Forbidden Queen

Katy

I have been busy helping Emma to adjust to her new home. She has settled in better than I had expected. She doesn’t seem to miss the Lunar Eclipse pack. She has made friends easily with the other pups in the palace and is enjoying her new school. I have asked people not to treat her differently because she is my sister. I want her to have as normal a childhood as possible.

We have breakfast and dinner together every day, and I make a point of seeing her once she finishes school to find out how her day has gone. I hope it is enough. Mrs Wilson is always on hand to look after her, and when I am not available Alex steps in, but I don’t want her to feel neglected. The whole household seems to love her. Aaron spends a lot of time with her. She is fascinated by his job.

It helps me because I am so busy with my role as queen, and I have insisted on increasing my training regime. The next time I meet one of Lucius warriors I want to be able to defeat them, not just survive the incident. I have been lucky up until now, but I can’t rely on my luck to last forever.

I have been training with the new recruits, since I have arrived here. I have managed to beat every one of them in a fight, so today Joseph has promised that I can train with the more experienced warriors, those who have completed their basic training.

I arrive at the Guards training ground early in the morning. Joseph is already there waiting for me.

“Ready to try and defeat my guards?” he asks. “I have an especially tough opponent for you today, and he is an old friend.”

“Really, who?”

“Your old sparring partner Alan.”

Alan walks towards us grinning “good morning, your highness” he says to me bowing his head in a sign of respect.

“Good morning, Alan” I reply giving him a big smile. This will be more like it if I can defeat warriors like Alan, I will stand a chance against any attacker from the Black Moon Pack.

“Right, you have fought Alan before, but this time you will not be able to use any dirty tricks. If you want to defeat him, you are going to have to fight him using your warrior training.”

I nod.

“OK, then when you are ready, begin.” Joseph says stepping back giving us space to fight.

Alan moves into the fighting stance but stands still. He is waiting for me to make the first move.

I rack my brains thinking back to when I fought him the last time. He is strong, and brutal but his large physique and additional weight makes him slow. I am not going to defeat him if I try and match him blow for blow. I might not be able to use any of the tricks that Joseph has taught me, but I am faster and more agile than him. I am going to attempt to use that to my advantage.

I move forward slowly, my arms up, my face concentrated on his right shoulder, he turns to defend his right side, his claws extended. At the last minute I swing to the left and slash my claws across his chest. I don’t manage to do more than scratch his flesh before he shoves me back. The push unbalances me, and as I try to right myself, he moves in and punches my chest. I fall to the ground.

“And you are dead” Joseph says. “Again. You need to do more than just scratch your opponent.”

I rise shakily to my feet. My chest hurts, but I am OK. I am determined to do better next time. I think about what I did wrong. I managed to make contact but wasn’t quick enough to make it count. He won’t fall for a feint like that again, but I can use my speed to attack and then move back quickly before he launches a counterattack.

I keep my face as blank as possible, and stare straight ahead. I am going to go straight for his left shoulder, sink my claws in and if I get the opportunity push him off balance.

I move as quickly as I can towards him, I extend my claws and use them to tear into his shoulder. I draw blood but jump back before he can get hold of me. He moves forward, trying to bring the fight to me, but I jump to the side at the last moment, kicking my leg round in a circular motion, I smash my foot into his knee. He stumbles but doesn’t go down. I move slowly back, and just as slowly he follows. We both pause for a moment.

“Better Joseph” says. You haven’t managed to land any serious blows, but Alan hasn’t managed to touch you at all this time. You have correctly assessed what your strengths are, and where Alan is weak, but you haven’t managed to take full advantage of it. Go again.”

I spend the next hour fighting Alan, I continue to land blows, but I am frustrated that they only cause superficial wounds, and that I can’t overpower him. He does not manage to make contact again but being able to evade my opponent is not enough.

“That is enough for today” Joseph announces. “Alan you are free to go, Katy, stay for a while longer.”

Alan nods at me with a smile and walks away.

“You have made good use of your speed today but that is not going to be of any use if you can’t cause your opponent serious injury. We need to strengthen your arms, and practise moves which will take advantage of your agility.

I want you to add 30 minutes weight training to your routine each day. I am also going to ask Seb to show you some new moves. He is not as big as the other warriors but he quick and uses techniques that would be effective for you. We will begin your new training regime tomorrow. Be here at 5:00 a.m..”

I can’t wait to learn these new techniques. My guards are great but the sooner I can defend myself the easier it will be to convince Alex and Joseph that they don’t have to spend all their time protecting me. That I am capable of looking after myself.

……….

The next day I am so keen to get started that I arrive at the training ground at 4:50 a.m. Joseph is already there, with Sebastian. Sebastian is slim with red hair, and hundreds of freckles. He is around 6 foot tall which is small for a male wolf, but he is still taller than me. By his side is a male mannequin with fake wolf claws.

“Right, we are going to start today with Sebastian showing you some of the moves that he uses in order to defeat larger opponents, and then you will get a chance to try them out for yourself” Joseph tells me.

“So, Joseph has told me that you are quick. You are good at using your speed to avoid your opponent landing a hit. You are also capable of using your speed to attack quickly and land a blow, but you are not strong enough to do any serious damage. I am going to show you how you can use your own momentum to make your blows count. I will also show you some other areas that you can concentrate on which will weaken your opponent.

I nod. This sounds good. I am eager to learn any new techniques that will help to defeat my opponents.

“Right so I want you to copy what I am doing. Lift your right leg, push your foot up, lean back slightly and then drive your hips forward; with as much strength as you can kick out.”

“I follow his instructions, and copy what he is doing. When he does it, it looks smooth and powerful, but I find it difficult to maintain my balance, I kick out weakly and stumble.

“OK so you need to balance your core first, otherwise you are going to lose your balance. Centre yourself, makes sure your legs are steady and then we will try again.”

I follow his advice, try again and this time I don’t stumble. My kick is stronger.

“Good, much better. We will continue to practise these kicks, but from now on you will be aiming to kick this mannequin. I want you to try it again but aim for their knees, he says using a pen to draw a big circle on the mannequin’s leg. “Ok, so let’s try again. Ready”

I nod. Centre myself before lifting my leg and pushing out in the way he has instructed. My balance is steady, I manage to get some momentum and I kick forcefully at the mannequin. I land my kick just below the knee, the mannequin moves slightly but then rocks back into position. It’s a mannequin it should move I think with frustration.

“Why didn’t the mannequin move more? It wasn’t that weak a kick!”

“It is weighed down with weights in its feet. They might look like shop mannequins, but they are not, they are specially designed for training wolves. They need to be able to withstand attacks by warrior wolves or they wouldn’t be much use for training.”

“OK” I say happier following that explanation, I am not as feeble as I thought.

“You need to make more of an impact. If the mannequin doesn’t swing back or fall over when you hit it, then you are not hitting hard enough to inflict a disabling wound on a wolf. You need to do the same again but kick harder. Focus all your strength into the kick.”

Determinedly I try again. Focusing as much of my strength as I can into the blow. The mannequin sways back.

“Good, that was better, but you still need to use more force. Again.”

I continue practising my kicks, but after thirty minutes more I can feel my legs are weakening, on the final kick the mannequin barely moves at all.

Sensing my weakness Sebastian says “OK, enough kicking for today. You don’t have the strength for anymore. Tomorrow we will start with weight training in the gym to strengthen your leg muscles.”

I sigh with relief. My body is aching, and I can’t wait to shower and freshen up.