Chapter 19 #2
"Oh, I would believe she demanded miracles at the tip of one of her spines.
" I chuckled. "If we are talking about things, though.
" I leaned forward and laced my fingers together, staring Melgara in the eyes.
"We could talk a little about stamina. Lily is”—I hesitated for the right word “—insistent. "
Melgara chuckled. "From what I've heard from her end, you are doing just fine, Captain." She smirked. "But I suppose every man wants a little more stamina. I'll see what I can do. After all, we wouldn't want Lily to be disappointed, now, would we?"
"No. We can't have that." I chuckled and shook my head.
***
Tiri and Brick were now both out of commission.
Since the message from her father, Tiri had been less helpful than before.
The woman was clearly struggling with the new reality that her home sector was nowhere nearly as welcoming as she had hoped.
Losing what one knew of as home was always painful, and Tiri certainly wasn't immune.
Strangely, the person who seemed to be handling the current situation best was Violet, who had continued her lessons with Madame Chiksai's nephew without issue.
But I had begun going with Lily, and we'd taken to spending nights on the ship.
Even without power, the presence of Lily's other half made all of us far better able to sleep.
At least, having the added security made me feel better. I wasn't so sure about the others.
We were out with Violet, and Lily was now watching with obvious amusement as the younger kikai handily walloped me.
"He's getting better," Violet said. "Just the other is getting better at a far faster degree."
I hated to admit it, but she was right. The nephew was moving along quickly.
"The captain's really not doing too bad," Violet said. "The biggest problem is the captain's head."
"What is wrong with his head?" Lily narrowed her eyes at the much shorter kikai.
"Well, for one, he thinks too much. You're wondering what advantage Chiksai's nephew has over your captain?
It's that when I say slash, he slashes. He doesn't think.
There's no time for him to consider if it's the right move or not.
He just acts. Practice that enough and you have a fighter who has honed his reactions incredibly well.
The captain, on the other hand…" Violet narrowed her eyes.
"He thinks. You can see it. It's subtle, an almost imperceptible pause between each stroke of the blade where he considers what's happening next. "
"And that's not normal?" Lily asked.
"Oh no, it's perfectly normal." Violet waved her hand.
"Probably healthier that he doesn't do everything I say.
But my master would say people like him are going to have a much harder time learning the sword.
There's a concept of becoming one with the blade, and really that's just a fancy way of saying you stop thinking about everything you're going to do and it simply happens.
You don't think about lifting your hand before you lift it, do you? "
"No," Lily conceded.
"Exactly. Reaching that state requires a familiarity that the captain simply doesn't have, and again, it's clear he's thinking too much," Violet answered.
***
Lily found herself frowning at the captain. She wanted him to be perfect, but here the stupid kikai was saying that he was flawed, and Lily simply wouldn't have that. She wondered briefly if this was something that Melgara's experiments could fix and then wrote it off.
No, everyone involved would likely get squeamish if she mentioned altering the captain's mind first, though a couple of playful thoughts went through Lily's imagination.
There were certainly ways the captain's mind could be enhanced, in her view.
Simply increasing his sensitivity would be fantastic.
She paused those thoughts a second later, however.
It wasn't something the captain would enjoy her thinking about.
In fact, frustratingly and consistently, it felt as though she was the one benefiting more from their nighttime activities than him.
She wanted to please him, make him melt underneath her, but it was always the other way around.
"If he just had faster reactions, would that help him?" Lily asked.
Violet shrugged. "Reactions are good, but they aren't everything. It still comes down to a different state of mind."
Lily frowned but discontinued that particular conversation. "While we're here…" she started, glancing at Violet, "the captain informed me that your master's previous residence was close. I would like to see it."
She was leading Violet on just as the captain had recommended.
He'd said that Violet would most likely be unwilling to go simply for the sake of breaking in, but that a visit might appeal to her.
In situations like this, Lily had already long determined that the captain's judgment was superior to her own.
"Hm, sure," Violet said offhandedly. "But it's going to get late soon."
"No problem." Lily smiled. "In fact, late might be better. Fewer workers. Perhaps we can even sneak in and take a look at what remains of your master's place."
Violet waved her hand. "Unlikely to be much. She didn't leave anything for me in her will, nor do I expect to find much there."
Despite the loss, the kikai didn't show any pain. Lily found that incredibly curious. Did she not like her master, or was there something else?