Post by Mariette Deveraux on Aug 16, 2014 22:04:04 GMT -5
Nearly a week of living up to Antoinette's standards was taking a toll on the third Deveraux daughter, sending her out of bed on the sixth day at the crack of dawn to don sensible clothes and seek out her uncle for a little fun. The two had been meeting for months in secret (or what passed for secret) to work on training Mariette's rebellious limbs out of her accustomed clumsiness and instilling the defensive techniques Alexandre insisted each of his daughters learn for their own protection. Jean-Luc was a surprising well of patience, helping to coax control over her limbs and in doing so, granted the clumsy girl a measure of confidence.
Once she'd managed to learn to control her movements, he'd graduated her to learning how to fight with shorter blades. Not strong enough to wield a regular sword, Mariette showed an unexpected dexterity with a dirk-like blade. As she accomplished a level of proficiency with the wooden blades Jean-Luc insisted she learned with, he introduced a second blade to an already complicated style of fighting. To his credit, he'd likened it to something Mariette understood - dancing.
In practice, no live steel was used as Marie still occasionally had mishaps, but she enjoyed their morning dances as the sun rose, wood colliding against wood. This morning would hopefully prove just as pleasurable as she crept down through the castle, nodding with a bright smile to the servants as they bustled about with the start of their day, always earlier than those of more aristocratic breeding. It didn't take long for her to slip out and skip through the gardens on the way to the open fields by the knights' barracks, blue eyes eagerly looking for her dance partner.
Was he there waiting, or had she finally beaten him and the sun to rising?
Jean-Luc Deveraux
Once she'd managed to learn to control her movements, he'd graduated her to learning how to fight with shorter blades. Not strong enough to wield a regular sword, Mariette showed an unexpected dexterity with a dirk-like blade. As she accomplished a level of proficiency with the wooden blades Jean-Luc insisted she learned with, he introduced a second blade to an already complicated style of fighting. To his credit, he'd likened it to something Mariette understood - dancing.
In practice, no live steel was used as Marie still occasionally had mishaps, but she enjoyed their morning dances as the sun rose, wood colliding against wood. This morning would hopefully prove just as pleasurable as she crept down through the castle, nodding with a bright smile to the servants as they bustled about with the start of their day, always earlier than those of more aristocratic breeding. It didn't take long for her to slip out and skip through the gardens on the way to the open fields by the knights' barracks, blue eyes eagerly looking for her dance partner.
Was he there waiting, or had she finally beaten him and the sun to rising?
Jean-Luc Deveraux