Crescent (Old Version)

+ Part 37 +

Sweat drenched my clothes and matted my hair to my face by the time we were finished. It didn't matter that we were outside in the icy winds of a winter storm. My face was red with exhaustion.

Knife wielding was about a lot more muscle strength and balance than one might have thought. Saren had taught me three basic maneuvers to dodge someone with a knife, and all of them required a braced core, bending, stretching, and controlled continuous movement. Any movement one might need to get away from the madwoman Saren became when you put a blade in her hand.

A highly trained madwoman at that.

She would probably bleed me dry soon if I didn't find a way to dodge her onslaught.

Knife wielding, I learned, is much different than a swordfight.

"It's not like fighting with a long blade. You have less room for error. You dodge- or you take the wound," she'd told me.

"We're done for the day," she wiped a tiny bead of sweat from her brow and I smiled through my panting.

At least that meant she now had to work some at beating me up.

"I suggest browsing those files before diving into the lions den again."

I made a face as I leaned tiredly against the bough of a fallen tree in the snow. A thick stack of parchment slapped down next to me, but I knew what it was without having to look. The files on the ambassadors: Everything to know about everyone. All information I could already recite with my eyes closed by now. But, a particular dark-haired male flashed in my memory, and I sat on the edge of the log as Saren shook her blonde hair loose of her ponytail and took the spot opposite me.

I had no doubt she hated this just as much as I did. But, I had to get this right. The only problem was that I lacked the energy to do anything other than stare at the files before me.

"Lions den? I don't quite know whether they were worse or better than I'd imagined. Better probably."

A blatant lie. My heart still picked up in memory of last night. At least they hadn't held me a knife-point yet.

"You only say that because you'd had your fair share of wine." I jutted my chin in agreement and she added, "You also don't have to sit through any of their tiresome debates of diplomacy." She gave me a pointed look when as I left the papers untouched next to me. "They are all rather boring."

She got to sit in on the meetings?

I jumped at the idea of knowing exactly what they would be debating over the next month. "What kinds of things do they talk about?"

Another pointed look and she tapped the files and casually leaned back, arms flexing over her head as she rested against a few of the thick branches. "Each realm has something to offer the others. Tell me."

I sighed and played at boredom myself. From memory, I recited: "Lord Dormer and Lady Erin. They rule over Nexus. Famous for herbs, spices, timber. They control the largest fleet in the six realms."

Saren nodded, pride flashing in her dark eyes. "And their ambassadors?"

"Anton and Conroy."

"Who else?"

"Lord Carter and Lady Rhiannon rule Ireodran. Famous for their arts, music, and mineral fuels. Oil. As for Lord Cherith and Lady Sely in the South, they trade heavily in slaves," I spat the last word. Saren seemed unphased and continued to listen. "In the West, Lord Hugue who rules Osthen. His wife recently passed and left a suspicious amount of silver, gold, and iron."

Saren smiled. "And other precious gems."

"And, then there's here..."

"Other than our famous collections of gems, what does your house trade in?"