Vaela swallowed her retort to Hermit and turned to Jace. Special lessons. Code for, she wasn’t learning as fast as the others. She sighed and retrieved her shield from the ground. As much as she resented the implication, it wasn’t wrong.

Jace leaned over and rolled up a pants leg. He pulled a knife–a real knife–from a sheath strapped to his leg and pricked his finger. Vaela’s pulse sped up as the blood welled from the small cut. Touch. A Power she’d encountered a few times at the shop. The sexual implications were obvious. The main problem was that you couldn’t control a Power you weren’t born to. It didn’t stop people from trying, but the experience was sufficiently disorienting that people rarely bought a talisman a second time.

Jace held his hand out to her, a dot of blood domed on his fingers. His Power strummed through it. An ocean, every bit as deep as Hermit’s, even in that drop. Excitement wound through her. This could be it–just the thing that would make her fight like the others. Jace had more than demonstrated the usefulness of Touch in combat.

She reached for a vial and Jace shook his head. “Just try a drop. Any more might overwhelm you.”

She extended a finger out towards his. Already, so different than Hermit. He had given her a random amount of blood while a bunch of priests and priestesses bore down on them, armed to the teeth. And he had the nerve to leave right after! She touched the drop of blood and it smeared on the tip of her finger. She raised it to her mouth. Would she ever get used to consuming someone else’s blood?

It was bitter on her tongue for only a moment. Then Feeling flooded through her. It tingled to every inch of her body. She reached for the Power and felt it slide through her.

Her feet buzzed against the ground, her weight a fraction more on her left heel than her right. Her clothes rustled against her skin, light, almost tickling where a fold touched under her ribs. The belt hugged her waist, an almost disorienting weight that wreaked havoc on her balance. And in her hand, the sword–like an extension of her own body. The muscles of her arm danced deep to her skin and the sword swirled through the air in an arc.

Timura touched her shoulder. “Is it working?” Timura’s heartbeat blipped through her fingers.

Vaela could Feel every beat. She could Feel everything. She raised her shield and faced Timura. “Let’s fight.” Timura slid back and lowered her staff. Vaela turned her body, shifting her weight between her front and back legs in rapid bounces. Timura lunged, her staff hurtling towards Vaela’s eyes. Vaela knocked it away and slipped around to the side. She circled, forcing Timura to pivot. Timura jabbed again and Vaela darted forward with her shield angled slightly outward. As the tip struck the shield, Vaela slammed it outward, sending the staff wide. She closed the distance enough to strike with her sword. Timura leapt backward, but Vaela kept charging forward. She cleaved at Timura’s side. Timura twisted with a grunt and blocked with the mid-section of her staff. Metal clanged off of each other.

Information tingled down Vaela’s spine from the collision. Timura’s balance, just off a bit from her hasty retreat. Vaela spun and feinted a jab. The staff flew up and Vaela waited. As it passed Timura’s face, Vaela lunged. The point of her sword slid below the staff and towards Timura’s chin. Timura dropped an arm from the staff and slammed her forearm into the iron. It knocked the sword away and Timura fell back a step.

The world spun and a heaviness filled Vaela’s body. Jace’s Power burned away. Vaela reeled and caught herself with a wide step. Her legs felt like they were filled with lead. She shook her head, but the Feeling was gone.

She was back to being herself.

Clapping rang out behind her. Vaela snapped out of her fog and glanced back. Jace lowered his hands with a smile. “Excellent. Now do you Feel your balance?”

Exhilaration bubbled in Vaela. She was back to her own senses, but yes. The ground stabilized beneath her and she shifted back and forth. It wasn’t like before, when it had been so clear, but she could feel her center, grounded between her feet. She grinned and regarded Jace with awe. “That… is that how you Feel all the time?”

It was unimaginable. Like every moment, music in the air; every second, dazzling light. No wonder he was so good at fighting!

“Well, not all the time, maybe.” He brushed an imaginary speck of dirt from his tunic, a small smile at the corner of his mouth. “But when I’m fighting–yes.” He stepped forward, a smoothness to his movements that Vaela appreciated with newfound respect. “You Felt it. Every motion is a symphony. And your opponents are making that music with you. If you listen, they will tell you everything you need to know.”

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Vaela took a deep breath, letting the air expand through her chest, her arms loosen, her legs connect into the ground. Yes, she had heard it. Felt it. And it was unbelievable. His Power wasn’t so uncommon. She’d Charmed it into tokens before. But it always seemed a joke. People just hoping to have incredible sex–with little prospects of actually tapping into the Power. Not that they didn’t claim it worked!

She glanced back and chuckled. A brothel. Well, that made a lot of sense now. She shook her head. Good for him.

Timura paced up to her, rubbing her forearm. Vaela gasped and recoiled. By the Creator! “I’m so sorry!” She dropped her sword and reached for Timura’s arm, which she’d used to block Vaela’s strike, but stopped before touching her. The thwack of metal against flesh rang through Vaela’s mind and she winced. And it could have been much worse. She’d been aiming for Timura’s head. “Are you okay?”

Timura released her arm with a grin. “You pulled one on me, but I’ve picked up a trick or two, as well.” A light bruise marked the hit. “Managed enough Shadow to Fade through the brunt of it.” Her chest swelled and she straightened up a bit, lifting her chin. “Not perfect, but not bad, huh?”

Vaela’s shoulders fell and she choked out a relieved chuckle. “Not bad at all!” She rubbed her own arm, fingers trailing over the Mark that spiraled up her forearm. She’d have to be more careful. She suppressed a grin. If she started outfighting everyone else, she’d have to be a lot more careful!

Timura scooped Vaela’s sword up and handed it to her. “Want to go again?” Her eyes were bright, almost fervent. Shadows swirled on the ground around her feet, like fish just under the surface of the water.

Vaela nodded and accepted her sword. They spaced out and Vaela assumed her stance. She shifted between her feet, feeling for her balance. It was muffled, nowhere near as clear as with Jace’s Power flowing through her. But now that she knew what to feel for, at least she could try. She sank her weight into her hips and raised the sword. Timura saluted with her staff, a sharp upward motion, then prowled forward. Their weapons clanged off each other in a series of measured strikes. Vaela fought to keep centered, but couldn’t outmaneuver Timura like before. After a short exchange, Timura knocked Vaela’s sword aside and the tip of her staff stopped an inch from Vaela’s cheek.

Vaela flinched, though the blow never came. Timura grinned at her and patted Vaela’s cheek with the staff. Vaela rolled her eyes and laughed. Yeah, she was back to her normal senses. Losing to Timura wasn’t as bad as losing to Surah, though. And at least she knew what was possible now.

They began again, striking and circling, vying for opportunities. After a few hits, Vaela weaseled her way past Timura’s staff, taking advantage of her shield, and stopped her sword before it collided with Timura’s temple. She grinned and drew her sword back with an eyebrow cocked. Timura snorted and stepped back. Shadow wrapped around her like a cloak. She bit her lip and eyed Vaela. Her dark eyes burned with intensity. And maybe something else.

Vaela blushed and adjusted her shield on her arm. Kinda hard to concentrate when Timura looked at her like that.

Clapping rang out from behind her and Vaela jolted. She spun, partially raising her sword. Jace finished applauding and spread his hands. “Excellent work–both of you.” He nodded to Vaela’s feet. “Better, yes?”

Vaela bounced on her toes a few times. “Oh, yeah.” She shifted fully left and right. “Nothing like you, but I think I’m getting it.”

He clasped his hands behind his back. “Practice, my dear Charmer.” He looked back and forth between her and Timura. “You two fight well together. I anticipate you’ll progress quickly with more training.”

Timura stepped along Vaela, the Shadows evaporating away. She craned forward, jittering the staff. “We’re bound by death itself!” She shot a glance at Vaela, her excitement contagious. “After what we’ve been through, well, we’re connected.”

Behind Jace, slightly off to the side, Adyr looked down and folded her arms to her stomach. Her fingers brushed over the outside of her arm over and over. The scars weren’t visible under her sleeve.

Surah skirted around Jace and waved an arm to Vaela’s shield. “You’ll be glad to know she doesn’t need to block maces with her arm anymore.” He grinned at Timura and raised his own shield. “Madame Gavora gave us an excellent shell.”

Timura’s mouth formed an ‘O’. She turned to Vaela. “She always cared so much for you. I’d love to see it when I can.”

Vaela snapped her attention back to Timura. “Huh? Oh, right.” She hefted the shield she’d borrowed from the rack. “I left it in the room–didn’t know we’d need it.”

Jace gestured to the brothel’s doors with a slight bow. “Training is over for now. Please, enjoy our food and relax.”

Adyr spun and returned her staff to the rack. As soon as it clattered into place, she strode towards the doors. Vaela shook off her shield. She needed to talk to her. Tell her… well, something. That she wanted her here.

Timura stepped in front of Vaela, clutching her staff eagerly. “So can you show it to me?” She looked at Vaela through her eyelashes. “In your room.”

Vaela’s heart fluttered as her body flushed with heat. She glanced at the doors where Adyr had already disappeared through. She’d be okay, right?

Vaela shook her head and shoved her shield and sword to Surah. “Put these up for me, would you?” She jogged across the courtyard and turned to Timura when she reached the doors. “I’ll show you some other time.”

Timura’s eyes flashed and she drew back. “Wh–”

Vaela waved and pushed through the doors. Adyr disappeared down the hall, past the curtain that led to the entrance room. Vaela’s heart pounded as she ran to catch up with her.