Not an easy student

Artorias' lips pulled downward in a subtle frown when she addressed him as "Lord" again. Gods, was he really going to have to get used to being called that from now on? He didn't know if he liked the notion of being someone of noble blood. He had been born to an alpha pair, but he was never led to believe he was of greater standing than any other wolf, no more or less important than his siblings, his pack mates, or anyone else. No fancy titles or accolades had been given to him by birthright. He had worked to earn what he had achieved so far; did that make him more lordly than anyone else?

She responded stiffly, with trained decorum and short, impersonal answered. "You're really going to make this as miserable as you can, aren't you?" he quipped back to her, fixing the servant girl with a wry smirk. He knew she protested being here, she had made that point abundantly clear. He wouldn't try to change her feelings on the matter, but he would hope she understood the reasoning for it. "I know you're opposed to this, and quite frankly, so am I. If it was up to me, you would never need to know how to fight." He paused to look back over the frothy waves. "I didn't agree to train you because I think you need to be a warrior, or because I think you need to defend Briar. That's not your job. I want to do this because I need to know I won't lose you."

Artorias paused for a beat to let Lia take in what he'd said so far. "I need to have the peace of mind knowing that if someone else tried to force themselves on you, or tried to harm you, or take you away from us by force, that you won't go meekly back into the life you used to know. I hope to give you a life you'd want to keep, but to do that, I need to know that you'd fight for that life with me. Because you're not a piece of meat, Lia. You're a wolf—you're my wolf." Bright amber eyes that always appeared to be set aflame looked back down to the girl, his expression measured yet firm. "I'm not asking you to enjoy this, but I am asking you to understand, and to be willing to use what I teach you if the situation ever arises. If that's not something you can do, then you can go back to Briar right now. I'll tell her whatever she needs to hear to not push the issue further. But if you value what we're trying to give you—truly, deeply value this new life—then do yourself the service of learning to keep it."

When he finished speaking, Artorias rose to his paws and stepped over to one of the training rings. He entered past the perimeter of the arena, then smoothly turned to face Lia. He left the path back up the beachhead open, giving her permission to leave if she desired it, or waited for her to join him in the sparring ring. He would not force her to waste both their time learning something she had no intentions of ever using. As uncommon as it may be for a master to a servant, he left the decision in her paws.

"Artorias Carpathius" | "Corbin" | "Argent"