Roxana felt relief as the capital and the palace came into view as she and her travelling companion crested the hill. She could finally return her student to his home and be rid of his perpetually grating presence.
"Look Lysander you're almost home!" She couldn't hide her joy.
"But master I'll be parted from you and I don't think I'll be able to bear the pain. I'll be heartbroken that I won't see your beautiful face everyday, your luscious lips, eyes like peridot, smooth bronze skin, hair like silken strands of chocolate..."
"Oh, shut up! You're worse than a bard and not even entertaining." She scolded.
"...your toned muscular thighs and bountiful derriere that I long to smother my..." before he had a chance to finish his words. Roxana smacked the back of his head.
"I'm still your teacher and you will treat me with respect for the short time remaining as my student!" She snapped.
"How can I stop when you haunt my heart and my dreams? I will never know peace until I find heaven betwixt your thighs!" He pleaded.
Roxana sighed exasperated and rubbed her temples. "Lysander, you are never going to know that particular heaven or peace. I am not one of the vapid ladies of the court or a brothel worker paid to find you charming. If you continue with this, I will throw you down this hill and return you to your father broken and bloodied. I won't feel the slightest bit guilty about it!"
She narrowed her eyes at him. He opened his mouth as if to speak then thought better of it and remained silent. The kingdom's youngest prince had been an endlessly frustrating student for her to train and teach, far too used to charming women with his blonde hair, blue eyes and boyishly handsome face. As they steadily made their way to the capital she remembered how it was his fault she was even making this journey. When it had come time for the prince to finish his time at the monastery, he had sent a letter to the king begging that she should accompany him on his way back to the capital, which led to her having to do so by royal order. Regardless of her other students or the fact it was a task that was insulting to her title of Iron Maven. She had mastered the teachings of the ancients at the monastery. Had achieved the status of an ageless at thirty which was unheard of. She no longer had to fear the passage of time and had been physically thirty for decades. Yet here she was escorting a selfish spoiled brat of a prince back to his father, because the prince was making a last ditch effort to bed her. He would quickly lose interest when he was back in an environment where she wasn't the only woman in proximity.
Roxana couldn't wait to be rid of him and enthusiastically marched to the castle gates.
"Master, please, why can't you see me as a man and let me pamper you as a woman?" He begged, realising his window of opportunity was swiftly closing.
"First, it violates one of the core philosophies of the monastery's founder, it distracts from the warrior's path. Secondly you are my student, I will always think of you that way... even if you were the absolute worst student I've ever had!" She admonished him.
"...the worst?" He sounded like he might cry.
"If you had spent even a fraction of the energy you used trying to seduce me on your training you might be on your way to be a master by now..." She chided. "...But it doesn't matter anymore we're almost there and you and I will part ways."
He dragged his feet as they made their way through the palace to the throne room. She had to officially present herself to the king before she could begin heading home to the monastery. She wanted this to be over quickly, being anywhere near the court meant backstabbing politics and she had no interest in engaging in them. She and the prince entered the throne room, a chamber filled with finery and grandeur. She headed towards the throne where the king sat holding court, she bowed and presented herself.
"Your highness, I Master Roxana, Iron Maven of the Frigus Monastery, return your second born son Lysander to court from my tutelage. Long live your rule."
The king sat back and evaluated her. He was an older man, deceptively so. The royals lived far longer than most and she knew he out aged her by decades. He looked her up and down, then gave her a dignified smile.
"So you are Master Roxana, I must admit I was curious to meet the woman who has earned such admiration from my son, so tell me how did you find him as a student?"
She struggled with how to answer. "May I speak freely?"
"Of course."
"He has great potential, but he easily loses focus even in an environment with minimal distractions. I apologise that I couldn't get him to take his studies more seriously." She worried that her answer would be poorly received.
The king laughed.
"The only thing that holds my boy's focus is being led around by what hangs between his legs. The fact that he had a beautiful woman as his teacher, even one as formidable as yourself, was doomed to be a failure. Especially one so close yet beyond his reach." Lysander seemed to recoil at these words.
"Lysander... my boy... it seems that you are committed to being a disappointment. You failed to complete your studies to a satisfactory standard. Your lack of willpower and inability to prioritise anything beyond satisfying your own selfish desires shames me as it does yourself. I struggled to think of what to do with you, until your older brother came to me with a suggestion. Your teacher will stay here and I will personally discipline you every time you fail to act with decorum or allow yourself to be distracted by that which should not rule you. You will learn restraint and self control!" He chastised his son.
Roxana was stunned. She was going to have to stay and continue to teach the brat? This wouldn't do. She had to get out of it and return home to her students who were worth teaching.
"I am not worthy of such a task, your highness. I failed to instil the lessons of my order into your son. He would be better served by another master." She tried to bluff.
The king gave her a wry smile.
"I bestow no blame upon you Master Roxana. Axias speaks highly of your teaching, he recommended you stay and teach Lysander more intensively. So I must insist that you stay and do your best to turn my errant son into something vaguely resembling a respectable member of the royal family."
There was no way out of this, that was a royal command to stay. She buried the anger she felt but felt slight confusion at one piece of information, Axias had spoken highly of her? How could that be? She was certain he hated her.
"Thank you, your highness, it is an honour that your eldest son speaks so highly of me and I will do my best not to disappoint you."
To add insult to injury, despite his public dressing down, Lysander was beaming with joy that she was staying. Roxana sighed internally.
The king continued.
"I am having a banquet tonight, it would be wonderful if you could attend."
Roxana understood it as 'I expect you to attend'
"Go bathe and rest, you must be tired after your journey, I hope to see you this evening. You are dismissed"
The pair left the throne room where attendants showed Roxana where her new quarters were. She did as suggested and freshened herself before the evening banquet arrived. She was dreading it, having to spend an evening in a viper den was a comparable experience to being around the nobility. Finally she was escorted downstairs by an attendant and entered the banquet hall.
She was incredibly out of place, she stuck out like a sore thumb in her monk's attire, while the nobles were draped in finery. They stared at her as she walked in, conversations dropped into whispers as she moved past. She was pondering exactly how she was going to kill time until it was acceptable to leave when a familiar face walked over to her and handed her a drink.
"It's good to see you Master...it's been so long." he said.
"Is it really Axias? I'm surprised, or are you just being polite?"
She asked, raising an eyebrow.
The crown prince gave her a smile. There was something behind it, but she couldn't discern what. He had similar features to his brother except where Lysander was boyish Axias was undeniably a man. He stood head and broad shoulders above her these days, wearing stubble and his long hair tied back.
"I mean every word."
He replied in a soothing baritone.
"We may not have parted on the best terms but I have come to see the value in your lessons even if my brother has not. Exactly how bad was he? Because I always assumed I was your worst student."
"You were far from the worst, the fact that you used to just wander off notwithstanding. A mild caning was usually enough to convince you not to do that for a while, your brother on the other hand..."
