I clamped my mouth shut and shook my head.
“Support magic is almost always forgotten when one refers to spellbinding. It can be just as deadly as combat magic if you know how. There is a reason why Instructor Kaa teaches you these exercises. Many people do not remember that while Dark asha cannot use the more popular elemental magic, they can still invoke support magic as well as their own runes. That is why ateliers and hairdressers, who cannot use Fire runes or Water runes, can use potions and weave support spells into their fashion. Only a rare few know how to turn this into offensive magic, and that is what you are here for. Attack me.”
I was at the fourth tier in my combat training, still at the second-lowest level, but was competent enough to be further along than many apprentices who started at the same time I did. But I hesitated.
Lady Hami’s fingers moved, and I was down on the ground. My mind had been suddenly overwhelmed by unexpected and irrational fright.
“You were afraid, weren’t you?” Lady Hami extended her hand, helped me to my feet. “See what a little support spell can do? Attack me again.”
Her fingers moved, and immediately I was overcome by anger. I rushed at the asha but was stopped in my tracks by a sudden barrage of doubt. What was I doing?
“You can use emotions to win a fight without taking a step,” Lady Hami said, and both the anger and doubt disappeared. “The first thing an asha is taught is how to recognize emotions that are outside of their own and nullify them before they take over. Veteran asha will not be affected by these spells—unless you are subtle enough that it passes beneath their notice.”
She held out the Heartforger’s protection stone that I had entrusted to her before the practice began. “You have an advantage, but you cannot always rely on this stone to protect you. I will first teach you how to defend these attacks. In time, I will teach you more. And perhaps I will even teach your brother, so that he needs not hide behind trees to watch his sister at practice.”
There was an injured silence from a cluster of oak trees a few meters away before Fox walked out. “I felt her distress,” he said, like this alone was reason enough for his presence.
“Yes, you do. And that is why you will accompany Tea from now on to most of her training unless I say otherwise. It would be a waste of time to teach you both separately.”
“If that is an offer, Lady Hami, I am honored.”
“It is not an offer,” the woman told him. “It is an order. You are Tea’s familiar, and it will do you both good to learn to control your emotions together. If Tea is to profit from her training, then it is important that you learn the same things she does. But not today. You are not fully her familiar yet, and there are certain requirements that must be in place before I accept you as another student. For now, you will watch, and you will learn when the time comes.”
? ? ?
I was grateful when Mistress Parmina decided to end my singing lessons. I had improved to the point where I no longer sounded like a dying frog and could pass off a reasonable warble. But both she and Instructor Teti decided that to give me more lessons was a waste of time—I would never be asked to sing in any official capacity. This was not a blow to the Valerian’s honor, though it was certainly a disappointment. Lady Shadi, for instance, excelled in singing, dancing, and all the refined arts but was only an average student in combat training. Her movements were too refined, without the quickness and speed necessary to make her effective.
The dissolving of my singing lessons gave me more time to pursue my combat lessons with Lady Hami, and I admit that I enjoyed those lessons more, though I frequently lost. My dancing classes continued, where I made better progress. I loved to dance, and I loved my fighting classes—they were compatible skills. I breezed through many of the easier songs and learned two new dances a week on average. I was soon promoted to the fourth tier of dance, the same week I was also promoted to the third tier in my combat lessons. Instructor Yasmin and Lady Hami were pleased, so I supposed Mistress Parmina was too.
Matches became part of my regular schedule. I sparred every day as often as I could. The week after I received my third tier, I walked into the training hall, still basking in my accomplishment. It was early enough in the day that there were few students about, but I saw Lord Kalen was present, already geared up for sparring. My steps faltered.
“What are you waiting for, Tea?” Lady Hami called out, and I hurried to comply.
Kalen frowned when he saw me approach. “I suppose there’s a reason she’s here.”
“Tea is one of my most promising students, Kalen. Her training is going splendidly.”
“I find that hard to believe.”
“Would you like to see for yourself? Tea, stand at the ready.” The instructor tossed me a wooden stick.
I caught it. “Against him? But, Lady Hami, I’m only a student. I haven’t even warmed up—”
“Only a student, yes. But if you participate only in fights where your opponent is either evenly matched or weaker—or where you have been sufficiently warmed up—then you have already lost. Stand at the ready, Tea.”
I obeyed. Kalen stood on the other end of the mat, flexing his fingers. A few other pupils drew nearer, attracted to the discrepancies in our skill. “Begin,” Lady Hami said, and any hope I’d had that the Deathseeker would go easy on me was dashed when he sprung forward, striking a blow to my shoulder before I had a chance to gather my wits.
“Point to Lord Kalen,” my instructor said. “Begin.”
Kalen leaped again, but I managed to counter his next attack. The wooden stick whirled and blurred, and it took all my concentration to keep him from striking another hit. For the next ten minutes, it was a one-sided affair where he kept up the offense, until he scored another blow to my leg.
“Point to Lord Kalen. Begin.”
His blows are weaker when they come from his right side, Fox’s voice said from inside my head, and I nearly tripped. Use the room to your advantage. Circle him from your left and wait for an opening.
I followed his instructions and dodged to the left. He spun to confront me.
Now!
I dropped to my knees, and the stick flew above my head. I struck out at the same time and managed a glancing blow off his hip.
“Point to Tea. Begin.”
“No,” Kalen interrupted. “I’m satisfied with her progress.” He looked down at me, still sitting on the mat and struggling for breath. “You’re pretty good,” he said, placing his hand on his side and wincing, “as much as it pains me to admit it.”
“Thank you, milord.” I spotted Fox strolling aimlessly along the side of the room, grinning.
“I was hoping you would be so kind as to help me train Tea,” Lady Hami told Kalen. “I think you have much to show her.”