“Hmm, yes. In his time, Master Sath was certainly the best of the families Weapons Masters,” Amon answered. “But remember he is now well passed his prime.”
“I see your point,” Kostek commented. “I would like to work with Gwaynn, late in the evenings after the day is over, just to see his skill level and then decide.”
Amon smiled. “That’s cutting a fine line. We are only supposed to train students sanctioned by the High King.”
Now it was Kostek’s turn to smile. “Well, in a way it was the High King who put Gwaynn here. Without his involvement with the Deutzani the boy would undoubtedly still be home in Solarii in his bed.”
Amon laughed. “Yes, that is most definitely true. All right, work with the boy. Test the level of his skill. I am sure he will be determined, but whether he has talent or not, we shall have to see.”
Tar Kostek bowed and as he left he couldn’t help wondering just what he had gotten himself into.
Two days went by before Kostek was able to pull the boy aside, but he caught up with Gwaynn one evening while he was finishing his dinner with Lane, Shari, and their four daughters. Kostek knocked and waited but when no one came to the door he let himself in; the entire family was talking and laughing loudly and they were unaware of his presence in the far room. The family chatter was animated and cheerful though Gwaynn, as always, was reserved. It was obvious to the Tar though, that the boy was enjoying the banter of his foster family and they seemed to be at ease with his presence. Kostek was gratified that Gwaynn appeared to be fitting in so well.
“I do not,” Mille protested loudly, turning red as she did so. She was the third daughter. She sported long blonde hair and deep indigo eyes, eyes which she kept riveted on Gwaynn as much as possible. A habit two of her sisters noticed. At the moment they were giving Mille grief for it, much to her and Gwaynn’s discomfort. The entire family fell silent the moment Tar Kostek entered the kitchen.
“I beg your pardon for the interruption,” Kostek said, aware of the anxiety he was causing. He was the master of the quarter, and this family served him and his students. Natural lines were drawn. It was as rare for him to visit as it was for anyone of the Leek family to present themselves in his drawing room in the evening. They were at different social levels and each in their own way respected the other’s privacy.
Lane jumped to his feet. “Not at all, join us,” he said motioning for Kostek to take a seat. Clearly everyone was uncomfortable with this idea, but good manners insisted on the invitation.
“No, no,” Kostek said holding up a hand and gesturing for the women to remain seated. “Gwaynn, I would like to have a word with you.”
Gwaynn looked about as he slowly rose to his feet. All the girls were smiling at him, especially Mille, as was her mother Shari. Lane and Leek just nodded to him. Kostek led him out of the room and into the night.
“Forgive me for interrupting your dinner,” Kostek began as they slowly walked toward his own quarters.
Gwaynn shrugged. “We were finished with the meal,” he explained, not daring to hope that this was about his practicing with the other students. He didn’t have long to find out.
“Tar Amon has agreed to let you “practice” with the other students,” Kostek explained and immediately Gwaynn’s heart soared, and his face broke into a wide smile. Kostek held up a hand in an attempt to curb the boy’s enthusiasm.
“However, it is my responsibility to train these students,” he began and Gwaynn’s smile began to falter. “Training to be a Master of Arms is demanding enough without any distractions, and I will not have their training impeded by anyone…even you Gwaynn.”
The boy sagged before Kostek’s eyes, and his head was down so that he could not see the smile on the Tar’s face. “If I allow someone of limited ability to work with my students do you think that person would enhance their training or impede it?”
Gwaynn made no reply.
“Therefore you will practice with me, until I deem you proficient enough to work with some of the others.” Kostek watched as the statement sunk in. The boy’s head suddenly came up, his eyes bright. Kostek smiled. “Your first lesson will be tomorrow, seven in the evening. Meet me at my quarters.”
For Gwaynn, the next day seemed to drag on for an eternity, even though Leek kept him busy most of the morning collecting honey from the beehives located maybe a quarter of a mile from the hall. There were twenty hives in all, which constituted all of the bees on the island. Leek was very proud of them and was happy to share the honey with the other quarters, and was all the more popular for it.
While gathering the honey, Leek himself wore no protection at all, but he allowed Gwaynn to don a protective mask and pair of thick gloves. He showed Gwaynn how to calm the bees with a smoker and then gently remove the slats on which the bees formed their combs. The older man stressed slow, even movements, so as not to alarm the bees. Gwaynn watched as Leek extracted the first batch of honey with practiced ease.
“Most importantly, don’t panic,” Leek said as he watched Gwaynn remove a slat. “They’ll not sting you if you don’t panic…well mostly they won’t, every now and then you may get a rascal that will sting ya for no good reason, but mostly they’re as gentle as a lamb.”
Gwaynn was a bit nervous, especially the first time a number of bees landed on his unprotected arms, but they soon flew off without hurting him and his confidence grew. By the time they finished collecting Gwaynn was sure they would have enough honey to last them the entire month. That evening at supper, however, they all had honey on fresh made biscuits. Gwaynn ate more than his fair share, but no one seemed to mind and Leek even winked at him, proud of his honey. Finally, though, supper was over and Gwaynn excused himself, then without another word headed outside and over to Tar Kostek’s residence.
Gwaynn knocked softly but Kostek opened the door almost immediately and then motioned for Gwaynn to enter. Gwaynn moved past him, but Kostek paused at the door for a moment, checking to see if they were being observed. He spotted no obvious onlookers, and so he quickly closed the door.
Gwaynn moved inside a few feet, surprised at the large open space that dominated the interior. In fact, the entire dwelling was visible from the door and only consisted of three distinct areas. The largest area was obviously open for sparring, the floor was well padded and the walls around the room bristled with many different kinds of weapons. There were no windows, but a large fireplace did run along the north wall. There was another, smaller fireplace on the south wall, in what was obviously the kitchen. There were two chairs and an undersized table near the smaller fireplace, and a number of pots and pans hung from the low ceiling and walls. Directly above the kitchen was a loft, where Gwaynn could just make out a bed, with one lantern perched on a bedside table. Except for the many weapons, the place was very sparse.
Without a word Kostek moved from the door and from the wall took down two practice katas and tossed them to his new student. Gwaynn snatched them out of the air and checked them for weight and balance. Tar Kostek moved farther into the room and collected his own katas where they hung next to the fireplace.
“Master Sath taught you to use these I presume?” Kostek asked, and took up the “on guard” position.
“Yes, though I was not the most driven student at the time,” Gwaynn admitted and took up his place across from his new teacher.
“Well, let us see…” Kostek began, but stopped as Gwaynn attacked. It was a basic attack move that the Tar countered easily, but Gwaynn was nonplussed and smoothly moved into another attack, this one only a bit more sophisticated. Kostek turned it away also. Gwaynn kept coming however, and Kostek decided to let him. Effortlessly he blocked every move, never attacking himself, wanting instead to see just how far the boy could go. To his credit, Gwaynn never seemed to become impatient or frustrated, he just continued to attack relentlessly, even copying a move he had witnessed while watching Vio spar. This move did surprise Kostek, though he still blocked it with relative ease. Kostek waited until Gwaynn began repeating attacks before going on the offensive. Kostek quickly scored a number of hits but Gwaynn still showed no sign of becoming frustrated. The boy took the hits silently, but on the following attack Gwaynn copied the Tar’s moves with surprising skill. Kostek blocked the attack and used another even more intricate counter move that left Gwaynn sprawled on the ground. Without a word, Gwaynn jumped to his feet and once again took up the attack, and used a fair likeness of Kostek’s most recent counter attack. Only a slightly raised eyebrow showed the Tar’s surprise. The boy learned amazingly fast, and as far as Kostek could tell favored neither hand, which was impressive; most amateurs tended to favor one hand over another, however slightly.
Kostek repeated the counter attack, and was gratified that the boy managed to block it this time
