The Last Praetorian (24 page)

Jon could immediately see the parallels between her attack
and the nightmares, but did not think it would help Sofia to bring-up the
obvious similarities.  Thinking furiously, it occurred to Jon that a big source
of the problem seemed to be that Sofia felt that she could not defend herself,
hence being unable to move in the dream.  Never in his life had Jon ever
contemplated combat training for an Imperial Princess, but considering their
current situation, some self-defence training was probably going to be far more
useful than her political science lessons.

Gently broaching the subject, Jon hesitantly proposed,
“Perhaps I could help you…” 

Looking at him quizzically Sofia asked, “You can you help
me? Sleep better?”  Suddenly realising how that sounded Sofia blushed
furiously.

Jon was fascinated to notice that her blush spread all the
way down her check, neck and under the sweatshirt.  Jon idly wondered if she
was wearing anything underneath the shirt, before bringing this thoughts
sharply back on-topic.  The last thing that she needed was some mooning,
lovesick admirer, like the ones that surrounded her on the
Imperial Star.
 
Ignoring her reaction he cautiously explained how he could teach her to protect
herself, so that if she was ever in a similar situation she could defend
herself.     

“Perhaps that would also help you with these nightmares?”
Jon concluded.  “At the very least you will be so worn out from the exercises
that you should sleep…” Jon was going to say like the dead, “…better,” he
proposed.

“Well I cannot see how it can hurt.”

“Good.  We can start tomorrow,” Jon concluded.  “Do you want
to try and get back to sleep?” he asked.

“No,” Sofia replied, shaking her head violently. “I could
not get back to sleep after that last nightmare.”

“Ok,” Jon replied getting up to leave, but Sofia’s hand
closed around his arm and she asked.

“Please, stay with me a while and talk,” she pleaded looking
at him beseechingly.

“OK.  What do you want to talk about?”

“Oh, I don’t know, anything.  Tell me about your early days
in the Navy?”  Sofia asked remembering earlier about when he had been awarded
the fleet medal.

So Jon told her some stories about his basic training, some
of which made her laugh, some that made her gasp.  Then he told her about his
first few deployments…all the while watching her beautiful green eyes, as her eyes
got heavier and heavier, before they closed completely and she was lying
against his arm snoring gently.  Pulling the blanket over her, to avoid her
getting cold during the night, he was tempted to give her a goodnight kiss but
at the last minute thought better of it.  However, when he tried to rise from
the bed he found that he couldn’t as Sofia still had a firm grasp of his arm. 
Not wanting to wake her after finally getting her to sleep, he just shrugged,
switched the light off and let his own eyes drift shut.

*****

The light shining through the bedroom window awakened Jon
early.  The intense luminosity of the Altair sun and its extremely rapid rate
of rotation meant that sunrise was very early.  Glancing next to him, Jon was
pleased to see that Sofia was still sleeping soundly.  She’d had no more
nightmares during the night; whether that was because of his presence, or his
promise Jon had no idea, but he was pleased to see that her skin seemed to have
regained some of its colour.  Sometime during the night she had shifted
position and her head now lay resting across his naked chest.  Jon allowed
himself the small pleasure of a further few minutes of rest, running his hand
gently through Sofia’s lustrous red hair.  Wondering what life would be like if
he could wake-up every morning with her at his side…  With a gentle sigh, he
slid his body out from beneath hers to start his day, fully aware that if he
did not move soon he would find further excuses never to leave her bed.

Quietly creeping out of her room, praying that she would
remain asleep to avoid another difficult conversation he finally let-out a
relieved breath, when her bedroom door was finally closed…only to turn around
to come face-to-face with his father.

Of all the goddamn timings,
Jon cursed to himself on
observing his father’s shocked expression and could guess at the wild
assumptions that were currently taking root.

“Let’s get a coffee and …talk,” his father announced
tersely. “While we let the women sleep.”

*****

With it still being very early in the morning, with the sun
only just up, the temperature outside was very pleasant.  Jon knew that it
would climb quickly, until by midday everybody would have to take cover inside
from the sweltering temperatures of the midday sun.

Looking over the rim of his cup of coffee at his father’s
brusque expression, Jon decided to go for the pre-emptive strike and try and
head-off the looming argument.

“I am not sleeping with Sofia…Princess Aurelius,” Jon
hurriedly corrected himself, he had been spending far too much time recently
with Sofia…the Princess, and had started to stop thinking of her as that and
now simply thought of her as… Sofia.  The incredulous look from his father, made
him stop and review his previous statement.  “Ok, I
am
sleeping with the
Princess, but this was the first and only time.” 

The incredulous look from this father changed to one of
complete disbelief.  “You are
sleeping
with the Imperial Princess Sofia
Aurelius, daughter of the Emperor?  Are you
insane
!”  His father hissed
angrily trying to keep his voice quiet so not to wake anybody else in the
house.  “Good grief boy, I thought we at least raised you with some common
sense.  What is the penalty for sleeping with an Imperial Princess anyway?”  He
went on rhetorically, “Seeing as it is the death penalty for even
touching
one
of the Imperial family I would assume at the very least it is a
more painful
death.” 

“Have you finished yet?”  Jon interjected angrily. “While I
did sleep with her, once, just once… I’m not
sleeping
with her if you
know what I mean?” 

“No,” his father replied just staring at him perplexedly.

“Look dad, we are both adults here, let me put this simply.
I am not having sex with her!” Jon exclaimed loudly.

“Keep it down son,” his father replied nervously looking
around the small garden.  “We don’t want the neighbours to hear, what would
they think?” 

Jon just rolled his eyes in disbelief and replied. “I don’t
know dad, hopefully they won’t think I am sleeping with Sofia, aghhh,” Jon
cried banging his head against the wall. “…With Princess Aurelius,” Jon replied
completely exasperatedly. 

Ryan just continued to look at his son with a concerned expression
before stating stoically. “I think you are getting too emotionally involved
here, son,” and he went off to look for more coffee.

You think!
Jon thought unkindly, watching his father
disappear into the house.

*****

It was late in the afternoon, and the sun had begun its
descent and the outside temperate had fallen sufficiently for Jon and Sofia to
practice outside.  As it was still extremely hot, Jon had elected to forgo a
T-shirt and just wore a pair of sweatpants.  Sofia meanwhile, had managed to
find a better fitting shirt and wore a pair of jeans.  Both antagonists faced
off, a few meters apart, on some old exercise mats that Jon had found.

Blinking away the sweat from his eyebrows, Jon was having
second thoughts about this whole escapade.  What had seemed like a perfectly
good idea late last night, was quickly giving way to the light of reason during
the day.  Jon was having trouble focusing on the task at hand, as his attention
was continually drawn to Sofia’s figure.  In the casual workout clothes she
seemed far younger than her age, and her clothes were clinging to her in all
the right places, actuating her stunning figure.

Meanwhile Sofia could not take her eyes off Jon, standing
there bare-chested like some Greek god.  Her eyes followed one particular
rivulet of sweat as it ran down his chest.  Sub-consciously she licked her lips
and only when she looked up into Jon’s eyes did she recognise the desire that
was burning brightly in them, most likely mirroring her own expression.

“So what do we do first?” she asked nervously, trying to
distract herself from his body… and his searing gaze.

“As most of the time you will be fighting men that are
bigger and stronger than yourself, I will teach you to fight with a knife.  A
gun would be far more effective for you, and we will get onto that, but you
will find yourself in a situation one day when you don’t have a gun or have
lost it.  It will be easy for you to conceal a small knife somewhere, and most
men won’t be expecting it.  So you will have the benefit of surprise.” 

With that he drew a small combat knife that he kept in the
secure armoury that he maintained at his parents house.  Carefully handling it
to Sofia hilt first, he encouraged her to get used to the weight and feel of
the small blade.  “From now on you will carry it with you…always,” Jon insisted
seriously. “Now let’s start with a basic thrust.  Attack me with the knife,”
Jon insisted.

Noticing her hesitation, Jon called out frustratedly.  “Haven’t
we already been over this?”  Reminding her of the time in the officer lounge of
the
Imperial Star,
when he faced, unarmed, the senator’s son who had his
sword drawn. 

Jon at least had to give her a little credit, that she did
not need to be told twice, and at least she made an attempt to stab him with
the knife…even if it was completely pitiful.

Sighing in frustration, unsure if the heat caused it, the
close pull of Sofia’s body or the task at hand, Jon desperately tried to think
how best to proceed.  In basic training it was easy.  The sergeant gave you the
knife, ordered you to defend yourself with it; and then proceeded to kick seven
bells of crap out of you until you succeeded.  Eyeing Sofia in front of him
carefully, with her hair tied back in a braid, the swell of a breast tapering
down to her narrow waist…Jon tore his gaze away. 

The frontal assault approach was not going to work.  No way
was he seriously going to attack her, even if Sofia ever contemplated that he
would physically hurt her.  That left the current approach, encouraging her to attack
him seriously.  Not the current half-hearted approach that she showed, but with
the full-on intent to cause as much harm to him as possible. 
Well, if the
physical approach was not an option, time to try the psychological option
,
Jon reluctantly decided.

Moving far closer, to use his slight height advantage, as a
psychological advantage to intimidate, he swore at her.  “That was pathetic,”
he noticed the ripple of surprise in her expression.  Jon had never addressed
her in such a coarse manner before, having always treated her politely and with
respect.  Steeling his heart for what he was about to say, he continued in the
same manner. “No wonder your father admitted to me that he was ashamed of you. 
How many times he cursed the day that he had a daughter, and not a son.” 

Now the surprise was giving way to shock and hurt, Jon knew
that he would need to go even further to ignite her anger and hatred, those
emotions he could use, could mould, to teach her to harness and use to protect
herself.  Thinking what he could use to truly hurt her, he remembered stumbling
into the room yesterday shocked at seeing Sofia and his mother in such a loving
embrace, something that she had never been able to have with her own mother. 
Her
Mother!

“You’re useless! Marcus was better off without you.  He told
me that he wished it was you that had died in child-birth and not your mother!”
Now he could see the flames coming into her eyes, her grip unconsciously
tightening on the knife, her muscles stretching ready to strike.
Just a
little more
!

“I don’t know why he was so bothered, personally,” Jon
commented, off-hand.  “She was just another concubine to the Emperor, I know
that he had dozens of them since.” 

With a wordless cry Sofia sprang forward like a cat,
slashing the knife at Jon’s face, which he blocked at the last second, taken by
surprise at her speed.  But already she was twisting around to try and stab him
in the chest. Again Jon parried and again, each block just fuelling her ire. 
However, Sofia was tiring quickly and, finally in tears, she threw the knife
aside and swung with the palm of her hand at his cheek.  While Jon recognised
the blow, this one he allowed through his guard, as Jon felt he deserved far
worse for his earlier lies. 

With a surprisingly hard smack, that snapped Jon’s head back
from the force of the blow, the sound brought Sofia back to her senses. 
Staring in disbelief at the person that she thought she knew, that perhaps she
had even begun to fall in love with...  Turning away in tears, she ran back
inside the house.  Even from outside Jon could hear the force of her bedroom
door slamming shut.  Rubbing his face in pain, reminding himself to watch out
as she had a vicious right hook, Jon left to find his father.

Training was over for the day and Jon needed to get repairs
started on the
‘Light.

*****

It was a sombre pair that made their way towards the shuttle
later that day after sunset.  Jon had insisted on waiting until the cover of
night to avoid anybody following them and discovering the shuttle.

“Do you want to talk about what is bothering you?” His
father inquired, breaking the silence.

“No.”

“How did the training go?  I saw you teaching her earlier.”

“Ok,” Jon replied. 

Finally giving up in disgust - obviously Jon had learned
that particular trait from his mother, Ryan turned back to the trail, following
the directions sporadically supplied by Jon.  Having made good time as Jon had
made careful notes of their journey from the shuttle, they soon arrived.