To Fight is to Live

Sweat poured from the woman's forehead as she swung her left arm up to block another attack from Jaelyn. Ducking, turning, arms swinging up with daggers firmly held in her hands to parry another blow.

"Enough," she said sharply, to be sure to get Jaelyn's attention as she held her arms up in front of her. They had been practicing for just over an hour, and just that brief time seemed to have stretched on forever for the Dark Lady. It had been too long since she had held a weapon in her hand. Much to long for her liking, as she had come to realise over the past hour.

The witch walked over to the side of the training room where water and towels sat on a bench. A sigh left her lips as she brought a water bottle to her lips and took a swing.

Jaelyn smiled devilishly as she thrust the dagger close to her friend's abdomen, only for the attack to be swiftly blocked. The least she could say that the other woman had not lost her skill, nor her quick reflexes. Jaelyn glanced at the woman's face, and smirked. Perhaps her stamina, though.

Her hands dropped as soon as Ksenia spoke, and laughed as she made a beeline for her water bottle.

"You're getting old, Sokol." she taunted, insisting on using her maiden name. It was what she knew her as. Jaelyn dabbed her face with a towel on the other side of the room briefly, only a thin sheen of sweat on her.

Ksenia just rolled her eyes at that taunt. That was what she knew to expect from her closest friend. Had it been anyone else her reaction would have been entirely different. "I am not any older than you, Morozov, but unlike yourself I have managed to bear four children," she drawled at her friend, turning so she could see her, a water bottle in one hand a towel in the other. The witch looked slightly weary but balanced easily on her feet, her gaze remaining sharp as she walked over to the other blonde.

"That is not an easy physical feat," she stated as she wiped the towel over her forehead and looked around the room. It was a small space as she had charmed it to be when they had entered it so they could have some privacy. There were so many things to discover at the fortress located inside a mountain that had become the new headquarters of the Dark army just a few days ago.

Ordered chaos presided over the fortress as everyone worked to move and change and organise everything that needed to be organised. The Dark Lady herself had only gotten four hours of sleep the night before, yet returning some of the physical combat skills was something that she she had set out to do once her daughter turned four and she was not about to post pone that, new headquarters or not.

Jaelyn smirked, twirling the dagger idly in one hand, the other resting on her hip.

"Four children, and die in a fight." she paused. "Or, no children, and live." The woman shrugged her shoulders, as if she could not help the matter. "Seems like an easy choice to me, Sokol." Other than to produce an heir to her husband's throne, Jaelyn could never completely understand why the other woman would want children of her own.

"It's easy when you're not old and unfit." she murmured in response, chuckling and looking down at her dagger.

Jaelyn stretched her arms lazily, and for an instant had an odd resemblance of a cat. "You'll keep up like you used to eventually."

"Until you have a child of your own, you will have no idea what it feels like," Ksenia said as she tilted her head slightly to take another sip of her water. She stretched her spine slightly, feeling the movement of tired muscles.

"I am surprised that you haven't even found a man that you would be willing to marry by now," she stated, tilting her head as she looked at the other woman. There were a lot of males in the dark army and Jaelyn, having the highest rank of any woman in the army apart from Ksenia herself was quite an attractive prize for many of them. "What's wrong? Too stubborn to try out new things?" she raised an eyebrow as she asked that.

"Of course I will if you keep nagging me about it." She could never admit to anyone but the other blonde just how much she depended on her insults sometimes. She was the only person who would be willing to tell her if she was doing something wrong, the others would be too scared or jealous to speak up.

"And pray tell, Sokol," Jaelyn drawled, moving to lean on the wall. She was briefly reminded of their conversations in high school, when she tended to stay in this position while they spoke. "exactly what does it feel like?" She cocked her head to the side expectantly.

The woman scowled and crossed her arms over her chest. "They're dull." she replied simply, unwilling to pursue the subject. It was fine for Jaelyn to tease the other woman- but she could not stand it when Ksenia returned the favour.

Jaelyn smirked impishly. "Good luck ever trying to keep up with me."

"I am not going to tell you," Ksenia said with a smirk. "You are going to have to work it out for yourself," she stated, shrugging her shoulders slightly. Jaelyn had seen her with her own children many times, but from what she said now there was no real connection to that feeling of motherhood present. She would have to experience it for herself.

"Another thing you don't have to worry about when you are married is your safety," she said as she stretched her arms in front of her, the muscles groaning in protest. 'Have someone else do that for you."

"Really now?" It doesn't seem that way when you end up return from successful missions with some of them." Her eyes glinted in amusement as she smirked.

"Are we really going to compare all that we do again, Morozov?" she drawled, rolling her eyes. It was a childish habit of their, childish bickering, but it was something they only pertook in when it was just the two of them.

Jaelyn rolled her eyes at the woman. "If I wanted to find out myself, I would have had children." She threw her towel to the side and moved slowly into the centre of the room again. "However," she said, holding out her dagger. "I do not feel so inclined to know."

The woman shook her head. "I take care of myself, Sokol. Even if I were to be betrothed." There was no way that Jaelyn could ever be dependent on someone else. Her pride would simply not allow her to. In truth, the only person she could come close to trusting with her safety was the other woman in the room.

Jaelyn grinned wolfishly. "It doesn't mean I can't have my fun with them, does it?" she raised an eyebrow.

"As long as I live." she confirmed.

"We are getting old like you said yourself, Morozov," Ksenia rolled her own eyes as she followed her companion to the middle of the room leaving her water bottle and towel behind. "You should at least start thinking about some life experiences that you have not been through yet," she said as she threw the dagger casually in her hand, catching it before throwing it up again. She moved her feet so she was positioned more steadily on the floor, getting her body used to combat again. There were so much of it that should be insticntual, and it was twelve years ago, and now she needed to bring it back to the surface. But Dagereth has always been there right beside, providing her with the stability without which she was sure she would have perished without in this life.

"I am not saying you cannot take care of yourself," she rolled her eyes once again," her attention still focused once again. "Women of our standing will end up dead if we do that," that was the hard truth to the matter. ."When you marry a man things become very different. In some parts you become weaker, yes I suppose that is true. But in other parts you become stronger then you ever could have been on your own," she said as she caught the dagger and met the woman's eyes once again. Twenty years of life with Dagereth was what was directly behind her. They have been grueling years. Eventful, frightening, exciting, overwhelming, victorious, hard and yet never boring.

"Why do I even put up with a friend like you?" she said lightly, her breaking out into a laugh, a light melodious sound that very people had the pleasure of hearing from her.

"I said you were getting old, Sokol." Jaelyn interrupted. "I've had plenty of life experiences." she retorted, frowning. "I just don't understand why motherhood could ever be desirable." Jaelyn shrugged her shoulders. She honestly found herself unable to comprehend why someone would want to have people depending on them all the time, for everything.

"Women of our standing, Sokol," she said, "have been led to believe that we will end up dead if we do that."

She shook her head stubbornly, wary to keep her tone somewhat respectful. "I disagree, Sokol. A woman can be stronger than another woman and a man combined."

"I don't need marriage, and I don't particularly want it." she shrugged again.

Jaelyn smirked, moving into a firm battle stance. "Because you'd miss me if I left."

"Don't flatter yourself," Ksenia said drily before rolling her eyes once again. "I look much better off than most women my age," she said as she smoothed down her shirt.

"Have you not learned anything, Morozov?" Ksenia said, raising her eyebrows and resting her hands on her hips. "That is what the men say and this is what they will continue to say. Their arrogance will never allow them to say anything else," she stated, her tone even and strong, like it was on most occasions when she was fulfilling her role as the Dark Lady. "But Gods, give them a woman who is not able to stand up for herself and they will turn her into a slave, make her the lowest of servants and listen to no words that she had to say."

"Their goal is to have power. As much as humanly possible and even more than that. They will just trample anyone who is weak or cannot assist them on their journey to that power and that includes their partners. That is why we have to pretend, to let them. Because there is no other way if we want to live peacefully with them."

She shrugged her shoulders once again, not that bothered by that particular question. "It all depends on what kind of man you choose. In here, in the inner circle, any man will make you stronger if you actually allow him to," she stated, flicking her long braid over her shoulder. “That is where your problem lies.”

“Ah yes,” Ksenia said, moving her own feet and tightening her grip on her two daggers. “That is where my problem lies. Such weakness,” she said calmly, with notes of sarcasm in her voice.

Jaelyn chuckled, and raked her hair away from her face with painted nails. "Whatever you say, grandma."

The woman's head tilted her head to the side as Ksenia used what she liked to call her "grown up voice." She usually used this tone when other people were around.

"Agreed." she nodded her head after the dark lady had finished speaking, then shook her head. "Exactly why do we marry them?" she smirked. "Most of them are morons."

"Or," she paused, looking at Ksenia pointedly. "We could assert our own authority so much that we would need to come to a compromise with our husbands."

Jaelyn, for a moment, almost looked tired- only those who knew her well enough could spot it.

"Haven't found the right one yet, Sokol. I'll tell you when I do." she murmured.

A smile tugged at her lips, and she began to move in a circular pattern around the other woman. "I'm your weakness, Sokol?" Her smirk grew. "I'm touched."

"I will make a beautiful grandma," Ksenia couldn't help but smirk at those word. "Though if Jarlan does impregnate anyone any time soon I am going to kill him myself," she stated more seriously as she adjusted the dagger slightly in her hand.

"Yes, men are morons," she agreed with the other blonde before another smirk spread across her lips. "Jaelyn dear, we are better then men. We are not ruled so much by our instincts to dominate everything that we see. that what allows us to think clearly. And that in turn what makes our position so perfect. Let men sort their petty surface fights for power by themselves. We both know that real power lies beneath the surface. Why waste our energy asserting our power when it could be gained through other means?" she raised an eyebrow as her eyes gleamed with pleasure.

A frown creased her forehead for only a few moments as she looked at her friend and nodded her head slightly. There was nothing else that she needed to say on the subject right now.

"Yes, a person does become a weakness when you have known them for nearly twenty five years," Ksenia drawled, her words completely genuine yet told in such a casual manner that a person who did not know her well would not take seriously.

She bent her knees a bit more and started moving with the other witch, circling, ignoring the protest of her tired muscles as she prepared herself for another hour of practice.