Chapter 4
CHAPTER 4
Leonin
I left the Dragoon’s compound feeling a little shaken. I’d heard of the infamous Kelric Drakoson — even seen him across large banquet halls from time to time — but hadn’t expected him to be quite so imposing and filthy up close.
He wasn’t taller than me, but somehow in that heavy armor of his, he’d seemed to loom over me. It was not something I was used to. Hopefully this Sera he was sending me to see would be a bit more of a pleasant sight. I was uncertain about taking combat lessons from a woman but given what I’d gone through so far… that might be my only option.
The trouble was my name. And it wasn’t the name I’d given Kelric: Leomund of Seven Stars. My true name was Prince Leonin Pearlece.
I’d had to use the pseudonym with Kelric since he worked for my family. He’d know that we princes had royal combat trainers. He’d also know that training me would be a huge liability for him and have refused instantly… as had everyone else I’d talked to.
Yet, since we’d never formally met, I’d hoped to convince him I wasn’t a royal, but from a high noble family. The Seven Stars family was well respected, but still, Kelric hadn’t wished to take me on. And he’d been my last hope… until he’d given me another name: Sera.
As for why I needed an instructor… it had all begun six years ago, when I’d married Lady Theodora of Vestrea.
I sighed heavily. She had been a good woman. I had come to respect her, even if I hadn’t loved her. But our very political marriage had started a war. Vestrea had been a province of Eromore, a neighboring kingdom to the north, and the marriage hadn’t been sanctioned by the Eromorn King. Which meant, Pearlia had subtly annexed the province and Eromore had gone to war to retake it.
Many had died because of our marriage, but Theodora had always remained certain and sure that our marriage had been the correct course for her and her nation. She firmly believed that Vestrea belonged with Pearlia, not Eromore. She’d had a warrior’s heart, stalwart in her faith and the justness of her cause. It had inspired me.
I’d always loved books more than blades. I’d been taught weapons, as had all the royal children, but I’d had no talent for it. I’d often skipped weapons training to sneak off to the library and delve into the ancient tales of gods and heroes.
I’d much preferred reading about battle to fighting, but Theodora’s fierce nature had started to sway me.
Then she’d died in childbirth two years into our marriage. The baby hadn’t survived either. I’d vowed to her, on her deathbed, I’d become a man worthy of her warrior’s spirit.
Her death had also meant the end of the war, since the Pearlian claim over Vestrea had vanished. An armistice had been called. Pearlia had come away with the city of Vestrea — almost completely destroyed by the war — and some surrounding countryside, which made up the southern-most portion of the province. The rest of the province had returned to Eromore.
I’d mourned Theodora for a year, as was right. After that my mother, the Queen, had come to me and told me, in no uncertain terms, I’d be joining the priesthood. An unmarried son was no use to her and she could see how I had no desire to marry again. The first marriage had caused enough trouble.
It had seemed a reasonable course for me, given my more studious nature, but I couldn’t fulfil my vow to Theodora in the priesthood.
Yet my vow didn’t change that I’d always been poor at combat. What it changed was my dedication to learn, to grow, no matter what it took. I rededicated myself and my life to the study of weapons.
But when my mother had found out I’d been seeking combat training, she’d banned all the palace trainers and guards from working with me. She remained adamant I should enter the priesthood.
Thus began a very long quest to find a teacher. Yet, I was too well known. No mercenary captain or guard captain of another noble house would risk training me. If they accidentally hurt me, they’d be in deep trouble with my mother. I’d spent three years sneaking out of the palace when I could, feigning some interest in the priesthood for my mother, all the while seeking a combat instructor.
Kelric had been my last hope.
Now, this Sera was my last hope.
I found her home and stopped at the side of the road to admire it. It seemed a pleasant place, indicating a certain level of wealth. A long front lawn stretched from the road to the small cottage. A low, rough stone wall separated it from the next plot on the one side. The laneway, guarded by two straight lines of trees on either side of it, stretched down the other side of the lawns. Behind the cottage there were some other buildings and what looked like some gardens and small bits of forested areas. It looked quaint and lovely.
I grew increasingly curious about the warrior-woman who lived here. Was she some minor noblewoman who’d learned swordplay, or perhaps a woman who’d worked her way up in the army until she’d earned enough to retire here?
Was she older?
Was she?—?
“Can I help you?”
The voice startled me from my reverie. I looked to see a woman next to me with a questioning glance on her long, squarish face. Her brown hair was cut incredibly short, sweeping down over her forehead and left eye but otherwise standing in tufts and spikes. Her brown eyes were hard, one brow raised. She seemed a bit abrasive and standoffish.
She cocked her head to one side and added: “Is there a reason you’re staring at my house?”
Her house?
Was this Sera?
She was so young! For some reason I’d assumed she must be at least in her forties, if not elderly. I also assumed that was why I’d never heard of her, if she’d been granted status as a noble or granted this land before I was born, but this woman… She looked to be no older than thirty.
Caught off guard, I stammered, which wasn’t like me at all. I finally managed to eke out the words: “I’m Leo.”
“I’m Tisera. I repeat, can I help you with something?”
Tisera, not Sera, interesting. Perhaps she was the daughter of the woman I sought?
But again, words stuck in my throat. When they did come, they were utterly ridiculous: “I want to fight… with… your mother?”
The woman’s confused and questioning look grew more pronounced and a bit disgusted. “My mother is long dead, good sir .” Her inflection suggested that I was not — in fact — a good sir and vexing her.
Her mother was dead, but then…
“Are you Sera?” I asked.
Her face turned hard. “Don’t call me that.” She turned and began stalking toward the laneway. But she stopped after only a few paces, her head cocking further to one side. “Did Kel send you?”
Kel? Oh… Kelric Drakoson. “Ah… yes.”
Without turning she asked. “You want to fight me?” Her shoulder lurched in what I guessed was a laugh. I wasn’t sure that was entirely called for.
“I want to learn to fight,” I said, finally managing to get out the right words.
Those same shoulders fell a little with a sigh perhaps. “Ah.” She turned back. “You’re noble, yes?”
I nodded.
Good, she hadn’t figured out who I really was.
“Too much coin for your own good, sort of noble?”
I quirked a smile. That was definitely true. “Yes.”
She looked me up and down as if I were some aged nag of a horse she was considering buying. “Do you have any experience with a sword?”
“Some.” I quickly added: “But, assume I know nothing, I’d start from the beginning.”
She raised a brow at that. “Good, you’re that smart at least.” She gave another heavy sigh. “I don’t usually train others, so my rates are high. One strip. How’s that sound?”
A strip of silver? That was nothing. “For how many sessions?”
She laughed. “One.”
Ah… well this could add up then, but that didn’t matter. “Done.”
She seemed surprised, but then nodded. “Come this way, good sir Leo.” She turned and began walking down the laneway.
I hurried to catch up.
She was tall for a woman. I only just looked over the top of her head so my long legs could easily keep pace with hers, but still, she walked briskly.
Without looking she asked, “Leo. That’s a common name for your generation of nobles, isn’t it? Named after the Young Prince?”
Young Prince indeed. I was twenty-and-five years of age!
But what she’d said was true and why I could get away with using at least part of my real name. “Yes, I’m Leomund of Seven Stars, but you can call me Leo if you like.”
“Done. Leo. I’ve never liked formalities anyway.” She glanced over at me. “I’m assuming you didn’t bring any clothes for fighting?”
No, I hadn’t. “Are we beginning now?”
“Yes. I want to test you. You up for it?”
Someone had finally agreed to teach me, I didn’t want to lose that. “Of course. Whatever you desire, I will oblige.”
Her one brow raised again. “Indeed?” We walked in silence down the long laneway. “I will want to get changed before we begin. Do you have time to wait?”
Everyone thought I was at the Library of Wisteri, but I’d slipped out the back. I had all day if I wanted it.
“Yes.” My heart began to beat faster. I was finally going to begin my training. Though… Perhaps I shouldn’t be too excited as she only said she would test me. Did that mean she might still turn me away? I had to impress her.
“Wait here,” she said when we reached the yard behind the house. She continued on to the small cottage and went inside.
I looked around. A large barn stood to my right, from within came the bleat of sheep. That must have been how she kept that large lawn out-front so well-tended. Beside the barn was a large garden, stretching away toward the back of the property. On the other side of that was a stand of decorative trees, including a copse of closely planted junipers, which oddly had a stone arch and wooden doorway on one side. Paths led back to other shade trees and sitting areas toward the back of the property as well.
Very quaint.
An elderly woman emerged from the barn and stopped when she saw me. “You here to see the mistress? She’s out, gone off with?—”
“I am yes, and she just returned, I believe.”
The old woman nodded. “Good, so you’re sorted?”
“Yes, thank you.”
She nodded and went toward the gardens.
Odd.
Tisera emerged from the cottage a moment later wearing what looked like a padded gambeson, with more sedate clothes beneath than the dark blue and black she’d been wearing before. She held two swords made of wood and threw one at me. My reflexes were quick enough that I was able to catch it and she seemed surprised. “Not bad.”
“I may not know how to fight, but that doesn’t mean I’m an awkward clod,” I clarified.
She nodded. “Point taken.” She set herself in a fighting stance, lifting her sword. “Defend yourself.”
I thought to ask: “Do I get any padding?”
“Not until you’ve earned it. Pass your test first.”
That was clear enough. I expected I was about to be in considerable pain. But, since I did know some basics, I held the sword as I’d been taught and set myself.
She tilted her head to one side then the other observing me, quirking her lips. I couldn’t tell if that was a good sign or not.
Then she attacked: a blur. My sword went flying.
I yelped. My hand ached from the force of having the sword torn away. In addition, she’d hit me twice. My right shoulder throbbed with a stinging ache and my side was going to have one Hells of a nasty bruise.
I stumbled back and unceremoniously fell on my ass.
Tisera had reset to her ready stance and for an instant, I wondered if she had moved at all. Perhaps it had been some trick. She might be a Phorasti, with mystical powers. But that seemed less likely than the possibility of her just being incredibly quick and skilled with a blade.
“Get up,” she said, hard, stern.
I did. “I’m assuming I failed the test then?” I said dusting myself off, trying not to wince as I moved my right arm.
She chuckled, a bit of a hard edge to it. “Pick up the sword,” she said.
That wasn’t an answer.
“I’m not sure if I can. My hand is half-numb.” I picked up the practice weapon with my left hand and flexed my right hand a few times before gripping it again. The weight of the wooden weapon was almost too much with my injured and weak right arm. I switched to my left. That didn’t feel any better, but it wasn’t any worse.
“Are you left-handed?” she asked.
“Both hands are equal for me.”
She nodded and raised that left brow of hers once again. “Part two of the test: your turn, hit me.”
I could be quick if I needed to be, but I didn’t have any illusions that I was quicker than her.
I swung for her right hip.
Again, her movements were too quick for me to see. I just felt the results: another numb hand as the sword was torn away, another stinging shoulder and…
“Oh!” I gasped. She was right up in my face, her sword rubbing against my neck. The message was clear. I was dead.
“I take it I failed?” I said, a bit disheartened.
She stepped back, dropping the practice sword from my neck. “No.”
I blinked. “But… I… I don’t understand.”
She spoke as she picked up my weapon. “I can teach speed and we can work on strength, but there is one thing I can’t teach, and I wouldn’t train you if you didn’t have it.” She looked at me directly. “Heart, courage.”
Oh?
“You passed the moment you agreed to do the second test. You were in pain and could have run away, tail between your legs, but you didn’t. You stood your ground, knowing it was going to hurt. That takes courage. I’ll teach you.” She grinned. “For one strip a session, in advance.”
I shrugged, and regretted it instantly, given both of my injured shoulders. Reaching for the pouch at my belt I undid the clasp and pulled out five strips handing them over to her. “Here’s the cost for today, plus the next four sessions. I figure we can reassess where I am at that point.”
She hesitated, eyes a bit wide. It was clear she was not wealthy if five strips of silver impressed her. She took them reverently. “Agreed.”
“Is there more to today’s lesson, or just humiliation and pain?”
She laughed. “Did you want more? How do you feel? I pulled those hits, but still…”
Those had been pulled ? That wasn’t her full strength? By Brovos!
But I wanted to impress her. I wasn’t sure why impressing this common woman was suddenly so important, but it was. “I’m good to continue,” I said. “As long as I get armor too.”
Another laugh from her, more of a guffaw, with a bit of a snort. “I like you. Yes, you can have some armor. I’m glad you’re sticking with it. There may be more to you than a skinny nobleman. This way.”
I didn’t know why, but with her raucous laughter and her backhanded compliment about being ‘more than a skinny nobleman,’ she was growing on me. I think it was because no one had ever dared be that forthright with me in my life. More than that, Tisera was giving me exactly what I wanted and needed, a chance to learn combat. This woman fascinated me in a way no other ever had. A growing part of me wanted to be around her, impress her… even if I was going to get hurt…
… a lot.