Hans lifted his sword and shield, nodding to the guard to begin. At his signal, Peter began his barrage while Hans parried the relentless blows of his sword. Hans was gaining skill in swordsmanship, but he was still far from the experience of those who had been handling the sword since their youth. Peter was pressing Hans back into a retreat, and Hans knew that he needed to do more than defend himself, but after all this time of training, he was still simply struggling to keep hold of his weapon.
"Attack!" Peter bellowed, continuing his assault. Hans continued to struggle with his footing, but he quickly analyzed the situation and feigned to the left. Peter followed at once, and Hans landed a blow against his shield, and with that one win, the tenor of the sparring changed. Hans still lost in the end, but he made some ground before finally falling onto it.
Peter grinned at Hans and held out his hand, "You're finally improving, Hans."
Hans took his hand and shook his head, smiling back. "I could hardly get worse."
Peter laughed in response and said, "If it weren't for your back, I think you would have been a fine soldier. Just look at how quickly you've improved."
Hans' face fell, but he knew that Peter meant no harm by the passing comment. "Would that I were normal," he said mostly to himself.
Peter did not acknowledge the statement and walked him out of the training circle. When they reached the outer circle, a bucket of water with a ladle was waiting. Peter gestured for Hans to drink first, so Hans took a long drink and handed the ladle to Peter, "Thank you."
Peter drank and scooped out water to pour onto his head. The two did not say much in terms of conversation, but Hans considered Peter to be his friend, his only friend, and he enjoyed their interactions. Peter turned to Hans and was about to say something when he straightened abruptly, standing at attention.
"My lady," Peter said his eyes fixed on some indistinct place in front of him. Seeing Peter's reactions, Hans bowed slightly to Cordelia, but she waved her hand dismissively, "Be at ease."
Peter did not relax but continued staring ahead awkwardly. Cordelia looked at him with a raised eyebrow but deigned not to comment. Instead, she turned to Hans, "I'm sorry to interrupt, but John saw you and wanted to watch you fight."
Hans turned to the child, "Did master John wish to see me get thrashed then?"
John smiled at Hans and asked, "Can you teach me to fight, Hans?"
Hans shook his head solemnly, "Indeed, I can barely fight myself, but this excellent guard here might be able to help you. Although, you're going to have to grow much more before you learn to fight."
John glanced over at Peter and cocked his head to the side, "Can you teach me to fight, sir?"
Peter looked over at Cordelia nervously, then down at the young child, "Hans is right, young prince. You're still too small to learn to fight." John's hopeful expression slowly died, and he looked down at his feet morosely. "But," Peter continued, feeling sad for the young price who he knew had no friends, "if I'm still around when you're older, I can teach you same as I'm teaching Hans."
John's head snapped up quickly as a big smile flooded his face, "How big to I have to be?"
"A mite bigger than you are now, sweet." Cordelia interjected, touching the back of his head.
John smiled wider and put his hand into his mother's. Cordelia gestured to her son to walk before her, but just asthey were about to walk away, she turned back to Hans, "Hans, do you have time, or are you continuing your self-imposed punishment? There is something I would speak with you about."
Hans smiled at the princess' assessment and bowed with his best attempt at a flourish, "I live and breathe at your highness' leisure as do all of you loyal subjects."
Cordelia smirked, trying not to laugh, and straightened up her face as severely as she could, under the circumstances. She nodded once with all the regality of a queen and said, "Indeed, you're quite correct." She swept her hand out before herself dramatically, "In that case, walk with me."
Hans smiled again and said a quick goodbye to his friend.
The three walked toward the castle proper under the scrutiny of the palace guards, and for many, those who still took their appointment seriously, the staring was for the purpose of assuring her safety, especially since this war had stretched on so long. However, there was some who felt that the princess' conduct was too casual and too familiar with the serving people and had nothing better to do than to perpetuate gossip and slander her good name. Unfortunately, such a thing was too easy to do as the princess had a son without a husband, and everyone was curious as to who his father might be.
"What did your highness need?" Hans asked as they strolled toward the castle.
"It was nothing important," Cordelia said absently, "I simply wanted to converse with someone who isn't a child, nor a person who will tell me only what I want to her, nor on who will blather on about the war or about," Cordelia scowled and deepened her voice, "the terrible rumors of your unbefitting conduct."
Hans felt a pang at her imitation of one of the counsel members. "What are they saying?"
"Oh, I don't know. There have been whispers that the lord have threatened to remove me if my father should die on the battlefield, but I'm not exactly sure of what unseemly actions I've been accused, save the obvious one," she glanced over at her son briefly and sighed. "I fear that my father will never return, yet I fear that he will."
Hans knew that she was worried about John but did not know the king well, so he wasn't sure how his majesty would react to his daughter's seeming misconduct. Hearing Princess Cordelia's fear made Hans aware of just how sensitive her dilemma was.
"What do you think that he'd do, my lady?"
Cordelia stopped walked and looked at Hans seriously, "My father is a good man, but he is prone to fits of temper and unreasonable anger. I am fairly certain that he would punish me in some way, but what method he might use is beyond my understanding."
Hans nodded, thinking of how he could intervene, but he had already mucked the situation up so much that he was afraid to make any move.
"I wish I could help, my lady." Hans said, feeling a sense of deep sadness for her and helplessness at his inability to fix the problem. She was so lonely, and very few around her had any real confidence in her.
"Unfortunately, I don't think anyone can help me."