The next day.
"You know that I'm the best when it comes to cooking" said Maddie as she smiled as she Annie, Matt, Curtis and Ollie walked to the training grounds.
"Sure you are" said Matt as he laughed.
"Oh you want to fight? Well mister, tell me what you have ever prepared in your entire life?" said Maddie.
"Well hello, I have nine siblings, and you forget that my parents weren't always home, so guess who was in charge of making dinner" said Matt as he smiled.
"Oh very funny, trying to flaunt that you have siblings no fair" said Maddie as Matt, Annie and Ollie laughed, while Curtis remained indifferent.
"I can see that you all are very happy this morning" said Katarina as she looked at them.
"Good Morning Katarina" said all of them as Annie, Maddie, Ollie and Matt smiled.
"Good Morning" said Katarina.
"Annie, I can see that you look well, how do you feel now? You no longer have a cold?" asked Katarina.
"What??" asked Annie in nothing but confusion as Maddie scolded herself internally for forgetting to tell Annie that she lied that she had a cold, so she subtly and quickly gave Annie a wink and Annie realized what was going so she quickly had to play along.
"Oh… my cold… yes, I feel better now, thank you Katarina" said Annie as she smiled.
"Very well then" said Katarina.
"Let's get on with today's training" said Katarina.
"As usual, Maddie and Matt, the two of you are together" said Katarina as she always put Maddie and Matt together because she believed that Matt was the only one who could match up with Maddie's energy and not get hurt.
"Curtis and Annie, well Annie you missed a few things yesterday, but not too much, I am sure that you can catch up" said Katarina as she looked at Annie and Annie nodded.
"Ollie, you help Curtis and Annie" said Katarina as she looked at ollie.
"Alright" said Ollie as he smiled.
"Okay everyone get on to it" said Katarina as they all nodded.
…
"Alright switch, the boys spar with boys, and the girls spar with the girls" said Katarina as Annie walked to Maddie and Matt walked to Curtis.
Annie and Maddie bowed at each other as Maddie took the first hit and Annie blocked it as Maddie was not really aggressive since she was going against Annie.
"You told Katarina that I had a cold?" asked Annie as she whispered and they sparred.
"Well it's not like I had any other good excuse ideas that would actually be believable" replied Maddie as she whispered back.
"And Katarina actually believed you?" asked Annie.
"What can I say? I am very convincing" said Maddie as she smiled.
"I can believe that, but I don't think Katarina actually bought that idea, I mean… what if she knows but she just isn't saying anything?" asked Annie as Maddie dodged her as she moved to the left.
"Well then, we should be alarmed, because if she knows and she isn't saying anything, it either means that she trusts us, or she's waiting for a time to strike" said Maddie.
"But I don't think that Katarina would do that, she's actually a very nice person" said Annie.
"Niceness doesn't cut it Annie, even nice people can be mean sometimes, may I remind you of Ivor" said Maddie as she knew what Annie was trying to say.
"Don't you even dare think of telling Katarina anything, we agreed not to say anything because we don't want any unnecessary drama that we can't handle, so don't say anything" said Maddie.
"I know, I know, but she and Griselda as very good friends, so what if Griselda told her something" said Annie.
"Well then, I would doubt Griselda's loyalty as well" said Maddie.
"You doubt everyone's loyalty" said Annie.
"Because that's the only way to live safely in this world, if you decide to trust everyone you meet, you will end up getting hurt big time, so it's best to watch people very closely" said Maddie as Annie could not help but laugh.
"Is that why you don't like Prince Oliver?" asked Annie as she smiled.
"No, he's a different case, I just hate him, he's way too much to deal with, he wants everyone to like him, and that's impossible, some people will just hate you, and besides he's so annoying, he can't take a hint" said Maddie as Annie laughed.
"He already got you, Curtis and Matt on his side, but not me, I'm not going to budge at all, just because he's a prince doesn't mean that he can get anything he wants just like that" said Maddie as Annie laughed.
"Can you hear yourself right now Maddie?" asked Annie.
"I can, and I know what I am saying" said Maddie as Annie tripped and she fell down as Maddie pointed the stick in her hand towards her neck.
"I win" said Maddie as she smiled and Annie just shook her head, Maddie really was something else sometimes.
"Just don't push it Annie, some people just don't like people, and I am one of them" said Maddie as he helped Annie up.
"Well whatever you say Maddie, whatever you say" said Annie as she just smiled.
"What do you think that the girls are talking about?" asked Ollie as he and Matt were sparring with one another as they were moving very quickly.
"Well Annie is asking Maddie why she doesn't like you" said Matt.
"Wait, isn't it rude to be listening in on their conversation?" asked Ollie as he and Matt took a pause.
"It's not like I do it on purpose, I can't stop myself from hearing now can I?" asked Matt as Curtis was speaking with Katarina not too far away.
"You make a good point" said Ollie.
"So what did Maddie say about me?" asked Ollie.
"Well wouldn't you like to know?" asked Matt as he laughed.
"Can you blame me? It always baffles me just how much Maddie dislikes me" said Ollie.
"Well she says that she just doesn't like you, and that's all" said Matt as he laughed.
"How nice for her to choose just not to like someone" said Ollie.
"I'm already part of the team, the only one who doesn't accept me is Maddie" said Ollie.
"And it's not like I am vying for her acceptance, I just like for there to be harmony on the team, if one of us have a problem with each other, then we all have a problem" said Ollie.
"That may be true, but trust me, Maddie just behaves like that because she is just how she is, but of course she knows how to be serious when she needs to be serious, so just relax, you can't make everyone like you dude" said Matt as he laughed and they stopped sparring.
"I know that, but I can at least try" said Ollie.
"A word of advice, don't" said Matt.
"What a good friend you are Matt" said Ollie as he smiled in annoyance and Matt laughed.
"You are welcome Prince Oliver" said Matt as he smiled.
"Please just call me Ollie, I wonder when you will all realize that you should just call me Ollie" said Ollie as he sighed, when they called him Prince Oliver, it did not sound like they were friends at all, friends were much more casual than that.
"Whatever you say" said Matt as he smiled.
…
"Alright Ollie, I am going out for a while, you are in charge" said Katarina as she looked at Ollie and he nodded his head.
"Of course" said Maddie as she scoffed and Katarina walked away.
"I wonder what Katarina sees in you to put you in charge all the time" said Maddie as she scoffed and Ollie looked at her.
"I don't know" said Ollie as he smiled.
"Hello everyone" came Griselda's voice as she walked past the trees into the training grounds.
"Griselda? Hello" said Annie in surprise as she looked at Griselda.
"What brings you here?" asked Annie in surprise.
"Well I am looking for Katarina, do any of you know where she is?" asked Griselda.
"Oh yes, she just left, she went in that direction" said Ollie as he smiled and he pointed in the way that Katarina left in.
"Oh thank you Ollie" said Griselda as she smiled.
"You are welcome" said Ollie as he smiled.
"I will see you all later, thank you once again" said Griselda as she smiled and she walked in the direction in which Ollie pointed.
"It's weird to see her out here" said Matt as Griselda was far away from them.
"I agree, I don't think she is actually looking for Katarina, but whatever" said Maddie.
"Curtis, what do you think?" asked Annie as she looked at Curtis.
"Well I don't know, we do not know her personally now we do?" asked Curtis as Annie nodded, he was right about that.