AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I followed him over to the weapons rack. “Have you been in the military all your life? Were you born here?”
Liam paused and glanced at me over his shoulder. “The village I was born in lies about twenty days’ ride to the north, and I became a soldier as a young man, yes. Why do you ask?”
“I come from—farther away. I don’t know much about the people here.”
He shrugged, turning back to survey the weapons. “There’s not much to know. We’re people like any other, I suppose.”
“Not like mine.”
Liam smiled at me. “I’d love to hear all about your people, but this isn’t teaching you to keep your head attached.”
He pulled out a pair of glittering metal wheels as big as—no, including the spikes, bigger than—my head. I stepped back. He held them up thoughtfully, measuring against me with one eye squinched, and nodded in satisfaction. He set those down and grabbed a staff longer than my arm.
“Why not just a simple little knife?” I squeaked.
“Simple question, easy answer.” He pulled out a wooden practice dagger and handed it to me. “Okay, stick me with it. Anywhere that looks like a good spot.”
I took a step forward, careful not to step on my skirt, and sliced at his throat. Before I got the knife there, his hand was clamped on my wrist, stopping me cold, which was no surprise. “Now look down, Lady Gwynn.”
I looked to see that he had another wooden dagger pressed just below my sternum, poised to strike upward.
“See?” he said. “You have to get too close to a man to do any damage. Most everyone is going to have a longer reach than you do—any man would have you stalemated at best and gutted at worst before you got your blade near him. You want something that gives you an advantage.” He tapped the wrist he held meaningfully.
“I could learn to throw it.”
“Yes, but then you’ve thrown away your weapon.”
“Oh.”
“Keep that practice dagger, though. Knives can be good for desperation maneuvers—when you’re already in close and got nothing left. We’ll teach you a few. Keep one under your skirt.” Liam’s tone was all respect but, oh, the ideas in his head. I screened them out so I could concentrate.
“Now these beauties…” He seized the metal disks. “These make it real damn hard for even a much larger man to get near you.”
I took the wheels by the leather-wrapped handles, taken aback by their dense weight that pulled on my shoulder sockets. The polished metal shone blindingly. A sharpened crescent inside protected the back of my hand, while the outer curve of the disk sported blades radiating outward at regular intervals. Liam showed me how every surface was sharp—no matter how I poked or sliced, these would keep an attacker far away, and could I cast spells while I was moving? I should work on that, he told me sternly.
I tried an initial swipe with the disk. And immediately caught it in my clothes, slicing a big rip in my skirt and just missing my own thigh. Liam, who had jumped back, stepped nimbly in and removed the weapons from my hands.
“That, Lady Sorceress, is why we start you out with a stick. We’ll work with the sun-and-moon wheels down the road.”
Liam taught me how to swing the short staff in simple figure-eight patterns that created a shield across the front of my body. He showed me how to place my feet for the best strength and balance. And laughed when I managed to clonk myself in the head with the stick.
Liam looked bemused. “It’s probably a good thing you can do magic—you’re not much of a fighter.”
“I’ve always been a klutz,” I muttered. “And this is my first time.”
“Your people don’t learn to fight?”
“Some do. Most don’t.”
“You mean, all of the men, but just some of the women?” He nodded to himself. “I’ve heard of villages like that.”
“No, some of our men don’t either. Are there women soldiers? I haven’t seen any.” I cast my mind over the camp, but it felt solidly male.
Liam studied me. “No, our women stay home to defend the villages, since all the men must go to war.”
“Why do you do it? Fight in these fae wars? There’s no purpose to them except to entertain the nobles.”
A look of infinite sorrow crossed his face, like cloud swooping over the sun. “Your people must indeed be far away, for you to ask a question like that.”
