Episode 46

The system of power turns like wheel

You can rise to the top through money or steel

You could lift up others or leave them in muck

But it’s the poor who will suffer when the wheel becomes stuck

If the problems aren’t met with any solution

The wheel must turn in bloody revolution

The vermin will rise as the predator sinks

Let’s see then if the fox can outsmart the lynx

In the main hall of the Holy Solar Temple on top of the hill overlooking the city of Zandt, there was a silence. It was punctured intermittently by the sound of water tapping on stone as a very wet Lilian Lausanne stood in front of two strangers, dripping. One of the strangers, a swordmistress named Eleyna, looked at her with surprise and confusion on her face. She seemed as though she was about to say something, when she took a step back in fear. Lilian turned around to see Fritha emerging from the fresh pool of water beneath the large stone bird. Fritha’s sodden coat dragged a quart of water out of the pool and onto the stone floor, the tension was quickly broken when she shook her entire body and sent a shower of cold drops over everyone. Lilian giggled and shielded her face.

“Fritha! That’s rude.” Lilian lightly chastised the feinhound before turning back to the two strangers. She had just been watching them practising a particular style of fighting that she had recognised to be the one used by Nicholas Telson, the shadowy head of The Guiding Hand. She had asked to train with them but still had not received an answer. Lilian turned back to the pair and waited. Finally, the older woman, Mistress Eleyna, spoke.

“How did you get in here…?” Lilian was confused.

“I guessed what was inside. Why? How did you get in?” Mistress Eleyna shared a look with her student.

“We also had to guess, but… it took many months of study.” Lilian nodded respectfully. She was unsure of how to respond.

“Congratulations,” she said, nervously, “So do you think you could teach me?”

Mistress Eleyna shook herself out of her state of confusion.

“Pardon me, Lilian was it?” Lilian nodded, “well, my dear, it’s not so simple. I only take a few students each year and only if I see promise in them. I can’t be giving classes to every wet invisible girl who hangs around with golden cats. Although I will admit you are the first to ask.” Lilian felt a pang of disappointment.

“Please, Madam…”

“Mistress,”

“Mistress Eleyna. It’s important. You see, in Freedos I fought a man who used his sword just like you did. He was fast, and deadly. He beat me, but spared my life. I think that when I see him again, he will try to kill me. I need to learn how to defend myself. His name was…”

“Nicholas.” Mistress Eleyna interrupted her. Lilian was surprised.

“Yes. How did you…?”

“There is only one Atarapian in Freedos, I knew him years ago. We had the same master.” Lilian became suddenly wary. If this woman knew Nicholas Telson, perhaps they shared similar goals or beliefs, they may even be friends. Lilian’s eyes darted to the blade in her hand. It was a training sword, sure, but it could still inflict significant damage, especially in experienced hands. Lilian’s fears were quickly assuaged when Mistress Eleyna suddenly spat on the floor.

“He betrayed my master and he left me for dead,” she lifted her cotton shirt on her left side to reveal a small but prominent scar. Lilian also briefly glimpsed the dark ink of a tattoo, but the shirt covered the full design. After tucking her shirt back into her trousers, Mistress Eleyna sighed and shrugged.

“Well, today is not going as I had planned but then again, when does it ever?” She approached the edge of the pool and clasped her sword between praying palms. She glanced up at the bird, closed her eyes and spoke a silent question in her mind. After a few moments and two or three deep breaths, she turned back to Lilian.

“Very well. If you can land one hit on Garold before the sun goes down. I will train you.” The boy Garold glanced at her wearily.

“What’s the matter, afraid you will be beaten by a little girl.” He shook his head.

“No but…” Lilian did not wait for him to finish speaking. Shifting her feat into an attacking stance she launched her full weight towards him and struck out twice. He was fast though, and managed to dodge both strikes.

“Ho hooo!” cried Mistress Eleyna, “I like this one. Come on Garold, she’s got you on the ropes already. Here, catch!” Lilian struck out three more times but each hit was met with only empty space. Between the second and third strike, Mistress Eleyna had thrown him her sword and he managed to catch the handle mid air. Bringing it up quickly he parried Lilian’s fourth swipe and a deafening clang echoed around the hall. Lilian took a step back, recentred herself and then the fight began.

It lasted longer than any match Lilian had ever fought. Watching him from the pool, Lilian had assumed Garold to be of a similar skill level to her, but that was because he had been fighting a master. In truth, he was more advanced than Lilian. She used every trick in the book, sweeping low kicks to knock him off balance, barrages of rapid strikes to confuse his eyes, quick feints followed by quicker attacks but nothing got through. What was worse, was that the sword style he had learned from Mistress Eleyna made him seem frustratingly relaxed. The heat of the afternoon sun pierced the temple roof and in a matter of minutes, the pool water on Lilian’s body had evaporated away and been replaced by sweat. Each round ended the same way. Garold would block her attacks and then land a punch on her body, these signified stabs. The hand is further from the tip of the blade and so if he was able to land a punch, he would have easily been able to land a stab. At first the punches were light, but Lilian felt patronised by this and insisted he treat her like a real opponent. She immediately regretted it however, as his next punch landed in the middle of her rib cage and knocked the air right out of her lungs. During all of it, Mistress Eleyna watched them both. At first she laughed and jeered, but soon she fell silent, studying their fight like a gambler assessing a racehorse.

Finally, once Lilian was out of breath, drenched in sweat and bone tired from exertion, Mistress Eleyna raised a slender hand, signifying the fighters to stop. Lilian glanced up at the dome roof, there was still some light coming through.

“I still have time!” she protested. Mistress Eleyna’s expression was serious and Lilian feared the worst. “No, you said until sundown and I still see light.” she turned back to Garold, “one more,” she insisted. Garold looked to his teacher as if seeking permission or guidance. He was sweating as well, but no where near as much as Lilian. Mistress Eleyna breathed out through her nose and gave the smallest of shrugs. Garold raised his blade and turned back to Lilian, ready to go again. One last bout, one last chance to land a hit. Lilian felt nerves begin to flutter in her stomach. She circled her opponent and took a deep breath, bringing her focus to the present moment. She replayed the afternoon’s fights over in her head, searching for some weakness or detail she might have overlooked in the heat of battle. Garold was fast and his defense was practically unbreakable. Lilian knew that repeatedly attacking him was achieving nothing, he saw all of her moves coming as if from a mile away. She took a step closer and Garold shifted his stance. She could hear his breathing and see a bead of sweat falling from his hair line down towards his eyes. Lilian was calmer now and she knew what she needed to do. If striking first was of no use, she would have to wait for him to attack her. This was easier said than done, especially as time was not on her side. She glanced up at the roof. There was still a sliver of light coming through one of the amber windows. She would need to provoke him.

Lilian stepped to her right and shifted her stance, bringing the blade up high over her head with its tip pointed down. This left her body open to attack but kept her weapon out of his immediate eyeline. She watched his eyes as she stepped slowly closer. They darted between her sword and her feet. Lilian waited but Garold was still not attacking. She watched the bead of sweat inch down his forehead and as soon as it came into contact with his eye, she pounced. The split second’s blink, coupled with the movement of his eyes forced him to take evasive action. He sensed the attack but did not see from which direction it was coming. Instinctively, he took advantage of Lilian’s open defense and struck out for her chest, hoping to get the blow in before her sword had time to swing down. The tactic would have worked, if Lilian had attacked. She had jumped forwards yes, but instead of bringing her sword down to strike him as she had done so many times before, she brought it towards her own body. This meant that it was ready to parry his blade which it did with a sharp clank. In the split second that followed, she thrust her fist out towards Garold’s chest and it connected with a satisfying thud. It was not a hard hit, but it didn’t need to be. Lilian kept her fist, which was holding her sword, in contact with his shirt, she stared at it in disbelief. Then, the last of the evening’s sun disappeared and her hand went from yellow gold, to deep blue silver as the moon finally showed her face.

Garold looked down at the point of impact on his chest and then looked up, a wide smile spread across his face.

“Very nice!” he said in his low baritone.

“Thanks!” Lilian beamed in delight. Then, both fighters turned to Mistress Eleyna. She was sitting against a pillar with Fritha’s head in her lap. Lilian had been so preoccupied with the fight she hadn’t noticed the two of them getting to know each other. Mistress Eleyna carefully woke the feinhound with a firm but friendly pat on her side and then proceeded to stand up and walk over. She held out her hand and Lilian placed the handle of the training sword in her open palm.

“Well, Garold,” she said, “it looks like you have a new sparring partner. I’ll see you both here tomorrow morning, bring food.” And with that, she left through a side passage and Lilian collapsed into a heap on the ground.

Both students and feinhound managed to stumble their way back down the mountain in the low light. Lilian learned a bit more about Garold during the long walk back to the city. Apparently he came from a religious family, both his parents were priests and teachers in the Holy Solar Order, so guessing what was inside the temple for him had been relatively easy compared with other, less knowledgeable acolytes. But the religious life was not for him, he wanted to be a soldier. Well, what he really wanted was to see the world, and the easiest way to do that whilst also being paid was to be a soldier, a profession he had a natural aptitude for. Training under Mistress Eleyna was a great honour and achievement for him and once his training was complete, he would be a shoe-in for the officer’s academy. Lilian told him about her experience with soldiers, well, mercenaries in the form of The Hundred. Garold was impressed.

“They say they are the strongest company in Alicium! Did you see them fight?” he listened in rapt attention while Lilian told him about the night at the Garrow’s farm. When they parted Lilian went to bow but Garold held out his hand.

“Oh no, we do not bow now,” he explained, “we are equals, and we look each other in the eye.” Lilian smiled, and grasped his wrist. “You fight well Miss Lausanne. I’ll see you in the morning.” Lilian smiled.

“Hopefully it won’t always be that tough.” A small smirk fell across Garold’s face.

“You have no idea.”

Later, back at the house, she saw Peter but only managed to tell him a brief summary of what had happened before needing to go to bed. She had to fight just to keep her eyelids from closing. She had the memory of her head hitting the pillow, but seconds later Lilian Lausanne was fast asleep.

Over the following weeks Lilian was back in training mode. It was similar to when she first began to train with Mr Attorcop. Early mornings, running up mountains and long hours of repetitive motions. Mistress Eleyna was a fiercely strict instructor. She had the ability to see when Lilian’s body was millimetres out of position and would correct her stances at first with a gentle hand, then a harsh word and finally a wicked whack from the side of her training blade. Every evening saw the appearance of new bruises, but Lilian didn’t mind. At first. Having come so far with her combat training with Mr Attorcop it was frustrating to have to learn something from scratch. Mistress Eleyna made it her personal mission to beat every bad habit out of her. The sword style was called Atarap and had apparently been developed a hundred and fifty years ago after a tax on steel had been imposed by the powers at the time. The soldiers had to learn how to fight with smaller and smaller blades which eventually led to the Atarapian fighting style. The swords were light and razor thin. This meant they weren’t able to block larger blades but instead focused on lightning quick strikes. In theory, the style suited Lilian’s wiry physique but the techniques involved in using the swords were impossibly difficult to master.

“Too tense!” Mistress Eleyna would shout again and again in the echoey temple hall. The Atarap method involved keeping the body relaxed up until the very last second when you would either strike, parry or dodge. Easier said than done when the tip of a sword is heading directly towards your throat. The theory was that muscles moved quickest in the act of tension, but once tense became comparatively slow. One morning Mistress Eleyna had Lilian studying scorpions for three hours. She learned how they would distract their prey with open claws and then finish them off with a deadly sting from outside of their field of vision. Lilian then had to implement their way of moving into her sword play.

The days were split into three sections. Physical training in the mornings, technique tutorial before and after lunch and then sparring practise for the rest of the afternoon. The physical training involved going from push ups, into handstands and eventually combining the two. It took three weeks for Lilian to be able to balance on her hands and as soon as she was able to do it, Mistress Eleyna told her to balance on her fists. If this wasn’t frustrating enough, the actual Atarapian techniques were finicky and complex. Lilian had to relearn how to hold a sword, how to maintain a relaxed grip while not having the blade knocked out of her hand, how to shift balance from one foot to the other and all of this while memorising the thirteen Atarapian stances and their names and associated uses, of which there were four or five for each one. To call the system difficult would be too kind. It was so complex that had Lilian not been training under a master she would have assumed it impossible. The only thing keeping her motivated were the very occasional times when she got to see Mistress Eleyna fight. She moved like a dancer, or a cobra. She knew how to attract the human eye and misdirect it away from where her strike was coming. She could fight on her hands as easily as on her feet. Obstacles became opportunities and a sword in her hand would appear to bend and float around her like a deadly dragonfly. Watching her was equal parts inspiring and infuriating. Lilian could never hope to achieve such skill and often found herself tired and bitter at the end of the day. Her moods were not improved by the constant presence of Serena Bellaswan during what little free time she had.

Serena and Peter were becoming firm friends, much to Lilian’s dismay. It was not unusual for Serena to dine with them most evenings. She would find some new spice in the markets and come over to cook for them. Peter behaved very strangely whenever she was around. He would laugh at her silly stories from court, go silent when she asked him simple questions and generally became a bit of a buffoon. One night in particular, a few weeks into her training, Lilian lost her cool with both of them. She had been nursing a particularly nasty cut on her upper arm and was already irritable from having to repeat the ninth stance, fourth movement, thirty-six times before Mistress Eleyna finally pronounced it ‘acceptable for someone her age’. Peter and Lilian were sitting at their little dining table when Serena breezed through the front door of the apartment and without so much as a ‘good evening’ began helping herself to some dried mango that Lilian had bought earlier that day.

“You’ll never guess who I saw hanging around the flower stall today, you know the one near the little place that does that mint tea? Jessica Florentina.” Lilian and Peter stared at her with blank expressions. “Oh you’re both useless, she’s lady Florentina’s daughter, well, illegitimate daughter but you didn’t hear that from me.” Lilian wasn’t sure if it was the audacity of entering her house without knocking, the cheek of eating her fruit without asking or the incessant gossiping that got to her, but just then something snapped.

“Don’t you have anything better to do?” Lilian shouted, a bit louder than she had meant to. There was a silence and Serena’s smile faded into a look of shock.

“I’m… sorry..?” she said, as if she genuinely didn’t understand the question.

“Lilian,” Peter interjected, “that’s not very nice.”

“Well I don’t care. Neither is she!” Lilian could feel her temper starting to boil over, “all she ever does is complain or talk badly of others. She’s here all the time despite never being invited and the last time I checked we didn’t ask for a spoiled, entitled bully to be constantly showing up unannounced and eating our food.”

“Lilian!” Peter stood up, fury on his face, “that is enough.”

“And you!” Lilian turned her ire towards her friend, “what is wrong with you? You’re so clever and witty but as soon as princess here shows up it’s like you become a completely different person. Both of you are just… UURRGH” unable to find the words Lilian just grunted, stood up and marched passed the still dumbfounded Serena and went up the small stairs and down the hall to her room. Fritha was in there napping but awoke with a start when Lilian slammed the door behind her. She fell on her bed and was about to beat her pillow when the cut on her arm sent a searing pain into her shoulder. All she could do was bury her head in her pillow and scream. She felt hot tears burning her eyes and rage filling her heart. After a couple of big shouts she looked up to see Fritha staring intently at her from the middle of the room. Lilian wanted comfort of any kind and so held her hand out to stroke her. But Fritha did not come forward, instead she took in a little breath and made her familiar, deep gong sound. It was the sound that meant fear. Lilian narrowed her eyes.

“What do you know?” she hissed and went back to burying her face in the softness of her bed.

After a few minutes, she heard her door clicking open, she had forgotten to lock it, and the sound of a footstep entering the room. The covers muffled her voice but Lilian still managed to make herself heard.

“I don’t want to talk to you Peter.” There was a small cough and Lilian looked up. It wasn’t Peter, but Serena who was standing over her. Lilian felt a flush of embarrassment wash over her and tried to wipe her eyes quickly. “Serena please I just…” Serena put a hand up to stop her talking. She didn’t look upset, she was calm and so Lilian listened.

“A few weeks ago, you asked me what I was doing in Zandt.” Lilian moved her legs as Serena went to sit on the bed beside her. “The truth is, I didn’t want to tell you because I was embarrassed.” Serena looked down at her hands and began rubbing her fingers absent-mindedly. Lilian had no idea where this was coming from and was having a hard time imagining Serena Bellaswan being ashamed of anything. “The truth is, I’m not here on holiday. I’m here because I’m being punished.”

“The house I’m staying in belongs to my aunt and I hate it there. It’s filled with people but I have no one to talk to. I’m sorry if me coming here has been annoying. I understand that. But for me, it’s been just wonderful. You see, this isn’t my first time in Zandt. My mother has a habit of sending me here for a few weeks every other year to punish me for disobeying her or not doing something properly, or I don’t know, some nonsense. This time it was because I wore a dress that was apparently too garish for a high tea party, on top of other things. And it works. I hate coming here. It’s beastly hot and I miss my friends at court and I miss talking and, well, gossiping. I know it’s a bad habit but you must understand once you’ve practised the harpsichord for five hours there’s only so much else you can do in a day. I know I shouldn’t complain, I’m very lucky to come from a nice family but I work so hard at court trying to find a way to move up in society or please my mother or even just get her off my back for a few days that when I saw you, someone who’d been in Freedos for barely a month, coming down the stairs with the Empress on your arm it just made my blood boil. I really wasn’t planning on seeing much of you in Zandt. But Peter is lovely, and he’s my age and we get on and you’re never here so I thought... well. What I wanted to say was, I’m sorry, I’ll leave you alone from now on.” Serena stopped talking. Now it was Lilian’s turn to feel ashamed. She glanced at the older girl who even in this heat had perfect golden curls flowing down her shoulders. Lilian wiped her nose on her sleeve and looked at Fritha. She was sitting in front of them both, her tail sweeping from side to side, as if patiently awaiting their reconciliation. Lilian tried to find the right words.

“Fritha says I’m scared.” Serena looked up, confused.

“She can… talk?” Lilian smiled.

“No. But she knows when people are scared and she’ll tell you, even when you don’t want to hear it. And she’s right, of course. I am scared.”

“What are you scared of?” Serena asked.

“Oh lots of things.”

“Is that why you fight?” Lilian thought about the question. It made sense, but it didn’t sound right.

“No. No, I don’t think so. I’m learning to fight because I want to help people. And sometimes when you try to help people there will be others that want to hurt you or stop you. There’s a man in Freedos, he’s very dangerous and I need to stop him.” Serena smiled.

“That sounds very brave.” Lilian snorted and shrugged.

“You know,” she replied, “If it’s any help, I never wanted to meet the Empress. I certainly didn’t want to talk to her or walk down those steps with her at the ball.” Serena sighed.

“So what you’re saying is, you have everything I’ve ever dreamed of, and you don’t even want it. *sigh* no I’m not sure that does help, but thank you for trying.” Serena smiled and Lilian chuckled.

“No, I suppose that’s not very helpful is it?” An awkward silence descended on the room. Fritha took a step closer and purred as if she was willing the conversation to continue. Lilian knew what she needed to do. She took a deep breath, swallowed her pride and did it.

“I’m sorry, Serena. I’ve been beastly ever since I saw you on the boat here.” Serena looked across at her and smiled.

“No, you were right to be. I know I can be… difficult, sometimes.” Lilian looked up and saw Serena as if for the first time. The perfect golden curls and stately manners were still there, but there was no defense, no cutting words or viscious quips. Lilian shuffled across the bed and hugged her. She felt Serena’s body tense as if this was some new and strange sensation. But when Lilian squeezed her tighter, she felt the tension slip away.

“Thank you,” Serena whispered as she hugged her back, “I don’t deserve this. You’re a good person Lilian Lausanne. Maybe that’s why I find you so infuriating.” Lilian laughed.

“Nah, it’s just my small town charm. You big city folk aren’t used to it.” They held each other for a few more seconds and then broke apart. Fritha came close and put her chin on Serena’s lap, her tail wagging happily.

“Right, shall we go back downstairs and eat something? That ninny is probably waiting for us.” Serena said as she stroked Fritha’s large head.

“Oh he is a ninny!” Lilian agreed and the two friends stood up and went down to have dinner.

The next day something finally clicked in Lilian’s head. Her transitions between stances became more fluid and she found that she didn’t have to think as hard about the next move. In the afternoon, while sparring with Garold, she managed to strike him six times, almost doubling her previous record. Both he and Mistress Eleyna beamed at her progress.

“Another hit!” cried Mistress Eleyna, “there is hope for you yet little Lilian.” Lilian did a celebratory cartwheel and went to give Fritha a big hug. When she turned around she saw that Garold was no longer holding his training sword. It’s handle was in Mistress Eleyna’s hand.

“Now, see if you can do that to me.” Lilian’s heart skipped a beat. Truthfully she had been yearning to test her skills against her Mistress, but now that the moment was here, Lilian couldn’t help but feel nervous. Collecting her thoughts and breathing deeply she approached Mistress Eleyna with as much confidence as she could muster. They stood a few feet apart and chose their starting stance. Mistress Eleyna went for the fourth position, third movement a wise choice considering it hid the blade from her opponent’s view. Seeing this, Lilian chose the eleventh position, first movement, bringing her feet close together and her sword out to the middle distance in front of her. It was a good all rounder, balancing attack and defensive capabilities equally, but it was not particularly bold.

“Boo, too safe,” Garold jeered from the sidelines. Lilian shushed him and suppressed a smile. This was serious business.

Mistress Eleyna opened with an upward kick to Lilian’s wrist, which she had to move her sword arm to avoid. Mistress Eleyna stayed on one leg and shot out a flurry of strikes with her foot. Lilian blocked or parried them all but knew that if she was going to land a hit, she would have to draw out Eleyna’s sword. She used her small stature to her advantage and ducked down below Mistress Eleyna’s raised leg, sweeping her own foot out and round in the process. This was easily anticipated and countered with a small jump into a crouch by Mistress Eleyna, but Lilian had planned ahead. Bringing her sword up from the ground in a modified eighth phase thrust she aimed directly for Mistress Eleyna’s chin. Any other fighter would have had their chin clipped and their vision forced skywards, but Mistress Eleyna was too cunning for that. Spinning midair she brought her own blade round to parry Lilian’s and the two fighters were back on equal footing. Lilian wasted no time in celebrating her little victory. Bringing out Mistress Eleyna’s sword meant she was one step closer to breaking her defence, but it also made her more dangerous. The two women exchanged a flurry of lightning fast blows. Lilian naturally flowed from relaxation into tension remembering to keep her breath fluid and constant throughout. Their eye contact never broke, as each one knew that the other would take quick advantage of any distraction. Soon after, Mistress Eleyna got the first hit in. Lilian had countered a feint too quickly and was met with a swift punch to her gut. She bent over double and tasted vomit in her mouth.

“Not bad,” her teacher said, standing over, “ready for one more?” Lilian needed a few seconds to recover, but once she managed to isolate the pain and push it to one side, she was back on her feet.

“Ready.” She chose the third stance as her opener, making her body wide in an attempt to bait a similar strike. Mistress Eleyna countered with the seventh stance, second movement, making herself tall and bringing her blade up and high like the tail of a scorpion. This time, the swords came out early and the training blades were tested to their limits as they met time and time again in the air between the two women. Lilian was confident in her defence but knew that she would have to turn the tables soon or else Mistress Eleyna would find a weakness. Lilian pushed in closer, taking steps forward while maintaining her strong defense. Mistress Eleyna guessed her plan and created distance between them. Suddenly, Lilian saw an opening and dashed forward but even though her sword was up and striking her body was met by the bottom of Mistress Eleyna’s foot. She had brought it up in the blink of an eye and for Lilian it was like running into a horse's hoof. She was knocked back and her sword went clattering across the stone floor. She cursed under her breath.

“Ah ah, keep calm.” Mistress Eleyna chastised her. Lilian knew in her head that getting angry would vastly diminish her chances of landing a hit, but her heart was not listening. She walked over to her sword and picked it up, ignoring the pain from the open blisters on her palm. Gripping the handle tightly, she found her breath and balance and turned back to her Mistress. It was like fighting a wall, a wall that could anticipate your every move, and counter with blows of its own. The effort seemed useless and for a second a voice in the back of her mind told her to give up and go home. But Lilian had come too far for that. Before her time in Freedos, she might have listened to the voice, or told it to shut up. But now she knew it well, it was the voice of fear, the sound of defeat. She decided to take a different approach with it. She calmed it with soothing words, she listened to what it said and reassured it that all would be fine. Slowly, the pain from her hands and chest began to ease. Her mind became less clouded by frustration and with one final deep breath she closed her eyes and became centered.

Lilian turned around and noticed her teacher studying her with curiosity. She smiled, which was rare.

“Good Lilian, very good. Again.” Lilian approached her Mistress, taking in the hall, the sounds and smells of her surroundings as well as the totality of her opponent. This relaxed state felt a lot like gloaming but whereas that caused her to have hyper focus, this state allowed her to see everything all at once. No one thing was clearer than another, but any change or movement became blindingly obvious. Lilian shifted her body slowly into the ninth stance, sixth movement. This involved her crossing her right leg slightly in front of her left and raising her sword hand up by her side, wrist pointing upwards, allowing the tip of the blade to drop down slightly. Mistress Eleyna chose the eleventh and crouched low like a coiled snake. The fighters waited. There was no rush, no time limit. Just the calm before the storm.

Once she was ready, Lilian dictated the start of the fight by blinking. The small movement was enough to make Mistress Eleyna spring forward. Lilian waited, one step, two, deep breath. There. Mistress Eleyna’s blade leapt out of hiding like the protruding fangs on a rattlesnake, revealed moments before the killing bite. Even once she saw it, Lilian waited. She waited until the tip of the training sword was roughly a foot away from her throat, until she was sure that it wasn’t a feint, until Mistress Eleyna’s full weight was behind it. Lilian shifted into eight position, second movement, bringing her right leg up at the same time as her left hand. In the next instant she used the back of her left wrist to shift the tip of the oncoming sword past her neck whilst her right foot pinned Mistress Eleyna’s left arm against her body, preventing her from doing the same. Lilian’s blade could now come into play. With a quick tension in her wrist, Lilian’s own training sword snapped forward and with pinpoint precision ended its motion with the tip touching Mistress Eleyna’s throat. The whole motion took less than a second but as soon as it was over Lilian knew it was a hit. She felt Mistress Eleyna’s left arm struggle to come up from under her foot and sensed her sword flow past beyond her own neck, guided ever so slightly away by her wrist. The two fighters stayed in place for a second and finally, Mistress Eleyna broke away and nodded, acknowledging the strike. Lilian barely had time to smile before she felt her weight being lifted off the ground by an exultant Garold.

“What a play! And a killing blow no less. Right, Mistress?” He swung Lilian around in a circle and she dropped her sword in surprise and elation. Mistress Eleyna smiled and once the celebration was over she beckoned Lilian to join her by the pool. Lilian composed herself, picked up the training blade and joined her Mistress by the water. They stood and faced the giant stone statue, brought their swords up in prayer and bowed to the ever watching bird.

“Excellent work Lilian. You have come far,” said Mistress Eleyna in a tone that Lilian had not heard before. Could it have been pride?

“Thank you Mistress,” she replied, fighting the urge to hug her.

“Now that you’ve landed a hit on your teacher, there is a little tradition you must uphold.”

“Oh?” Lilian asked, “What's that Mistress?”

“Why, your tattoo of course.”