The Trinity of Heroes (I Will Protect You Book 1) (13 page)

Fix what is broken, and break what you eat for breakfast.

- Wakewood Family Saying

A few months later

The sun flooded Lawrence’s private, third-floor room in Knights Runn. It was early enough that Lawrence threw his hands over his eyes in annoyance with the sun’s invasive actions. His body still ached with throbbing pain, and Lawrence knew that his recovery would still take time. He slowly sat up. At least he could do that by himself. The dull soreness was still there, however, reminding him that he hadn’t fully recovered just yet. Lawrence thought back on the last months as he remembered all of the things that had happened to him. Healer Numidor confirmed after intense examination that Lawrence indeed had some cracked ribs and internal bruising. Outside of the cracked ribs, Lawrence’s other injuries healed very quickly and he now had begun some light lifting and swordplay. He had rejoined the Knight Guard daily training, but found himself falling behind the others. His endurance had suffered after his injury and now he found himself a shadow of his former self. If he wanted to get back to the level he was at he would need to train harder and longer than ever.

There was, however, one good thing that came out of the time he spent recovering in the castle. He and Elsie had become very close and spent much of their days together. Lawrence didn’t know why, but Elsie insisted on having breakfast with him every morning. She told Lawrence that “it’s essential to a speedy recovery that you properly nourish your body every morning.” Lawrence was grateful for Elsie’s attentive care, and it seemed to be helping.

The door opened and an elegantly dressed Elsie entered his room. She wore a golden dress and a large white hat. The dress came down to her ankles and was covered in frills and twists. She was a scion of beauty and Lawrence was happy he could start his day with the sight of her fresh in his mind. She walked to the foot of his bed and said, “Good morning, Lawrence. Isn’t it about time you get up?”

“Isn’t it a bit early, Elsie? I don’t need to be to training for several hours yet.” Lawrence looked at a nearby sun dial on the ledge of one of the large windows.

“How many times do I have to tell you, Lawrence? Until you recover, you and I will eat breakfast every morning and I will walk with you to and from training.”

“I know, I know. Well, I suppose I need to get dressed,” Lawrence said. He got out of bed and slowly straightened his back. As he turned around and began to put on a shirt, Elsie saw the scars from Phillip’s assault.

“Lawrence…” Elsie began, saddened. “Does it still hurt?”

Lawrence paused for a moment, turned around, and donned his undershirt. “Elsie, the pain is temporary, but those scars are forever. I don’t know if I can ever forgive Phillip for what he did.”

“I don’t expect you to, Lawrence. I still can’t believe he had the audacity to do such an underhanded thing.”

“It would have been different if he had challenged me fair and square, face to face, but he didn’t. Instead of being a man he took the coward’s way out.” Lawrence grabbed a handful of his effects, strapped his longsword to his side, and carefully draped his Knight’s vest over his shirt. “Shall we go, Elsie?”

“Yes, let’s go to breakfast, Lawrence.”

The two began to walk arm in arm out of the door and made their way to the dining room. Lawrence was still in awe by the size of Knights Runn on the inside. A beautiful red velvet carpet wound its way around the third floor and proceeded to guide them down the stairs to the lower levels. Beautiful art and polished golden candelabras hung on the walls. Their candles were the castle’s only source of light at night. The towering stone walls felt like they ascended forever as Lawrence looked up to higher levels only to feel a sense of dizziness overtake him. He looked down from their third floor balcony as they approached the stairs, where he could see servants carrying trays to their usual dining spot. Lawrence enjoyed getting an extra hour of sleep as opposed to waking early to eat. He often went to training on an empty stomach, but Elsie had slowly been changing his ways. Lawrence knew it was an unhealthy habit, and it was one he was determined to break.

“Lawrence, how is your training going?” Elsie asked as they walked down the stairs.

“Not as well as I would like. I am making progress, but I feel like I have lost my edge, and I don’t know what to do to get it back.”

“Don’t you think you will improve eventually, Lawrence?” Elsie asked, trying to reinvigorate Lawrence’s attitude.

“I don’t know Elsie, and I am worried that I won’t recover soon enough to become a Knight.”

Elsie stopped. Her face became angry. “Don’t ever say that, Lawrence!” she scolded. “You have great skills and I know in my heart that when you turn eighteen, you will be inaugurated into the Knight Guard, just like Razzius and Benni.”

The two continued to make their way to the dining room and as they came close to the door, a familiar figure crossed their path. It was Flint. He was dressed in a royal blue vest and black pants and he looked over at Elsie and Lawrence. Lawrence felt out of place amongst the royalty, but neither Elsie, her mother, or her father ever treated him like anything less than family. Normally when Lawrence and Elsie were in the presence of Flint or Maggie they would unlock arms. However, when Lawrence attempted to do so this time he felt a tight grip from Elsie.

She spoke, her face tensing slightly as she kept a tight grip on Lawrence who was still trying to wiggle his arm free. “Good morning, Father, how are you this morning?”

“I am well. And Elsie my dear, how are you this morning?”

“Equally well, Father. I was just seeing Lawrence down to the dining room where we will enjoy breakfast together before he goes to his training.”

“I see.” He turned his attention to Lawrence who was still struggling to get away and save face with him. “Good morning, Lawrence, how is your recovery going?”

Lawrence was embarrassed but managed to choke out, “It is going well, sire, thank you for your concern.”

There was a silence between them for a while, the only sound the clanging of dishes in the dining hall. After several moments, Elsie exclaimed with a huge smile across her face, “Well, Father, Lawrence and I are going to eat breakfast. See you later, Papa!”

Elsie dragged Lawrence past Flint who waved as the two walked off. Elsie pushed open a massive oak door to the dining hall and revealed their usual eating place. She didn’t seem content to eat inside this morning and shouted to her servants, “Everyone, we have a beautiful morning outside, let’s move breakfast to the terrace!”

“Right away, miss,” all three servants responded in tandem and immediately set about moving breakfast outside for the two.

Elsie tightened her grip around Lawrence’s arm. “The fresh air will be good for you.”

“Is there anything that you do for me that isn’t good, Elsie?”

“Well, Lawrence, if I wasn’t here to help you, who knows what you would do? You’d probably still be sleeping, and knowing you, you would rush to training unfed, unkempt, and unprepared. Benni told me that you had to stop early yesterday because you were having trouble breathing again. Is that true?”

“Yes,” Lawrence muttered reluctantly.

“That won’t change unless you take better care of yourself,” Elsie scolded. You need more rest, and you need to work on your endurance too. These are all things Benni and I have been telling you Lawrence, and unless you listen, you may not recover fully.”

“I know.” Lawrence frowned.

The two continued to walk to the terrace where an exquisite breakfast spread was laid out for them to enjoy. Even though Lawrence was slightly irritated by being woken up so early, the good food always made it worth it. Scents of mixed berries, sausages, and fresh milk shot Lawrence into a cavalcade of sensory overload. He could feel his stomach crying for food, and much to his enjoyment, the Pyre family delivered quite well.

Lawrence knew something still wasn’t right. He could run and fight, but only for a short while. Before his injuries, he used to train for hours and now he was lucky to survive one. As he took his first bite of food, thoughts of failure pervaded his mind and Elsie noticed his unhappy face.

“Lawrence, what’s the matter?”

“I…I don’t know.”

“Lawrence, you haven’t been yourself lately, I’m worried about you. I wish you would talk to me about it.”

Lawrence hesitated for a moment and sighed. “Elsie, I feel like ever since my injuries… and now with my mother living in the castle, I just don’t feel like I have a reason to be in the Knight Guard anymore.”

Lawrence’s comment shocked Elsie. Since the first day she had met him, he seemed intent on becoming a Knight, yet the more she thought about his words, the more they made sense. He had told her that his original reason for joining the Knight Guard was to make enough money to support his mother, but now without that motivation Lawrence was struggling to find a reason to stay. Elsie wanted to talk to Lawrence more, but she could see that the conversation was upsetting him. Lawrence had stood up to leave.

“Lawrence, where are you going?”

“I’m going to go get some early training in, Elsie; I have to find out whether or not I’m really cut out for this anymore. Lately, I just don’t know.” Lawrence shook his head; his emotions were clearly getting the best of him.

“Lawrence, why are you being so hard on yourself?” Elsie questioned. But, it was too late. Lawrence walked off without a response and vanished from her view.

Lawrence headed for the courtyard where he would be able to get in some solo practice before the other Knights and trainees arrived. Upon reaching his destination he began to stretch. Lawrence could feel his muscles pull and tug as he bent from side to side, and he winced from the dull pain that continued in his chest as he stretched his arms high above his head. The sun beat down on him, forcing him to squint and shield his face with his free hand. He wondered if he would have to continue his conversation with Elsie later. Lawrence looked around and upon noticing that he was alone, he began to practice. Lawrence listened as his blade hissed and sang as he drew the longsword from its sheath. He held it toward the sky, and as he did, he saw his reflection in the clean, polished blade.

“Who are you going to become?” Lawrence asked himself out loud as he swung it toward the ground. A pain shot through his arm and he dropped the sword. “Damn it!” Lawrence shouted out. He bent over gingerly to pick up the sword. Lawrence had just begun training and already he had hit a snag. Lawrence continued to swing his sword, cringing and fighting through the pain, until he heard a voice calling to him from the entrance to the courtyard.

“Lawrence, good morning.”

Lawrence turned around to see Benni walking toward him, waving. As Benni got closer, Lawrence extended his empty hand. “I thought I would get some early training in this morning-”

Before Lawrence could finish his sentence Benni interrupted, “Elsie woke you up again, didn’t she?”

“Yes, she did, and then she started lecturing me about how I have to take better care of myself and all that nonsense.”

Benni shook his head and looked at the ground. “Lawrence, isn’t it possible that you are overreacting?”

“She just doesn’t get it, Benni. She just doesn’t understand how much work I am putting into my training. Even though I am putting so much effort in, I still lack the skills I had before my injury, and I still can’t keep up with the rest of you! Benni, what do I do?”

Benni studied Lawrence for a while with a thoughtful look on his face. After a couple of seconds he said, “Lawrence, I think I know what you need.”

“What do you mean, Benni?” Lawrence asked inquisitively.

“Lawrence, you need to train harder and longer than ever before, and instead of being coddled like a newborn every night, you need to get to bed early and prepare for the next day.”

“What are you saying, Benni? Should I leave the castle?”

“Yes, Lawrence, that is exactly what I am saying. You need to get away from all of these distractions and concentrate completely on your training.” Benni stopped for a moment, deep in thought. He smiled and then said, “Lawrence, why don’t you come live with me and my family?”

“Do you really think that will help, Benni?”

“I’ll tell you what, Lawrence; have a sparring match with me. If you win, continue living at the castle. If I win, you come live with me and we start training together. Deal?”

“So all I have to do is get you to yield, and I can do whatever I want?”

“Yes, but if you lose, then you pack your things right now and take them to my house.”

“You’re on Benni, let’s do this!”

Lawrence had been aching for a real challenge since his injury, and he was about to face someone he knew very well. Benni and Lawrence trained with each other often since neither of them spent much time training with their assigned mentors. If anyone could test Lawrence’s progress, it would be Benni.

“Shall we begin?” Benni asked, taking his stance about ten paces away from Lawrence.

Lawrence readied his stance and shouted, “Yes, prepare to lose, Benni!”

Benni knew that Lawrence was nowhere near ready to face him yet, and he hoped that this would be an eye-opening experience for him. As Lawrence had recovered from his injuries, Benni had noticed that Lawrence’s efforts in training had fallen off. Lawrence would say it was because his injuries still pained him, but Benni knew otherwise. It was time for Benni to prove Lawrence wrong. Benni knew that as the only Knight living within the castle walls outside of the Captain and a few of the other veteran Knights, Lawrence could slack in his daily regimens. But Benni also knew he had to get Lawrence to realize that if he continued to do this he would never reach his full potential.