Lyana woke early, just as the sun was just beginning to rise over the island, smiling to herself as she slipped out of bed and got dressed in the light pair of women's pants and shirt outfit that she had found without much trouble a couple days before. 

She tugged on the fabric idly, shifting uncomfortably, still not used to wearing pants or a shirt like the one she had on. On went the boots and she looked at herself in the mirror, tying her dark hair up out of her face like she had seen the female Aupanans do. She didn't look entirely ridiculous, which had been her fear when she had found the clothing and put it on the first few days.

With a hopeful smile, she nodded to herself and snuck out of her room and made her way down into the gardens of the palace and towards the practice yard. The last few days, she had contented herself to sit off to the side, almost hiding in the shadows of the morning as she would watch the sword fighters move and practice in their early morning drills. 

She had been watching them, trying to build up the courage to go down and talk with them but she shied away, even from Lady Wyn and Queen Rael when they waved her over. Despite their gentle welcome, she had sat where she was and merely shook her head mutely, fighting the tears of frustration at her own stupidity.

She was eighteen, younger than any of these women but far older than any of them had been when they started learning to fight. She had been raised to be the best at everything she ever did and it had been a long while since she had been a student at anything. She was not used to not excelling, but this was alien to her. Sword fighting, fighting at all, the daunting concept of it left her feeling adrift in a world that wasn't meant for her, like an imposter.

So, before anyone else arrived, Lyana sat on the bench and let out a sigh. She was half convinced that she'd never be able to do anything of the sort and wondering why she forced herself through this odd ritual. She hugged her knees as she stared at her feet, feeling like a complete ninny for even thinking she could ever compare with these strong, wild women who surrounded her.

"Does your brother know you're out here?" Came an amused voice from beside her and upon looking up, she saw Lady Nerini grinning down to her, standing off to the side, having walked up unnoticed.

"No. I don't think so. I didn't tell him." She shrugged as the other woman sat down next to her, trying to conceal her surprise. "I did not think you'd be on your feet so soon."

Nerini offered a shrug, her expression unconcerned. "You really did a number on me. Yesterday was the first day I was able to get out of bed to do anything other than throw up."

"You really shouldn't be out here then." Lyana said as firmly as she could, though looking at the woman curiously. Nerini's strength seemed to radiate from her and gave her a warm feeling of encouragement more than judgement. It almost made Lyana feel stronger when it should have made her feel worthlessly weaker in comparison.

"Yeah, but I'm bored, and I hate sitting still. What about you?" Nerini chuckled again, her expression gently amused in a kind sort of way.

Lyana watched the empty practice grounds, shrugging miserably. "I kind of wanted to learn, but I don't think it's something I can do."

"Why not?" Nerini frowned, looking at her, then back to the field. "Starting a new skill takes courage, you know. Just getting out here, might be the bravest act in the world."

"Hardly. I just got up and walked out here." Lyana frowned, shaking her head. "And then, every morning, I realize I'm a fool and even if I wanted to learn, even if I found a teacher, I wouldn't know where to start."

"Well, kiddo. Luckily, that's what the teacher is for." Nerini stood smoothly, letting out a breath and shrugged. "Look, it's like dancing, really. You learn the steps, the movements and the rhythm. You practice those, and the rest falls in to place."

Lyana paused, looking up at the other woman. "You do look like you dance when you fight. Most fighters I've seen, it's just hacking and yelling and hitting"

Lady Nerini smiled wide at that, motioning for her to get up and follow her onto the practice field. "And look how easy it is for me to defeat them."

"You probably don't have time to teach me all over from the start. You surely have better things to do." Lyana said cautiously, trying to beat down the little bit of hope she could feel growing in her chest, before she could jump to conclusions.

"No, kiddo, I don't. Cause what I'm going to teach you is the foundation of everything. It's  all the same movements. I add to it and adapt in the arena but when I practice, I usually just dance the basics, like anyone would. C'mon, pick up those wooden practice swords beside you, just come out and try." Nerini picked her practice weapons up, spinning the light sticks in her hands as she walked backwards, encouraging Lyana further, her smile still gentle.

Finally, Lyana smiled and stood, picking up the weapons Nerini had left for her and following cautiously. "Ok. What kind of dance?"

"Well, all dances are pretty much the same. You step back and forth with the music and then add the partner. Just watch me." Nerini smiled, as she started walking Lyana through the basics of stance, balance and breathing. 

Pretending she was learning a new dance, Lyana didn't feel nearly as silly as she had before.

***

Wyn grinned softly at one of Rael's jokes as they walked out towards the practice arena together. They had resumed their practices only this week, something they had not done together in months, but already it had begun to feel familiar, like when they were younger. It felt oddly complete to be with her friend again, knowing that Nerini was safely near-by as well, on the mend and out of trouble. They came into the practice grounds and both caught sight of the lesson already being conducted, stopping for a moment as they took in the sight.

"Well, at least she's feeling better..." Rael stopped, her eyes on the practice grounds, where Nerini was guiding Lady Lyana through the basic steps of sword fighting.

"Too soon, perhaps, but at least she's starting off easy." Wyn said thoughtfully pausing before turning towards the large rack of wooden practice weapons, putting her practice swords down and grabbing a pair of the wooden beginner ones. Smiling as she started towards the pair, knowing that Nerini was almost as hard a task master as any teacher they had ever had, but it wouldn't hurt to follow suit.

Rael took a moment longer, watching Nerini patiently correct the moves of her student, before glancing her friend, smiling and moving to catch up with her own set of wooden swords. "For Lyana or Rini?"

Wyn smiled and shrugged. "Both, probably. C'mon, we could both do with some pointers on form and it'll probably make Lyana feel less on the spot."

Rael chuckled and nodded, following her out onto the grounds, moving to stand on either side of Lyana. "Can we join?"

Lyana blushed a bit, looking to Nerini cautiously, but their friend merely shrugged. "Follow the forms, move at my speed. If you cheat, I'll catch you"

Wyn laughed and nodded, offering a formal bow from the waist. "Yes, teacher."

It wasn't long, till all four of them were sweating in exertion from the repetitions, corrections and muscle control it took the move slowly through the sequences. Laughing with one another, they progressed slowly through Nerini's lessons and worked through their own weaknesses.

***

Shiar stood against a far wall, watching the four women practicing. His expression was neutral, body seeming relaxed as he watched his sister stumble through her first sword fighting lesson, learning to fight beside three trained warriors. 

He wasn't sure what it was that he was feeling, an odd stirring in his chest that seemed more like pride and affection than it had anything to do with worry for his sister being taught the crude, rough craft of fighting. Shiar knew what he should be thinking about the whole scenario but was surprised to find that it wasn't even an option in his brain. It was as if his thoughts had changed without him knowing it, watching his sister with pride as she struggled through learning the new skill.

He had known she had been getting up early for several days now and had finally followed her yesterday though he had been confused when she had merely sat on a bench, looking like a lost puppy.

And he was more concerned today, when she had assumed the same position, looking utterly defeated before she had even stepped out onto the training yard. Part of him wanted to move in and offer to train her himself, sensing that her goal was to learn to fight. In fact, he was a little hurt that she hadn't come to him in the first place.

 But if he were being honest with himself, he was also relieved, knowing that it wouldn't have worked well. Nothing about it would have fit who she was, from his brusque style of teaching and drilling, his chosen weapon, to his own patience for teaching someone. Lyana probably would have been discouraged, not because she was weak but because she was on a completely different wavelength from him and it wasn't something he thought he could change.

Then, as he was mulling these thoughts over in his head and trying to decide what to do, Lady Nerini had walked up to Lyana and only minutes later had encouraged her onto the field and begun walking her through sword movements. If he hadn't watched Nerini fight, he wouldn't have recognized what she was teaching, the style so different from the typical flurry of slashes and parries he learned, often through bruises and sparring matches. He was almost soothed by the meditative, flowing movements of Nerini's style as she demonstrated the slow, graceful steps.

Finally, he just smiled and shook his head, turning back to his normal morning run. 

Lyana was in good hands, he could rest easy knowing that whatever else Nerini was, she was at least a half decent teacher for his sister.

***

Nerini smiled to herself as she put the sword away, listening to Lyana talk excitedly about everything and anything under the sun. The girl was a firecracker, it seemed, full of more joy and positivity than Rini had ever thought possible. Definitely full of more energy than Nerini had on a good day. Nerini could only imagine how much that could translate into a fight, once the girl was properly trained and tempered. She'd be a force to be reckoned with, Nerini was sure.

"Lady Nerini?"

She blinked and looked to the trio, raising a brow, "what?"

Lady Wyn smiled to her and nodded to Lyana. "She was asking if you were coming to supper tonight?"

"Supper?" Nerini looked between all of them, shrugging. "Uhm, I don't know."

"Prince Caelur is inviting all of us to supper, just something small seeing as how we don't often get a chance to all be in the same room together and talk." Lyana said breathlessly, nodding.

Nerini shook her head at that, there was a delay as she looked at her friends, then back to the younger woman carefully. "I'm not entirely sure that the offer is extended to me, to be honest."

"No one knew you were awake, Rini." Rael said firmly, crossing her arms over her chest. "You don't usually invite unconscious people to dinner parties."

"Ok. If I'm invited, I'll go. But just because I get along with you guys, doesn't mean I'm welcome at all the parties you are. I'm just saying, I'm not as... political as any of you." Nerini shrugged and reached up to fiddle with her hair, finally giving up and redoing her ponytail.

"I'll ask the Prince and let you know. I don't have any doubt about it, I don't know who wouldn't want you there, everyone who is anyone wants to get to know you." Lyana bubbled, grinning and waving to them as she ran off towards the palace, leaving Nerini just staring blankly after her.

"She's exhausting." She wanted to scowl but found herself smiling instead.

Wyn laughed and gave her friend a hug. "She's young."

"I must have missed that stage of youth."

They all began walking back together, two of them watching her, probably glaring because she was panting more than she should be after the light workout. "I'm fine, you two"

"You look like death warmed over."

"I feel a little better than that. I'm taking it slow."

"We did notice you didn't have weighted swords." Rael conceded, smiling to her friend.

"And I left it at that practice, and I'm probably going to go back to bed again, or just sit and do paperwork from Lansen for Kanny, or something." Nerini continued, trying to placate her friends, noticing their expressions of worry. They seemed to grow less and less trusting of her wellbeing with each passing adventure she had, as if they believed she had a finite number of lives that she was using up too quickly or something.

Wyn smiled and gave her friend another hug. "You were poisoned, you know."

Nerini frowned at that, looking between the two of them, before shrugging. "Could explain why I had to keep choosing which one was the real threat, between two fighters when there should have only been one of those smug faced bastards. Oh, and the fever. I was feeling like I was being boiled alive and dipped in ice water all day."

"Could possibly be that." Rael said darkly, shaking her head, her expression growing a tiny bit more imperious.

"And the black fluid I kept throwing up the last couple days." Nerini grinned to both of the women, giving them each a gentle nudge. "I survived, guys. But I'm being careful and tame. I have nothing to do right now anyways."