Serpent and Stone

Chapter 16

We started the lesson as soon as the first rays of dawn cascaded across the sky. Perseus awoke before I did, his barely contained excitement obvious in his eager smile and bright gaze. He clutched his staff between his hands, his fingers worrying the wood as he waited for me to be ready.

My gaze went from the staff in his hands to the bronze sword I kept in the corner of the chamber. It was the one thing I had stolen from the forest battlefield, the only weapon I had not buried with the soldiers. The metal seemed to wink in the sunlight as I stared at it, as if mocking me.

I quickly broke my gaze from it and retrieved another wooden staff nearly identical to Perseus'. We would be training with staffs only. The sword I kept only in case I needed it for my own protection.

"Come on," I said once I was prepared. I grabbed Perseus by the hand and started to pull him after me. "There's a good spot not far from here."

He followed me willingly as I led him into the forest, a place where I'd never taken him before. We went slowly, as he used his staff to feel the new, unfamiliar ground before stepping forward. Tall pine and cypress trees rose all around us, like giant fingers pointing toward the sky. I allowed my gaze to drift upward. It was another cloudless, summer day, hot and humid and beautiful. The forest itself seemed to sigh in contentment as we strode through it.

Soon we reached our destination, a clearing in the middle of the forest. The place was encircled by trees, but only grass, weeds, and flowers filled the circular meadow. It would be a good space to practice.

"We're here," I informed Perseus, letting go of his hand and moving to stand directly across from him. He closed his eyes and lifted his head toward the sky. I knew he was focusing on his other senses to observe the clearing- the scent of flowers and tree sap in the air, the open sky above us and the rustling of the leaves as wind moved through the tree branches. I waited patiently, and a few moments later he opened his eyes and looked back in my direction. He was ready to begin.

"Before we begin, I'll need to ask about what combat training you've already had," I told him. "When did you begin to learn? How many years have you practiced swordplay? Anything you can think of to tell me."

He nodded in understanding. "I first began to use the sword when I was eleven," he said. "My grandfather said it was the right age for me to begin training. He assigned the arms master of the palace to work with me, a gruff man too old to continue his career as a general and too proud to retire to the life of an old man. With him I trained and studied, but I never saw battle, was never even allowed to spar with other boys. I suppose it was too great of a risk for a prince of Argos." He paused to roll his eyes, clearly showing what he thought of that sentiment. "I trained with him until I was fourteen. That was when my mother and I ended up in Seriphos. There, everything was different. Polydectes immediately enlisted me into his armies as a common soldier and I was thrust into battle for the first time. I trained together with the other men, I sparred with them, and I fought side by side with them when other armies threatened the city. I gained experience quickly, moved through the ranks as the years went by. I've survived enough battles at this point to know that I'm not half bad with a sword." He swung the staff around between his hands as if to demonstrate. "In fact, I'm quite good."

I listened patiently to his words, processing everything he said as he said it. I was not surprised he had so much battle experience, not after seeing all of the scars and marks that decorated his body. And I had no doubt he was good with a sword- or had been, before his sight was lost to him. Now, however, he needed to understand that he couldn't afford to be confident.

"So you don't lack training," I said, taking a few steps closer to him. "That's good. But this won't be about training you, Perseus. This will be about retraining you."