Free More Than Chains To Bind by Stevie Woods Page B

good, that is much better."
    He called the rest of the group over and paired us off. Of course, I ended up with Fortil.
    "You don't actually think you can beat me, do you?" Fortil mocked. "Longin was going easy on you, but you'll have no such luck with me. I'm going to take you down and show him who is really good at this."
    I tuned him out. Years of concentration came to my aid and I channeled all my energies into beating him--jabbing with the point, blocking with the stave, using it to knock him off balance. Finally, I body-blocked him and while he was trying to recover, I twisted behind to come up on his blind side. I knocked his pilum from his hands, using the same move to push him to the ground, then I pressed my own point to his heart.
    I looked into his eyes and, with an expression I knew was cold and hard, I stared down at him. Had it been a real fight, Fortil would be dead and he knew it. I saw the fear flicker in his eyes.
    "Excellent. Well done, Lian. You have learned well after all," Longin declared.
    My point was still pressed against Fortil's heart and my own heart was beating fast in my chest, my breath panting past my lips, anger rolling through me.
    "Retire, Lian," said Longin, pressing gently on my extended right arm, which was locked with tension.
    I released my breath with a gasp and stepped back, pulling my pilum into my side, its tip pointing up in the rest position as we'd been taught. Fortil got stiffly to his feet, copied me and purposely moved to stand at my side as Longin moved off to instruct another pair.
    He kept his voice low so only I could hear. "I've been watching you for days, watching as you always sit together, watching as you talk quietly, secretly when you thought you were on your own. Other days, when you couldn't have your secret talks, I watched your little touches, glances, smiles. Oh, you were so careful, but you didn't know I was watching, did you?"
    "So, what does it matter?"
    "Oh, it explains much." He smiled that calculating smile. "I wonder if Cor'lyn knows," he said walking away.

 
Chapter 8
     
    Something was wrong. Liander was distracted, and Longin was obviously upset with him. It couldn't be what I said to him, surely? No, I saw his face and I knew it was what he'd wanted to hear. There was no fear in his face, only acceptance. Whatever it was, it must have happened after the food break. Damn, it was my turn in the wrestling square and my opponent was Ledo. He was good; wrestling was his best discipline.
    We made a few good moves and neither of us was gaining any advantage, which considering I was doing my best to see what was going on with Liander was quite remarkable. I could hear raised voices, cheering, I think.
    In desperation, I murmured to Ledo, "You have to take me. Use the left shoulder roll and I'll let you pin me."
    Lian? he mouthed at me, and I nodded. He did as I asked, and I went with it, put on a bit of show of struggling and let him hold me down, his arm resting lightly across my throat. If he wanted, he could lean all his weight on my exposed throat and crush my trachea, a killing move.
    Our trainer, Englo, praised him and asked Ledo to take on another opponent, while I slipped to the edge of our group, in a good position to watch Liander without it being too obvious. Whatever was going on, it involved Fortil, who was standing like a statue with Liander's pilum pressed against his chest. Even at this distance, I could see the tension in Liander's stance, and, as I watched, Longin slowly pushed his pilum down. What the hell had happened now? Fortil hadn't even been a blip on the horizon since the first night. Liander had told me that, despite being chained together every night, the man ignored him. Something must have occurred, and I needed to know what, but the odds against me getting anywhere near enough to Liander to speak to him were infinitesimal. Once the afternoon session was over, we were sent back to our halls to bathe, eat the evening meal and