Aleksandra resolved to castrate him if he ever called her 'Sandy' again. And she'd do it slowly. With a knife made of wood. The girls must have realized that Aleksandra was working herself into a mood and threw themselves into their training zealously, trying not to catch the cranky warrior's attention. Unfortunately for Mitsuka, the other girls knew each other and had paired up accordingly. The small Bao woman, having worked in a different part of the castle as a lady's maid, had no close friends, especially not in the small group. So she ended up as Aleksandra's unfortunate partner.

In truth, Aleksandra was glad to have the chance to work with the smallest member of the group. She was actually taller than Mitsuka by two inches, which was definitely something she wasn't used to. And going through Mitsuka's head was the thought that the Wolf Maiden she'd grown up hearing stories about was much shorter than the stories said. In the stories, the Wolf Maiden was well over six feet tall and half a monster, with a wolf face and claws and sharp teeth. The small, pretty Ardanian woman standing before her was just that. A woman. A bit sad around the eyes, with scars all over, but a human through and through.

What surprised Mitsuka even more was the fluent Bao that flowed from the Ardanian's mouth. The other women glanced over curiously and continued working. "I'm glad we can work together today, Mitsuka. Since you're the smallest of the group, it would be beneficial for us to work together. And I'm sure you'd prefer to speak in your own tongue." The pronunciation was perfect, if not the dialect. But there were several different regional dialects in Xiang-Bao, and it was easy enough for Mitsuka to follow along. She smiled, finally completely at ease with this warrior woman.

For the next two hours, Aleksandra trained with them, spreading herself around and making the women change partners every so often to keep them from growing lazy. After all, they'd be fighting complete strangers all the time. They couldn't grow used to one fighting partner and fall into the same patterns, or they'd never learn how to anticipate what was coming next and improvise. Then, when they were all exhausted and dripping sweat, she finally let them return to their quarters. They were exempted from their usual work schedules until their training relaxed. She sent them off with instructions to eat well, drink as much water as possible, and exercise whenever they could. They'd meet again the next day.

Aulfr's training with his soldiers was also winding down, and she was still sore from his stupid nickname and teasing. So she decided to have a bit of fun. She opened the door to the courtyard and sauntered out, pretending not to pay any attention to the sweaty, half-naked warrior men fighting only yards away. She headed straight for the water barrel next to the weapons rack, stripping off her armored tunic as she went to reveal to thin linen undershirt beneath. And also her lean, athletic physique and generous bust. She could feel the eyes on her, and she hoped that Aulfr was watching and feeling some sort of jealousy. 

Her cheeks were warm and flushed from the strenuous activity she'd been doing, so without any hesitation she dunked her head in the water barrel, letting the cold water energize her and cool her down at the same time. She reared back up and slicked back her hair, then turned and sauntered towards the warriors. "Prince Aulfr," she called. "Have you ever thought to teach these men how to fight a woman? Or thought to let me fight them? I'm losing my edge just sparring with you all the time. Plus, it's no fun when I can never beat my opponent." This got some of the mens' attention. The Handmaid was renowned for being one of the best warriors in Noxus, and possibly the known world. Not [i]the[/i] best, but close. If she couldn't beat their prince, then either the prince was legendary or she wasn't as good as the stories said. Most likely a mixture of both, she knew they'd be unwisely thinking.