The doors of the Hall closed behind Bear with a heavy sound, like a vault being sealed. Maxwell had brought him up from the Cellar, showed him inside the room of armor and weapons then left him rather quickly. Maxwell paused outside the doors a moment, wondering if he should have offered protection, but the Lady had asked that he not dally upon delivery, so he didn't.

Bear stood awaiting instructions. His bare feet were apart, hands behind his back. He faced straight ahead and looked at Lady Arianda. He presented himself just as she had instructed him to do. He hoped his impression of her was not showing on his face, nor causing a noticeable bulge in his black leggings. Seeing her this way both surprised and stirred him.

Arianda stood in the center of a compass wheel design in the marble floor of the Hall of Knights. The room was lined with candles and armor gleaming with flickering light. This background made her form in black leathers a stark silhouette. She had a fencing foil in her gloved hand. It was pointed at the ceiling as she held the hilt in her closed fist at her chest. Her other hand was poised at the small of her back. One booted foot was extended just to clear the other, to complete a formal salute. The leathers were soft and fit tightly to her body. The garment's collar, more black leather, wrapped around her long neck. It was a striking contrast to her pale cheeks. Her hair was drawn back into a long thick copper braid and her blue-gray eyes seared into his from either side of the foil's shining blade.

Bear's mind filtered through his many questions. This all seemed far removed from the Lady he was trying to learn. How long had she stood in that salute? What purpose for calling him here? But he stood silently awaiting her command or permission or whatever she had planned for him.

At last she moved. She whipped the blade broadly and swiftly in the air then took one step forward and tossed the foil, hilt first, to Bear. He was shocked at the move but his muscles remembered so he deftly caught the hilt in his hand and looked down at it, a bit surprised at himself. It had been many years.

"I thought as much." Lady Arianda said as she turned to get her own foil now. "You move with much grace. I suspected you had been trained to fence and I trust reflexes more than words for truth." She turned back to him again, walking more casually in her leathers and knee boots, yet still commanding. She weighed her personal foil in her hand. The decorative guard wrapped in thin swirls of silver over her black glove, sparkling with her movement of it.

She stopped at one edge of the marble wheel design and whipped her blade then pointed to the circle in the center. "Care to join me?" It was less than a question.

Bear looked up from his examination of his hand in the hilt. "Please, M'Lady, it has been many years and I have no wish to harm you." He waited for some response, but only a moment, for she had not moved. Her foil was still pointed at his place on the wheel and her expression was unyielding. He finally strode across the marble floor and stepped into the defender's circle, presenting himself as usual, but this time the sword hung from one hand at his back.

"Your strength is greater than mine. This is a truth. I shall never be able to overpower you on physical strength alone..." She paced around the outer edge of the wheel, taking measured steps. Her hands drew together at her back as well. She tilted her foil up to rest the blade on her shoulder. "However this is not a test of strength. As you surely know, it is a dance of agility, grace, mental quickness and strategy." The blade began to tap at her shoulder as she completed the circle and turned to face him again with a rather clipped step, snapping her boot heels together. She drew her right toe out across the floor then slid her heel back to press it against her other foot. Bear watched her meticulously assume her salute. She kept her left hand fisted against the small of her back and the other brought the hilt of the sword to her chest again. She flashed her eyes at him past the blade. "Attend."

Bear let his arms rest at his sides, the foil held loosely in one hand. His eyes were pleading with his words. "M'Lady, please. I wish to serve not harm. If it pleases you---" His words were cut off as she stepped in to take a quick slash at his thigh, slicing only the fabric. She was back into position almost before he realized she'd moved at all. He looked down at the gape in his leggings and back to Arianda.

"Attend." she said again, firmly.

Bear drew his left hand to the small of his back. He slipped one foot behind the other and lowered his center of gravity slightly, letting his weight flex on his knees. "As M'Lady wishes." He did not want to do this but his body was remembering how. Slowly he brought his fist in the hilt up to his bare chest and looked across to her from his own blade.

Arianda's mouth drew into a slow grin, then she clearly though quietly said, "Begin."

At once the foils where lowered at their opponents. Her left hand, now perched so gracefully in the air, was distracting him. He felt much less comfortable with his own rusty form. Bear merely pivoted within his defensive circle while Arianda stepped gracefully around the rim of her own.

Blade tips circled teasingly until Arianda lunged. Bear watched her eyes as she watched his. He knew the lunge was coming. He could feel her springing for it but he was unsure of her skill so he hesitated rather than risk injuring her. She aborted the move she intended for him to parry. Instead, she lightly pressed the tip of her blade at the hollow of his throat just beneath his collar. She walked to him, carefully maintaining only enough pressure to let him feel the prick of the foil. When she stood very close, she hissed, "These are not practice foils. This is live steel. Hesitate again and I will slice more than your leggings." She glared into his eyes to make her point then stepped back to the edge of her circle again.

Aha! Now when she engaged him at least he bothered to parry and feint against her moves. An opponent at last, if less than enthusiastic. As they advanced and retreated on each other, she still felt him holding back. He would not defend aggressively nor make the offensive move but that was what she intended to see. So, she decided to press him harder.

Arianda's eyes flashed at him as they turned together in their dance of swords. With a flick to his left and a retreat, she watched him flinch. He hissed as a thin line of red appeared on his shoulder. For a brief second she saw a flash in his eyes then he clamped it down again.

She advanced and crossed her blade with his. The screech of steel on steel lent more sting to her low growl. "Fight me!" She became more fierce in her attacks and he parried them. He was remembering more, too much, but only stopping her blade from slicing him again. She was disappointed that he would only meet but not exceed her aggression.

They had a long exchange in perfect rhythm. She let it continue until she thought the cadence had lulled him then she suddenly swept in to lay a thin red stripe on his chest, a diagonal mark just over his heart. She wanted him to know that she could take him if she had wish to. She wanted him to fear it and react.

He saw it. He felt it. He reacted instinctively and circled her blade as she retreated. He pressed her further until his blade nicked the back of her glove as it passed through the guard. She was unable to defend against his riposte and his eyes bore through her to show he knew it. The predator had indeed been provoked to surface.

He kept the sword's pressure through her own foil's guard as he swapped his hilt from his right hand to his left. She would not retreat any further so as he advanced, he closed in on her. When the guard of his sword met hers, they stood staring into each other's eyes. Her expression was not fearful but still surprised. His face was alive, afire with what she had stirred up in him. They said nothing. Their breathing was labored from the lengthy cadence and thrill of this turn.

Without warning, Bear reached up and grasped the strap of her leather collar. He ripped the collar open exposing her neck and pulled again quickly to strip her leathers open over her chest, though only revealing the swells of her breasts. His intent was to expose her heart and he accomplished that. She flashed her eyes at him and set her jaw but before she could act, Bear suddenly stepped back, extracting his sword from hers, making the steel blades whistle sharply against each other.

Bear arched a brow and grinned his half grin, adding to his feral gaze. His eyes never left hers as he bowed to her. "Now that I have a viable target... shall we begin again?" He deftly tossed the hilt of his foil back into his right hand.

Arianda gritted her teeth a moment then regained her calm composure. She swept her blade up in a quick salute without bothering to set it then advanced on him. Damn him! He was almost smiling at her as she attacked and he expertly parried. But isn't this what she wanted? A true fight with the man beneath all the guise of servitude? Keep your mind on your blade and his moves, Arianda reminded herself.

She managed to whip across his other thigh, matching the slit in the leggings but this one was bleeding. Their cadence continued at a frenzy until both were giving merry chase around the Hall of Knights, no longer concerned with the marble wheel. She dropped back once as he flicked his blade across her middle. It stung but didn't feel too deep so she did not miss her step in countering his attack.

She was breathless and noted that his chest was heaving as well, sweat beaded on his tanned skin, droplets ran from his forehead down across his fine face. One more flash of concentration though, plus the fortune of a distracting chair, and she had him! Her eyes glittered at him as they both froze... with the tip of her blade poised over the center of his pounding heart. His eyes narrowed. Suddenly, with a whip and turn of blade she barely saw, she felt the sting of the foil point at her own throat. There they stood, gauging each other, blades poised to deliver death, if either wished it.

Bear's voice was hoarse. "Twas M'Lady who hesitated this time."

Her own voice was shallow and panting. "Indeed. My mistake. Seems we have each come to a point of decision... if you will pardon the pun." She grinned, but she did not let up on the pressure at his chest.

"Perhaps then... a gentlemen's agreement." His voice and expression were very much sincere.

Arianda felt a trickle run from her neck down between her breasts. Blood or perspiration, she did not know. "That might do, if either of us were gentlemen." She arched a brow. More movement than that would shift the tip of his sword at her throat and likely slice her. She fought not to swallow but her mouth was dry. It was nagging at her concentration on what bargain they might strike.

"Suppose we stop this game, M'Lady. Neither of us has wish to slay the other, else we'd have done it." He blinked quickly and furrowed his brows as a large droplet of sweat stung his eye.

Arianda moved first. She stepped back and lowered her sword. Bear soon followed suit then drew the back of his sword hand across his forehead. She tucked her foil beneath her arm and drew off her right glove to see only a small scratch there then lifted her fingers to dab and taste from the shallow puncture at her throat. It was indeed that, for she could taste her own blood in her mouth, but it didn't feel like a serious wound.

Without word to him yet, she crossed to a table of glasses and decanters. She lay her sword upon it and poured two snifters of brandy. Bear followed and lay his sword with hers then looked curiously at her as he accepted the offered glass.

"I can afford to be a gracious victor. Hesitation not withstanding, I bested you." She smiled into a sip.

"Aye, you and a chair make an excellent team..." He smirked and bowed then offered, in his own time, "...M'Lady."

"I think you are dangerous, Bear." She said pointedly. He looked as though he might protest but she turned a glare on him that denied any response til she had said her piece. "I think you are dangerous... and should be watched closely." She began to walk casually around the Hall, pausing her phrases to sip. "The best thing would be to resell you. You'd fetch a better purse if clean..." She looked around at him before continuing, "properly dressed and healed, that is. I could make a reasonable profit."

Bear held his comments and sipped, listening. He had done what she'd asked though he had never intended to let his blood boil as it did during the challenge. She had pushed him but now, could he ever make her believe that he would never want to hurt her? He watched her curl as she tried to assess how badly she was cut across her stomach but she couldn't quite see it. He tightened his jaws. He was upset with himself for striking more than her leathers.

When Arianda straightened up again she walked slowly to him, giving him her litany. "If I keep you, you shall do precisely as I say, when I say." His eyes met hers. Perhaps she could not see the hope in them, but he wanted to stay, here, with her. Arianda saw him hanging on her words, her inflection. "You will fornicate with every creature that passes through this castle, if I command you to do so. You will take whatever punishment I assign to you and deal it as I assign... without question."

He had to take a drink as she paused. Her voice was terse, on the verge of anger but too reserved and business like for that. It was the cold voice from the depth of her that he was hearing again. Arianda sipped too. She realized she was only now deciding she must keep him. In fact, she must have him, for herself, perhaps always. "I will have you moved to my tower so I may watch over you more closely and make use of you more readily." She watched for his reaction over the rim of her glass, which was now nearly empty.

Bear stood watching, listening, not believing. As Arianda lowered her glass, she paced toward the table to refill it and Bear met her there. She watched his hand take the glass from her and set it down. He took a sip from his own glass then set it down as well. He caught her eyes as his hand gently pushed back the soft leather from her neck. He dipped his head and kissed his mouthful of warm brandy onto the wound he'd made there. Arianda gasped at the stinging pain and warm pleasure of his mouth and tongue, sterilizing and caressing her throat.

His mouth left her skin only enough to whisper across the moisture there, stinging her again. "And when you bid me come to you, M'Lady, I shall beg to truly share my body with you..." He paused to swallow as his throat tightened. "I shall beg to please you til you can no longer speak the words to stop me... or send me away."

He then stepped back and dropped before her on one knee. She took a deep breath and shook her head slowly, once, as she looked down at him. "Very well then." She cleared her throat to get back the rest of her voice. "First we deal with your punishment and then get you situated in---"

Before the Bear could stop himself, he blurted out, "Punishment?"

Arianda turned from him and headed toward the doors. She looked over her shoulder with a smile. "Of course. You permitted damage to my property. Just look at you." She laughed lightly as she walked out and the sound of it echoed in the tower hallway.

Bear rose to his feet and grinned his half grin then stepped lively to catch up to her. So this is how it would be? Her moods would flow as freely as the air. He might be tossed by hurricane or caressed in soft breezes. Well, so be it. He would serve the Lady Arianda for as long as she would have him.

(Click on candle to return to the Great Hall)

Hall of Knights

Restless Night
Circlets of Iron

Bear4: Test of Mettle