Arcadian Huntress ⚢

Chapter IX Demigod

I did not know why I had a flashback of my childhood.

It was during my eighth summer, King Father deemed it no longer necessary for me to have a night watch in the form of a nurse or servant. I could remember Queen Mother when she was teaching me how to use the knife in a span of seconds before the monster was killed.

"Good," she said, with a curt nod. "Now, hand over your sticker, Callisto."

I looked at her confused for a moment before I realized that she meant my knife. Then I quickly drew it from its sheath. Before I could do anything else, a hand fell heavily on my wrist, stopping the motion. My breath caught. I slowly raised wide green eyes to meet hers.

Queen Nonakris looked at me, her tone grave. "If you are passing a bladed weapon to someone, you always pass it hilt first," she said. "Never point a blade at anyone unless you are about to stick them. Understand?"

"Oh," I whispered as my wrist was released. I sheepishly turned the dagger and presented the handle to the queen. "I am sorry. Is this better, Mother?"

"That is how you do it properly, my dear." She nodded while taking the dagger. It was a short, double-edged weapon, with a blade about six inches long.

Despite its small size, it was made of good iron, and its handle was finely crafted out of sturdy, carved bone. 

"You hold the blade at this angle to the stone," she said, teaching me how to sharpen it. "And you draw it from hilt to tip. The angle is important. Too far this way, and you blunt your edge. Too far this way, and you make it too thin, so it will nick and break."

I watched closely. I wanted to please her in this, as in everything else. "Okay." My eyes followed the queen's hands as she demonstrated a few more times. "I think I got it, Mother. Can I try it?"

"Help yourself." Queen Nonakris surrendered both stone and knife and watched as I attempt to copy her.

With only a couple of corrections, I learned the technique.

"Good," She said approvingly. "You got it! Well done." She patted my head as I blushed and smiled my praise. "Now, a couple of things. First―do not use that thing for cooking, you got that?"

That got a sheepish look from me, who realized that I might have done just that if I had not thought about it. 

"It ruins the edge and wears it down faster," she smirked. "And, two―you never, ever sheath that thing dirty. Whenever your weapon is bloodied, you always clean the blade before you put it away. That is very important."

I fell silent, gazing down at the bright little blade in my hands. I wondered what it would be like to actually cut someone with it. I wondered too when I was young if I would ever have to find out. Could I really hurt someone with this...maybe even kill them?