Winterfall

We woke up the next morning still in each other's arms. “Well, this is a pleasant way to wake up.” I mumbled as I rolled over to face the man I loved.

“Good morning, beautiful.” Théoden said as he kissed my lips softly. “As much as I would love to stare into your eyes, I think it would be safe to get you back to your own bed chambers.”

I began to lower my bottom lip as I tried to mimic his pouting that he did yesterday. “Five more minutes?” I begged.

“If only.” Théoden said, kissing me one more time. “I’ll be seeing you in an hour for training regardless.”

I crossed my arms in protest but it only made him chuckle. “Please…”

“Maria, I wish we could but we pushed it by falling asleep last night like this. I need to get you back to your room.”

“Fine..” I grumbled as I finally caved in allowing him to teleport myself and myself only to my bedchambers.

Once inside I sighed heavily and pulled off the dress I had fallen asleep in and went to the tub. I let warm water run over my body as I washed myself off.

After standing in the shower for twenty minutes I walked over to my wardrobe and slipped on a pair of soft fabric pants and a shirt that matched as I didn’t feel like wearing anything else today.

I sat on my bed until it was ten till I was supposed to meet him for training. I could tell how dark it was that it was still nightfall as we must've fallen asleep pretty early as the moon had just reached its peak in the night sky, making it exactly midnight.

Before I got too comfortable I got up and slipped on my black boots and left my room with my bag strapped to my belt. I walked my way to the training arena without stopping at the kitchen no matter how badly Roland’s cooking was driving my senses crazy.

When I arrived Théoden was already there throwing a few punches against some of the training dummies. “Already getting some practice in?” I questioned him with a smile.

“Had to get an early start.” Théoden said. “Now, let’s try out sharing the shield through the bond.” Théoden said as he was quick to pull the attention to me as he tried to project his shield through our bond.

I felt a bit of his essence seep through however, I was unsure how much of it truly went through. “Some of it went through… I think.”

“That’s what I felt.” Théoden sighed, “Well, I won’t push too hard but I want to see how much really went through.”

I braced myself for what was sure going to be a hard punch and damn I was right. He swung at my shoulder hard, impacting it immediately. My body stumbled backwards as a small crack was heard as I groaned loudly. “Fuck!”

Théoden moved quickly beside me, “I only put in what I thought the shield would be able to handle…” He whispered.

“I don’t think the shield worked.” I said as I tried my best to smile up at him. “We may be able to give and take our damage from spells but I don’t think your shield can block my physical attacks with it.”

He quickly healed my shoulder, popping it back in place. “Sorry about that Mi Amor, I thought it would work.”

Once he healed my shoulder I slammed my own fist into his, “Lesson learned right?”

His own body didn’t move against my punch but I could tell the sheer force I put into it hurt him. He just stood and grinned at me, “Yes.” He used his draconic leap and reappeared thirty feet back.

He took his longsword out of its hilt and ran towards me taking a swing at my abdomen. I jumped back as it barely missed me. I took out the dagger he gave me for practice and I lunged at him, aiming for his shoulder. I impacted his shoulder with the dagger.

We went a few rounds exchanging blows with our fists and weapons. Up until I was exhausted from the amount of runs we were going through this time around as we went through about ten rounds before I had to tap out.

Bloody and exhausted Théoden and I rested against one of the pillars in the training room. “I am impressed with how much your skill levels have grown.” Théoden said as he grinned down at me handing me his waterskin.

Taking a drink I said, “Thanks that means a lot. I don’t think I would have been able to handle half of those blows if it wasn’t for you.” I said as I elbowed him lightly.

“Please, a lot of that is you.”

“Only because I have a good mentor.” I said as I leaned against him.

We sat like that for a few more minutes, allowing our breathing to calm. “Shall we head back to the castle?”

“We probably should.” Théoden said standing up he held his hand for me to take, helping me up to my feet.

We exited the arena and began our trek back to the castle. The air was a bit brisk as the sun hadn’t risen yet. The nature around us was quiet as most of it was still sleeping.

It was oddly peaceful except for a mysterious groaning noise that appeared to be coming from outside of the noble ring.

“What was‒” I began to mutter as I looked up at Théoden who had his full attention on the mysterious noise.

“I’m going to teleport you to the castle Maria, I will investigate the noise myself. Tell Roland, I will be late for breakfast.”

Théoden said as he grabbed my shoulder and teleported me to the castle’s grand hall before I even had the chance to protest. With a sigh I walked my way to the kitchen and sat down at the table and began to watch the world through Théoden's eyes.