Chapter 33

Tharin lunged at me, his foot work sure and true. My staff blocked it with ease but his strength jolted my wrist. I jabbed out at his partner and retreated a step, which I fumbled, my heel caught in an animal hole. It took all my effort to deflect Tharin's determined overhead sword swing, while Crum's swift swing at my leg was deflected at great cost to my balance, as I continued out of control using my momentum as an advantage, cracking him in the ribs with a twirling staff tip.

"Hold!" I commanded. "You got me," I called to Tharin.

They both put up their practice swords, each showing damage to their blunt blades. Our private practice was watched only by Grimm.

"Water?" Grimm asked us. We all nodded yes and my marine lover poured my water first.

"Tharin's next move had me," I told Crum, who was rubbing his ribs.

Fortunately, we had gone to padded practice armor for training bouts. The armor was similar to a leather vest but with an outer layer of padding which also covered legs and arms. I had even fashioned an ugly padded helmet which covered the nose, neck and crown well. The helmet couldn't take a full power killing strike but it would absorb anything else, leaving you battered but alive. The first training rule was no head attacks but things happen in a fight and I wanted my men protected.

"How you hit my ribs, I will never know," Crum responded.

"Luck Crum, dumb luck since you had me off balance," I answered.

Grimm snorted at my answer, saying, "Von makes his own luck."

Tharin laughed, saying, "He sure does, Crum."

Grimm tossed a second cup of cold water on my head after I removed the training helmet. The mineral water stunned me but a laugh filled my throat, my legs straining to keep pace with Grimm as she fled the field. I was already tired from the morning's long work out so I returned to the two men.

"Well, Crum, is a staff still a woman's tool?"

He lifted his hands above his shoulders in surrender. Grimm walked back over with a questioning look, as if to say "is it safe?" I waved her over and forestalled my normal impulse to get back at her for dousing me with water.

Both Tharin and Grimm wore one of my gifts on their biceps, a silver arm guard; inside it was inscribed "Beloved." A third arm guard was on Coven's right arm, for some reason he was particularly pleased with the token. They each also wore a small dagger with a wolf head handle on their waist that I had crafted in Convey from steel. Each was a small but deadly weapon which could pierce most armor. I hoped they never needed it; they would be in a desperate situation to use it.

The reason I really wanted a private session with them was to discuss their first trip upriver. Each of them had outlined the basic experience of the adventure separately, but Crum's idea was to debrief them together to get them talking about their time together in a way which built us all up. They both extolled the messenger boat's versatility and but were displeased with its lack of suitability to transverse the braided river. The river was a long set of shallow, winding channels with many sandbars. The boat was easy for four people to port but the external floats were a nuisance more than a help. They wished for a simple mono-hull that would make the experience much easier. Some recess of my mind told me they wanted a canoe, which we could easily produce. I kept quiet and let them run with the idea to Coven.

They navigated the river to the northern tip of the marsh where the river was much deeper and slower. When Tharin saw an Amarian village they turned back rather than risk an encounter with unknown people. We concluded the river was able to support some trade north if we ever wanted to pursue it. The braided river had lots of narrow channels but almost none of them were blocked by reed clusters or overgrown cord grass. One of the hunters had the bright idea of marking each open branch of the river so future journey's weren't a wandering affair. The river banks were full of willow trees so they blazed trees the best they could.

Tharin loved his tall tower and he didn't mind that Crum moved in with him. Tharin was less pleased that I had the new slave families, full of children, move in with them too. When I explained they needed to live away from the guest workers and in a secure place, Tharin relented. Crum was known to the women so it made sense to me he become their unofficial protector. Tharin spent most of his free time seeing Coven's sister either in the tavern or staying over in Coven's tower. Since Grimm moved into my tower Coven's sister had stopped flirting with me. I suspect Coven had a word with her about that since she broke Tharin and Grimm up. Grimm might not take it well if the barmaid took another run at me.