Emeralds and Enemies

Chapter Forty-seven

Junseo prepared himself for some teasing from the other boys at the forge. He worried they might measure their own results against his. He supposed this was only natural but what he did not anticipate was the change in the Go brother's attitude toward him. Me Yan was suddenly very shy and caught San Jin just watching instead of practicing. He finally pulled them both aside.

"What is up with the pair of you?" he looked from one to the other. "Come on. If I did something to hurt your feelings, I am sorry, but you need to tell me so I won't do it again."

"No. It's not that. You didn't do anything wrong." Me Yan waved his hand back and forth.

"Well?"

"We overheard our father, and well nobody actually remembers the last time a junior qualifier sent someone directly to the senior final." San Jin blushed a bit when he admitted to the accidental eavesdropping.

"Yeah, and then a couple of the judges came to make the case to put you straight through to the champion rounds." Me Yan's voice squeaked a bit.

"Good thing your father is a smart man." Junseo wanted to ease the tensions.

"Smart enough to agree you are champion material but an extra round would not hurt you. Besides it should give folks some time to get use to the idea that someone so young could hold a high dan level."

"I'm still the same Junseo. You know, the guy who can trip over his own shoes when we are sparing, and who would rather jog three miles than get on the back of a horse." He failed to tease a smile out of either brother.

"We are just embarrassed to have been training with you and not understood what your levels actually were," San Jin face showed his regret.

"Why would you? We mostly do the same patterns and you are better fencers." Junseo was genuinely confused.

"You only think we are better fencers because you had to adapt to our style and now you anticipate the outcome." Me Yan insisted.

"I guess only time will tell," Junseo shrugged. It really did not matter to him where each individual member sat in terms of skills if the team had balance overall. He liked having people around who could challenge him whether with making or fighting skills.

"I think Father was also a bit upset with himself for not realizing after our trip to the estate and everything. Our master-at-arms probably teased him a bit." San Jin was starting to lighten up.

"I would have liked to see that," Junseo cracked a smile then asked, "So we are good?"

Me Yan nodded empathically while his brother said, "Good."

Song-hee approached them from behind and said, "I'm glad you finally sorted yourself out so we can finally get back to work. Captain Shiro says we have been neglecting spears and staffs so wants us to start by making some."

"Metal tipped?" Junseo looked around the training yard but could not see the equipment they would need.

"We get to do most of the carving and shaping here and then work on them at the forge tonight," Song-hee passed over some weighed bands. "These are to help us figure out the balance points."

"Seems simple enough." Me Yan said.

The other boys looked appalled and called "Jinx, Minx, Links" and crossed their fingers.

"Oh, I shouldn't have said that." Me Yan blushed.

"Can't be helped now." San Jin shook his head and went over to inspect the blank pieces of wood they had to work with.

One of the Go's regular guards came over to explain the process and helped them select the more promising poles and then set up with knives they had to hone.

"Normally with a group we would divide up the tasks but the good Captain says you all need to learn the whole process. Now let's size you up. Form a line shortest to tallest please."

There was a bit of jostling in the middle as Chenhui, Xuiyang and Il-don tried to sort themselves out. Song hee and Me Yan stood quietly at the front waiting. Hae-sung and San Jin stood side-by-side behind the troublesome triplet, and Junseo stayed firmly in the back.

"Okay, close enough," the man sounded a bit exasperated.

"Can any of you bright boys tell me why you should be able to find your height order without delay?" Captain Shiro called as he entered the gate.

"Archery formations?" Junseo answered.

"Are you asking me or telling me?" the Captain called back.

Junseo imitated the way the cadets had behaved with their officers at the qualifiers. "Sir, Archery formations arrange by height, Sir." He called crisply but held back on any kind of salute.

The Captain was positive he was being teased but let it slide since the boys were now properly assembled and they really did not have much time to get the build completed. He showed them how to wind the split leather to form grips and what different balance points could do and talked to them about the margins for adjusting the caps and feet for their staffs. After that he showed them several different spearheads and talked about the battle tactics each might support.

"I had no idea there could be this much difference." Xuiyang admitted.

Captain Shiro gave him a kind look before saying, "Most people don't notice even if they see foot soldiers marching by in different ranks."

"So, it is not necessarily an individual choice. Different company ranks would be assigned weapons suitable for their role." San Jin was puzzling through how this might work.

"That is mostly true. If you demonstrate better ability with one or another style you might get transferred to a different company where your skills are a better fit." Captain Shiro knew this was rare but did not want the boys to ignore the possibility.

He did not want to hem in their thinking at this stage. They needed to understand there was potential in everyone. Knight Master Lie had not said he was hoping to raise a new crop of military leaders but the combination of training, academics and strategy pointed in that direction. Captain Shiro wondered how long it might take for others to notice what this group had to offer.