Unlike Ulriech, who slept late and had to eat a hearty breakfast before he could start any kind of sparring match, Eirik was up before sunrise, ready to head to the lists.
Sophie was still not fully awake as she stumbled along through the dark behind him, grumbling that she'd been fast asleep when he'd come pounding on her door.
"Battle doesn't wait until you've had enough sleep and eaten a huge breakfast," Eirik said, "You have to be ready to fight any time of night or day."
"Does this mean you're going to wake me up at all hours of the night now?" she asked. What she wouldn't give for a double espresso right at that moment.
"I guess you'll find out soon enough," he grinned.
She walked over to the selection of swords in the corner and picked the same light weight one she'd been using against Ulriech. The rest were far too heavy and she tired quickly when she used them.
"That's a child's sword," he said.
"Yes. I've been told that a few times already," she replied. "But it's not like I could use a sword like yours. It's nearly as big as I am. How would I even swing it around?"
"Well, I'm not saying you have to use one this size," he pulled his own sword free. "But I think we could make you one that would work better than that."
"Great. Until then, I'm using this one." she said. "Now, can we get this over so I can go back to bed?"
"Back to bed?" he laughed. "We'll be sparring all day! What on earth has Ulriech been teaching you?"
"We spar for a couple of hours and that's it! What do you mean, 'all day'?"
"I mean, all day. We have to improve your stamina. Two hours a day isn't nearly long enough! If we go into battle, it could last hours on end!"
"Great," she mumbled. "Just what I was hoping to have to do all day."
"You'd rather I get Ulriech?" he chuckled, swinging his sword around so fast that it made a whistling sound through the air.
"No."
"Well then, let's begin." He swung his sword and she managed to duck, but she couldn't react fast enough to block his sword with her own. "You'll need to be able to stop my sword," he said. "You'll tire yourself out if all you do is evade!"
"Was Ulriech just going easy on me?" she gasped, ducking again.
"Probably."
"Why!?"
"Because teaching you for real would mean he'd have to also work and that's beneath him." he swung again and again until she was backed up against the stone wall and had nowhere to go. He swung again and felt a jolt through his body when his sword connected with hers as she finally blocked him. "Good! Now do it again!"
"Wait!" she exclaimed. But he had already swung again and she lifted the sword to block him again. "What if I hadn't been ready?"
"I suppose you'd be missing an arm." he shrugged. He lifted his sword again.
For the next hour, Sophie dodged and ducked, blocking his sword when she could, but otherwise just focusing on not losing any limbs. Finally, she threw down her sword and sank to her knees, gasping for breath. "No more!" she panted. "I'm done!"
"Great!" he put his sword away. "Let's get some food."
"What? That's it?" she looked up at him, surprised.
"I'm hungry. I'm surprised you went as long as you did."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence," she muttered, finally getting to her feet. "But you said we'd have to go all day!"
"We will. But we're not going to use swords the whole time." he looked at her as if she was suddenly crazy.
"Oh."
They walked to the great hall and she was surprised to find food already set out for a crowd. "Do they have food like this every day?" she asked.
"Yes," he answered slowly, wondering just where she was from where they wouldn't have food. "Eat up. You'll need your strength."
She stared as he piled his plate full of meats, fruit, bread and a whole lot of food she didn't recognize. And he stared at hers when she didn't pile it very high at all.
"You'll be hungry in an hour!" he said, picking up another piece of bread and a second helping of meat and setting it on top of the other food on her plate.
"I can't possibly eat this much!" she gasped.
"Trust me, you'll need it." he said as they made their way to the end of one of the long tables. They had just sat down and started eating when Ulriech burst into the hall. He was groaning loudly and limping as if he'd nearly lost a limb. Sophie rolled her eyes and stuck her fork into a piece of meat on her plate. "I think I've lost my appetite," she muttered.
"Eat." Eirik said gently. "He just wants attention."
A tall, lithe woman with reddish hair walked over to Ulriech and fawned over him, listening intently as he complained about his recent injury, caused by the woman they'd brought back from their last crusade. She must have been laying it on fairly thick because Ulriech seemed to be basking in it and invited her to eat with him.
"See, now he won't have to come sit by you," Eirik smiled.
"Is she blind?" she asked. "And possibly deaf?"
"She wants to be the next chief's wife."
"Why?"
He shrugged. "I guess it's nice not wondering if you'll have shelter and food. The chief gets the first and best of everything, so she'd never want for anything."
She understood the sentiment. But she could never see herself being with someone, especially someone like Ulriech, just to guarantee her ease of living.
"You don't agree with her."
"It's not that I don't agree with her," she replied, picking at her food. "I understand the why of it. I just couldn't make myself settle for someone like your brother, no offense. I know he's your brother, but I could never......," she shuddered at the thought.
"You don't think he's handsome? And strong?"
She laughed. "He's.....I don't know! If he's so strong, why wasn't he training me as hard as you did today? I think he's lazy. And boorish."
Eirik was smiling as he ate. "He is, when he can get away with it. He's a good soldier when he needs to be, though."
"If you say so. I'm not impressed."
"My father will be disappointed." he grinned. "He's still holding out hope that you will change your mind."
"And marry him? No. And how come I have to train so hard, anyway? How often do you go into battle?"
"We rarely go to war with anyone," he said softly. "But we have to fight off invaders from the South three or four times a year."
"Are they looking for a blonde woman to fulfill their prophesy too?" she asked.
He smiled, but grew serious before he spoke. "They want to expand their territory and we are all that's standing in their way of expanding north."
"So, I'm assuming they don't welcome new clans into their ranks and let you join them, then?"
"No. They kill everyone. Men, women, children. Animals. Everything. And they usually burn all the buildings, too. Just so they can start over."
"How am I supposed to save anyone from that?" she whispered. "I don't have the experience like you and Ulriech do! I just don't understand what I'm supposed to do!"
"Sophie," he said, "we don't expect you to go to battle until you're well trained. And even then, it's up to you. None of our own women go to war, but you're supposed to be special."
"That is if I'm even the right person. And if I'm not, then I suppose you'll kill me yourself."
"Kill you?" he looked up from his cup of ale. "Why would I kill you?"
"Oh, that's right. You don't kill the women you bring home, you just marry them off to other men in the clan."
"Well, there's been three or four, actually." he replied. "And no, we didn't kill them. I could introduce you to them, if you want. They've stayed with the clan and married some of our men. Why would you think we would kill them?"
"That's just the rumor in the village you took me from." she said.
"Well, it's not true. Even so, you should eat more."
"I'm full."
"You barely ate anything!"
"I'm half your size!"