When Clenna had requested to be trained in self-defense she had been thinking more along the lines of learning how to use a firearm, not to have Cobbs knock on her door one morning, a change of clothes on his arm and a mischievous glint in his eyes that made her immediately distrust his smile. She certainly wasn't expecting to be led to a waiting Samuel holding what she found out were two small swords, and she would have been happy to not spend the next hour just being criticized about her stance and the way she held the sword. While she fumed silently she swore to herself that she would learn French, if only to find out what it was Cobbs said with such a sweet smile that made Samuel break his focus and either chuckle or say something back to him. All the while she glared, knowing they did it on purpose, surely to rile her up.
It also didn't help that Marcas was nearby, completely carefree as he rested on Verina’s back, Tameka curled around him seemingly asleep. He could at least have offered some support, Clenna thought and muttered under her breath. Samuel was quickly there, tapping her fingers with a disapproving look, and Marcas yawned widely, pointedly. She glared in his direction, and while he didn't say anything she could feel his amusement.
“Don't get distracted,” Samuel said, moving to her other side. “That's when your opponent will strike, be certain of that.”
Clenna rolled her eyes but straightened, her focus returning to the lesson her benefactor was giving her. Her stance was good, she knew it, and she corrected the way she held her arm, remembering the way Samuel had moved it before. Cobbs hummed while Samuel walked around her with critical eyes.
“She is a quick learner, isn't she? Just look at her; in a few weeks we will have another player in our small competitions, don't you think?”
Clenna risked a glance at Cobbs, getting a wink and a nod. His approval shouldn't have meant so much, but hearing it still made her chest warm, her earlier irritation fading away. She still hadn't heard much praise from Samuel, but if Cobbs was approving of her already then Samuel probably wasn't far behind.
“Perhaps,” Samuel said with a thoughtful twist of his lips, and Clenna smiled victoriously. It slipped away quickly, though, when Samuel turned to Cobbs and added, “If only she would stop breaking her stance every time I look away.”
Cobbs chuckled and shook his head, a hand on his cheek. “I say she just needs time. She's a tough girl, I'm sure she can do it. I would even bet she can join our regular spars at the end of the month.”
Samuel crossed his arms. “I'll take that bet. I don't think she will be up for it until next month, at the very least.”
“And what do I get when I join you at the end of this week?”
Both men turned towards her, expressions a mix of surprise and amusement. She looked back, chin raised in a challenge. If they were going to talk about her and bet about her training, then she was going to join in too.
Cobbs’ face broke out into a delighted smile, and the look he shared with Samuel was too quick for her to read. Samuel nodded to her, a smaller but equally warm smile on his lips. “If you win this bet you can ask for something, anything you want.”
“And I'm sure you can think of something good,” Cobbs added. He tilted his head, a faux concerned look on his face that couldn't be meant to be fool her. “I would have to advise you to work hard in that case. Your form, my dear, as it is is simply atrocious. Any fencer worth the title could take you out in a few well-placed thrusts.”
“Well then, shouldn't you get back to teaching me?” Clenna asked haughty, raising an eyebrow, to which Cobbs laughed into his hand. Samuel shook his head, but as he walked back to her side there was still his small smile.
Michael could be considered a captive of the Indians? He is pretty influenced for Declan and Sokanon´s company. Clenna demands to Michael that he betray Declan several times. She´s a hateful character don´t you think?
Michael pretty much stopped being a captive after he offered to get them into the place they were holding the Okimaws grandson, and then left with them again when shit hit the fan. He was risking getting killed for his actions no matter who he stayed with at that point, and he made the choice to stay with Harp and Sokanon.
He made his choice because he’d heard what both sides wanted, and saw what kinds of things they’d do to get what they wanted. He decided that despite the dangers Harp was the better option.
Michael has had access to information Clenna hasn’t, and has been forced to make choices that Clenna hasn’t been confronted with. Both of which have resulted in Michael adapting and growing while Clenna has stayed more or less the same.
Clenna isn’t hateful. She’s just young. Inexperienced.
She is a city kid who is about as far out of her realm of experience as she can get. She’s been dragged across the ocean to an unfamiliar place full of strangers that have more control over where she can go and what she can do than she does.
And unlike Michael who came to Fort James being told from the get go, that if he wanted to do as much as stay alive (getting home and freeing Clenna were bonus’s added to make sure he’d decide staying alive was worth the trouble, and because Clenna’s existence gave Benton extra leverage), then he had to do as he was told and play his part, Clenna has only been told that she’s here because Michael asked.
Michael went into life in Fort James with no real idea what to expect, BUT it was at least made clear to him that the stakes were huge and that he’d have to adapt fast. Clenna didn’t even get that.
She has no idea the full extent of the situation she’s been dragged into. And no one, not even Michael, has tried to explain it. He’s just thrown a bunch of contrary information at her and followed up with phrases like “I’ll explain later” and “It’s not something you need to worry about” and expected Clenna to just accept it and put herself in what from her perspective is a much more dangerous position than the one she’s in now. The last time she put that much trust in him, her brother died, and she ended up a prisoner.
As far as she’s concerned, with the limited information and experience she has, she’s better off trusting that Benton will help her and Michael get home to the world where she knows how to get by, (where she has control over her own life). Which means she (and Michael) are better off if she can convince Michael to betray Harp and get the hell out of Fort James.
If she had things actually explained to her, and even half the time Michael had to see how things are for herself then it’s entirely possible she’d stop trying to get Michael to betray Harp. Her end goal of getting the hell back to civilisation would probably stay the same, but how she’d try to get there might change.
