Grace was enjoying some time to herself after Karita's rather thorough lesson on magic that day. She could understand the woman's passion and was thankful about finally being taught about these things properly. She had to admit that self study could only teach you so much when you have no idea where to look and a complete lack of guidance. Many books on the subject were designed around course work and expected to be used with the guidance of a teacher of some sort. This was especially true due to the fact that some only made term based references to things taught in others. Even worse was the fact these books were titled in such a way as to make it hard to know where to start. As it would turn out, this was on purpose. The Empire had made the knowledge held in these books far harder to learn on one's own in order to reduce the chances of unlicensed and secret research without proper oversight. That's not to say it doesn't happen from time to time, but it is far more rare of an occurrence.
All of this, however, is beside the point as what held her attention was the view of Karita sitting outside in a strange manner as Oaguz circled back and forth with a stick in hand. Suddenly the goblin." struck out at the former mage while yelling at her. It was a rather curious sight. She opened her parasol and walked outside to see what was going on. Karita looked angry for a second and had wordlessly schooled her expression before trying to maintain the position with eyes closed.
"What is going on here?" The Princess asked as she got close to them," I thought you two had finally started to get along."
"Oh, this, don't worry yourself over this exercise," Oaguz waved to her in greeting as she began to explain the odd ritual they seemed to be performing," Since she's wants to learn about spirits, we'll have to teach her the old way seeing as none of the goblins have what it takes to practice let alone teach this art."
"Oh and what is it you two are doing?" the princess gestured to the still woman.
"Meditation! You need to be centered in order to use this art!" the blue haired goblin answered with a mischievous smile.
"If she's trying to do that, then why are you hitting her?" Grace accused as she had caught the gleam in her green skinned friend.
"Oh this?" Oaguz waved the stick," Look closely at her. Do you see anything?"
She couldn't say she noticed anything in particular and shook her head.
"Well, I see something," Oaguz noted as she jabbed the stick at Karita's back hard," No slouching! If you can't hold the pose and relax the mind, you'll only end up sleeping. Sleeping BAD. Now keep going!"
"Oaguz! You could be nicer about it!" Grace scolded her maid.
"Hey, I know from personal experience that this is the best way to teach it right!" Oaguz defended her actions as she puffed out her chest to show her confidence," Plus, now I know why it's a time honored tradition to be taught this way!"
"Really?"
"Yup, it's fun!" the goblin answered rambunctiously. It was at this that rather angry grunt was heard. It was then followed by a smack of the stick," Close out your surroundings! Things like banter can only impede your path!"
It was odd, but since it was clear that Karita was allowing this to happen, Grace decided it was best not to disturb their lesson. She was walking back the the manor when she heard the clacking noise of wood against wood. She followed it around the corner of the manor to find the other four goblins fighting with broomsticks. Weye and Stranbrai were going back and forth just trying to hit one another with the bristles. Weye seemed to be winning as she made feints and actually seemed to be on the offensive as Stranbrai seemed hesitant. On the other hand, the noise she had been hearing had actually come from Grizt and Shritoo. They were holding them like spears and darting about each other making lunges and blocks. The two of them seemed quite acrobatic as they engaged and disengaged time and again. Shritoo would make a low as Grizt leapt over the broom to make a reprisal strike with bristles on for Shritoo to pivot in an attempt to strike her airborne target with the handle. A loud clack resounded as the brooms met once more. Grizt had managed to turn her strike into an aerial parry and ducked into a roll as she hit the ground. She easily rolled back onto her feat in time to block another strike from Shritoo who had been thrown off balance in the last clash.
It was actually quite an enthralling scene to the princess as she watched the fight draw on. She had considered stopping them at first, but something about how they held themselves reminded her of how the guards would practice and train. It was clear to her that these two were experienced in combat. She wasn't an expert, but then again, you didn't need to be to understand the difference between an amateur and a veteran. She actually found herself wondering how those two would fair against a trained soldier. On the other end, Weye and Stranbrai were just taking turns striking and guarding when she realized that Weye had purposely stepped back to allow the brown goblin to start making strikes of her own. However, Grace found herself watching the acrobatics of the violet and red goblins.
Soon enough, Grizt had managed to take the win. Grace had been so enthralled, she had placed her parasol in the nook of one arm as she began to clap. This drew the attention of her maids as they dropped the brooms and made their way over to her.
"Hey there Princess," Grizt greeted as she nodded her head," You need us for something?"
Grace shook her head at this," Not really, I was just making sure everything was ok with Oaguz and Karita when I head you all fighting over here."
"U-um, actually... we were sparring. Ya know, training?" Shritoo answered slowly for them in her usual, hesitant manner.
"Yup, me and Shri thought'd be a good idea to get these two back on drills and practicing again. Especially since we don't have our old gear. Better to be familiar with what's on hand than caught unawares ya' know? 'Specially 'cause you have no guards around here," Grizt explained herself and the others as she effortlessly twirled her broom around. It was interesting to note they had cut the handles to make the brooms a more appropriate length for themselves. Though it probably made it harder to reach higher up.
"So, are you all adjusting to the work?" Grace asked.
The goblins looked to each other. Grace noticed with disdain how dirty their uniforms had gotten. She really needed to get around to making those designs and getting the resources and tools together to make them right. She was certain she had a better feel for what would look good on the goblins," Um, uh, could you maybe, please stop grabbing and fussing over me?"
The princess blushed and stepped back. It was quite embarrassing to lose herself in her hobby like that," Sorry, I just wanted to check on your uniforms. I really need to get you all a better set."
"Well, whatever, look," the goblin leader spoke," I'll get straight to it. We can't even do much at the moment. We aren't used to cleaning and all that around here. I mean sure, we know a couple things among us, but it's hardly enough to do the job. Add onto it you guys don't want us doing much without being watched, we can't learn much. Honestly, Karita has us pretty much banned from a lot of the work. Not that I blame her this time."
"Well, you did cause some dangerous problems the first day," Grace reminded the maid who grumbled in response.
"Look, Princess, everyone has their specialty, ours just don't cut it for this work. I mean come on. Look at our cooking. Campfire food and random stuff that ain't fit for a noble!" Grizt tried to get to the crux of her point.
Grace giggled at this before replying," But it was tasty, I'm sure it was quite unrefined, but I still enjoyed it."
Grizt gave a hardy laugh at this," Well then, how about we give you a full course? Want to learn a little about our way of doing things?"
Grace gave a clearly forced smile as she rejected the offer," I really can't. My body is so weak, even the sun will hurt me."
Grizt held a long look as she peered into Grace's eyes at that moment. She clearly saw something there if her startled look was anything to go by," Well, it's too bad I know better!"
At this, she threw her broom to the Princess and quickly grabbed Stranbrai's before she could even realize what was happening. In the next moment Grace had dropped the parasol and managed to catch the broom just in time to make a desperate block at a telegraphed strike.
"I knew it! You have instincts," Grizt smiled happily.
Grace could only wonder how the goblin was even able to attack her at that moment. This was soon cut-off as more strikes came.
"I know it sucks having weird skin, and since I know you have a problem with the sun, we'll keep this short, and the best way to learn quickly is THIS!"
This began an experience that left Grace slightly burnt and with several bruises. She would later find out that there was a loophole the goblins could exploit. Apparently training someone to defend themselves counted as helping and not attacking for the Mark. Speaking of which, she was now sporting a good dark mark on her cheek.