A Single Spark

by Tayvia Pierce

  She turned to smile up to me, a hopeful look filling her light blue eyes despite my words. She was about to ask the second question she always asked, but before she could utter a word, Father came around the corner of the house with a determined look on his face, his gait reflecting his purpose. I felt Rhian shrink back and lean against me, and I knew as well as my younger sibling that whatever his reasons for coming out to join us at this moment, Rhian was at the center of it. Oh boy, here we go...

  Father’s eyes looked over all of us before settling on Rhian. “Rhian. I have some exciting news for you.” He looked over to me and jerked his head, indicating his wish to take my place. I rose and moved over to sit on the bench opposite of Rhian, taking a place right in front of Brynmor. He stiffened a little with my approach, Iolyn giving him a perplexed look before glancing towards me. He had no knowledge of the events of yesterday, which surprised me. But this was not the time to dwell on that little mystery, as Father’s announcement was sure to be more interesting.

  Father took the spot I had just vacated and turned to face Rhian, reaching out to take one of her hands in his own. He smiled down to her fondly, though it did little to affect the anxiety that showed on her face. “Rhian.” He started. “I have found you a husband. A good man, who will treat you like a Queen. You are to be married in three months time to Pedr, and I believe you two will be very happy together.” He gave her another smile, squeezing her hand.

  Rhian froze in every way possible, the faint smile she had forced earlier now twisting into a pinched frown as the color drained from her face. “Wh-what?” She stared at Father and started shaking her head. “No, I can’t get married, I’m too young!” She said with a shrill voice, gripping Father’s hand so tightly that her knuckles turned white. “I like Pedr, but….marriage?” So this is what Father had in mind to curb her teenage rebellion? I let out a faint sigh.I liked Pedr, and while I thought it was a good match, it was poorly timed.

  Father looked down to Rhian and gave her an encouraging nod. “He loves you, daughter. He is from an excellent family and he is Taurovan. Never again will you see such a good match. It is already arranged. I am sure Carys would love to help you make your wedding arrangements.” He smiled over to me while my stomach dropped. Wait, what? Wedding planning? I don’t know the first thing about weddings!

  Rhian gave me a miserable look and mumbled. “Yes, Father.” She let out a soft sigh and looked at Father’s chest. “May I be excused?” She asked quietly, her voice growing a little wobbly as she neared tears. Father nodded to her with a compassionate smile. He had known this news would not be so easily accepted for her and he rose with her, his arms suddenly wrapped around her slender shoulders for a little embrace. “Of course, Rhian. Go get some sleep. Tomorrow you can start planning for your future.”

  She politely curtsied once Father stood tall and released her, turning to head inside without a further word. Brynmor nodded to Father and Iolyn, following her inside with a tight jaw and a matching scowl. He looked nearly as resentful as Rhian did about this happy news, which meant he would unwittingly be encouraging her to rebel all the more.

  Iolyn cracked his neck lazily and commented offhandedly breaking the growing awkward silence with his cheer. “Well, looks like we are going to have a fantastic party soon enough. I’ll take care of the wedding rings.” He chuckled, swirling the contents of his glass lazily.

  Father rolled his eyes. “Yes yes. Now, Carys...come walk with me.” It wasn’t a request, it was an order, so I dutifully joined him, linking my arm with his as he held it out.

  He was silent until we were out of earshot, walking down the road. “Much of this will settle on your shoulders, Carys, and for that I apologize.” He rested his other hand on mine as it held his elbow. He let out a weary sigh, looking around at the trees, yellows, oranges, and reds beginning to mix with the green as autumn settled over the land. A breath of wind freed a few vibrantly colored leaves twisting through the air on a haphazard path to the ground.

  “She is still too young, Father.” I said softly, giving my opinion on the matter (which never was difficult for me to do). “There is no way she is ready to be a wife and mother. Why not put it off for a few more years until she is a little more...settled?” Rhian’s increasing childish behavior was worrying me, and the idea of adding a marriage into the situation was giving me serious doubts about a marriage being a stabilizing force in her life. “I really don’t think her marrying right now is a good idea.”

  Father looked down to me, not surprised by my objections, and I suspected he might even share some of them. “I know, Carys. But that is precisely why I am doing this now. She needs some stability in her life. She is bored and has nothing worthwhile to occupy her time and the best thing for her right now is a husband and the duties of a wife.” He spoke firmly, and I knew he wasn’t going to argue that fact. I couldn’t argue either, she needed something to focus on, but this?

  I couldn’t help but snort, shaking my head lightly. “She walks all over Pedr, and he allows her to. Do you believe he will be able to bring her any stability? I like Pedr, and I think he is kind, and honorable, and one day he will make a good match for Rhi.” I said with a firm tone of my own. “But right now, I think she would abuse his generous heart and manipulate him into letting her do as she wishes.”

  Father gave me a resigned look and heaved a deep breath. “He came to me a year ago, Carys. He sought her hand back then and I told him to wait until she was older. She is now sixteen and of the age of marrying, and he came to me again and I could not refuse. I know my daughter, and I know her juvenile ways, and I am aware she is not ready, but with her increasingly risky behaviors she needs something to occupy her...To force some sort of maturity in her. I don’t know of any other way, do you?” His eyebrow lifted at me and while I chewed my lip, hoping to come up with an alternative suggestion, I knew he was right. It was a dilemma with no good choices.

  I finally let out my own sigh of resignation, muttering to him. “I still think it’s a terrible idea, but fine.” The idea of helping her with the planning made my insides curl, not because I loathed the idea, but I already knew that trying to get Rhian to help would be an obnoxiously difficult task, and one she would ensure would be nearly impossible. This was just one more thing for her to rebel against, and I was dreading being on the front line of that battle of wills.

  Father smiled down to me and patted my hand again. “Good girl. She is going to need your help in the coming months with planning, shopping, and understanding how to run a household...she knows nothing of these things. She is a fanciful person, and she needs you to help ground her.” He steered me around in a U, now taking me back towards the cottage.

  I sighed and shook my head. There aren’t enough rocks in the world that would weigh her down enough to bring her flighty mind back to the ground.

  CHAPTER 26

  I met with Ben for training at the time and place we had arranged, and while a part of me looked forward to continuing our lessons, I was distracted by Rhian’s impending marriage. She cried all night, and when I tried to talk to her the next day to get started on the planning, she pretended to be deaf. Pedr showed up for dinner with gifts for her, smiling brightly like all his dreams were coming true, and thankfully she had the good sense to fake a smile and pretend she felt the same way.

  I arrived before Ben did, the skies still dark so I paced by the light of my small lantern, pulling out my dagger and therapeutically practicing my thrusts and slashes, cutting through the cold morning air. Trying to plan Rhian and Pedr’s wedding on my own (Rhian vanished whenever we were supposed to discuss it) had me short-tempered and overwhelmed, though my bristling frustration added a renewed vigor to my steps when coming here. These lessons, if nothing else, let me shed all distractions and responsibilities, even if just for a short while.

  A chuckle echoed behind me and I whirled around to see Ben striding towards me. “Anxious to begin, hm?” He smirked at me, coming to a stop
in front of me, looking down to me in a swift search of my features. My stress must have been more obvious than I thought, however, his smirk flicked into a slight frown. “What’s wrong?” He asked with a growing concern.

  I just shook my head, wanting nothing more than to set my duties as a noblewoman aside for awhile. “Nothing. Let’s get started.” I said, my tone a little shorter than I intended it to be. I didn’t want to waste our lesson time talking about it, not that I would even consider discussing my family’s private business with a virtual stranger. He isn’t so much a stranger anymore, though. The traitorous voice in my mind prompted, making me turn a little harder on my heel to take my place where we practiced. Ben’s skeptical gaze followed my every movement as though trying to gauge my mood, finally lowering his head slightly as though convincing himself he was better off not knowing.

  “We are going to practice your defensive moves today.” He said, pulling his dagger from its sheath as he approached me, flipping it expertly in his hand and he nodded to me to take up my ready stance, which I did promptly while awaiting his instruction. “I am going to come at you.” He said matter-of-factly without offering any further directions.

  My brows flew up in surprise. “You aren’t even going to tell me how to defend mys-...” My words were cut short when he stepped forward and swiped his knife towards my stomach, catching me completely off guard. I quickly brought my blade up to meet his, the metallic blades clanging in the courtyard. He quickly pulled his blade back from mine to strike again with a backhand blow aimed at my shoulder, and out of pure instinct, I brought my arm up to block the blow.

  He quickly turned his dagger to slap my arm with the flat of his blade, the blow sending a wave of stinging pain through my entire arm. I grunted and pulled my arm back while he straightened his stance again, stepping forward while reaching out to take my arm. He pulled it down for a thorough inspection for injury where he struck me. I saw the momentary flash of relief on his face when he saw no evidence that he had cut me and he let go of my arm, lifting his eyes to mine in with a stern look.

  “Do not use your arms to block unless you have absolutely no other way. Protect your neck, face, and torso, but if you are cut in the arm, you can still bleed too quickly, and also, you are left with only one arm to defend yourself with.” He lifted his dagger to the proper stance and demonstrated the movements. “Always stay out of my reach. If I try to strike, step back to avoid me. Your focus should be on avoiding being struck until you have an opportunity to strike without missing.” He said, his tone quiet, though business-like. “But a word of warning: do not back up into a place that will trap you.”

  Don’t let yourself get backed into a corner. Suddenly, the very practical truth of that statement rang like a gong in my head, and I said so out loud. Ben snorted as his lips twitched into a faint smirk. “Now let me show you how to defend against what I did.” He stepped back into his place, very slowly cutting through the air in the same motion as he had before, extending his arm all the way out as his dagger point came within inches of my face.

  My eyes were fixed on his as he spoke, holding his arm steady. “One of the common mistakes that the untrained do is slash and extend their arm all the way out. They do this in order to keep as much distance between you and them, which would seem to make sense unless they are combating someone who knows of this error. It actually leaves them exposed.” He said, looking at me expectantly. “Do you see how I have left myself vulnerable to attack?” He asked, testing me.

  I pulled my eyes from him to look at his arm, then his torso, studying his position while imagining the movement he was making at a much faster pace. I could tell that my reach was shorter, and I would not be able to reach his gut with my knife if it was left open. “Your arm is fully extended...You leave your side exposed more openly?” I offered my best guess, looking back up to him for some sort of confirmation of whether I was right, wrong, or close.

  He nodded briefly, then asked knowingly. “But can you reach it to strike?” His question led me to frown, shaking my head. He explained quietly, using his free arm to gesture up and down the length of his arm. “The length of my arm is unprotected...” He kept his eyes on me, waiting for me to draw the obvious conclusion. What he just told me about not using my own arm to block rang in my ears as his lesson now dawned on me. “I cannot reach your side, but I could cut your arm, and your weapon hand would be weakened, and if you were to lose a lot of blood, you would quickly grow woozy and rendered helpless.”

  His lips curled into a little smile and he nodded slowly, retracting his arm to stand straight once again. “Yes, exactly. Now do to me what I just showed you, moving very slowly so I can demonstrate how to strike.” He resumed his ready stance as I took mine, doing what he instructed and extended my arm fully, slowly slashing towards his face. He took a step back and beyond the reach of my blade, moving slowly so that I could see exactly what he was doing. He twisted and slowly made a slicing movement, aimed for my wrist.

  If this had been at full speed, he would have quickly cut the knife from my hand and I couldn’t help but smile a little. It seemed such a simple thing, now that I understood. “You will want to disarm him quickly.” He instructed softly, lowering his blade as he took my arm in his hand, nearly touching blade to flesh as he showed me where to cut. “Aim to cut at the forearm, wrist, or hand. The more you can hurt him, the less damage he will be able to do to you.” I nodded and he smirked a little. “Now, we practice.”

  We ran through the movements several times slowly as he explained further what to do (and what not to do), and then rehearsed the movements more times than I could count from every conceivable angle. He showed me how to step into my foe’s space, grab his wrist and with a twist, disarm him, and while I struggled to focus on what he was teaching me, the thoughts of everything else I needed to do that day slowly began to creep back into my mind, as much as I kept trying to keep them out.

  In one of our exercises, I grabbed Ben’s arm and twisted before moving to pluck the knife from his hand when he surprised me with a twist of his own, followed by a light punch to my stomach. Pain bloomed in my entire torso and I dropped to the ground gasping for air, finally managing a groan. I knew my error immediately, and that in my preoccupied state, had missed a crucial step that would have protected me from that strike. He had even warned me that he would strike if I gave him an opening, and so I had.

  He towered over me a moment later, watching me with a vaguely smug look, though he wasn’t smiling. He let me lay on the ground, gasping for air...His way of letting me learn a valuable lesson, I would have wagered. I had never been winded before, and I was absolutely certain that Ben had permanently damaged me and I would never be able to take a deep breath ever again. I should have seen the blow coming, and on any other day I would have, but our lesson today had not cleared my mind like I hoped it would. I groaned as I rolled onto my back, feeling like an elephant was sitting on my chest.

  “You are distracted.” Ben grunted softly, finally extending his hand down towards me. I slowly reached up, taking hold of his wrist while he gripped mine, pulling me up from the ground as easily as if I was made of paper. I eyed him and tried to lie, shaking my head. “No, I’m fine.” I was still struggling to breathe, which brought a slight arch to his brow and I thought he might comment that I didn’t sound fine, though he thankfully made no comment.

  He took my elbow and led me towards the bench, frowning as he looked down to me. “Even your sister would have seen that strike coming. You are distracted. Sit.” He ordered, leaving me with no rebuttal. I sighed and did as I was commanded, easing myself down with another groan as I wondered if my lungs would burst.

  “Fine.” I finally relented, having a feeling he was not going to let up until I admitted it. “I am distracted and trying not to be.” Ben came to sit next to me, holding a flagon of water out for me. I took it, but was still struggling to catch my breath so I just gripped the flagon tightly, rubbing my forehead with m
y free hand.

  “Why?” It was the simplest of questions, but I suddenly found it remarkably difficult to answer. I did not wish to discuss my problems and my family’s private business, but I also knew he would never let me get away with saying that everything was fine.

  I looked down to the flagon in my hands, releasing a little sigh. “Rhian is betrothed to Pedr, and rebelling against it. I am trying to help her plan her wedding, but she refuses to do anything at all, so I am left doing all the work alone as well as all the regular household managing. I am trying to get everything organized but she is sabotaging half the things I accomplish, so I’m frustrated.” I reached up with my free hand to rub my face, a sudden exhaustion sapping my whole body of strength. “Gods, I’m tired.”

  I sensed the frown on his face as much as I heard it in his tone. “Rhian is getting married? Isn’t she only fifteen?” I knew it sounded wrong when I said it, but when Ben voiced the same trepidation at her tender age and the prospect of marriage, it sounded downright terrible.

  I lifted my face from my hand and looked over the courtyard with a little sigh. “She just turned sixteen a week ago. Personally, I think she is much too young and with her behavior lately, she’s clearly not ready for marriage. Father believes she needs a firm hand and a way to keep her out of trouble, which is true, but trying to marry her to someone she doesn’t want to marry is only giving her more cause to rebel.” I shook my head, having nothing left to offer but a weary shrug.