“You can feel the difference?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Now let’s go at it again.” He continued advancing, and she parried with increasing confidence. She attempted another advance, but he stopped and called a halt. “Danty, I know every move you are going to make before you make it. Your eyes are giving you away. Try not to make it so obvious that you want to drive your point through my heart.” He smiled when the men around him laughed. “A well-placed cut on the arm or leg will put your opponent out just as easily. Sometimes they are even more devastating because they are so quick and clean he will not even realize he’s been sliced. When the pain strikes it will take him off guard for a moment.”
“I understand,” she said. “An arm or a leg.”
“Yes, but not the captain’s,” Harry called.
“Don’t worry,” Alexis said, grinning. “I’m not after him.”
Cloud and she began again. This time they remained in combat longer than before. He talked as they fought, pointing out her mistakes as they happened rather than halting at her every error.
“You move too often to the same side, Danty. Keep me off guard. Don’t let me anticipate your next move. Get your arm up higher—use it for balance. That’s good. Relax. Don’t hold yourself so stiffly. Like that. Right. Watch me, Danty. Try to anticipate me. What am I going to do?” He knocked the sword out of her hand. It clattered to the deck. She bent to pick it up, wiping the sweat from her brow with the sleeve of her shirt. “Let’s rest,” he said.
Alexis agreed and sat beside Tom while Cloud leaned back against the mast. “It’s hard,” she said breathlessly.
In a low voice Tom replied, “You’ll be happy to know he isn’t going easy on you, Alex. He’s done a couple of things with you he wouldn’t use on a beginner and you handled yourself pretty well.”
Alexis smiled, thanking him for his encouragement. She drew her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around her legs, trying to catch her breath.
Cloud watched her uneasily. She was obviously tired and probably a lot more than she was even letting on. She had worked hard yesterday and today and he was certain she still experienced pain in her back. Perspiration was clinging to her forehead; the tiny beads glistened in the sun’s waning light. He saw her wipe her forehead again on the knee of her trousers. If she was exhausted she would get careless, and although he had no intention of getting close to her it still could be dangerous. He wished the others were not watching. She would probably feel obliged to go on even though she might realize she shouldn’t.
Alexis looked over at Cloud and signaled her readiness to continue. The brief rest made her feel better though there were occasional shooting pains along her back. She dismissed them and concentrated on the correct grip of her sword instead. He hesitated when she stood up and returned to the center of the circle. “I think just one more lesson tonight, Captain,” she said, letting him know she was aware of her limits.
Cloud joined her, checking her grip. Finding it satisfactory he commenced the lesson, holding back until he could adequately determine her strength. She sensed his reluctance and planned her attack accordingly, thrusting and lunging at his slightest hesitation.
“Good, Danty,” he praised her strategy. “But a worthy opponent will recognize his own weakness and respond quickly.” He sent her on the defensive in short notice.
They went on for several more minutes, Cloud alternately criticizing then praising her every move. “That was a good step, Danty, but get that other hand up. Try placing more weight on your right foot. You’re still moving that way too often.”
Alexis’s smile at his approval and seriousness vanished completely as a grabbing, twisting pain took hold of her back. Her weapon fell to the deck and her eyes filled with agony at the sharp, burning sensations controlling her body. She was powerless to stop her body’s instinctive convulsing just as Cloud, although immediately aware something was terribly wrong with her, was impotent to stop the sweeping motion of his sword. Alexis felt nothing as the point of his sword sliced through her shirt at the shoulder; she only knew it had made contact with her skin because his face immediately went pale and he dropped the sword from his hand. The pain in her back was momentarily forgotten as a fresh network of torture spread up from her shoulder. She felt something wet and warm trickling toward her breast and she glanced to her side and watched the path of blood with detached interest. She looked up at Cloud who was standing not more than a foot from her and smiled bravely. “I have had enough for one lesson, Captain.” She dropped all pretense, holding out her arms as the pain defeated her. Then she felt herself falling into a black void.
Cloud caught her in his arms and lifted her. Her head fell back and her long braid whipped against his thigh. He was surrounded by his men but they quickly cleared a path to let him take Alexis to her cabin. Landis followed while the others remained behind in silent misery over what had just taken place.
Cloud placed her gently on the bunk while Landis went to the orlop to get bandages and medicine. While he was gone Alexis woke. She tried to sit up but Cloud pushed her back against the sheets.
“Lie still,” he ordered.
“It’s only a scratch, Cloud,” she protested weakly. “It was stupid to faint.”
“Let me see it.” He unbuttoned a portion of her shirt and slipped it over her shoulder. The thin red line extending for almost five inches directly beneath her clavicle had stopped bleeding heavily since she had lain down. Landis returned with the bandages and Cloud washed the cut and inspected the severity of the wound. “It’s a little bit more than a scratch, Alex, but I think it is safe to say you’ll recover to have another lesson soon.”
“Good,” she murmured. She bit her lip as he washed out her cut with alcohol.
“You can cry out or faint if you want, Alex.”
“No, Landis is here,” she replied in a voice so low he had to bend close to her mouth to hear it. “He thinks I’m very brave.”
Cloud placed a finger on her lips, stilling their trembling. His hands were trembling as well. As he looked at the gentle curve of her naked shoulder and then the harsh, ugly scratch across it, he knew it was not one or the other causing his fingers to shake, but both, because they were part of this woman lying quietly beside him. He looked away and motioned Landis to go. “Tell the men she will be all right. She needs a rest more than anything.” When Landis had gone he turned back to Alexis. “You don’t have to be brave for my sake,” he told her. “I already know—” He stopped, seeing that it was useless to continue. She had passed out again.
Cloud removed her shirt completely and wrapped her shoulder with clean strips of cloth. He got her another shirt from his room and put it on her. She woke briefly while he was fastening the button at her throat. Her eyes had the smile her lips could not manage.
“I think I just need to sleep, Cloud.” She placed her hands over his and held them. “It was not your fault.” He said nothing, but she saw the disagreement in his eyes and felt the tensing in his fingers. She wanted to ask him to stay with her so she could continue to assure him each time she woke. She wanted to thank him for teaching her, for taking her seriously, for understanding her purpose. Her eyes closed, and her last thought before she fell asleep was that she would go to him later and tell him that she wanted him, now more than ever.
Cloud waited until he was sure she was in a deep sleep before he left her. As soon as he opened the door to his cabin he knew what he was going to do. He was already quite drunk when Landis joined him. He poured a glass for his friend and took another for himself.
“Dammit, John,” he said, more to himself than to the man sitting across the table. “I should have known better than to let her have the weapon.”
