The wild elf ignored Petra's initial question, remaining quiet, in thought, for a little while. She grimaced, as if thinking of something unpleasant, then shook her head. "The Commander is brave, and respected, my lady. But we are all mortal. We have all suffered, we have all experienced joy and injustice, we all have our faults and fears. The Commander is no different, in that sense, from you or me. You aren't expected to be a wild elf when you marry. If a wild elf was what was wanted, this marriage would never have happened in the first place. But do me the favor of coming here in clothing more suited to moving around, tomorrow."<br/><br/>Elwen flipped the training sword she held in her own hand, the handle extending towards Petra. Rather than let go, however, she retained a hard grip of the blade. "As I said, no one is going to become a legendary fighter in a month. I can try to teach you basics, but you shouldn't expect to ever stop training." The wild elf held the hilt of the second training blade towards Petra. "First, you need to realize a few basic truths about fighting. Whatever romantic view you have of fighting isn't true. You might be afraid of weapons, too, and rightfully so, but you have to know them, still. You have to be firm, but not unyielding. When I hold this blade like this, for example, you might fear that you would pull it from my hand and slice my fingers off, had it been sharp. The truth is that you won't cut anything, nor will you pull the blade from my hand unless my hand is slippery. Try to pull it from me, and then let me try with you doing the same."<br/><br/>She let this little exercise run its course, content with perhaps quelling a little bit of uncertainty about the weapon. The next little nugget of training took another course. "You have to realize," Elwen said. "That anyone armed has a huge advantage over someone unarmed. Different weapons have advantages over others. For example, spears are often better weapons than swords. But it's not acceptable to carry a spear around with you all over the place. So we carry swords. They're easier to handle, versatile, and we can make do. And it means we're armed." Elwen handed her sword over to Petra, so that the noblewoman now had both weapons.<br/><br/>"In a fight like this, I will lose very badly probably ninety-nine times out of a hundred. And even if I win, I will win severely wounded anyway. Perhaps I'd win more times right now, because you have no idea how to fight, but if you had even the most rudimentary knowledge, it'd go badly for me. The lesson here is... Never, never, never go without a weapon. Unless you want to be cut down like so much wheat. We can try enacting it now. You'll find yourself able to hit me without me being able to do all that much about it. Other than fleeing."<br/><br/>The wild elf took another step closer, and another, her body almost touching Petra's at this point. "And whatever romantic stories you've been told, fights are quick and bloody and almost always over soon. It's not about wailing on someone's sword for five minutes. You thrust, parry, slash, and more often than not you'll end up close, like this. This is when you pull out a dagger, and go for a soft spot. Especially if you're armored. It may not be pretty, but wrestling is a part of fighting. If you can gut someone from a distance, it'll inevitably devolve into this. Someone is going to die, and you don't want it to be you just because you're unprepared for fighting up close. And given your stature, people -will- try to overwhelm you like this. You'll want to give yourself reach with a longer weapon, and then be prepared when they rush up close."<br/><br/>"Before we continue, I suppose you've earned a question about the Commander, if you have one."<div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>