The Young Mage Ch. 04

"Well, I was about to ask for it..." Magnus thought as he defended against another series of aggressive attacks. He first intended to refrain from using elven swordplay techniques to avoid raising questions, but was now wondering if he would be able to hold his own without them. William was displaying stunning skill with the sword but also an unusual technique, one Magnus hadn't seen before.

"I need this opportunity, so to hell with caution... There is no way I would be able to defeat this kind of opponent without giving my best," Magnus thought, his body slipping into the form he had practiced with Voron, the elven scout he had trained with, months ago.

"Now, let's show him I can give as good as I get..."

Magnus swung his blade in a wide arc, but then stopped mid-swing and lunged forward instead, eliciting an almost panicked parry from William. A series of fast swings and thrusts followed and Magnus saw William's surprise turning into a look of pure concentration and... enjoyment?

"Yes, he loves this... and I can understand it so well. The simplicity and the beauty of this dance..." Magnus thought, letting the joy of the sword dance take him over. Killing people wasn't something he enjoyed doing, but even if he was swinging a weapon that was meant to take lives, he truly relished the joy of the duel. There was a simple kind of freedom in this clash of minds and skill, in this struggle to beat your opponent.

The duel stretched into minutes, both opponents sweaty and puffed with exercise, but with faces betraying only joy. There were a few torn spots on their clothes, but no one managed to score a mark on the flesh yet. William attacked fiercely once again, trying to put Magnus off balance with a series of feints and lunges, his blade a whirl of skill and focus. Magnus gave ground before the onslaught and just when William lunged once again, hoping to make Magnus jump back and maybe lose the stability of his stance, Magnus sidestepped the lunge with a quick pirouette, suddenly coming close to the overextended William. Using the momentum of his turn, Magnus's backswing ended with a punch with both the pommel and his fist into the side of William's face. The big man went down to the ground, shaking his head to fight the dizziness only to find the tip of Magnus' sword staring at his face.

A couple of seconds of weird silence was quickly followed by a thundering applause that startled them both. They turned around to see that the whole household had been watching the duel. Magnus extended his hand to William who took it with a hint of a smile and got up to his feet, puffing out a breath of relief and rubbing the side of his face.

"Magnificent!" Lord Byrne exclaimed, approaching the sweaty and tired duo.

"By the gods, this was an amazing duel indeed. I didn't think I was ever going to see anyone beat the captain of my bodyguards in a fair fight," he said, clapping Magnus on the shoulder.

"It could have gone either way, Your Lordship," Magnus said, wiping the sweat off his face with the sleeve of his shirt.

"Maybe... but I am not too convinced," William said, still rubbing his jaw.

"Well! That settles it then, Gareth. Come with me now so I can explain what will be required of you," Lord Byrne said with a hint of hesitation.

"That over there is the fruit of my loins, my only heir..." Lord Byrne said, pointing at the young man who had his back turned. Magnus saw a man wearing a white shirt and tight pants with long dark hair tied into a ponytail, something that was quite fashionable with young noblemen. Then the young man turned and Magnus was shocked to see that the young man was not a man after all, but a girl of no more than twenty... and a very pretty one too.

"Yeah, I know," Lord Byrne said, showing a smile in response to the evident surprise on Magnus' face.

"Claudia is my only child and she is... well, stubborn would be putting it mildly. She has these ridiculous notions that women should be allowed to do some things that men do. She flat-out refused to act as a proper daughter of a lord, saying that socializing, talking about art, and playing cards didn't interest her at all... I couldn't allow my only daughter to become a social outcast... so I struck a bargain with her. If I allowed her to learn to ride like a man and to learn the sword, she would at least pretend to be a dutiful daughter and socialize in the proper circles."

"Huh..." Magnus said, puffing a breath.

"Indeed... and that is where you come in. I want you to teach her the sword, privately, of course. No one can know your true role. It would be a small scandal if it became known that my daughter is a swordsman... swordswoman even... Bah!" Lord Byrne said, exasperated.

"So I would pretend to be...what?"

"For the outside world, you would be her bodyguard... and that would indeed be one of your duties, but your primary duty would be to teach her to wield a sword, discreetly."

Magnus scratched his head in slight frustration. Being a babysitter for a girl wasn't something he was looking forward to... but this was his best chance to gain access to the higher circles.

"I understand, Your Lordship. You can count on me," Magnus said finally.

"Excellent!" the lord said with a satisfied smile. "Claudia!" he called out.

The girl turned and started walking towards them with a catlike gait.

"Father," she said, pursing her lips slightly. She was distinctly not looking at Magnus.

"Daughter, this is Gareth, your swordmaster and bodyguard from now on."

"Ah yes. I was convinced you would hire some hack for the job, but it seems I was wrong," she said, looking at Magnus for the first time. Magnus felt as if her dark eyes were trying to pierce into his soul.

"Claudia! You know how I regard the selection of the men who serve me!"

"Yes, yes... I apologize. Well, thank you for introducing us, Father. Now, let me have a private talk with my new underling," she said, pulling at Magnus' arm. Lord Byrne watched them walk away, shaking his head.

"That was quite a performance there, Blondie," she said when they were far enough. Magnus frowned at the teasing in her tone.

"I see you like your new nickname," she said with a grin.

"I don't think I have ever laid a finger on a woman, but by the gods, I would love to put her over my knee and spank her," Magnus thought, feeling a sudden touch of arousal. Her haughtiness was irking him, although it was somewhat mollified by the loveliness of her face and form.

"Well, I will let you get settled first and I'll be looking forward to our first lesson in the afternoon. You'll get a room in the mansion itself since we want to keep the pretense of you being a bodyguard," she said with a slight frown. "I resent the fact that I have to hide like this, but we should abide by the rules of the society, I suppose, or Father would get a heart attack."

"All right, then," Magnus said.

Claudia moved to go, but then turned back quickly, coming really close to Magnus. "Oh and be vary of the maids... They can be quite handsy," she said with a smirk, pinching his ass discreetly. Magnus almost yelped in surprise, prompting a laugh from Claudia.

"Until later, Blondie..." she said, walking away and swaying her hips.

"Huh... somehow I feel that those slavers aren't the greatest of predators I will be facing in this city."

***

"What are those, Blondie?" Claudia asked when Magnus joined her in the backyard of the mansion. This part of the estate was closed off to everyone except for the lord's family. The lord was quite adamant about keeping these lessons a secret, after all.

"These are practice swords," Magnus said, extending one of the wooden swords to Claudia.

"What?! Is this some kind of joke? You are supposed to teach me how to wield a sword, not how to wield some wooden stick... Is this because I am a woman?!" Claudia said with a scowl.

Magnus sighed. "These are the 'swords' everyone begins to learn swordplay with. Everyone. I had my first lessons in swordplay with wooden swords as well. So no, this isn't about you being a woman, this is about you being an amateur," Magnus said with slight irritation.

Claudia puffed out a breath of frustration. "Fine! Let's start then."

"First, you need to learn how to hold the sword and how to balance your body. Hold your sword tight, but not too tight or it will make your swings too stiff and constricted. You will realize over time that much of it is in the wrist..."

Claudia nodded and Magnus made a few slow and weak swings, making her parry clumsily. After she met his sword for the third time, her sword dropped out of her hand.

"Damn!"

"See? Tight but not too tight... and make your wrist flexible."

"All right. Let's go again."

Magnus made several swings at her and she parried each, clumsily, but she didn't drop the sword this time. They went at it for several minutes, him swinging with just a bit more force each time and her parrying his obvious swings. It didn't take long until she became a sweaty mess, but she paid no heed to her sweat-stained blouse or her disheveled hair.

"Hmm... The haughty girl is gone and all I can see now is determination and persistence. I thought this was just a whim, but it seems this means a lot to her..." Magnus mused, looking at the focus and even a touch of joy with which she parried his swings.

"All right, that is enough of that for today. We practiced parrying now just so you could get the feel of it. Yet I will mostly teach you to avoid parrying altogether."

"Why?"

"Well, the thing is, as much as this might sound... troubling to you, there is a huge difference in the upper body strength of men and women. Teaching you to directly meet and parry the blows from opponents who are heavier and much stronger than you would be disastrous if you ever get into a real fight."

"Oh, come on! I've parried your blows just fine!" she said with a hint of anger.

"That wasn't even close to the full power of my swing, and there will be those who can swing even harder, so trying to parry such a blow would break your wrist at the very least. No, I will teach you to dodge and deflect blows instead. You will be redirecting the energy of the blow instead of trying to meet it."

"Hmfh, fine."

"Anyway, this lesson was about holding the sword right and we will keep coming back to that every day, but we also need to start working on your fighting stance from the very beginning," Magnus said, taking what was commonly considered the usual combat stance of any swordsman.

"Copy me... yes...no, you need to extend your feet a bit more... bear down a little more... bah!" Magnus said, coming closer and pressing down on her shoulders.

"There. Now move your feet apart and shift backward," Magnus said, putting his hands on her hips and adjusting her stance. Then, he suddenly froze.

"Huh! I apologize, I didn't mean to..." Magnus said fumbling a bit with words.

"Oh give me a break; I won't melt under your touch! Do what you need to do as if I were any other student," Claudia said with a hint of a smirk.

"Right..." Magnus said and adjusted her hips once again. He felt her lean into him slightly, the sweet smell of her perfume mixing with the arousing scent of her sweat. Her warm body was touching him and he felt his arousal announce its presence.

"Good, that's it," Magnus said in a slightly raspy voice and then immediately cleared his throat. Claudia was looking at him with amusement, but her face was somewhat flushed too. They went through other basic stances and their bodies kept touching every now and then. They kept feeling each other's breath on the skin of their necks every time Magnus had to adjust her legs, and the eroticism became almost palpable. Magnus had to resort to his concentration technique to keep himself from getting a full-blown erection, but not before Claudia managed to notice the hint of a bump in his pants.

"These are the most common stances you will be using in swordplay. We will need to practice them every day and it is very important for you to master them. Your body balance is of the utmost importance in a swordfight," Magnus said after showing all of the common stances. His face was flushed, but his pants were now bump-free, which seemed to surprise and even slightly irritate Claudia, whose lovely face was quite flushed as well.

"That is all for this lesson, Lady Claudia," he said, taking the sword from her hand.

"Save the 'Lady Claudia' for when we have people around us. Here you can call me just Claudia... Blondie," she said, smiling.

"All right... Claudia."

"So, how often will we be having these lessons?"

"Twice a day is a common practice when one is starting to learn the sword."

"Good. In the morning at nine, and in the afternoon at six, then. I'll be looking forward to this, Blondie," she said, slapping his ass lightly as she passed him by.

***

In the following weeks, the lessons progressed at an unusually fast pace. Claudia possessed an incredible enthusiasm to learn swordplay and Magnus found he truly enjoyed giving her lessons. She was quite fast with the sword and Magnus decided to show her even a few of the moves Lanaya had taught him. After only three weeks of lessons, she had a firm grasp on the basics and Magnus finally decided to start including some practice with real swords as well. There was also constant erotic tension at almost every lesson. There was teasing and there were some casual touches but Magnus managed to keep his composure, which seemed to frustrate Claudia, yet it also seemed to embolden her to push the limit further...

"Good, that's it.... No no, you don't just lunge like that, that is way too obvious... You need to make a feint first, to misdirect the opponent. Distracting his attention from your true attack is the key to success."

"Hmm..." Claudia said with a mischievous smile. She went into the attack, making a feint, and then lunged at Magnus but he deflected her swing and then jabbed his practice sword into her chest.

"Ahh..." Claudia exclaimed, making a pained face, and then unbuttoning her blouse slightly. She put her hand into the blouse, massaging the spot just below her sternum. Magnus watched her, surprised, but also aroused by the scene as some of her ample cleavage was showing.

"Mmm..." she purred, closing her eyes and rubbing her chest as Magnus stared at her, his mouth gaping. Suddenly, she lunged forward, aiming at Magnus' chest, and only through reflexes honed by years of practice and fighting did he manage to deflect her sword to the side at the very last moment. Her sword deflected, her body crashed into his, her lips coming only a few inches from his face...

"What was that Blondie? The mighty swordmaster got distracted by some cleavage?" she teased, coming ever closer. She was tall for a woman, but she had to tiptoe to reach his height.

"I... that was actually a very smart usage of your... assets," Magnus said, swallowing hard and feeling her warm breath on his lips. He stared into her playful eyes that betrayed... desire.

"Was it? Well, I am so excited to get some praise from my teacher," she said, caressing his ass lightly. She smiled as she felt the pressure of the unmistakable bulge in his pants.

"Well, well, Blondie... You seem to be hiding some secret weapon..." she said, leaning close to his ear. "This was supposed to be a fair fight," she whispered, and Magnus felt a surge of arousal going through his body.

"This is inappropriate... We should keep this... professional." Magnus breathed, pulling away slightly and trying to get a grip on his arousal.

"Gods, I want her so bad... But I might ruin my position here, and gods only know when and if I would ever get a chance as good as this..."

Claudia watched him with an intense look, noticing how his body language contradicted his words.

"Oh relax, Blondie... I was only teasing you," she said with a smile. "I guess almost scoring a hit on you ends this lesson," she said, moving past him and brushing her hand against his thigh. She was almost at the door when she suddenly turned.

"Oh and... there is a social event tonight, one I must attend per agreement... and guess who will be my escort?"

"Don't you mean bodyguard?" Magnus asked, raising an eyebrow. His face was still flushed, but he was in control once again.

"No, I mean escort. Bodyguards remain in servant's quarters at such events because it would be quite distasteful if everyone walked around with armed guards," she said coming closer again. "So, I intend to bring you to the party with me. It should keep the amount of annoying, cocky young noblemen to the minimum. I bet Father never saw that one coming," she said with a laugh.

"I don't-"

"Don't worry, Blondie. We will find something nice for you to wear," she said and then walked away in her usual catlike manner that made Magnus' cock stir.

***

Parties... the place to gossip, show off, and of course talk about politics and war. Sometimes, those parties were more formal, like Balls, and such events usually had a strict repertoire. Everyone was expected to be at their best at such events, and even members of the royal family of Fluvia were often in attendance. This night, it was a much more casual gathering, one where nobility came to eat, drink, and socialize. Everyone who was someone wanted to be there, to take part in the gossip and to act important. There was one simple rule in the nobility circles - If you didn't attend such events, you didn't exist...

Magnus opened the carriage and extended his hand in a flamboyant way. He wore a dark green suit that matched his frame almost perfectly. Claudia took his hand gracefully and emerged from the carriage. All the eyes in front of the mansion turned to her immediately. Magnus had to admit she looked stunning. She wore a richly decorated dress in the color of gold and matching slippers and she carried herself with utmost elegance and grace.

"It is hard to believe this is the same girl who wears pants all the time and wants to learn the sword..." Magnus mused as they ascended the stairs into the mansion of Lord and Lady Stokes who had organized the party.

"You know, the way you are holding yourself, the posture, the manners... You seem to be somewhat schooled in these things..." Claudia said, eyeing Magnus inquisitively.

"Umm, well, there was one occasion... and..." Magnus said, slightly fumbling with the words. The night when he was attending the Royal Ball in Highfort in the company of Fiona and Lady Charlotte flashed through his mind. He had been arrested that night and then imprisoned and disabled with lenerium, all as a part of the Illusionist's conspiracy.

"I wonder if that bastard is still around... I owe him some payback..." Magnus thought, his face getting a troubled expression for a moment.

"Oh, don't worry, Blondie, I won't probe deeper... I see I am not the first one who has come up with an idea like this," she said with a small smile.

After being greeted by the hosts, they ventured into the party itself, which was taking place in one large hall and in several large rooms as well, probably for those who wanted something a bit more private. This party seemed to be populated mainly by young nobility, although there were also several middle-aged men and women.

"Claudia!" a female voice called out and they both turned to see a girl walking towards them. She was a pretty brunette with big eyes, wearing a blue dress with an open back.

"You came after all. I almost lost hope."

"I can imagine. Isabel, this is my distant cousin Gareth," Claudia said as Magnus took Isabel's hand and touched her fingers with his lips.