For the first time it was the point of my sword that had managed to come to rest close to his chest, in the hollow where his throat met his ribcage and we both stood there, stilled and both trying to work out what had just happened. I was blinking, staring with my mouth falling open in amazement at how for the first time I had actually bested Alexi.

  His own shock was just as brief as the opportunity that I had grasped and his habitual smile returned in full force. “I keep telling you that you’re getting better.”

  “Yeah…” Slowly, and feeling shocked I lowered Sunchild and took a step back as my mind caught up to where my body was. Creeping realisation set in as he too took a step back and I frowned at him. “Alright, what’s going on?”

  “You won, it’s been quite a long time since anyone managed to get one on me.”

  Ignoring the way that he laughed I stopped in place and made another point at his chest with Sunchild as though it was an extension of my hand. “No, it’s definitely not that. What in oblivion was that? That’s got to be the sloppiest technique I have ever seen from you.”

  “I am human. I’m allowed to make mistakes.”

  For a moment I stopped, eyeing him carefully as I returned Sunchild to my side. “Yeah, but you don’t make ones like that. Something’s eating at you.”

  Alexi was a master swordsman with a confidence that billowed from him like the bow wave of a caravel but I saw the sudden pause in his motions. I also especially saw the way his eyes shifted away from me for a second.

  “Ha. Thought so. Is it her ladyship?”

  He chuckled and his own sword slid back into its scabbard. “What if I say yes?”

  My own smile wilted somewhat as I saw the way his hand unconsciously lifted itself from his side and appeared to move towards his face. It was becoming a nervous tic and I suddenly had a flash of insight.

  “Then I reckon you’d be lying. It’s that extended grin you have there.”

  The way that his eyes suddenly locked to mine with the glimmer of shock and mild horror was more than enough confirmation. “How in Oblivion would you know that?”

  “Come on Alexi, when we train I don’t have a hope at foretelling or predicting your moves, but other times you wouldn’t make it any more obvious if you painted it to a sign and dragged it about behind you.”

  “Do you have to be so damn perceptive?”

  “Well, I used to be a forester so… yeah.”

  The way he paused and his eyes roamed around us was strangely more telling and for those few seconds I was witness to the first amount of doubt I had even seen in him.

  “Do you know how many battles I have been in?” He finally asked, looking me in the eye as I shrugged.

  Holding up a single hand, he extended his fingers and tucked his thumb into his palm.

  “Four?” I exclaimed. “But what about all the tournaments you have won?”

  Nodding to the disbelief in my voice he smiled but this time there was no humour in it. “I said battles… Not tournaments. A tournament is merely a harder training session with very little risk of drawing blood. In battle you aren’t expected to step away if your opponent trips or the like… In tournaments it is all about honour and chivalry.”

  “I’m guessing that the one of those times was against the Black Bows?”

  “I was counting the village and the fort as two separate battles….” He trailed off and I suddenly felt uncomfortable.

  “Have… Did you kill anyone before our journey into Blackmarsh?”

  The chuckle this time was dark and sent a chill up my spine. “I’m not a complete virgin Kaius. It wasn’t the first time I have wet my steel but I certainly haven’t experienced anything like that before.”

  My head was spinning at the revelations and I struggled to grasp hold of any of my thoughts. “What about the time the Order closed the Oblivion gate?”

  “Fighting daedra isn’t the same as fighting men,” As he looked at me I could see the way his expression hardened and it showed me that he had seen my tiny nod of agreement. “That was the second battle I have ever been in and I was leading my Lance from the centre of the third rank. My role in the battle was little more than digging in my spurs, lowering my lance and seeing if there was anything left standing after the knights in front of me ran them down.”

  Again his hand lifted as his eyes moved away from me and this time he didn’t stop it as he pressed his fingers into his injured cheek. “This is first wound I have ever had. The first true one at least.”

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  In contrast to my own flesh his was almost pristine and unblemished. There were the handful of faded cuts on his forearms that all swordsmen had from their initial years of training but his were very few and testament to his natural skill. It made me all the more conscious of the overwhelming amount that I wore, from the dozens, if not more scars up my forearms and over my hands. This was not even mentioning the others from the deep, pink burns where Viconia had burned the marks of desertion away from my bicep, to the other injuries I had accrued over years of fighting.

  “Forty-two tournaments, thirty-eight of which were victories and not a single scratch to show for it.” His tone was mockingly sarcastic but it wasn’t directed at me or anything else in particular. “Then the first time I get injured it’s to some pox-ridden shit-stain with a rotting bow.”

  I started laughing, and he stared at me with his eyes burning holes into my soul as I witnessed him become legitimately angry for the first time. “It’s not funny Kaius.”

  “Actually, it is.” My chuckle was as dark as his was earlier but I was smiling in a way to show that I didn’t meant to offend him. “That’s got to be one of the best, ‘first-injuries’ I have seen. Do you want to know how I got my first real scar?”

  He shrugged noncommittedly and still smiling I untucked my tunic from my belt and lifted it up to show the bottom rib on my left side. Pointing to the tiny jagged white scar I laughed again at the memory. “I got stabbed by an elderly Dunmer woman with dementia.”

  Alexi blinked, scrunched his face slightly and blinked again. “What?”

  “One night while I was on leave, myself and a handful of the foresters spent most of a night in a tavern and on our way back to the fort this little old woman came up shouting abuse. It was after midnight, we were all drunk and so initially we tried to shoo her off home and not make too much of a scene. Instead her malady made her think I was her first husband who had left her decades before with another woman. Before I realised what had happened she had stabbed me in the side and toddled off. It was only when we all got back to the fort that someone noticed I was bleeding everywhere. I’ve lost count how many times I have scarred myself doing something stupid or while I was drunk. Hells, I’m fairly certain I’ve tripped onto my own sword or cut myself shaving or the like than I have been injured by others.”

  “How do you deal with it all though?”

  “Which part? The falling over and stabbing yourself in the leg, or the getting injured?”

  The twinkle of amusement was slowly returning to his eyes and his lips curled in more than just a grimace. “Both?”

  “I try to walk better these days and watch where I put my feet, and honestly I don’t really think about the times or the likelihood of getting hurt. I guess it’s something that I have come to expect but whether it’s from Legion training or not I wouldn’t be able to tell you.”

  “How can you not think of something like that?”

  It was my turn to shrug. “If you work it out please tell me and we’ll both know. Although, come to think of it, if I ever did stop myself long enough to think about what I was doing I wouldn’t have gone hunting minotaurs or throw myself into an Oblivion portal.”

  Alexi snorted at that and leaned against the fence. “I don’t think you realise how much I respect you for all the things you have done. There is truly no one more deserving of leading the Knights of the Nine than yourself. I know that you aren’t the type to seek out fame and glory but you have earned everything you have received.” I didn’t need my vampirism to hear the way that he sighed and glanced about the training yards. “Maybe one day I’ll earn something similar and have my own legacy.”

  Almost on its own volition I lightly bounced my fist off his bicep, feeling how solid his arms truly were. “You’ll be fine Alexi. Both of us have got many more years left in us…” I paused and scowled for a second. “Granted as long as Mehrunes Dagon and Umaril don’t wreck the world in the near future.”

  “I hope so. I hate feeling like I haven’t achieved anything.” He sighed again, glancing between me and the ground. “I have only gotten this far from luck. Only lucky break after another.”

  “You’ve worked your arse off to be as good as you are.”

  “Besides my skill with a sword, what am I?” His eyes burned into mine again, drawing his sword and holding it up on an angle as though he was inspecting it for the first time. “I was granted this sword by Count Caro because I proved to him and his court that I could fight.” The pommel thudded into his chest as he rapped it against the White Stallion Heraldry on his tunic’s breast. “I received my Knighthood because of the same reason, but the only way I was in the position to be noticed was because my grandfather was born a bastard to Count Caro’s father. A son of a haberdasher becoming a page to an Imperial Count because he happens to have a spoonful of noble blood somewhere in him.”

  “That’s more than I can say about myself. My father was a hunter to the local lord. When he died I was too young to take his place and so my family and I were left to our own devices. I was fourteen when I joined the Legion and had never picked up a sword before some centurion pressed a gladius into my hand.”

  “It shows.” Slowly his usual amusement and teasing attitude was returning. “Although you are also the prime example that there is no better teacher than combat.”

  “Yeah, but I wouldn’t recommend it. You tend to get beat up regularly.”

  Both of us shared a chuckle and while I could still tell his dark mood was still gripping tight he was still able to smile that wasn’t just a scowl of scar tissue. “What is the plan from here o’great and worthy commander?”

  “Well, I was thinking about doing a bit more training, kicking your arse again and then promoting you to Knight-Captain. After that Viconia and I were planning on lunch and going to the Cathedral to see what we can do about retrieving the Mace.”

  “If you think that I’ll let you have it easy again you are going to be sorely disappointed.” This time his laugh was almost entirely that of a challenge as I moved from the fence, drew Sunchild and gave a few experimental swings. “Wait… Knight-Captain? When did I get demoted?”

  “When you swore your oath to me of course.” I replied with a full volley of sarcasm. “You don’t bring your rank with you when you change orders. You’re going to have to prove you’re worthy.”

  “By the Nine you can be a bastard, but you’re a bastard I can follow into battle.” His own sword once again grew into a silverly swirl as he swung it about himself to loosen his shoulders and arms for another bout of training. “Maybe I can actually train you well enough that you will be a challenge for once.”

  Our laughter this time was loud enough to be heard over the sound of our swords striking together once more.

  Blood of Dragons is over and chapters are slowing down in their releases which has given me a bit more breathing room. Setting up a proper launch over the Christmas holiday period was a nightmare that I am not intending to do again. I've learned my mistake haha.

  Bloodtide Rising is going to return to 3 chapters a week, every Monday-Wednesday-Friday (Australian timezones) while Blood of Dragons will have chapters releasing every Tuesday and Thursday. Should be a huge amount of content for everyone and anyone interested in these stories of mine.

  Blood of Dragons and show it some love. The way the algorithms work on here and RoyalRoad's ToS mean I can't actually pay for ads or promote these the same way as I will or can with original stories. This really restricts their overall visibility and reach so all the views, favorites, reviews, ratings and follows really, really help a lot.

  Volume 4: Crusader now and things are going to start getting even more interesting from here!