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#Post#: 1473--------------------------------------------------
No rest for the wicked...(boring training post)
By: Amaris Date: March 18, 2018, 1:42 am
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....she knew there was a tunic in here somewhere. the chest was
half empty already. She tossed out an unused cloak from her
first year in Constantinople..no use for it now..she was never
cold... thick fur boots...nope-useless....she kept digging.
Nearing defeat she moved yet another useless item with the
thought of 'why do I keep these things?' and spotted a corner of
off-white linen. There it was!
Pulling on the exposed corner produced - not the tunic as she
hoped - but her bindings, stained and frayed from days within
the fasting cages. Holding them again brought back so
much...mostly the feeling of dread the visions left her with.
She sat back on her heels, holding them to her chest a moment
before admonishing herself for letting the memories distract her
from her task and setting them aside.
Minutes later...bottom of the chest and no tunic. The bells for
Matins were ringing in the distance. She sat on the floor and
considered her options. She could borrow a tunic from Andrej -
but she did not want to interrupt her sleep. She could keep
training as she had...but that was difficult for Gavri'el to
witness, and at times she needed him there. She could cut up a
bliaut and wear that, but the fabric was not suited to what she
working on - she needed something sturdier...something that
could take punishment....
Her eyes settled on the bindings....well, they were sturdy. They
were also designed for freedom of movement -with the exception
of parts ladies did not want moving about...and she needed no
assistance to put them on... she took them to the bed and began
to strip off her gown.
It took a good amount of time to get them to where she could
move as she wanted and keep the bindings in place...but she
finally got it right. When she closed her eyes, wrapped tight in
the bindings, she could almost smell the metal bars and blood.
For the second time that night she shook off memories.
Refocused, she slid her hand across the fabric covering her
chest and pushed her body, then her hair, to match it's color.
She examined her now linen white arm..it would do for tonight,
but she would have to have Aylina dye the fabric black to suit
her purposes. Before leaving her chambers she completed a few
exercises Thomas had her practicing... handstands, walk-overs,
and tumbles. Satisfied, she made her way out to the garden.
She stood at the start of the path and settled her inner dialog
as she plotted a path of most resistance through the garden. She
push her blood and ran.
Easily clearing the roses she landed and angled left toward the
fountain. Her foot slipped on the wet edge forcing her to
shorten her jump. Landing on the platform holding the dragon she
used the serpent-like tail to swing herself to the other side.
She still needed to tuck and roll her landing to regain her
footing, so she rolled and kept running. More roses...the
benches...all too easy....she ran for the wall. Her body coiled
and she landed on the top of the wall.
She ran again...front flip over the pillars, run, up the arch
over the gate, faster, run, flip, run, flip, run, cut the
corner, faster, run, flip, run, fig tree- duck, faster, run,
flip, run. She ran the perimeter of the wall over and over...the
repetition was like meditation ...she pushed her body over and
over as well. Her physical modifications were working better
than she hoped..the flips were easier now that she had extended
her ligaments a bit. The extra padding on the soles of her feet
helped with traction and cushioning the run. She would have to
consider how to adjust for water and probably loose sand as
well, but overall she was happy with the results.
Suddenly, the bells for Lauds were ringing at St. Johns... the
time had went so fast. She jumped from the wall and padded to
the nearby benches to sit. Thomas would be arriving soon,
perhaps she could convince him to spar with her, she needed to
get better at reading her opponent and avoiding a blow. She was
pleased with the bindings ..they had held up well. She wondered
what Thomas would think of her choice then laughed because she
already knew. He would tell her they were fine, but they would
cause her to become accustomed to movement that was less
restricted and, unless she intended to request her opponent wait
for her to change before attacking, her daily clothes would
hinder her even more. His final word on it would be something
akin to "You are free to do as you like, but you are making more
work for yourself later. You will rarely have the luxury of
unhindered movement." And while he was right, of course, he had
never tried to fight in a bliaut. She would rather modify later
what she masters now.
She suddenly felt eyes on her and the smell the earth and wild
things. She smiled and spoke to the seemingly empty garden..
"Hello my love, I'm ready...."
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