Betrayed By The Hero, Loved By The Lord
Chapter 145: Followed (1)

Chapter 145: Followed (1)

"I wonder what surprise Lord Blackthorn has prepared for you. It is a great shame you will not be able to attend the ball tonight. It has been so long since you attended one," Agnes said, wishing she could see Selene dressed up.

"It has been long but I am certain there is nothing I am missing out on. It will be full of drama and many things to get a reaction out of others. It would be worse if we attended, so I would rather stay home. If I am lucky, another invite will come for one I will attend," Selene said, remaining positive.

"It is a smart choice not to attend this ball since it is honouring the soldiers. You are both married now but there would still be some conflict if you cross paths. The Lord is kind enough to distract you since you will not be in the palace. I wonder what it is," Agnes said, curious about Xavier’s plans.

Why did Xavier send pants and one of his shirts for Selene to wear?

"I am trying to think of what it is as well. Could he want to ride horses at this hour? I wouldn’t mind it but I cannot think of the last time I rode a horse by myself. It used to be fun," Selene said, reminiscing on the past.

"I’m sure you can do it now. Lord Blackthorn has plenty of horses around the estate. It shouldn’t trouble anyone if you were to take one to go for a ride," said Agnes.

"Perhaps. It would be something good for me to do alone with Xavier when he is not busy. We will need ideas for when we want to take our minds off the trouble of this town. Is it here he asked me to see him?" Selene asked, trying to place what the room was for.

When Selene entered the room, she came across a room set up like a training ground. There were weapons of all sorts neatly placed and targets to use them on. In the middle of the room stood Xavier as though he was waiting for his opponent.

"You have wanted to know how to protect yourself. A night when the town is busy with the palace is a good start. Are you ready?" Xavier asked, holding out his hand to Selene.

"I am a little nervous," Selene confessed.

Still, she walked to where Xavier stood.

Agreeing to fight him was the easy part, but seeing Xavier stand before her now in a room full of weapons and his upper body not covered, revealing how fit he was, did concern her.

"You may leave now. Both of you," Xavier instructed Harold and Agnes.

Agnes was first to head to the door but Harold was reluctant.

"You may leave Harold. See if the head maid needs your help," said Xavier.

Harold left the room but he intended to stay near in case Selene was hurt.

"And you think he doesn’t care for you anymore. He is worried I might hurt you as though you would not heal," Xavier informed Selene.

"Even though I will heal, you will not injure me, right? This is my first lesson so you must be easy on me. Right?" Selene questioned, worried when he smiled. "You are scaring me now. It might be better if I let someone else teach me how to fight."

Xavier held her by placing his hand around his waist to stop Selene from leaving. "It humours me that you think I would hurt you. Someone else might not be as gentle as I am. The best one to teach you is me."

"I am trying to save you by picking someone else. If this brings on an argument, I would not like it to be my husband who has to face my anger. I will be a good student and follow your ways but please, do not forget it is your wife who stands before you," Selene pleaded.

Selene looked around at the array of weapons. "Which weapon will we start with first?

"Your hands," Xavier replied. "It is the best weapon for a vampire to use. In time, I will teach you how to use a dagger. It will be most easy for you to hide on you. Did you not learn anything about how to defend yourself before this?"

"It was very little when I was younger but hardly enough to defend myself. My parents claimed I did not need it since I was always protected. If I could go back in time, I would tell them to teach me as well as warn them about their future. Teach me as if I know nothing," said Selene.

"You know nothing," Xavier replied.

He wanted to place some blame on her parents but Xavier knew many like Selene who weren’t taught how to fight. If they could, they were driven by the anger in the moment. It was usually the men like Xavier who had to learn to fight because they got involved in dangerous games.

"I’ll start with the basics. Try to block my attempts to hit or to get you to the floor," Xavier said.

"Okay," Selene nodded her head, preparing herself to do her best.

Selene started confident she could get away from some of his attacks but soon found herself falling to the floor again and again.

Selene groaned after the fourth time Xavier managed to make her fall.

Xavier offered his hand to help her up. "You were close that time. It is getting better."

Selene accepted his hand. "You do not need to lie to me. I am terrible. I thought my speed would help but you are faster."

"You should study my attacks. Many do not notice it but there are patterns to how they fight. They might repeat the same motion with their hands or feet. Sometimes you find a weakness, like a foot which isn’t strong enough for them to balance themselves or an injured hand you can use against them," Xavier said, pulling her up so they could start again. "Do you want to stop?"

"No," Selene shook her head. "I didn’t start this thinking I would get the best of you. If I did, I would have known you were going easy on me. I want to go again until I can land a hit on you."

Selene didn’t want to leave this room thinking she had made some steps toward protecting herself only to be in the face of danger later and realise Xavier had gone easy to make her feel good.

"I have not missed your smile each time you have made me fall onto the floor. You are enjoying this," Selene pointed out.

Xavier had not missed the chance to pin her hands down and tower over her. Selene was only surprised he had not tried to kiss her.

"Well, I did not know you would look as good as you are now," Xavier admitted, enjoying every bit of this.

"It is only a shirt and pants. I have worn them before but some are more fashionable for women when riding horses. This shirt is quite big," Selene said, wondering if it would work better for her to have one her size. "I question how long you were planning to teach me tonight since you would have been able to get a shirt of my size."

"The pants fit almost well," Selene noticed. Why didn’t the shirt?

"Because you look far better in my shirt," Xavier replied.

Selene didn’t want to continue like this. "I will need a smaller shirt. I have noticed some men around here who are not muscular so their shirts should work better. I will have shirts made for me so I will not trouble anyone. Should we get Harold to ask for a servant’s shirt?"

"Yes, if you want him to select a man who will be out of the estate by morning," Xavier replied.

Selene shook her head at his ways. "You possessive man. I will spare others from your jealousy."