Chapter 10: A Request

“Cayce, what are you doing?” boomed out my brother, as he approached our pavilion. Morry set his beer mug down and stood up. Tread watched him do it, looked back at the prince, then immediately rose to attention.

I’d returned to training with the sword by his arrival and finished out the swing I’d started, then turned toward the prince, wiped sweat off my brow and answered, “Training. Learning. Exercising. Exactly what it looks like.”

In his golden-haired beauty and radiant blue eyes, he gave me a smile that was verging on a frown or perhaps birthed by one and said, “Well, if you don’t mind the interruption, my princess sister, might I beg a moment of your time?”

“Of course!” I wanted to sheathe the sword, but it wasn’t mine and I wasn’t wearing a scabbard, so I handed it back to Tread, thanking him.

“No!” My brother walked over and took the sword from Tread’s hands. Tread’s eyes were wide with shock. “When you give a sword to another in peace and without anger, you pass it blade sideways. Like so.” He handed the sword to Tread, one hand cupping the bottom of the hilt, the other lightly holding the blade itself. Flat sides of the blade faced each man.

He spoke to Tread, “Now, give it back to Cayce. She needs to offer you the weapon properly.” The prince gave a quick scowl at Morrentz, whom he correctly assumed was my teacher, and who apparently failed in this regard.

Tread passed it to me in like manner, I held it for a while, my eyes looking at the blade as if for the first time, reverently, and passed it back to him. Left hand at the bottom, palming the hilt, right hand on the blade itself, arms extending.

“Wait.” He put his huge left arm in front of Tread to stop him from reaching out. “Do you see what you’re doing wrong?”

“Uh, no.”

“Consider your hand position for a moment.”

One hand supporting the sword from the bottom, other hand on the blade. It seemed like I was doing what he was, but he didn’t think so. I stared a little longer, thinking. When you pass scissors and knives, you do from the sides that can’t stab or cut you. My right hand was certainly in danger here, from the blade, but that’s how he passed it. I was missing something. “Am I holding the edge wrong?”

“Yes! Good job. Don’t hold it, just pinch it lightly. You have to protect yourself in case you or he slips. You’re not wearing gauntlets, after all. When you train swordsmanship, you should be wearing gauntlets or you’re going to injure yourself.”

I did this thing, properly. Tread looked like he was holding himself from shaking in the awesome presence of the prince, but he focused on the sword exchange, and we finished. These little rules of etiquette – how many were I breaking, how soon till it became obvious I wasn’t the princess?

Big brother smiled, nodded once, then walked into the tent. I followed, curious as to his real motives. He didn’t come here to teach me sword passing.

With his enormous frame, he had to duck under the tent door, then led us over to the chairs, pulling mine for me, and poured us both tea from the teapot sitting on the nearby table. I briefly marveled at the servants’ prescience, but they’ve probably been at this a long time.

He then sat down. “I hear you had a little too much to drink today.”

I cradled my tea, “Yes, yes, that’s true. Weak ale sneaks up on you.”

“Ale? Why on Earth are you drinking ale? You should be drink-”

“Wine. Yes, I know. Sweetened with lead. I get that. No thanks! From here on out, it’s all ale for me.”

“That’s not very ladylike. In fact, that’s what I came here to talk to you about. It seems that the dowager-regent is worried about your, ah, womanly studies. And now I see why! Learning swordplay, ordering weapons and armor from the smiths – I hope you don’t intend to take up soldiering!” He smiled, but it wasn’t one that shared a joke.

I used the name Saph had called him. “Thomler, I will answer your questions, but first tell me what is going on. I haven’t been able to get a straight answer out of anyone.”

He cocked his head sideways, “Are you angry?”

“What? A little, I guess. I feel so in the dark!”

“You always call me ‘Thom’ or ‘Thomie’ except when you’re mad.”

“Ah. Ok. Thomie, would you mind telling me what’s going on?”

“Whatever do you mean?”

“Well, I’d like to know what happened. Why is this enemy attacking us? Who are they? Why aren’t we defending from the castle?”

“Why would we defend the castle?”

I gave him a stare – no one could be this stupid. “Because . . . because the walls are force multipliers! Surely, it’d be much easier to reduce their numbers if they were forced to attack a castle.”

He laughed, “Well, they didn’t attack our castle. They were pillaging our villages.”

“Oh. I see. Ok, but . . . then why am I out here?”

He looked at me in wonder, “You don’t remember? We may need to have the healers carefully examine you.”

I definitely didn’t want that! If they used magic, they could discover that I was not, in fact, his sister. That could be bad. “Could you, I’m sorry, recap – I mean, retell the situation to me?”

“You and mother were riding back after visiting Earl Yohstone and father rode his army out to meet you, especially since we had reports of a rampaging army. He was worried and, it seems, for good measure.” He stared off into space for a time.

“And this army?”

“I’d brought it out to reduce their forces. Listen, I wanted to ask you what happened? How could father lose so badly?”

Shit! I didn’t have answers and I still wasn’t getting enough from him. I leaned across, placing my hand atop his in what I imagined sisterly love to be, “I don’t know. I can’t remember. I think I was hit too hard on the head and-”

“So that’s why you’re training and want armor. You fear that you’ll find yourself in another battle soon.”

“Well, yes, but that’s not all. I mean,” I leaned in, “I need to learn how to defend myself. I need you on my side here, dear brother. Tell the dowager to let me train, let me have weapons.”

He withdrew, giving me a questioning gaze. “I don’t know. It’s my place to protect you.”

I stood up, annoyed, walking away from our chairs, thinking about something that would motivate him. I raised my voice, “Father couldn’t! You can’t! It’s a harsh world, Thomie, and I am to live in it.” I turned back, “So, I need to train. Something, anything, enough training to throw off any would-be attackers.”

“It’s not a girl’s place, to carry weapons. Hmmm, we can increase your guard.”

“Listen to me, brother. The wizard and I escaped because I smashed a man’s head in with a stone as he was attempting to rape me. I freed the wizard with the dead man’s knife. When we got to the river, it was me who got that useless robed man into the boat! It was me who rowed it to our side of the shore.”

“He’s hardly useless, he’s a very powerful wiz-”

“That’s not the point! We didn’t use his magic to escape, we used my . . .” I held my hands up, “These weapons. My hands and wits. Now, I mean to train them with or without your help and if that old woman gets in my way . . .”

“I’ll give it some thought. But don’t anger her, sister. She is very dangerous and very close to holding all the power in our kingdom.”

I balked at that, not knowing why this not-royal person would be so powerful and gave him the angriest stare I could muster on this little girl’s face.

He went on. “The Church. They wield a great deal of power. They’re very dangerous, especially to you. The dowager has their backing. Don’t give her any reason to include them. Like all these customs you are flaunting. You don’t want her marrying you to one of her third cousins.”

I was lost. “Dangerous to me? How are these things connected?”

“Listen,” he said, taking my hands into his, “I came here to tell you of my plans. I’m leaving tomorrow, taking half our forces, and going to harry the enemy. They’re on the march to get around the bridge we hold. And I mean to make that a painful affair.”

“What will happen if you fall in battle?” I tried to make my voice sincere, sisterly, and worried. It was, except for the sisterly bits, entirely honest.

He tilted his head back, bellowing, his trademark laugh, “Oh! You needn’t worry young one, for I will return!” He stood up, this monster of a man and it was true, I could not see him losing any battles. His arms bulged with muscle, dwarfing even big Morry’s, his shoulders wider than the chair he sat upon. Probably no one else would wield his sword, it was larger than most men are tall, blade wide and thick. He couldn’t not win, which made it all the more important to get him on my side.

I pressed the moment, to get what I wanted. “Brother, come with me to the armory and weaponsmith. The dowager-regent had them cancel my order. I want them back. I need to train.”

“Not tonight, for I have another task for you.”

“Well, tell them to get my weapons and armor ready for tomorrow then.”

He didn’t answer that, instead heading for the exit. I pumped my little legs to catch up. “Sister,” copying my appeal to him as a sibling, “you’re the princess. You have duties to attend.” Turning toward me, he went down on one knee, making our faces more or less level and taking my hands in his, “Do this for me?”

I tilted my head, not knowing what he wanted. But I had to give concessions. “Of course, my prince. What is it you want me to do?”

Flashing a knowing smile, with a hint of inside mischievousness, for we were in this together, “The men are fighting tomorrow. If you could distribute to them ale – not in abundance, mind you, but generously nonetheless – why, that would go a long way to helping your cause.”

“My cause?”

“Exactly!”

The ramifications hit like a brick and a smile broke out on my face. He was being subtle. Despite looking anything but. He wanted me to win over the troops. Politics and military power, not rational arguments, would win my goals. I curtsied and hugged him, “Yes, dear brother, it would be a pleasure!” But, first, I thought to myself, I had better doll up. If anything had been rammed into me this day, it was that the presentation of princessly beauty was a must.

At that thought, I allowed myself the pleasure of one eyeroll and one long sigh before calling my ladies in waiting in.