Dead-Men Hanging

Chapter VIII - Behind Enemy Lines

"Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak."

- Sun Tzu, The Art of War

Both women had joined him at the table this time while Valeria had placed two glass bottles on the table that contained rather unfortunately large spiders for his taste that were very much alive and appeared to be as intently watching him as he found himself now watching them far more acutely than before.

"I have taken the liberty ..." Valeria began with some muse, "... of having named them both as Zeus ..." She gestured with one hand toward the jar on his left, "... and Apollo after the Roman Gods of ..."

"Truth, plague, healing and more ..." Poe mused in appreciation of her selection, "... paired with that of the ruler of the sky and other such gods ... according to various comments that have been shared by Leviticus on more than one occasion."

"Told you that he actually pays attention when you least expect him to." Tessa suggested with a smile which drew a small frown from Valeria who also managed a smile as well once she shook her head.

"And why are these here, now?" Poe asked rather pointedly as he watched the spiders continue to calmly watch him.

"While you will learn how to communicate with various numbers of arachnids, you will also have to learn how not to listen as well. You've found yourself already having done that between various moments of weakness where you listened for only moments at a time."

"I suspect I see what you mean now from what Tessa explained."

The spiders had not moved a hair as they watched him, which seemed far more unnerving than it should have been.

"Your fear is something far more important to get over as they can also sense it quite clearly which will undoubtedly become magnified just by having seen it through their eyes as it were."

Poe looked up at her as it dawned on him that it was indeed clear that this was going to be something of a long term issue to master indeed.

"Anything else that I should be aware of...?" He finally asked with a bit of resignation.

Tessa rose from her chair to walk over to Poe where she directed him to turn toward her before she knelt and began to fiddle with the brace before she unsnapped each side and stood to place it on the table.

"Some of what you've been told had been to both protect and hide the fact that you may not necessarily appear to be what you and others may assume that you are."

Tessa stepped back as she held out a hand for him to take as he rose from the chair and was surprised to find that his knee that had failed him for so long was now without pain and seemingly could support weight without the need for the brace.

More in surprise than anything else, he gently lifted his foot, twisted the leg one way and then the other before he took several steps to test his newfound balance.

"The pain that you have been experiencing with the brace was not further deterioration but rather your knee having repaired itself and having fought back against the confines and restrictions of the brace." Valeria explained.

"Consider it your shield." Tessa offered as she moved to pour a glass of whiskey for him before she returned to her seat. "Much along the lines that you previously assumed that Valeria's cane was more artistic prop than necessity."

With hands on hips as he faced the two women Poe could only frown as he shook his head in mused wonder.

"And why on earth would I do that now that I find that I am no longer in need of it?"

Both women turned to exchange apparent options of which should explain before Tessa opted to begin.

"When I was ... growing up, as a young girl and later as a young woman, Baba taught me how to disguise myself to be seen as less of a threat or a target."

"Baba...?"

Valeria smiled. "The famous artist Giovanni Battista Babassano raised her from a mere waif of a girl to the woman that you see before you."

"Hence the artist that you appear to also be...?" Poe surmised from what he had heard earlier.

Tessa simply nodded.

"People see weakness and make assumptions that are not necessarily true." She suggested. "Baba also taught me to box, use martial arts and how to avoid killing someone unless I absolutely had to."

"Because you were a woman and a target, undoubtedly..."

"No." She replied with a touch of irritation. "Because I never went out as a girl or a woman once I had moved in with him."

"I don't follow." Poe offered as he pulled out his pipe and relit it. "Why the training then, if you never left his home...?"

"I never said that I never went out, but rather I often did in various forms of disguise that we worked to perfect each time."

"You were essentially behind enemy lines or at least pretended to be for your own safety."

Tessa nodded with a smile.

"The streets, then as perhaps now can be a very dangerous place for even men and boys if you were found to not have paid proper attention most anywhere."

"In other words, that confounding brace is now my disguise ... if I understand what it is that you have been taking the long way around to suggest."

Valeria nodded with a smile.

"When Tessa began to realize what it was that had actually been causing you pain, it became clear to us that you are indeed something very different that she could ever hope to be."

As he bit down to keep the pipe steady, he picked up the brace and knelt to reattach it before he resumed his seat.

"So what next...?" Poe inquired as he blew out a plume of smoke and looked from one woman to the other and back.

"You need to see Tessa's collection of art to understand what it is that she can do and how well she can do it."

"And the spiders...?" He asked, oddly less frightened of them as he had been earlier which was as unsettling as it was good.

"Leave them with me, they may be hungry." Valeria offered while he considered both jars. "I guess, now that you mention it, that I will need to learn how to feed them before we leave."

"Or they can teach you." Tessa mused which he found neither amusing nor helpful.