(Secret Santa: glowstick03) Swordplay

[PaperThings]

Prompt: Male with allergies and he's embarrassed about them.

A/N: I really hope it's somewhat what you imagined!

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"Are you ready for today's lesson, Jared?"

The training soldier grimaced. Lessons with Swordsman Lyder were dreaded under any circumstances, but today's especially. Spring. Trees vibrant with the hum of resting birds, flowers swaying in the nectar-scented air. Jared hated every moment of those torturous three months, particularly when forced to complete chores outdoors.

"One moment, Sir." Never mind the discomfort of it; if he were matched up with someone, and his allergies overcame him... well, he would never hear the end of it. He chanced a glance at himself in the mirror, making sure his appearance met palace standards. His eyes were a sort of crystal blue, handsomely juxtaposed against his straight dark hair. The palace girls flocked to him, despite his shy manner; perhaps that was why the other soldiers loathed him so.

With a last sigh of regret, he pushed out into the splendid courtyard. The King had built it especially for Battle training, complete with lounge chairs for observation and a plot of flowers for decor. Jared flushed the moment he hit the dotted air, his throat aching at the mere contact with Spring. It wasn't just the flowers, either. Jared seemed to be allergic to the entire season: the dewy grass, the warming weather. Every last detail nicked and nudged at him until he collapsed under its weight.

"Look who's watching us today." Charles gave him a painful punch to the ribs, directing Jared's attention to the patio. Andalee. Her red hair coiled tightly into a bun, she sat watching them in a rider's jumpsuit and high heels. Always the contradiction. She was flanked by two girls Jared didn't recognize, and he figured they must be her servants.

Being old-fashioned, the King still did not allow female soldiers, but Andalee was as good as one. Renowned for her brilliant mind - not to mention her incredible beauty - she was the master behind each and every battle plan. The soldiers all knew how much respect they owed her, particularly because of her young age.

"Oh..." Jared muttered, feeling his cheeks redden all the further when Charles laughed.

"You're not worried, are you?" Simon approached them from behind, having heard the entire exchange. "You're the best fighter we've got, Jared." Charles' smile vanished; he thought he deserved to be the best, as did every young soldier.

"I..." His nose had begun to twinge warningly, and he felt a wash of relief when Lyder called for their attentions.

"Line up." Lyder was a retired brute, a man too violent for the most bloodthirsty of wars. He had good tactics but better execution, and the King had hired him on the theory that he would keep the boys in line. "You've all been practicing?" He hit an unlucky Simon in the back of the knee, watching him buckle to the ground under the force of his sword. "Pathetic," he whispered, just loudly enough for all of them to hear. "Who can do better? Jared, Caden. Front of the group." He did not even introduce Andalee. Jared was not an expert on palace etiquette, but he had a feeling that someone of her importance ought to be acknowledged.

Nerves flickering as rapidly as candles in the wind, he advanced on shaky legs. The others knew what he was capable of; they wouldn't judge him on this one day, right? Right? He still felt terribly ashamed, horrified that he would smudge his top-notch reputation because of a silly flower bud or two. He was training to be the best soldier in the Kingdom; soldiers didn't have allergies, did they? Allergies were a weakness, and he was not supposed to be weak. Being weak got you killed out there, he knew that.

"Draw your swords," Lyder instructed, his graying skin red from shouting. "One... two... three..."

Jared expertly maneuvered the hilt from his belt loop, shifting sideways the way they'd been taught. He hated to say it, but Caden was an easy opponent. Reckless and prone to mistakes. So long as he kept his focus, didn't let the flowers get to him, he would win the match without a problem.

Caden gave an anxious smile, probably knowing he would be on the ground in seconds. Since they didn't want to actually hurt one another, the matches ended when one person got the other to release his sword.

Grunting from the strain of it, Jared made a quick dart backwards and then lunged, pushing Caden towards the grass. He raised his sword, ready to deliver the pretend 'kill blow', and then ducked to closely to the ground.

The smell of grass - fresh, pungent grass - trickled up his nose, making it squirm. He couldn't help it, he knew he would be sneezing in seconds. Unthinking, he dropped his sword, wanting to strangle the noise as well as possible. His vision turned to slits as his eyelids struggled helplessly against the sudden crush of air, and he locked his hands around his nose just as his lips burst open.

"NGGGnnXXtt!!" His eyes were blurry when he opened them, his nose aching from the suffocation. Ignoring his resistance, the second sneeze reared its head wildly against his weakening defenses. Cheeks burning, humiliated, he felt his blue irises vanishing from sight. Breath skidding, desperate both to expedite the sneeze and stop it all together, he finally let his face collapse. "NNXX-CHUH!" It was so loud, he cringed the moment it was out his lungs. Why couldn't he stifle it? Why, if he had to be weak, couldn't he at least hide it?

Feeling disgraced, he winced when he heard Lyder's throaty laugh behind him. "That was your first loss, boy. What happened there?"

"I - "

"He sneezed," Caden said, sounding delighted. "I - I won! He dropped his sword!" The pure joy in his voice was nearly enough to soothe Jared's worries, but then he saw the mocking expressions of the other soldiers. Even Simon, whom he nearly considered his friend, was smiling cruelly.

"Back in line, Jared," Lyder said, delivering a sharp jab to his side. "You need more practice."

Jared could have cursed the skies, he was so angry with himself. How could this happen? Today of all days, when Andalee was watching? She wasn't smiling, at least. Her mouth was set in a thin line, almost... disappointed. Oh no. Had she heard about his skill? What if she had heard about his skill, and now felt cheated that he didn't live up to his name? Sure that he would never live this down, either amongst his cohorts or simply in his own head, Jared trained his vision carefully on the ground.

"What happened?" Simon asked, touching his shoulder lightly. "You never lose like that."

"I... I - heiih - " Opening his mouth broke the fragile rim of his composure, and he felt his body tremble, waiting. Soldiers were supposed to have the best control, better than anyone, but he could feel his about to crack... waiting hopelessly for the final blow, as his shoulders hunched and his sense of the present clouded over. Face already red with pain and embarrassment, he pitched forward in a helpless heap. "HehnnTT! Hehhn-SHHH! Ehhhshhh'eshhoo!" The last two hit him back to back, entirely debilitating his ability to stifle.

He hated feeling weak, feeling useless. His shyness and social discomfort brought enough of that into his life, and he didn't need the allergies adding more. Painted crimson with his mortification, he almost missed Charles' enraged expression when his rival turned around. "What was that you got on my neck?"

"I - I'm sorry," he managed, barely able to speak through his congestion. His eyes hurt terribly, especially when the wind hit them with its pollen-filled force. "I didn't mean..."

"Did you sneeze on me?"

"Well..." His mind raced, debating whether to deny, apologize or fight, but another round of sneezes hit him before he got a chance. His neck snapped forward, overcome by the surprise of the force. He felt the sneeze bubble up like a cloud, sticking to the inside of his face as if a massive needle. Prodded to the point of scalding, gasping breaths, he let them go un-stifled into his hands. "Hehhshoo! EHHHshh! KHaaCHHUH!" He would have happily died right there, stoned merrily under Charles' furious gaze, but Lyder shouted out a batch of exercises.

They struggled through them as a group, thankfully distracting the attention from Jared's allergies. Usually Jared would have succeeded each challenge with flying colors, but today he fought just to keep his vision clear. Every few minutes his eyes would fog up, nostrils fidgeting, and he would swing away from the group with another fit of sneezes. He'd given up stifling once he discovered it only triplicated the triples into nine painfully eye-drawing sneezes. By the time they reached the end of practice - his sword arm tired, as it always was - he thought he might keel over simply to escape the glares and snickers.

"Jared," Lyder barked, drawing the boy's bloodshot eyes to his face. "Would you like a chance to redeem yourself?"

He really didn't, for fear it would simply worsen his bruised reputation, but refusing would appear cowardly. He nodded, trying and failing to swallow. "Jared. Charles. Last match of the lesson."

Charles came up behind him, dog-like face fitted with a tight grin. Jared feared for a moment that Charles might insult him verbally in front of everybody, but then realized that the other soldier would not bother - Charles believed he could ruin Jared sheerly on the coming fight. Braced, nearly soaked with sweat, Jared extended his sword on the word 'draw'.

To his immense relief, the battle commenced well. He bit down on his tongue as a way to keep the sneezes away, and nearly managed to pin Charles several times. Just as he had the sword up against Charles throat, ready to knock the sword from his hand and end the match, Charles reached to the ground and yanked a fistful of flowers from the grass.

No. No. Jared knew exactly what he planned to do, and he couldn't bear it. Wasn't it against the rules? Probably not, he reminded himself, as this was the first full year at the palace; they hadn't dealt with allergies before. Flowers wouldn't exactly be considered harmful under normal circumstances, so there was nothing against them in the rules. Besides, nothing was against the rules in a real battle. If anyone on the opposing side found out about Jared's weakness, they would be sure to exploit it.

He felt his breath splice even before the petals touched his nose, his eyes well painfully the moment that the anther of the flower came into site. Seeing Charles smug smile, he could have melted into the floor and sobbed. Instead, he took it standing up, watched in slow motion as his arm tried and failed to shove the flower to the floor.

"No you don't," Charles hissed, his teeth clenched. The moment of hesitation as he listened cost Jared greatly, and he felt the flower smother him.

Well. That was it. He did not even register his features changing, did not register anything except the overpowering need to get the flower away from him. But he couldn't do it, his body was too weak, and so he fell to his knees. "HIH-ISHH! ISHHH! HEHHSHH! Huhh'huhshoo!" The sword had long since clattered to the floor: a battle lost. His vision swam, his head ignited with the thrashing pain of each sneeze. Each one violently folded his spine, made his back arc and bow with the effort of getting it out. Still, the pain of the fit did not begin to match the pain of knowing that the others were watching him. Charles. Lyder. Andalee. They would all know how badly his allergies caught him every Spring, and no one would ever think of him as a wonderful soldier ever again.

"HehhHHTCHHOO!" He imagined just how rumpled his appearance had become. Elegant, straight-shoot nose stained with pink; silky black hair coated with perspiration. His peachy complexion swelled up under allergies: his eyes became puffy and his lips chapped from being unable to breathe through his nose. No longer the handsome soldier. He was almost too weak to get the last sneeze out, but his nose flailed ferociously until he gave in and opened his mouth. "Hehhhh - " He was not aware of the sneeze's finish, only in hindsight that it probably happened. The accumulation of the fits, not to mention the exertion of fighting lessons, had taken his toll. He collapsed, blacked out on the field.

When he finally awoke, hours later, he was surprised to find himself in a bed. A nice bed. Silk sheets, he was certain. The decor around him was a pleasant tangerine, the pillows beneath his head - there were three, he saw - delightfully soft. Where was he? The soldiers' cabin hardly looked this way.

He was relieved to find that the burn had gone from his nose, as had the itches. His eyes were a bit sore, and he was stuffy, but the allergies had lessened since he moved inside. It took a moment for the day's events to come back to him, and when they did he buried his face into the nearest pillows. Who cared about some stupid allergy symptoms when his entire future was on the line? If this day caused him to lose his status, ruined his chances of ever being the Royal Kingdom's fine Knight, he would never forgive himself. He might not forgive himself anyway, he realized, depending on how much he had to endure from his fellow soldiers.

"Oh good, you're awake."

Had Jared had the energy for surprise, he might have fainted dead away. Standing before them, dressed in a daffodil nightgown, was Andalee. Her red hair hung about her shoulders now, blurring her strict appearance and putting a finer spotlight on her beauty. "I nearly sent for a doctor."

"Why - why am I here?" Jared asked. The words were barely intelligible, so he cleared his throat and repeated them. Better.

Andalee's face melted into a wonderfully kind expression, and she perched on the very edge of the mattress. "I wanted to make sure you were alright." She smiled. "You don't need to worry about the others," she went on. "Charles will be suspended for the remainder of this month, and prevented from earning a badge within his first year as a soldier."

"A whole month..." As angry as Jared was, he did not feel real animosity for Charles. Grabbing the flower had been the smart thing to do, anyway. A whole month out of practice would be quite damaging to him, for they had four lessons every week. He would fall way behind the other boys. However, Jared was unused to talking to pretty girls, despite his good looks, and especially did not know how to talk to one as important as Andalee. He could never begin to tell her that he wasn't alright with that punishment for Charles, that it felt like too much. "Thank you," he said, at last.

She nodded at him, smiled softly into the glow of the oil lamp. "Lyder is a good teacher," she said, "though perhaps a bit sharp. Being a soldier is about your loyalty and your wits... I don't think he encourages either enough."

"He's alright," Jared said softly. He hadn't jumped into help Jared, but why should he have? In battle, no one saved you if your enemy uncovered your weak spot.

"You must be hungry," Andalee said. "I will order some food for you."

"Thank you."

She must have noticed his distress, for she smiled at him again. "My older brother has allergies. Worse than yours, even. You should not be practicing if it is a danger to your health."

"But... if there's a war, they need all the soldiers, don't they? I can't stop practicing just because it's Spring."

She touched raised a hand to brush his cheek, and he almost let the tenderness lull him back to sleep. "You aren't a soldier yet, Jared. You're allowed to take some time off." He realized then, taking in her kind eyes, that she truly didn't blame him for what had happened. She did not think him any weaker. He felt his embarrassment ebb slightly, but not yet fade.

"Rest here, Jared," she said, noticing his change in expression. "I'll bring up food."

She left him silently, leaving Jared to think. After all that had happened, terrible as it was, he had ended up in Andalee's rooms. Sharing dinner with her. Feeling her hand against his cheek. It was hard to imagine, but he would never have gotten to know her if not for his allergies. The thought astounded him. Though he would never quite accept them as anything but a weakness, perhaps he could learn to live with them. After all, what choice did he have?

And from the way Andalee spoke, he would be a soldier someday. He sighed, this time happy. The day hadn't turned out so badly after all.

---

I hope it's okay!

[27jj]

Oooh I like this one very much! So much hot sneeziness, and I love Jared:) Your writing is very good!

[ooo]

Oh, I LOVED this. Your characters feel so real to me, and I loved both Jared and Andalee, especially their conversation at the end. And so much delicious allergicness!

[obsessed]

Mmmm, very yum.

As always, I ADORE your writing! <3

[dumpling]

WOW

This was sooooooooo amazing

I also love your writing style

[AsylumFlower]

Oh my gosh. This is so INCREDIBLY HOT AND INCREDIBLY SWEET!!! I love the whole knight setting, too. Jared's adorable

[glowstick03]

AHHHH!!!!!!! I just now read this...and I'm a little upset I didn't see it earlier...I just started college and my life has been beyond crazy.

I love it! Jared is perfect...I want one of my own! And Charles using his allergies against him in battle...quite clever. The ending with Andalee...sooooo cute!!!! You did a wonderful job with my rather vague prompt...haha...it's awesome!

Thank you, thank you, PaperThings!

[PaperThings]

YAY! I'm so glad you liked it!

And thank you so much for the nice comments everyone!

Hope you like the other prompts too, glowstick03, and good luck with college .

[starpollen]

YAY! I'm so glad you liked it!

And thank you so much for the nice comments everyone!

Hope you like the other prompts too, glowstick03, and good luck with college .

I LOVED THIS. I can't wait to get back to our fic! Now that I'm home. *sigh* I'm still dealing with some online teaching stuff, but you are SUCH. A. GOOD. WRITER. Yeah. Seriously. Keep writing, babe!