Anthony sat across from Stella. "The Grim Reaper, really? I thought you were a bit more creative than that. I really had high hopes for you. I think you scared those two lizard folk out of their skins though."

"They won't be back," Stella said confidently. She crossed her arms. There was a distinct lack of lizard skin.

There was no world in which Anthony knew that she would take criticism on this. At least she wasn't flounting his demands. He had given her the security role and she had protected the ship from what was potentially thieves or looters.

"I just would have liked to have had a conversation with them."

"We have a whole shore team. Anthony, that's their entire job. Let them do their job. You asked me to be the Head of Security." She drummed her fingers against the wood.

"That was before I thought you were in a crime family. I'm not saying that you were. I'm just saying that your actions really are making me think."

Stella pouted. "Just because my parents owned a Italian restaurant that just so happens to never have anyone inside of it doesn't mean that I was part of a crime family. I could have married into a crime family. Or they could have become a crime family against my will. You know it's just there's just so many ways to do crime. Do you know the biggest crime?"

"No go ahead." Anthony sagged in his captains chair. "Tell me what the biggest crime is."

"Wage theft is the biggest crime. And it's not even something that's reported a lot. So if some things just a disappear off the back of a shipping truck, and then get reapportions to people that need it more who's to blame us? It's all fake money anyway. The insurance is going to pay for all of it. And don't even get me started about insurance. That's a bigger racket than racketeering. Do you know that people can just sell whole life insurance?"

"Uh-huh..." Anthony said, looking down to his notes. "All I'm asking you to do is to keep in mind that we are here on a diplomatic outreach. If we're going to pretend to be the last bastion of the Irumian people, then we need to act the part."

She smiled to him, the most unnerving smile that he had ever seen in his life. He had seen it with his sons before when they were trying to hide something from him and were very blatant about what they were doing. She was going to get away with it because she did the right thing, he just wanted her to know that he knew what she did.

"Honestly Anthony, what else would you have done differently?" She said.

"I don't know. I think that's the problem. We've been dealing with undead who have had no manners."

"We had never had to set a place at the table for them, yes," Stella said. "Think that they would eat with their elbows on the table or something?"

"Worse, they would eat their neighbors."

"Why the heck didn't I think of that? Yeah that would be a terrible tea party. Not for the zombies of course, but for the rest of us? Also why will we have a tea party with them?"

"This metaphor is getting beaten into the ground," Anthony said. "This horse isn't getting out of the stables."

She flicked a dagger out from somewhere. The places she could hide things had multiplied exponentially once they were able to stay for an extended time in Gloucester.

"Did you want to take some time to spar? It looks like you're a little worked up."

He had to agree with her. He needed it, she needed it.

"Rules?" He asked.

"Blunt spears or hand to hand. We'll switch between the two." She reluctantly put the knives away, again someplace he couldn't see.

"Bring it on," he said.

Five minutes later they were in the ring. It wasn't so much a ring as it was a chalk circle around the center of the hold around them.

The dwarves were shit talking. He had was to win first and fast.

Stella was quicker than him and had much more experience.

As this was going to be his training session for his benefit, she had offered to go easy. He had told her not to.

"Ready? Fight!" Sonya said from the sidelines.

Rather than rushing in the way that he expected her to, she just sat there for a little bit sizing him up. He was hoping that fighting someone that wasn't a foot shorter than her would off her game. Any advantage would be great.

With a cry she landed a savage blow on his right arm. He hadn't even gotten the spear in a position yet to block.

It was a probing strike.

"Get your spear down!" someone yelled from the crowd.

Anthony tried to oblige but then he was running. Rather than retreat like his brain wanted to, he started to move sideways. He just barely missed another thrust from her blunted training spear, the leather top glancing past his left arm as he dodged.

If this has been a real battle, he would have been squirting blood from his arm.

She just resumed her basic fighting stance and turned to face him keeping the spear between herself and him. They lowered his spear, nearly touching hers.

"No docking!" Sonya said. The crowd laughed.

There was a moment where she feinted trying to make him think that she was going to slap his spear with her spear.

She dodged right and thrust again.

Footwork saved him but only just.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Anthony might have been dancing the Macarena, but she was a champion Tango dancer if he'd ever seen one. He idly wondered if a crime family would send their daughter to ballet class before getting poked in the stomach.

He had never been so grateful that he hadn't eaten lunch yet.

He dry heaved, holding up a hand as the distinct jingle of card pieces changing hands was heard from the outside.

Someone had just won big. He took a knee.

"Are you good to go again?" Sonya said.

"Yep," he said, his voice strained.

"Point to Stella!" A dwarf yelled.

They began again. This time, a slow dance. He needed to get inside of her guard.

She was keeping him out with a combination of feints and thrusts towards the center and mid line. He was already impressed with her for what she did with the scouts, but seeing her in action as a foe? He was terrified.

He stepped back to parry a blow and then she came at him, relentless. There was a moment of fear-he realized that his boot was stuck in the ground. He just took the blows, several piercing shots glancing across his chest.

He would have several black and blue bruises later. This finally gave him the opportunity to get her within his grasp.

Abandoning the pretense, he tossed his spear at her face and then he grabbed her spear and pulled her in. She immediately let go of hers, but it was too late.

He grabbed one arm, turning into an arm bar swiftly, bringing her head down to the ground as he levered her arm up behind her. Her face was a mixture or awe and pain.

"I yield!" She yelled, pain evident on her face.

He released her arm. She rubbed it and she got back up standing. He handed her a spear and then returned to the opposite side of the training ring.

Stella took several revolutions through a spin of her arm. Checking to see that worked right. Anthony was prepared to cast a healing spell as he took both arms up and pulsed holy magic through them.

She looked at him and shook her head mo.

Whatever she was feeling, she wanted to feel it and he would let her. After this was all done, if he wasn't a stinking pile of messy muscles, he would do his best to restore her to where she was. He could definitely hit her with a refresh and she would be right as rain, while he was going to be a pork chop sandwich.

"Both ready? Alright get your bets in for round three," Sonya said.

"Ready," Stella spat.

"Ready," Anthony said.

This time, she did not approach him. She merely took a few steps away from the edge of the circle and kept her spear pointed out further. As the spear was about six feet tall, it extended to nearly half the radius of the circle.

Anthony kept his spear close, tucking it in between his right elbow and chest. His right arm felt up the side of it and his left arm extended the spear out. There was more shaft behind him. This was the standard fighting pose that had worked so well. He sunk into an evenly matched stance, neither leaning forward nor back.

This time, Stella let him attack. He came in slowly and cautiously probing her defenses. She would not let him close enough to attack.

Every time they tried to close the distance, she either repelled him or she tried to push him with a spear. This meant that he was moving a lot while she took up a spot in the center as he circled her.

And then it clicked. She was trying to get him to use all of his energy. Well all she had to do was turn. Anthony made a faint slap between their two spears and then went to do the real thing when he realized that she was only holding her spear loosely.

"No docking!" Sonya said, giggling.

This surprised her and he kept his spear up grabbing it with both hands as he pushed her sphere to his left. Then, he let go of his spear with one hand grabbing for her spear with the other as he tried to circle in closer to her. She jumped backwards, narrowly missing his grab and his attempt to disarm her again.

Satisfied that he could attempt that again, Anthony was summarily tripped. Falling onto his face, he realized that she was about five steps in front of him. Better than the ten steps he expected, but still too many steps.

Instead of rolling over, he just sorta sat there for a minute. He totally wasn't feeling sorry for himself.

Stella patted him on his back.

"You're still decent," she said. "I'm just glad you are our commander and not our best fighter."

He took her offered hand and got up.

"No spears for a round?" She said.

"Might as well."

The squared off unarmed. In this, he knew that she had the advantage. Sophie had explained how their sneak attack ability worked at length and to his satisfaction. Still, just because he knew about the skill didn't mean that he knew how to defend against it. He was trying to brute force a win against her and it just wasn't happening.

Every time he closed in on her, she slipped away. For every action he tried to follow through with, she could react and counter it faster than he could.

She was still afraid of his size. Next to her frame, he had the height advantage. He wanted to use that.

She dodged an attempt at a throw for a third time. He attempted to feint over and over again, but she continually kept him moving. While she moved to the back or the side, he continued to tire himself out moving to intercept.

He couldn't be moving that far, but he felt like he was continually trying to keep up, instead of getting ahead.

Then, she went on the offense and it was all he could do to cover his face. He wasn't able to cover his twig and berries which bothered him, but he had always known Stella to be honorable. And then he remembered that she was going to throw in some strange and-

She hit him in the lower abdomen. It wasn't his second favorite organ, but it was close and the proximity set off several alarms in his internal sense of self.

Suddenly, the fight went out of him.

"What the heck was that?" He said, panting on the ground.

"Sneak attack," she said. "Apparently, a non lethal version of it."

The crowd roared their approval.

"You done, Goblin Commander?" She said.

"Not in the slightest-" he said, then quickly reconsidered. They had been going at it for the better part of an hour by then. "Actually no... I think I'm good."

"Great, because Sophie wanted next and I hate to keep a lady waiting," Stella said, waving to her adoring fans. "You're up!"

Sophie jumped from a low squat into the ring as Anthony slowly made his way out.

The area around the ring became a chorus of bets passing hands and bleating. A few of the horses even stomped their hooves in anticipation.

Anthony took the first mug of what he hoped was water and drained it. He found out far too late that it was the bad batch of beer as another set of card pieces changed hands. The one who gave him the mug smiled.

"I trusted you," he said, looking the conspirator right in her bold beautiful eyes.

"Oh get over it. It's mostly water," Sonya said. "What do you always say? We can't just drink purified water? We need sources of minerals and shit?"

Anthony wiped the distaste from his mouth. He would get her back, eventually. She was too cute for any other outcome.

"Have we heard from the shore team yet? They have to be close to finishing their initial assessment of the city by now. I want to be able to give everyone else a chance to go do something fun."

"What?" Sonya said. "Some actual rest and relaxation? Why Anthony, you know just how to open up a girl's heart and blouse."

"Yes... I'm... hey!" He said, catching up to her. "We have been working hard and there are things besides fighting zombies in this world. Plus we are only a short gate away from several hot spots. Once we link up with the legion, they will help us figure out the next steps."

"I am glad that's a when, not an if. That is reassuring."

Sophia and Stella began their match.

The stark difference between the dance between the two women and his fight showed him how much Stella had been holding back. She was considerably faster in this fight than she had been against him.

Sophie and Stella traded blows nearly faster than his brain could process. It took him a minute of shocked processing to realized how screwed he would have been in a real fight with her.

Even against Sophie, it would be pretty hard for him to score an actual win.

He had never been so grateful that they were on his side. Sure he had started out fighting, but he had soon realized that his talents were better around the battlefield not in it.

Brandon called from the upper deck.

"Uh, Anthony? The goats are talking with Gigi on the ground. They are requesting a gate."

Sonya grabbed Anthony's hand as they went up to an area that had been cleared for gate travel. The aperture opened into the beach and the five they had sent moved through.

They looked a bit more confident, or perhaps it was just the light playing with their perception. Anthony would have to ask.

The first thing that happened was Gigi and Valerie gave him the stories. Then the conversation turned into the pragmatic and serious one.