Page 52 of The Study of Poisons
Experience was another reason to spar multiple people. The more times you fought, the more confidence you gained, which helped manage your emotions.
Valek remembered his first teacher’s, Hedda, advice on fighting. “Lose the anger,” she had said. “Then lose all those other annoying emotions while you’re at it.” So easy to say, so hard to do, but Valek had learned to control them. Emotions were still useful at times.
He disarmed his opponent, and another stepped into his place. The matches blurred together as the audience grew. Most of the soldiers approached with swords, but one challenger held a knife.
Valek grinned and drew his cloud-kissed dagger. Time to test his new baby out. He loved knife fighting. Something about being close to his opponent, punching and blocking. It was similar to hand-to-hand combat but with an added degree of danger. The sharp blade acted as an extension of his hand. Or hands if anyone picked two blades for the challenge. So far, no one ever had. Pity.
The man had no idea how to fight with a knife. Valek unarmed him in two moves. He glanced around at the crowd and spotted Yelena watching. She stood next to Ari and Janco. And for some reason, he straightened.
He called for one final challenger and a tall woman with long blond hair twisted into a braid, stepped up. She held a bo staff. An unusual weapon. The five-foot-long staff of wood was an inch in diameter and slightly tapered at each end. It wasn’t usually a killing weapon, but rather used to knock an opponent down or unconscious. But it could kill if the wielder knew what they were doing.
Valek picked up one of the bo staffs used for training. He rubbed his hands along the grain, then held it in the ready position in front of his body. The blond attacked with a hard and fast swing toward his temple, he blocked and countered. She ducked and executed a series of strikes to his ribs, each one faster than the last. He kept pace, admiring her skills.
She had what Hedda had claimed were not emotions—determination, persistence, concentration, focus, and drive.
The match lengthened and Valek tested her techniques. She moved the bo with accuracy and power but kept repeating the same attack combinations. And appeared a bit flustered when he mixed up his volleys. When he poured on the speed, she back peddled, holding her bo parallel to the ground—a basic defensive move and not effective. The bo was also too far away from her body when she tried to create more space between them.
Valek swung his bo around in an unconventional move and slammed the tip of it right on the mid-point of hers. The force of the blow cracked her bo in two pieces. Match over.
The soldier stared at her broken bo a moment before conceding the fight. She shook his hand. “Thank you for the opportunity.”
“You have potential, Lieutenant…”
“Maren, sir.”
“Are you hoping to be invited to my corps?”
“No, sir.”
“Looking to become my second, then?”
“No, sir.”
Now she had his full attention. “Then why challenge me?”
“Bragging rights, sir.”
He laughed. “Keep training, put in the work, and you might be the best fighter with the bo staff in Ixia.”
“May I speak frankly, sir?”
“Of course.”
“You have it wrong. It’s not that Imightbe, but that Iwillbe the best bo fighter in Ixia.”
“I stand corrected.”
* * *
Valek’s musclesached after the seven…nine matches. He was about to return to the castle when he noticed Yelena was still with Ari and Janco. They stood together in the training yard. It didn’t take him long to figure out they were teaching her basic punches and kicks.
Curious, he leaned on the fence and watched. Compared to the two men, she resembled a delicate flower growing between two thick sunflowers. Yet she moved with an athletic grace and obvious strength as her punches into the training bag rocked Janco back on his heels. Of course, she couldn’t move Ari. Not even with her kicks. Valek doubted he could move Ari. A horse might even have a difficult time knocking the man off his solid fighting stance.
When they finished the session, Yelena headed toward the castle. Wishing to talk to her, Valek hurried to catch up.
“See you in the morning,” Janco called, sounding gleeful.
She turned and froze when she saw Valek.
