A Lesson With The Laurents(Closed)

Adrien Laurent stood upright; he was very much like his younger sister--proud and hot-tempered. The man shook James' hand firmly and flashed a smile that was meant to be friendly. Instead, it came off like a wolf's---sizing up a new addition to the wolfpack.

'A pleasure for me as well.' he intoned, releasing James' hand and standing back. His eyes flashed to the sword attached to James' waist. He smiled and shook his head lightly. 'A good sword---but I cannot teach you fencing with zat. Eet is too broad for dueling.' He shot a look over at one of his fellow nobles and called out.

'Alain! Your rapier, s'il vous plaît .'

Once the rapier was handed over, Adrien placed the pommel near James' left shoulder and eyed the length of it. He shrugged. 'A similar blade will do. If you would please follow.'

The Laurent led James to a smaller room, where rapiers were stored. With a practiced eye, he plucked a rapier out and handed it to James.

'It might not feel natural right away,' he murmured. 'but we will try eet out first.'

In the dueling hall, only two duelists were left and engaged in one last duel. However, Adrien's eyes darted to the entrance as the sounds of footsteps approached. His lips curled.

The doors to the dueling hall opened and the head of Laurent entered, hand resting lightly on the pommel of her blade. Fiora slowed as she saw James and Adrien. For a brief moment, she almost seemed to forget who James was. But then the meeting in the library returned to her and she approached them.

'Brother,' she greeted.

Adrien nodded once. 'Sister.' he replied curtly.

Fiora's eyes rested on James, gaze tracing the seams of his clothes and finally resting on the rapier in his hand.

'Are you ready?' she asked. She didn't sound too sure. 'If so, Adrien can take you through the basics.'

Fiora crossed her arms as Adrien led James to the center of the room. The Grand Duelist stood motionless as Adrien reviewed the basics with James. She cocked her head. Adrien was a good duelist and a fair teacher--if the student could keep up. It would be interesting to see how the newcomer would fare.

After demonstrating a few practice lunges and parries, Adrien stepped back. James seemed to learn faster than most of the other students he taught. Fiora noticed too and stepped closer.

'Not bad for a dragon enthusiast.' she laughed lightheartedly. The sound rang in the rafts, but the smile did not quite reach her eyes. It was clear that the Grand Duelist took her craft very seriously.

'En garde,' she commanded, stepping back again. 'Basic sequences, Adrien. He goes through zee motions properly, but who knows if he can keep 'is head in an actual duel.'

Adrien nodded, raising his rapier. He seemed slightly annoyed that Fiora was ordering him around in front of his remaining students, but he shrugged it off. He shot an encouraging nod at James.

'Do not worry,' he said, the accompanying smile bordering on a smirk. 'I will not 'arm you.'

'Pret.' Fiora continued, signalling that the match was about to begin. The Grand Duelist would wait for James to be ready before announcing "Allez", beginning the practice duel. The words would barely escape from her lips before Adrien would go onto the offensive, beginning with a basic lunge that James should be perfectly capable of blocking with ease. If all went well, he would continue the assault, gradually increasing the intensity and complexity of the moves. However, Adrien would allow short windows of opportunity for his new student to move into the offensive, if James was inclined to do so.

Fiora blinked as James attempted to land a tap on Adrien. Not many people took the initiative in their first duel. Was he an active soldier? She searched her head for their brief conversation. They discussed a bit about the half-breed...but she couldn't remember if he said anything else about himself, besides his opinion on Shyvana.

Shrugging, she returned her attention to the duel.

As James' short lunge came at Adrien, the Laurent's own rapier became a blur as it neatly parried the move.
'Good! You 'ave some guts!' Adrien hissed, quickly resuming dominance in the fight. He was an aggressive fighter and preferred to be the attacker. Nevertheless, in minute consideration for James' skill, the Laurent kept his lunges and jabs simplistic but increased the frequency. James would have less and less windows of time to defend, and both Fiora and Adrien expected him to eventually falter under the increasing intensity.

Adrien reacted flawlessly; with an elegant technique, he swept James' rapier to the side and jabbed, stopping the point of his blade just before his opponent's chest.

'Zat would've been the end of Marquer.' Adrien exhaled, letting the blade drop. He sheathed his own rapier and looked around. A few of his students had remained to watch. With a curt nod, he held out his hand and one of the students quickly threw him a towel. He beckoned again and another came his way.

Wiping his brow with one, Adrien tossed the other towel towards James. 'Your defense is good. Wiz more practice, we can refine your offensive.'

Fiora stepped up onto the platform, and drew her own rapier. Adrien stiffened, but the Grand Duelist was merely holding hers up.

'Your grip needs refinement.' Fiora began, demonstrating her own grasp. You are too used to a heavier blade--you 'ave 'ad experience in the army?'

The question was slightly probing, but not an outlandish one.

Fiora sighed. ‘Zee Shadow Isles and Noxus...pah. We ‘ave enemies on all sides...zee undead are zee least of our worries, I think.’ ’ She had a wary expression on her face; the Laurents were just as aware as everyone else about the growing threats outside their nation's borders. But with a small scoff, she vanquished those troubling thoughts and returned her attention to James.
‘A little rigid, but much better.’ the Grand Duelist replied. She pointed her blade at Adrien’s feet casually. ‘My brother ‘as an aggressive style. All zee better for you. As a fencer, one must learn to use zee enemy’s strength to ‘is advantage. Use Adrien’s strength against ‘im.’
Clearly, Fiora demonstrated a parry, with Adrien as the attacker, explaining to James how to deflect blows and capitalize on successful parries.
‘Of course, zee blows will come at a much faster speed, so you will need be able to time your parries properly.’ the Grand Duelist finished, bringing her rapier up. ‘Adrien.’ she said simply.
Adrien scoffed, almost disbelievingly. Then, in the blink of an eye, he closed in onto Fiora, rapier outstretched. Fiora’s arm became a blur; in an instant, her rapier came up to meet Adrien’s and parried his blow, stopping it from connecting with her chest. With a swipe, she retaliated and Adrien was forced to parry. The fight continued for a few seconds, with speeds unparalleled--and far faster than James’ practice duel. Several times, it seemed as if Fiora had decided to stop but her brother continued to attack, eyes steely.
Finally, Fiora decided it was enough demonstration. With a cry, she parried Adrien’s rapier, stopping it from landing a hit. The parry was so strong that Adrien’s arm flew out, leaving him wide open. Much like Adrien had done with James, Fiora held her brother at swordpoint for a brief moment.
‘Too competitive.’ she remarked, exhaling slowly. Her eyes were cold; Adrien had never quite liked his little sister’s respectable position as head of the family. The Grand Duelist sheathed her rapier and turned to James.
‘I believe it would be a good time to ‘ave a break.’ she commented. ‘Won’t you join us for some brunch?’
The butler spoke up, having appeared silently during the duel. ‘It is ready, mademoiselle. Of course, we shall accommodate Master Marquer if he wishes to stay.’ He smiled encouragingly; of course the young noble would accept. He would be surrounded by the Laurents and their friends--what a good opportunity for him to make new connections with other nobles. If James decided to accept, the butler would lead the group down to the dining hall, where tea and desserts would be served. Nobody would’ve arrived yet.

The group stopped before the dining room. Fiora sighed and stretched. ‘I will see you promptly.’ she said, ‘I ‘ave to freshen up.’ Without a wave, she slipped back down the hallway, presumably to her room to change. Adrien Laurent quickly followed, nodding at James brusquely. He whispered something rapidly in another language to the butler, who nodded politely, face straight. Adrien turned back to James one last time and nodded. ‘I shall see you then.’ he echoed, leaving.
Immediately, the butler turned to James and motioned him to follow. The butler quickly motioned at the maids. ‘Another chair!’ he commanded. ‘And open the windows wide!’
Quickly, the butler swooped into a side room, and reappeared with a small bottle. Briskly uncapping it, he sprayed James unceremoniously with it; the small hallway quickly filled up with the scent of crushed mint, icy in its aroma.
‘So sorry,’ the butler muttered after returning the bottle. ‘It is best to leave a good impression and we wouldn’t want you to..er..smell after your rigorous lesson.’ He smiled apologetically. ‘Mademoiselle Laurent and Master Laurent are very impulsive; this brunch is a bi-weekly occurrence and the attendees are very regular---they will be curious about you. I will have to seat you next to the two. You will quickly notice Mademoiselle and Master Laurent’s friends will be at the end of the table, where you will be sitting. The other end will be their mother’s, or Madame Laurent, friends. Remember to introduce yourself to Madame Laurent.’
He said this all very quickly but with an air of helpfulness; the butler seemed to pick up on the fact that James would not know the other nobles and wanted to make sure that he did not embarrass himself surrounded by a pit of aristocrats, most of them snobby to a commoner’s point of view—not that the butler knew any of that part.
The butler opened the door and led them into the dining room. It was a small one, obviously not meant for extremely formal meals. The room was beautifully decorated, covered in pastel shades of blue and white. The windows, as ordered, were opened, letting the cool air billow through the sheer curtains. The butler showed James to his seat, smiling. He looked back the door to make sure no one was near before whispering. ‘They all have a way with words, but don’t be intimidated. To be honest, to my humble ears, it seems anything eloquently said will impress them.’ With that, he left the room, no doubt heading to the kitchens to oversee the desserts and snacks.
James would have about twenty minutes to orient himself and help himself to some tea. Without the butler, the room was eerily quiet. Before long, the doors would be opened once again by the butler, and Christelle Laurent, the Grand Duelist’s mother, would sweep in, quickly followed by a small line of elderly, and seat themselves.