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Eladehl shoved a hand to his lips to smother a laugh, but Irila simply rolled her eyes and turned back to me. "Believe it or not, I like him, but his attitude needs to be dropped a few pegs, and I'd rather it's not when you're the one who ends up paying for it."
Then she started showing me the basics of hand-to-hand combat. I'd always known that Irila was Shalsa's guardian, but until that moment, I'd never put the pieces together. Shalsa spent a lot of time working with pain play. Her preferred Path was the one that could go wrong the fastest, and yet she was rarely ever injured. But when I watched Irila move, I realized why.
The woman was a badass. Like me, her attire left her arms bare and unrestricted. That made it easy to see the muscles flex when she demonstrated the basic positions and punches. She also made them look easy, yet when I tried to mimic her, it wasn't. Over and over, she drilled me, until I had the most basic punches and blocks locked into my mind, then we took a little break.
Over in the sand pit, Jamik had Talin and Eladehl sparring. Surprisingly, Eladehl was pretty good. Granted, after having seen Talin in class, I knew he was holding back, but my partner didn't look like a Priest of the Body. He could have been mistaken for a guardian, considering that his shirt hid the lack of lace on his back.
Wraythe and Jamik were on the mats. Technically, Jamik was Wraythe's mentor. When the High Priest had insisted that I needed someone from all the Paths - or at least who knew them - he'd offered to instruct me as well. It worked, but Wraythe had to be his first priority, and from the way Jamik was pushing the big guy, it seemed he was.
"He moves slow," Irila said, seeing where I was looking. "Sheer strength is only good for so much. Considering Eladehl can hold his own, it works, but there's no reason Wraythe can't become one of the best guardians in the temple. He's skilled, just not experienced enough."
"And Talin?" I asked.
She scoffed at that. "In truth, he doesn't need me. That boy's had more formal training than anyone in here. In a case of hindsight making things clear, I can tell you he was meant to be a guardian. Granted, he was also trained extensively in the Path of the Word, but all of the baron's family is. Has to do with keeping as much of their money as possible." Then she nodded at me. "Ready to put some of this into action?"
"Sure," I agreed.
Irila whistled, interrupting the guys sparring. "Talin? Can I borrow you?"
"Yes, mentor," he teased before patting Eladehl's arm and jogging over. "Whatcha want?"
Irila didn't give him the chance to prepare, she simply struck out at his thigh with her leg, intending to knock him off balance. Talin blocked her leg with his arm and fell into an easy fighting stance. Irila lifted a hand and backed away.
"Just making sure your mind's in the game," she explained. "Can you go over a few of the basic patterns with Nari?"
"Yep." Talin stepped back onto the mats a little more, then pulled his shirt over his head. "Watch my sternum," he said as he tossed the cloth toward the closest wall. "Loose clothes will make it harder to interpret my moves, but everything comes from here. Not the eyes, like Ghale says, but the center of the body."
"Ok," I agreed, then put up my arms.
"Keep it to the basics," Irila said, then she turned us loose.
Talin stepped in with a slow swing, and I started to see how all of this came together. Just like with fencing, it wasn't about the positions themselves, but the ability to keep my forearms between me and the opponent's hands and feet. While Talin tossed soft punches near my gut, Irila called out corrections, moving with us as we floated across the mats.
"Add some force," Irila told him. "Give her some incentive to block with force."
Talin's swings got faster, but none of them were aimed to actually connect. I was starting to breathe a little harder, but somehow I still managed to block everything. Even when he threw a kick toward my hip. Just when I was starting to feel like I had this, one of the guys in the corner started laughing.
"No, no, no..." he said. "You're not doing her any favors, initiate." And then he glanced at Irila. "If you want to teach her, you're going to need someone who'll hit her, and this initiate seems a little distracted."
"He is," Irila agreed, "but I can't watch her and throw punches. You free, Harlin?"
The man nodded, coming over to offer his hand to me first. "Pleasure, guardian. I've worked with Irila a few times in the past." Then he looked at Talin. "Pretty sure you're still an initiate, but you move with skill. Get assigned a new ward?"
"Nope," Talin said. "Does that happen often?"
"More than you know. A lot of the guys step down to Action when they realize that most of the patrons are male, and the women asking for a male go to heterosexual men first. A lot of the girls do when they figure out that not many people come to us for sweet and innocent temptations. Which is where we guardians come in."
Irila nodded. "Being bonded makes some Priests of the Body push through that initial learning stage, because they don't want to lose their match. Of course, the fact that we keep our desires safe goes without saying. I'd say about one in four initiates on the Path of the Body give up before they graduate to disciple."
"Which is why they're pushing me so hard," I realized.
"And why we're going to make sure you can handle this," Irila promised. "Talin, I think Harlin's going to be better for what we need."
Talin didn't budge, though. "I am not ok with this."
"Listen to your mentor, boy. I'm just here to help your friend. Nothing sinister."
"Ward," Irila corrected. "Nariana's his ward."
