On Mount Alyppia

A New Pupil

He could not believe he was doing this.
    Leonid had never held a weapon in his life, and had stood his ground against his father's insistence for fencing lessons for years. He had insisted that he was an artist, artists create and do not destroy, he was not and would never be a fighter.
    And yet, here he was, sitting across from Assuntina as a carriage drove them to the home of Gregor Morcelli. What sort of man insisted on giving lessons from his home? What was he doing here again?
    Girl, he reminded himself. The girl would be there. He would be working, and she would be there. Watching. Just like before.
    "Don't expect her to be ogling at you," Assuntina warned him, as if reading his mind. "She has work to do... Swords to clean, water to fetch, other errands and such. She won't have time to be staring at the likes of you."
    He tried not to be disappointed, which was foolish. Truth be told, he was nervous. Why was he so nervous? It must be the swords, he said to Assuntina. She smirked.
    Leonid opened the carriage door first and extended a hand to help down Assuntina. She accepted it and hopped down, adjusting her belt and tossing her long braid over her shoulder. She looked the part of a country girl more than that of a princess, with her tanned brown skin and round rosy cheeks, so she seemed completely comfortable in boy's clothes, boots and trousers and a leather doublet she would probably later shed in the heat. Assuntina had told him with relish that her mother completely disapproved of her dressing so, which she took as a sign to go ahead.
    Leonid was quiet as they walked through the house and into the courtyard in the back, breath quickening and heart thumping quicker than the beat of a tarantella. There was no one in the courtyard that he could see, except.... There. In the corner, sitting with a sword on her lap, wiping the metal with a sword. Eyepatch, headscarf, sunburnt cheeks... It was her.
    The girl glanced up as she heard them come in, briefly meeting Leonid's eyes, then paled. She froze for a moment, then darted to her feet and disappeared a small shack tucked up next to the wall. Leonid bit his lip.
    Gregor Morcelli himself emerged from the same door moments later, holding a sword, since he was, in fact, a swordsman. A tall, serious man well into his years, he studied Leonid and Assuntina critically. Leonid fought the instinct to shrink back.
    "This is your friend, then?" Morcelli finally asked.
    Assuntina nodded. "Leonid Castelli."
    Morcelli's shrewd eyes slid to Leonid. "Why do you wish to learn the craft, Maestro Castelli?"
    Leonid thought for a minute, swallowing. Why would he have wanted to learn, had he not been here for the girl? Morcelli had called it a craft, as if it were an art. "Because I am an artist, sir," Leonid said carefully, trying to sound both confident and respectful. "And I wish to broaden my expertise. Learn something else."
    Morcelli regarded him with an unperceivable expression, then nodded to Assuntina and told her, "Show him what you know."
    "Thank you," Leonid said.
    "We shall see how you do," Morcelli said simply, then stepped back into the shade cast by the wall, watching expectantly.
    A small figure stepped out of the door then, and Leonid froze again. The girl carried two wooden swords, even though she had not been asked to. She passed the first two Assuntina, who smiled and chirped a thank you and gave Leonid a pointed look. This is your chance, you dunce, her eyes said.
    The girl walked up to him next, walking slowly and shuffling her feet, and stiffly held out the sword handle to him. She kept her head down, her eyes fixed on the ground.
    Leonid slid his hand around the sword hilt, his fingers meeting hers, rough and calloused and so unlike the soft hands he was used to. The girl's head snapped up at the touch, their eyes meeting. The girl's face was flushed scarlet, her lips parted slightly, making her eyes shine. They were light-colored, somewhere between blue and green, and Leonid wondered how he had never noticed them.
    Leonid tightened his grip in the sword hilt and smiled at the girl. "Thank you," he said softly.
    The girl looked back down and gave a quick nod, then pulled her hand away and went to sit back in the corner of the courtyard. Just like that, the moment was over.
    Assuntina began to show him the basics, demonstrating with her wooden sword on a straw-filled dummy. Morcelli watched, occasionally giving a command or a correction, and the girl sat on a barrel cleaning swords with a rag. She did not look up once.
    After a while, Leonid began to realize that despite the blazing sun, he was enjoying this. It seemed hours later when Morcelli raised a hand to signal them to stop. Again without being asked, the girl came forward with a bucket of water and a dipper, giving both Assuntina and Leonid a long drink. Leoid tried to catch her eye, but she sat down before he could.
    "How long have we been here?" he muttered to Assuntina.
    "About thirty minutes," she informed him.
    Leonid stifled a groan. He was not sure how much longer he would be able to stay on his feet.
    Morcelli taught Assuntina a new maneuver, letting her practice on a straw dummy, and began to go over with Leonid everything Assuntina had showed him. When he was sure that he had a grasp on the basics, he set Leonid and Assuntina against each other and told them to be careful and do no damage. He gave Assuntina a look at that.
    Assuntina won the first match, of course, even though she was not particularly good. And the second, and the third, and the fourth. It was a pure stroke of luck that Leonid won the fifth match: Tina's foot slipped back, knocking her off balance and giving Leonid an advantage.
    "Halt," Morcelli called when Leonid had Assuntina on her back on the ground with his blade to her neck. "Well done," he said to both of them. "You, watch your footing. A good stance is critical. You, you need to think a bit more. There's more to this than just movement." He paused for a moment, seemingly waiting. Then he half turned his head and said, "Water."
    The girl had been staring listlessly at the ground, and at Morcelli's words she jumped up and grabbed the water bucket, leaving it with Assuntina and scurrying back to her spot near the wall with her head down.
    Morcelli frowned at her. "What was that?" he demanded.
    The girl shrugged. "Sorry," she muttered. "I... I'm distracted."
    Morcelli raised an eyebrow. "You're never distracted."
    The girl shrugged again.
    Morcelli walked closer to the girl, tilting his head and studying her with a skeptical eye. She kept her eyes down. "There is a bruise on your face."
    Leonid blinked. There was a bruise on her face, one he hadn't seen before. An angry purple splotch shading the length of her cheekbones interrupted by a thin line of dark blood. Who had given it to her? How had he not noticed?
    The girl finally looked up. "I've bruises on my face lots of times," she said.
    "That one wasn't there in the morning," Morcelli noted. "What happened?"
    The girl shrugged, yet again, biting her lip.
    Morcelli took a step closer. "What happened? Who hit you?"
    "Cook," the girl said finally. Her head was down again, but everyone was staring at her.
    "Cook hit you?"
    She shook her head, fidgeting. "She threw a cup."
    "Why?" Morcelli insisted.
    The girl sighed, tugging at her eyepatch. "'Cause I tried to take a smidge of ale."
    Leonid tried to imagine the tiny girl drinking, and failed.
    Morcelli frowned. "Why steal it, and not ask? You don't even drink"
    The girl made a soft sound that might have been a snort. "Yeah I do, sometimes. When I'm hurt."
    "You're hurt?"
    The girl looked up. "There's a hole in my head," she said flatly, a hand creeping up to her missing eye.
    Morcelli scoffed. "That has been there for a month. You have been walking stiffly today. So what happened?"
    The girl did not say a thing for a long time. "I've a bruise on my side," she said finally, in a low voice, reaching for a new sword to polish. "It's alright."
    Morcelli studied her a moment longer, but she still did not look up. He finally turned away and had Leonid and Assuntina put away their swords and do drills, simple things like push-ups and lunges. Leonid considered dying to be a valid option at this point, but he was too distracted. The conversation between the girl and Morcelli kept running through his head. She was so timid. What had made her so timid?
    At one point, the girl slipped away from the courtyard. Once she was out of earshot, Assuntina began to talk.
    "Do you know her name?" she asked Morcelli between panting breaths. Leonid's ears perked up at the mention of the girl.
    He did not ask who she meant. "Yes."
    "Why don't you call her by it?" she pressed.
    "Anyone with eyes can see she is ashamed of it."
    Assuntina frowned, as if she had not thought of that. "How long has she been working for you?" she asked finally.
    "About five years, perhaps," Morcelli said absently. Leonid wished he would say more, but Morcelli instead set them on a new drill, and that was that.
    Leonid did not see the girl again for the lesson's end, and he was almost to tired and sweaty to care, even though he had been hoping for her to return since he had left. Morcelli gave him a nod and a "Good work", which Assuntina assured him was high praise. He was to come back to the next session, if it were alright with Assuntina. Leonid was still trying to decide if he wanted to return or not. He did not enjoy the soreness and fatigue, but the exercise was good for him. And the girl. He wanted to see the girl.
    Leonid was back in Assuntina's carriage, resting his head against the window, when he saw the girl next, dashing by them on the street. Leonid glanced at Assuntina, who had seen her too. She smirked, calling for the driver to stop. "Go get her, stalker boy. We'll wait on the side of the road here. Don't get lost."
    Leonid gave her a grateful look, then opened the carriage door to chase the girl through the crowded streets of Kalterra.