“Also, one of them was pure luck, a trap I’d set worked very well.”
“But that means two weren’t luck.” He nodded. “I think you’ll be moving on to the advanced course soon enough.” He looked at both of us. “Until then, you’re all mine. Pick up those practice swords, and we’ll run through some forms.”
The rest of the morning was spent learning three basic sword forms. We ended with some simple sparring, myself and Ant that was, Silence wasn’t ready for that yet. I held my forms well enough, though I did get a solid slap with a practice sword on my hip when I over-extended on a shoulder strike. That bruise he didn’t heal, telling me that it would remind me not to make the same mistake again. By the end of the first week… I had a lot of reminders.
Mornings were martial training; afternoons were studies in a variety of other topics. I was already well educated so I moved on to more advanced subjects like state-craft and strategy, well before Silence did. The two of us also attended classes on how to develop our avatar abilities. This… was a slow process for me. Auwei was certain there was more I could accomplish, but nothing became apparent. I did get better, and more controlled at the few things I could do, though. And I was finally able to take my avatar form. I spent a day off exploring the house as a spider and found it terrifying. Everything was so much larger than I was… even a few other spiders…
Soon, I wasn’t training with Silence at all anymore. He was slow to pick up combat training. While I — as Ant predicted — quickly moved on to the advanced combat classes. They were with Jack, and he was a completely different man during training, all business with quick and deadly precision. He also didn’t take it easy on me, but that made me learn all the quicker and by the end of my first month at Hedgewild, I was sporting fewer bruises and feeling like I might actually be a productive Noble one day.
Silence and I saw less and less of each other, but still managed to grab a few moments together, or with Sparrow to chat and laugh. But more and more, Silence was dedicating himself to study. He had a lot to learn and spent extra hours poring over books or practicing combat forms. Which meant that much of my spare time was spent with Sparrow. I was surprised to learn she was three years older than me. She seemed so small and free-spirited: youthful.
A month passed. Maverick hadn’t returned from the capital and Midnight was still on her “secret” mission. But I was getting to know all the other members of Maverick House well. Jack did end one of our practice sessions with an offer to join him in the baths. I declined, and he didn’t bring it up again. Amber didn’t tease me… as much, and Ant was beginning to feel like some strong, protective older brother, if a really handsome one. I still had no clue how to deal with Foggy, but then… neither did his brother, Fennec; no one did.
I got to know the feel of the place. How Tusk and Ant were usually up early and helping the farmers or gardeners around the estate. Where Princess would have her naps and that she did indeed spend virtually all of her time as a cat, except when eating or occasionally socializing. It became common to find Foggy in random parts of the house, doing head-stands or poking into dark corners. Fin came to visit a few times, a large man, even taller than Ant, but where Ant was all muscle, Fin was… not. He was brawny and sturdy and heavy, but still seemed to move around nimbly enough. I got to know Amber’s moods. She could be testy and stand-offish some days, but friendly and effervescent on others. No one talked about it, so it took me a while to figure out that she was always cheerier on days after she’d seduced Ant the night before. Fraternizing between Housemates wasn’t forbidden, but I came to understand that it was generally frowned upon, mostly by Lady Crane. But since Amber could be a bit wild some days, Ant would “take one for the team” to keep her in high spirits. I don’t think he minded, but part of him was still an innocent farm boy and, Spirits, how he could blush when it was mentioned.
Time passed, my twenty-first birthday came and went; there was a party. Despite my promises to my sister, I drank too much and woke up with another heady hangover. Silence had his eighteenth birthday; we’d both been born in the fall, apparently. That night, I offered to stay with him, but he declined. He looked exhausted all the time now, and yet, I’d never seen him happier. He laughed with Sparrow and me, even others from time to time, and seemed to love learning new things. I was happy for him, though I felt like we were drifting apart, just a little. I told myself he just needed time to make up for all the learning he’d missed as a child. I hoped that was true.
I was also learning, but feeling more and more confident in my skills and martial prowess. I was anxious to prove myself.
Then, finally, came my first mission.
Chapter 19
Fin appearedin the great hall, where a few of us sat in the middle of the evening meal. Since he’d transported himself directly here from the ocean, he was dripping wet, long pale-brown hair plastered to his round head. His slightly bulbous grey eyes blinked as they searched and found us. “Pirates,” the heavy-set man said. “We need to go now, before we lose them.”
Ant was in the hall; Amber wasn’t, so he took action. With a quick look around, he nodded. “My squad, grab your gear, we head out as soon as you can make it back here.” But his full squad wasn’t there, Princess was off, sleeping most likely. But Fennec and Sparrow were there and he quickly turned to them. “You two are with us. Fennec, prep for a fight. Sparrow, you’ll be on watch.” She nodded, and a hardness that I hadn’t seen before came over the small woman’s eyes.
Jack, luckily, had just ended a session of small-scale combat theory with me, so he was fully dressed and had his weapons on him.
I turned to him. “Do I have weapons?” With a movement faster than I could see he’d tossed a dagger and it was sticking out of the table in front of me.
“Use that, stay out of the way, watch and learn. Stay in your avatar form once we’re on the ship, no one will notice you. We don’t expect you to fight your first time out.” He stood and checked himself over quickly, slipping back on the heavy leather jerkin he’d taken off earlier. “You’re good, Legs, and you’ve learned a lot quickly, but it’s very different being in the thick of a fight.”
I nodded.
The others were assembled quickly.
Ant turned to me. “You ready for this? You don’t have to come.”
“I’m ready,” I said and hoped I didn’t sound terrified. In truth, I had no clue how I’d be in the thick of a real life-and-death fight. When I’d been attacked by those assassins, I’d reacted on instinct, then fear, then… I’d Bonded and Auwei had taken over. This was different. I knew going in I was headed for something dangerous and I had time to think about it. Somehow that made it worse as all possible — mostly bad — scenarios played through my mind.
I’ll protect you, Auwei said and I knew she would. Though, even as I linked hands with the others, I recalled what Auwei had done, when she’d taken control of me during the fight with the assassins in the baths. I felt like I could do those things now, after months of training. I actually did feel… ready.
Then the world spun. I was splashed into cold waters, dunked under and came up sputtering. The others reacted quickly. They’d done this before. Fin went from being a large man to… a massive whale! That pushed us out from him a little. Ant caught me and pulled me up as everyone clambered on top of the huge form. Sparrow was up and away as a bird. Foggy veered into a beetle, wings out, also flying toward the ship…
The ship was close, moving toward us. It seemed Fin had anticipated where the ship would be and had returned us to a spot roughly in its path. Now it was barreling down on us. The rest of us held on tight as Fin submerged a little, keeping us above water, to move us into position.
It was getting on to evening, the sun just above the horizon in the west. Enough light to see by, but soon there wouldn’t be.
“Left side,” Ant said close down upon Fin, tapping the whale beneath him. I didn’t think whales could hear, so the words had been for us. I guessed that the tapping of the large form beneath us had been indicating which way to go.
Fin shifted slightly and swam us toward the indicated side of the ship. Or more precisely, we didn’t move much but Fin got us in a position so when the ship passed by, we’d be close enough to climb aboard.
Ant whispered to us. “We’ll be coming up with the sun behind us. Means we’d be easy to see, but it also means they’ll have the sun in their eyes at least for a moment or two before it sets. Let’s use that to our advantage.” He looked around. “We’re more than a match for a pirate crew, nasty and vicious as they may be. Keep together and stay sharp.” He turned to Jack. “Carry me.” Then he veered and was almost washed away as an ant, before Jack scooped him up and placed the small insect on his shoulder.
“The rest of us are good jumpers,” Jack said, voice low, as the ship was getting very near. “But ants can’t jump.”
I nodded.
