Zyren headed up to his private study the moment breakfast was over—something that Aria was relieved to see as she headed back to her room.
Doing her best not to dwell on the fact that she now shared a room with Zyren, which meant that she would definitely see him more often.
But she had just gotten in front of the door when she noticed a lone guard standing in front of it. Above all, it was his brown eyes that surprised her, since all the guards on Zyren’s floor were vampires with red eyes.
"Good morning, Lady Aria!" he greeted, and without being told, Aria realized that the man who stood in front of her was definitely her new instructor.
"You’re to teach me how to fight?" Aria asked, not surprised to see him nod his head at the question she had asked.
But she was just about to speak again when she heard footsteps from behind her. Fast ones.
Looking back, she saw Rymora rushing toward her with wide eyes and scattered brown curly hair that made it clear she had only just woken up a few minutes ago.
"I’m sorry, mistress!" she apologized the second she got close enough, making it clear that she was sorry for being late—something Aria wasn’t bothered by as she simply nodded her head before giving her new instructions.
"Send someone to get my sister. I’d like to speak to her. In the meantime, you can also get ready!" Aria told her, even as Rymora vigorously nodded her head while glancing at the guard who stood in front of the door.
He had a different air to him compared to other human guards. His body size was above average and more muscled, and beyond all that, he had a confidence that was rare to see.
Almost like he didn’t believe that he was weaker than the vampire guards.
"He..." Aria began, gesturing to the guard, only to pause as she realized that she had no idea what his name was.
Something he didn’t hesitate to fill in.
"Varret! My name is Varret, my lady!" he said with a low bow, even as Aria nodded her head.
"Varret is going to be my instructor," she informed Rymora, aware that she didn’t need to explain more since Rymora knew all there was to be known.
"I’m guessing our lessons will start now?" Aria asked in the form of a statement, not shocked to see him nod.
"You are still very ill, so our lessons will involve strengthening exercises at this moment," he said, even though Aria knew that he was lying.
The fact that Zyren had given her an ultimatum of at most a month meant that whatever he would be teaching her, he had less time than he would usually have.
"We’ll be using the private arena," he continued to speak, even as Rymora nodded her head to show that she understood before taking her leave after Aria gave her permission to do so.
Aria, on the other hand, gave Varret permission to go ahead and lead the way—especially when he made it clear that he wouldn’t until she did so.
"Are you always going to be ?" Aria asked him, glancing at the stiff way he walked and carried himself.
There was no smile or ease on his face, and he looked like the epitome of a professional guard in every sense.
But she had just spoken when he instantly responded, almost like clockwork.
"I can’t afford to! I’m a royal guard and a human! If I’m to survive, I have to work twice as hard!" he responded—words that made Aria’s brows fly up and her eyes widen.
She understood what he meant and respected it as she watched him continue to lead the way to the arena they would be using.
Being human in a place that was dominated by vampires that could kill—or worse, bite and drain you for fun—was already mentally dominating.
Imagine having to sleep beside one! she thought to herself. The idea that Zyren would even sleep beside her was something she hated to think about.
Especially since she was aware that he was a vampire that didn’t need to sleep—but simply did it to get to her.
It didn’t take too long for them to get to the private arena—one she was convinced was private simply because only Zyren used it.
The guards at the door instantly moved aside even as they entered, Aria’s eyes widening in complete and utter shock as she stepped into the dome-like building.
It didn’t help that the number of various weapons that were stacked on wooden fixtures against the wall were enough for her eyes to widen even more.
But she had just taken another step when her body froze as she stared at the ground, where she could still clearly see huge stains of blood.
One looked big enough to have caused the death of anyone it belonged to.
"Vampires can bleed a lot too," Varret told her, almost like he was reminding her, pointing at the ground even as he moved to the side of the wall to pick up two small swords.
The door had been closed behind them, and they were completely alone.
For a second, Aria had a worried look on her face—until she fixed her eyes on Varret and saw nothing but the strict intent to do a good job.
Even the way he looked at her was mechanical—almost like he didn’t actually see her—as he handed her a small sword.
"To be honest, there’s barely any time to train your body, which means we would have to concentrate on movements and sword techniques," he said, to which Aria nodded her head to, even if she had no idea what he meant.
"Honestly! I just need to learn how to defend myself and not get killed!" Aria said, but the words were barely out of her mouth when her jaw dropped open as she watched Varret attack—smashing the sword he had just given her to the ground with a huge frown on his face.
"With that mentality, you’ll die!" he said, almost like he and Zyren had planned to tell her the same thing.
"Everyone knows that the best defense is to kill your enemy!"