and dirt that had accumulated during her trip here. Lady Catherine and she had only stopped once in order to get some sleep otherwise they had continued on their horses the rest of the time. Arya didn't believe that Lady Catherine had warmed up to her but she had trained her when they had taken a break. She had almost been civil to her, as Lady Zelie has suggested.

Once Arya was done with her bath, she tried drying her midnight hair before giving up and tying in to a tight bun. She opened the closet to select one of the pieces. Arya's eyes caught sight of an obsidian coat with a high neckline. It was embroidered with fine golden threads. Arya immediately loved the outfit.

She quickly changed and looked at herself in the mirror. It looked more beautiful on her if that was possible. Lady Zelie had probably had the outfit tailored for her. The fine texture of the cloth alone spoke of its price. Arya decided to open her hair last minute to make it easier for drying.

Strapping Anaz to her side, she exited the door to walk towards the main dining room. The palace was bustling with maids and butlers but their seemed to be a lot more knights as well. Arya waited outside the dining room waiting for her introduction.

"Introducing Arya Ernest of the Narvian Academy," the herald said.

The brass doors were opened and Arya saw that everyone else had already been seated including the King and Queen. Her eyes went around the table to see Sir Samuel, Lady Vivian, Sir Francis, Lady Catherine and the most surprising of them all, Aaron.

He looked the same as before. His ash blond hair was parted backwards and his silver blue eyes seemed to be sparkling in the limelight. He was dressed in a similar coat to her, making it seems as the two had deliberately chosen to dress alike. Arya broke away from her stare to take the only open seat between Aaron and Lady Vivian.

The Queen gave her an easy smile, "It is nice of you to join us."

"Thank you," Arya said equally politely.

The King meanwhile waved his hands ordering the meal to come. Arya was presented with a roasted lamb alongside fresh vegetables. She waited for the King to take the first bite before following in suit. There was light conversation that sprung up as Sir Samuel and King Rupert seemed to be discussing important matters.

Meanwhile Arya turned to look towards Aaron. "What are you doing here?" She whispered out of the corner of her mouth.

He swallowed the bite before answering. "Prince Zander sent me?"

"Why?"

Aaron looked at Arya in a puzzled manner. "Didn't Lady Zelie tell you? I am to accompany you to Evenna."

Lady Zelie had not told her that. In fact this whole trip had a number of things that Lady Zelie had not told her. Arya was going to need to have a serious discussion with Lady Zelie when I got back.

"No," Arya said with polite forcedness. "I had no idea that you were coming."

Aaron shrugged his shoulders. "Well now you know."

Arya ate her meal in silence for a few more minutes until Aaron casually said, "I got your letter."

"Did you really?" Arya replied back conventionally.

"Yes," Aaron said unwilling to drop the conversation. "It seems you have started training with the knights."

Arya slyly pointed towards Lady Catherine. "She is one among the many that are teaching me."

Aaron looked as though he was about to say sometime but the King's voice interrupted them. He seemed to be asking Aaron a question.

"Everything is fine at the academy. The extra guards have been helpful. However we have been losing a great number of students as they have opted to return home." Aaron replied gracefully as if he had been listening to the King the entire time.

The King motioned towards Arya as if to report about the Narvian Academy. "The situation is similar to the Narvanian Academy Sire. Classes have resumed as previously however many students are becoming increasingly frightened."

The Queen almost looked sad while the King looked tired. "Thank you for your reports. We are doing all we can to break the prisoners but so far all we have gotten are their names. It seems they would rather die than speak."

Lady Vivian spoke out loud for the first time in the evening. "Lady Catherine has been kind enough to offer her service. Hopefully she will be able to break the prisoners."

To the common ear, Lady Vivian's comment would have been acceptable but Arya knew there was a story that went deeper between the two of them. She had spoken as if Lady Catherine's services would not be useful at all.

Sir Samuel decided to diffuse the situation when he spoke, "Aaron have you been learned any new moves?"

Aaron replied to him in good nature. For the rest of the evening they all chatted amongst themselves but Arya could not concentrate on the conversation. Every few minutes Aaron's hand would brush against her. At first she had thought it was an accident but after the fourth time Arya knew he was doing it on purpose. There was a small smile playing upon his face which Arya wanted to disappear. However they were at a royal dinner so all she could do was smile and grit her teeth in response. It was going to be a long evening.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sorry for the late update. Wattpad refused to cooperate(it italicized the entire chapter so I had to un-italicize every single paragraph. Anyways, guess who is back! We shall be seeing him for another chapter or two so enjoy it while you can. We can also get to see into Arya's background when she visits Evenna. Arya's outfit is at the top. Please remember to vote, comment and share! P.S I have exams next week so wish me luck.