If I Could Be Anywhere Else (Open)

[Lily]

Lily rolled her eyes. It wasn't uncommon for the ladies of the court to venture out into the training grounds in the afternoon to watch the knights spar with one another. Most of them stood in a corner, giggling amongst themselves and admiring the testosterone fuelled displays of masculinity; it got worse when the women were around, as the men had a tendency to show off. Lily, on the other hand, would much rather be training with them than sitting back and watching.

The breeze blew a couple of strands of hair across her nose and she tugged them back, her keen eyes following a ferocious fight between two of the more experienced knights. They were taking blows out of each other like they were fighting to the death, and it was almost painful to watch. She could hear the ladies over the other side of the yard gasping and oohing at every blow, even the glancing ones which most fighters could take without too much damage.

Then again, if someone tapped one of the women with a feather, they would probably run away screaming.

Shaking her long waves over her shoulders, her attention fell back onto the fight to see the final strike - a blow with a sturdy hilt to the back of the challenger's head. He hit the grass with a groan, and the ladies all tittered and applauded the winner. Lily smirked and clapped her hands twice, slowly. If only she could show them a thing or two.

[splitzer]

"Come now, I'm certain you men are better than this! You must be aware of your enemy at all times! If your back is turned, be prepared to defend your backside, even if you have someone to your front.!"[/b] Charles bellowed out across the training grounds, many stopping to look toward the direction his voice had come from.

Charles was decked out in the traditional attire of a knight of Ellion, minus the helmet, and stood directly outside of the training grounds, inspecting the men and giving pointers. For a man in his early forties, he was quite agile, and seemed to be in perfect health. Though, contrary to popular belief, he was plagued by many injuries though never to show it. Looking towards the applauding ladies, as well as Lily, he would give a wink to them all, being somewhat of a showboat when the ladies were present, he leapt over the barricade into the training area, and waved his hand toward the man holding the weapons. "Decisions, decisions. Bring me my spear, quickly now!"[/b]

The man quickly nodded, and grabbed a generic spear from the weapon rack, quickly throwing it toward Charles. He grabbed it from the air, twirled it about him a bit to showoff, of course, and then planted the pole part on the ground, the spearhead standing about as tall as he was. The two knights were just now getting their senses back, and looked at Charles with something of a puzzled look. "Come now you two. One to the front, one to back, I'll show you the proper way to defend an attack from either direction and why pole arms sometimes are much more useful than simple swords. Let us see how you would defend your King from one lone man, if it came down to it! Attack!"[/b] He spoke loudly, after they had surrounded him.

The knights hesitated at first, but finally the one behind Charles charged, with a rather loud battle cry of sorts, the one to the front doing the same. Charles would simply give a smile, as the one to the front came at him with an overhand slice from his right hand. Charles moved with very quick reflexes, as his foot kicked the bottom of the spear, propelling the end of it up to connect with the Knights hand and the base of the sword, as if throwing his arm in the opposite direction he wanted it to go. He then turned his right hand, the one holding his spear, slightly towards the right, his left hand catching the end and using it to connect with the Knights jaw, sending him flipping to the side.

As he was doing this, the Knight behind him saw what happened and decided to come in with a horizontal slash, attempting a beheading, this as well failing as Charles had gone into a ducking position after the connection to the other Knights jaw, and had begun a rotation in the sand following the momentum he had used to crack the spear end into the other Knights jaw, his leg extended as the slice came directly over his head, cutting a few strands of hair being so close, and he swept the Knight off his feet, bringing the Spear before his own face, and moving to stand at the exact moment the Knight was elevated, the spear was pushed up, being horizontal itself as not to inflict an injury, it caught the back of the knees of the Knight, and flipped him in mid air, landing face first in the sand, as Charles came to resume the same stance as before.

"You took no time to asses your enemy. try to learn all you could from the brief moments before contact. I did not even need to use the weapon end of my spear, for your King would be dead before you even managed to stand back up."[/b] He spoke these words as he helped both Knights back to their feet, throwing his spear back to the weapons handler. "Learning about your enemies style of fighting, tactics, decision they would make in battle. These things will keep you ahead of them, and help you better defend your King, and your kingdom of Ellion."[/b] He raised his fist as he spoke the last words, getting a cheer from the Knights training, as well as some random people watching.

Jumping back over the rail, he walked towards the ladies and bowed, a smile upon his face. "I do hope the show was pleasing my lovely madams."[/b] He spoke, as he came to rest upon a wall nearby, several ladies moving to flock around him as they had their "oohs" and "aaahs" of his performance. "Please, please, ladies, calm down. I am simply training the future protectors of this great kingdom."[/b] He said humbly, granting him even more reaction from them.

[Lily]

Oh good Lord, Charles.
The King's brother, like most of the other men, had a propensity for puffing out his chest and making himself look good on the battle field for the ladies' benefit. The prime example of this being the battle he had just successfully completed. However impressive it may have been, the gaggle of women certainly seemed to think so, Lily kept a look of contempt upon her face.

No forgiveness or acceptance would ever be given to anyone loyal to the King from her, especially someone like Charles. It wasn't just that they came across as cocky, or maybe sometimes pompous, it was that they alligned themselves with someone who had mercilessly murdered her parents, and tried to cover it up. To say it was a bugbear wouldn't be paying credit to her grudge at all. It was a wonder that she wasn't more vengeful. But she knew that she had to keep whatever ill will at bay long enough to see what she wanted to happen, happen. And that was the end of King Tuvion's rule.

"That you may have been," Lily called from where she was standing, her arms folded tightly across her chest, she made no move to get closer to them, preferring to keep her distance, "but you might also want to school them in being humble, something they might do better understanding. Knowing when to concede a fight, or at least pretend to, might help save their lives someday. After your great display, I can imagine the only things they are feeling are sore and mildly embarrassed." She didn't give anyone an easy time, it was her way, but she was feeling particularly bitter today, maybe it had something to do with being a little stir crazy.

[splitzer]

Charles looked to the side of the crowd of women that had gathered around him as he heard someone address him. Looking towards Lily, he would give a nod of his head, as he shooed away several of the women, and walked towards Lily now, a smile upon his face. "But there in lies the lesson my fair lady. If you are shown how easy you could be defeated in training, then you become aware that defeat is possible and you begin to look at all scenarios, do you not agree with this?"[/b] He spoke as he gave a bow before her. "Charles John Tuvion madam. A pleasure to make your acquaintance. I'm always interested in those that show interest in battle scenarios and situations that could happen. Tactics are always a welcome commodity among a generals prescence, no?[/b] Another coy smile crept across his face.

"To return to topic, feeling sore and embarrassed is something one can deal with when shown their flaws in the training grounds, rather than be killed upon the field of battle when they come to light."[/b] He would extend his hand, offering her to walk with him, and if she accepted, he would wait for her to begin moving the direction she so desired. He was a gentleman afterall. If she accepted the walk, he would quickly follow behind her and move to her side to continue their conversation. "Pushing yourself and learning your flaws more than trying to learn new techniques and better yourself is something I pride myself upon teaching the future generations. what good will a unique tactic do you, if you cannot properly defend yourself or your king, and you all die before it can be implemented?"[/b]

Charles was indeed a smooth talker, and one who enjoyed the company of a beautiful woman at all times, however he'd yet to meet someone like Lily yet, so his interest had suddenly become piqued. "Seeing as how you were not at all intrigued by my performace, can I assume you've had battle training, or perhaps have lived around battle for sometime?"[/b] His arms would fold behind his back as they walked. A lovely day it was it seemed to have aq leisurely stroll around the grounds and camps. Random people waving and saying Hello to him as he passed, returning the favor each time. It was obvious that since his return he had become something of a favorite among the kingdoms people. He himself wasn't sure how that happened, but he just attirbuted it to his natural charm and elegance, which drew many people in.