“Keep a firm hold with your right hand and release the left, press on my elbow, down.”
She did and I was forced to the ground, kneeling.
“And now any man is at your mercy. You can break his fingers later, but for now, you’ve gotten his hand off you and with his hand locked up like this, you have control.”
“Do I?” She forced me down a little further. She had a mean streak this one.
I grunted. “Trust me, you do. Now if you could please release me…”
She held a moment longer then released. I rose quickly shaking out my hand.
“What happened to your hand?” Emarra asked. I still had my knuckles bandaged from punching walls last night.
I gave a breathy laugh.
“If you really want to learn to fight, you have to accept the consequences, like some bloody knuckles now and then. It’s not pretty, but trust me, it’s worth the pain to be able to protect yourself.” That wasn’t the entire story, but I hoped it sounded good.
“Now. I wantyouto feel what I just did, so you know what it’s like, how little strength you have once your hand is locked like that. Don’t worry, I’ll be gentle, but you need to be able to trust your own skills, know you can truly overpower nearly any man, so you have no hesitation.”
Emarra was a tough one and wouldn’t show ‘weakness’ in front of her little band of friends. “As you say.” She drew herself up. “Shall I… touch you?” she asked.
I nodded.
She reached out. I was far quicker and more skilled, I grabbed her hand even before it hit my chest and gave it just a bit of a turn. She yelped, but after that, I slowed considerably and slowly forced her down, just a little. “Feel it?”
“Yes,” she said, strained.
I released her instantly. “With practice, you’ll learn to do it as quickly and easily as I just did.
She shook out her hand. “That was… amazing,” she admitted reluctantly. “You moved so quickly!” Drawing herself up, she asked, “How much for a lesson?”
I looked at Leo. All of these women were probably stupidly wealthy, but they may not have access to funds quite as readily as a man might. I smiled when I said: “For men, I charge more, one strip of silver, but for women it’s only a slip of silver per lesson.”
Leo laughed. “That’s a discount indeed.” I couldn’t tell if he was playfully upset or just trying to make it sound like a good deal.
Emarra nodded. “Seems fair. Shall we accompany Leo to his lesson now?”
I wanted a bit of time to prepare a lesson specifically for these women. “No, come again tomorrow, if that works?”
Emarra nodded curtly. “It does. I’ll be there.”
The other four all chimed in with some variation of “As will I.”
“Do you want me back tomorrow, as well?” Leo asked.
I shrugged. I could teach him and these ladies at the same time. “Yeah, if you’re feeling up to it.”
“I’m sure I will be.” He grinned.
We all walked just a bit farther down the road so I could show the ladies where I lived. Then the five young women left, whispering and giggling. One of them asked Emarra: “Can you teach me that?”
And that was that.
“I told you women would be interested,” Leo whispered once the others were gone.
He had, and I was just a bit stunned.
“Will you teach me that move?” he asked.
