Dresden easily blocked her attack, which she had expected. If not, it would be even more embarrassing for him than for her, even though she had performed the attack. He pushed her sword away, to which she responded by taking a few steps back in order not to get her arm flung so far that she'd fall over. She dodged the attack to her left side but wasn't exactly quick again, so the sword grazed her. "Fuck", she mumbled.

She wasn't on her A game anymore. The pregnancy was making it more difficult than it should be to dodge and act fast. Panting a little, she took another step back, obviously asking for a time-out, although it was a non-verbal question.

Dresden saw the reaction to the hit clearly. As soon as he did, he drew the wooden sword back in close to his body, letting it hang by his side. He didn't move in, he remained there, his feet planted. There wasn't worry on his face, exactly. More like confusion. He'd never actually gotten to spar with her, but he knew she had more energy and far better skills than this.

"Lady Kane, are you alright?" He asked, reaching up to wipe the sweat that had beaded up on his forehead during the spar. "Do you wanna stop, my lady?"

She put up her left hand. "I'm fine, I'm fine." She forced a smile on her face to seem like she was okay. "But a break won't hurt. I'm sure you have better things to do anyway." She laughed jokingly and wiped some loose hairs out of her face. The soldiers around them were starting to lose interest in the sparring now that the two of them were just talking. "I'm afraid it's obvious who is the loser here." She chuckled and shook her head a bit.

Dresden watched as the soldiers grew bored with the spar as soon as it ceased to be exciting. Though some lingered, most of them had turned their attention elsewhere. This was an old rumor, and it had clearly begun to lose it's luster. His partner, the one he'd dragged along, remained close by. "I'm afraid that I was the winner all along, my lady. After all, you graced me with your time. Mine is not nearly as valuable. Win or lose, every spar with you furthers my knowledge." The words were dripping with honey, and yet devoid of emotion. Clearly delivered as a means to appease a noble lady. Clearly delivered for the audience, and not for Scout. Because most of the commoners had to be like that with most of the nobility. They had to be humble. Had to grovel. If Dresden acted any different, if he acted too friendly, it would be suspicious.

Resting the wooden sword on his shoulder, he took a step closer to the blonde, brows furrowed, lips turned downward in a frown. He spoke more quietly this time. "Should I have someone call you a doctor, Lady Kane?" He asked genuinely. "It's unlike y -- a lady of your caliber to become tired so quickly. Maybe you're gettin' sick?"

Scout rolled her eyes with exaggeration at his words and grinned. "Please, I can only take so much ass-kissing." She could tell he was trying to talk to her like he would to another noble lady, but it still amused her. It was just too much.

"D- doctor?" she asked. She didn't want a doctor coming here and confirming that she was pregnant. Dresden wasn't allowed to know about her pregnancy. Scout shook her head. "No, I should be fine in a bit. Maybe you and your partner can walk me to my office so I can get some rest."

The grin that spawned on her face from his honey-covered words had him wanting to grin as well, but he held it back. Brows shooting upward, he nodded, a hand flat on his chest. "As you wish, m'lady."

But he was still weary when she denied seeing a doctor. It wasn't the denial itself, but the way she'd done it. She was acting weird. Not herself. But maybe it was just because he really didn't know her that well. Everyone had a lot of faces they wore. Maybe the few times they'd spent together, she'd just been wearing a different face. Wouldn't surprise him. People were like that.

"Uh, yeah, sure. We can do that." He said, looking over at that man that stood close by. The guy nodded, and Dresden took the two wooden swords and walked them over to hang them on the rack, before returning. His partner fell into step beside him, and Dresden held his arm out to gesture to Scout to go ahead. "After you, Lady Kane."

It hurt her heart to see he stuck to his little skit, acting like she was just a noblewoman. But on the other hand, it helped her feel secure on her decision not to tell him about the baby. It was best for all of them if he didn't know about it at all.

The men agreed to walk her back to her office, to which she responded with a relieved sigh. She was feeling a bit better already but she'd feel more comfortable being walked to her office in case she would feel weird again on the way over there. Once Dresden had put away the swords, the three of them were on their way. Scout started walking towards the palace, to the offices.

Once they got there, the woman opened the door and walked inside. The currently still nameless orange stray that she had picked up from the street purred and jumped on her desk, ready for pets and cuddles. She scratched his head before sitting down in her chair, looking to see if the men had entered the office or not. "I can offer you a glass of water or a little stronger if you want, gentlemen", she said, wanting to st least thank them someway for walking her.

Dresden kept a trained eye on her as they walked toward her office. He remained silent, stoic, as did his partner. He didn't want to look too friendly or jovial, not knowing how quickly the rumors could resurface and while it hadn't done too much damage to him the first time around, this second time he had more to lose.

His work for Augustus Rainecourt was important if only because the man had agreed to find Dinah. The money was good, yes, and being given a much higher position - promoted to royal guard sometime in the near future - meant he no longer had to roam the streets, calming every angered citizen or fighting battles on behalf of one side or the other of the gifted war. But those things didn't really matter. His sister mattered.

In that same spirit, he lifted his hands to refuse the offer of a drink once she was safely in her office. "We couldn't," he refused politely. "We were only doin' our jobs. If you're feelin' better now, we'll give you yer space." Lingering wouldn't look good, either. He knew that, and yet, he did remain for a moment, looking in at the cat that had jumped onto her jacket. Then he nodded, the slightest smile and wink thrown her way as he turned to leave, his back momentarily to his partner. "Good day, Lady Kane."

"Yes, good day, Lady Kane," the other man repeated and nodded his head as well, and then the two men took their leave, returning to the training grounds.