Illyrian Training Pt1
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Herdis had been up with the sun, rising before her Mate with a chaste kiss to his lips before she left him tucked warm in their bed. Now over any hour later she beat into the punching bag that had been hung for her, a compromise to her demands that Cassian train her in everything he knew on first day in Velaris. Illyrian battle techniques were still well above her head but she was going to change that. She had trained with her brothers and her cousins, determined to show everyone and herself that she was capable. It had truly been a coping mechanism to start when she first had Jace leave her and then Steve. But now it was solely for her. Not to forget those who had walked away from her, and not to prove something to people who had never truly doubted her to begin with. This was about her. She had needed the barriers placed on her magic in childhood knocked down, and now she just struggled with showing herself her true potential. That meant physically, as well as magically. She knew she was smart, but she needed to be able to stand on her own. She needed to know if she lost it all tomorrow that she would be ok. She didn't doubt that Rhysand wouldn't walk out on her. But she also needed to know even if hell froze over tomorrow and he was done with her, she could take on the world alone. As she kicked the bag she thought that probably wasn't the most healthy take in the world but she couldn't help it. Her hair flopped into her hair and she brushed it back before resetting her stance and starting in again. Left right, left right, left right, kick. She grunted with her effort but it helped to burn away any thoughts of her Mate tiring of her.

The force with which the bag swung showed that she still had some energy despite the stretch of time she had been working at it. She didn't hear Cassian behind her but when he spoke she didn't break her stride, "Does it owe you money? Or did it insult your mother?" His chuckle followed behind her as he moved around to stand behind the bag, holding it steady for her. "Neither," she breathed between punches but slowed the intensity. "I was just focused. And waiting for you. You are running late," she added checking the window to see the sun now filling the sky completely. His chuckle drew her eyes back to him and he nodded, "Things ran over at the Illyrian camps. The generals thought it would go unnoticed that the women weren't training anymore. Its an ongoing process." Herdis nodded knowing that her Illyrians had been working hard to help the Illyrian women gain a stronger hold on their own lives and the freedom to be the warriors they were completely capable of being. Pulling off her gloves she told Cassian, "I ran before I came down here, and I've just been waiting on you." Her hands were still taped and she didn't pull that off as Cassian motioned for her to go ahead of him. She walked up to the first floor and then out of the kitchen and through to the patio. Cassians wings flexed behind him and Herdis held up her hands like she had all the time in the world waiting for him to scoop her up. She laughed when he did and then held tightly to his shoulders and he shot into the air.

Cassian had never held her too tightly on one of these flights, so if Herdis didn't look down she wasn't too afraid of falling. Cas treated it like it was normal, so did Rhysand and Azrael so she was no longer nervous when they flew with her. Still her arms were firm around his shoulders even though she trusted he would never drop her. But her pulse remained steady and she could talk to him now without screaming, so progress. "Rhys got back so late from his tour of the camps, I didn't have the heart to wake him this morning. He didn't mention the training but he also was very ready for bed when he got in." Cassian gagged and she slapped her hand on his shoulder, "Are you a child?" she asked him and his laughter was clearly saying that he was. "Still it might be worth some sneak trips.... or just posting up at a camp or two for a bit. So that the women really have a chance." Cassian turned over her words before he told her, "Not to far off from what Az said about the whole thing." Herdis grinned because that meant he was thinking it over and any help the Illyrian women got could only mean better things for their court. "You know Asgard has some pretty backwards views too. Like my brothers have to take my fathers throne, Asa never could, its between my brothers, then uncles, then male cousins down the line. The other kingdoms don't have those rules, my cousin Callia will take over for my uncle one day. But changes are being made slowly, like my brother Lif being allowed to take the throne though he is adopted? Its because slowly we push those changes. Good people fighting for the right thing. Plus my mother might burn down the whole city if they hurt my brothers feelings... that might also have something to do with it." Cassians laugh was again deep and it carried out on the morning air. "But all that to say what you are doing here with the women training. Its the right thing, its positive change and you are one of the good ones for fighting for it." Cassians cheeks, already deep in his natural color got darker and she smiled but didn't tease him for it.

Cassian dropped them on a mountain ridge set far back behind the House Of Mist, Velaris spread out for them in the distance. They had trained here before and the weapons they had used were still tucked into the cliff face waiting for them. It was a place she might scream or cry or embarrass herself and nobody but the two of them would know. Herdis knew it was silly she still hated being watched training here, she worried about being an embarrassment to Rhysand, though she never ever let him know she worried about such a thing. Cassian plucked up two heavy staffs to start and tossed one too her. She caught it with a grunt and didn't say a word as he moved to strike her. This was how they had started before, him testing her with a weapon that wouldn't cut off her hand or his if she handled it wrong. He knew she had trained with an ax steadily for years but this was his process so she let him have it. The vibrations of every blow rang up her arms, and though they were tired she never slowed down. He tested her, the wood smashing against each other to the left, to the right, over head and finally trying to knock her legs out from under her before she jumped over the stick. She still landed on her ass because of the rock under her heel. The air whooshed out of her and Cassian snorted as he looked down at her. "Needed a rest?" he asked as she let her own stick roll away with a snort of her own. "You suck," she said still breathless, but when he offered her his hand up she took it brushing the dirt and pebbles off her ass before she looked over at him. Fixing her ponytail she watched as he pulled free the ax's and when he was sure her hands were clear tossed her one. "Gods, this feels like coming home," she told him with a grin, testing the weight and balance in her hand before she turned to face her friend. He watched her like he was seeing her train for the first time, not smiling like he usually did. Motioning her in to make the first move Herdis didn't hesitate, she moved to strike. The two were fighting much closer then before, and the struggle to keep control when his own blows were so strong was real. But she kept at it, grunting with every strike and pushing him back when she could. She didn't gain ground but she didn't lose ground and she was feeling damn proud of herself. Her focus pulled, she didn't realize until it was too late that Cassian was cutting upward, the wood splintering in her hands as he tore her ax apart.

"Well fuck, you couldn't ruin the stupid sticks instead?" she asked him as her arms fell to her sides, heavy with the work she had put them through this morning. Cassian looked down at the splintered wood , the heavy ax blade by his foot. Nudging it he burst into laugher again and Herdis chucked the rest of the busted handle at him. "That was completely unnecessary you know." His laugher didn't stop so much as trail off, wiping his eyes as he looked over at her. "My apologies my lady. Next time I will endeavor to be more kind to your ax...." Herdis wrinkled her nose at him and this time they both burst into laugher. "Never ever talk like that again. Rhys wear suits daily and doesnt even talk like that." She shivered like it gave her chills and she folded onto the dirt, stretching her legs out before her to stretch. "Thank you for doing this with me Cas," she told him after a moment, her eyes watching him though she squinted with the sun rising higher into the sky. After putting back the one remaining ax and their staffs he sat down beside her and stretched his own legs out. While she actively stretched he reclined and told her candidly. "Im happy to Herdis. But you should know our next lesson is going to be how to escape different binds if you are captured and by the end you will want to shove me right out of the window." Herdis's green eyes, ironically so much like her mothers, glinted as she watched him, "You have wings so thats useless. Ill think up some other tortures to return the favor." Again Cassians laughter rang out over the mountaintop and Herdis, though tired and sweaty sported a bright smile. She was feeling so confidently that she had found her people and this was the right choice for her. Velaris, its people, its High Lord, they were her home now.

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