There are a hundred better things I could be doing on my first day back, but fine, I’ll do this instead.
“Fyren, if you can blood me, you can leave,” she offered, stepping into the space between them. She flipped one sword and carefully caught the blade, holding out the hilt to the disgruntled female. “This is your only chance until I’m in the mood again, and that could be awhile. I have better people to spar against than weak-armed slaves. I don’t like beating up the powerless.” The words were harsh, but they got her point across. Fyren stomped forward and took the sword. “Senri, call time.”
“Positions,” Senri ordered from the side. “Females, step back and give them space!”
The crowd pushed out. Mave spun her remaining sword in her right hand. It wouldn’t stay there. This young female had no idea what she was about to try to beat. Maybe it would push the girl to get better.
“Here are the rules. If I draw blood on you three times, I win. If you draw blood on me once, you are free to stop coming to these trainings. If you draw blood on me three times, I’ll lower my eyes to you.”
Allaina, Senri, and every female who knew Mave gasped or coughed to try to cover up their reactions.
It’s never going to happen, but I have to give the girl something to work for.
“Begin!” Senri called.
Mave didn’t launch into an attack. As she thought, the girl and her temper charged first, screaming as she tried to cleave Mave open. She deflected it easily, noticing how weak the attack actually was.
She didn’t do much physical labor as a slave, then. This amount of exercise must be uncomfortable, and that could fuel her dislike for it. Training a soft body from scratch can’t be pleasant.
Even the females from Olost weren’t truly soft or untrained. They were inexperienced, but they did physical things—helping with the fields and the harvest, building if they needed—and they had all known how to use their swords. Mave was now encountering her first female who truly had no idea what she was doing. Raised and weakened by the Elvasi—this was what they did to the Andinna—weakened them, made them soft.
She sidestepped and let Fyren run past her, her deflected sword leading the way as she couldn’t stop her own momentum. As gently as she could, Mave poked the back of her thigh and brought a spot of blood through the leather.
“One for Mave!” Senri called.
“This is child’s play,” Allaina said, loud enough to be heard.
Fyren growled, and Mave was impressed by the rage in it, but that was the fatal flaw of the young female. Mave knew rage. She knew its pros and cons in battle. An experienced warrior knew how to channel the rage. An inexperienced warrior let it rule them.
Fyren turned and took a wide, wild swing, again going for devastating damage instead of realizing what her objective really was. A single blood draw didn’t need to be a debilitating injury. It could have been a nick for all Mave cared.
Mave blocked the swing and decided her point was proven. In two heartbeats, she disarmed the young female with a simple kick and lashed out with two quick strikes, drawing blood twice on the girl’s arm, one at the elbow and one at the shoulder.
“Two and three for Mave! We have a winner!” Senri yelled. “Sheath your weapons and step back!”
Mave wasted no time in putting both her swords away while Fyren stood in shock, her eyes welling up with tears as she held one of the cuts Mave gave her.
“Y-y-you…”
“I what?” Mave snapped.
“If you wanted to beat me up, you could have just—”
Mave snarled, cutting off the words. Once there was silence for a minute, she continued.
“Beat you up? I don’t beat up anyone I know I can beat. It’s a waste of my time and energy. Now, someone is going to have to tend to you, wasting their time and energy. You think I want to be here, dealing with you when I’ve only just gotten home? You think I wouldn’t rather spend the afternoon catching up with friends or spending some alone time with my family? You couldn’t even keep your mouth shut for one afternoon. You just had to go and ruin it, thinking you know what’s what.”
“I…” Fyren took a step back, looking hurt.
“You have a backbone, and I can respect that. Most would have just cowered at the idea of sparring against me, but don’t mistake a bit of dominance for real power. I worked for hundreds of years to be the warrior I am. King Alchan recognized that, and when he needs someone to fight in his stead, he can count on me. Senri is a warrior from before the war, and her ability to lead warriors and manage defensive tactics put her in the position she’s in, not just her dominance. Allaina was trained for centuries to become a mativa and lead the community. When any of us give you an order, we’re not doing it to flex our strength. We’re doing it because we know better. We’re trying to keep all of you alive for another day.”
“Yes, Champion,” Fyren mumbled.
“Train. Every day will get easier. One day, you’ll need the skills we’re teaching you. One day, the sword you just held might be the only thing between you and living the rest of your life in peace. You have to know how to use it.” Mave turned to her friends, sighing. “I’m done here. Allaina, if any of them gives you more trouble, let me know.”
This was the second time since she got off her horse that Mave was angry, breathing hard. Exhaustion rode her as she stepped away from the crowd. She had been excited to get home, but she’d forgotten the true work was done here. In the end, a war group was a retreat from this.
“Mave,” Senri whispered, stepping next to her, their backs to the rest of the females. Allaina started up the drills again, and they listened for a moment before Senri started speaking. “You didn’t have to deal with her today. It could have waited.”
“No, it couldn’t have,” Mave replied, sighing. “We can’t let that kind of behavior fester and become too deeply rooted to deal with.”
“It could have waited a day,” Senri said, not budging from her stance.
Mave only shook her head.
4
Mave
“Behave for our King, please,” Senri said sternly as Mave pulled her boots back on.
“I always do,” Mave said, drawing it out as if she were a child, to tease Senri a little. Her best friend ran a hand over Mave’s hair, right between her horns. Kian chuckled at the sight of them as he leaned on the far wall of the hallway. Matesh elbowed him and dodged as Kian tried to get him back. She could hear Zayden still talking to Gentrin and Willem in the main room, something about the durability of swords versus hunting knives, and why they were so different. She had already tuned out the conversation.
“Don’t lie to me,” Senri ordered, but Mave wasn’t worried by the hard tone because the smile betrayed Senri’s real feelings. “And tell me if there’s anything we can do since Brynec is gone. I know he managed a lot of the little things for your household because Matesh is incapable.”
“I’m capable. He’s just better at it. He likes handling supply counts and budgets and the like. He did it for the Company for a couple hundred years.”