The change from grass to earth signaled that they had entered the training grounds, occupying the northern part of the courtyard. Men and women wielded wooden weapons, either against training dummies on the sides, or each other inside dueling rings.

Athalia guided John towards a woman in full plate armor barking orders at all the guards training. “Nysah, stop hacking away, you’re wielding a sword, not a woodman’s axe. Harden, move your feet, I’ve seen trees move more than you. Rud, great work with that shield; the enemy will have no difficulty getting a sword past it and into your gut. Raise that fucking shield! Nysah, what did I just tell you about the sword? It has a pointy end for a reason, use it!”

The woman was relentless, pointing out the guards' errors left and right. Only after noticing Athalia approaching did she pause, though her eyes continued wandering across the courtyard, no doubt taking notes of more errors to correct. “Lady Athalia, how may I be of service?”

Athalia placed a hand on John’s shoulder. “Dame Marleya, let me introduce you to John, the boy I told you about.”

The woman looked at John, her face a perpetual frown. She looked him up and down as if to measure him; not in a disrespectful manner, and he had the impression that she did it more out of habit than anything else. “So you’re the one who saved Semar’s daughter and Cranns son. You have my thanks for that. They’re good kids, although very foolish for going out without an escort.”

Marleya had sharp facial features. Her chestnut hair was sheared at the sides and braided into a ponytail at the top. The full plate armor that she wore clanked heavily as she moved and John could only imagine how much it weighed. Oh her hip she carried a sheathed sword.

“Yes, they are, though that’s not why I’ve come to you today. John here displayed great martial prowess and I believe that, with your guidance, he may improve even further.”

“My lady would like to train him to become part of the town’s guard? That’s feasible. It’ll require a lot of discipline and dedication on his part. When he becomes of age we’ll evaluate how well he’s cut for it.”

“That’s true, but I know that most of the guard’s training is done by the sergeants. I would prefer for you to be fully in charge of his training. You’re still in need of a squire, correct?”

Marleya raised an eyebrow. “I have no need for a squire, so I wouldn’t say that I’m in need of one.”

“Still, I ask that you consider it. Do this for me and we’ll be even. Besides, you can only benefit from this arrangement. I freed you from a terrible squire in favor of a much better one.”

“Very well. For you, my lady, I’ll give the boy a chance.” She turned to John. “I take it that you have at least some knowledge about how to fight. What weapon do you use?”

“Mostly the twin short swords,” John answered.

“Not very common around these parts, so I take that you learned it from your southern side, most likely your mother. The Deserts were always lacking in terms of armorsmithing, so most tribes developed their fighting styles around being quick on their feet while striking fast and hard. Effective in duels, although a single mistake is all that it takes for a fatal wound. It relies a lot on movement, so it isn’t as effective in an actual battlefield or closed spaces.”

John was surprised by how much she seemed to know about the tribes.

Reading his expression, Marleya let out a low chuckle without ever breaking her frown. “Don’t look so surprised, it always pays to know how others fight.” She walked to the weapons rack and returned with a quarterstaff. She placed both hands on its middle section and snapped it as if it were a twig. “Give me a quick demonstration of what you can do,” she said, throwing both halves to John.

The broken pieces of wood weren’t well balanced like real swords, but they would have to do.

The knight stood in place with her sword, a steely white razor, drawn. “Don’t worry, I’ll use the dull side of the sword.”

That was all well and good as long as she didn’t attack for real. John had no illusion that, even if it were a blunt piece of wood, a casual swipe of hers could bisect him.

With that knowledge in mind, he cautiously moved in closer. She had the reach advantage, so just before getting into her striking range, he quickly stepped forward, thrusting at her chest.

Marleya only moved her arm, calmly swiping his weapon away. John pivoted on the ball of his foot and struck again with both weapons, and they banged loudly against the side of her sword.

“That’s enough.” Marleya sheathed her sword. “Not bad,” she commented.

“I told you so.” Athalia appeared by John’s side. “And he’s already a seventh level Fighter at his age.”

“Levels mean very little at that stage, but I see your point.” She turned to John. “You claimed to mostly use the twin short swords, so what other weapons do you use?”

“The longsword and the bow and arrows.”

“The longsword is a good weapon. Strong, versatile, has a good reach. A noble weapon. As for the bow and arrows, leave that for when you’re out hunting. Only a coward doesn’t look into their opponent's eyes.”

John wasn’t about to disagree with her, so he said nothing.

“Now,” she continued, “Let’s see how you do against another Fighter.” She looked at the guards by the training dummies and yelled, “Harden, come here!”

A dark-haired Fighter flinched midway into slashing at the dummy. He quickly scurried towards Marleya and stopped in front of her. “Dame, my lady,” he greeted.

“Harden, you’ve been fighting that dummy too long. It’s time for you to have a real duel, and that’s where John here comes in.”

Harden was in his early twenties, with broad shoulders and a small height advantage on John. “You want me to fight him?” he asked.

“Yes, are you also slow in the head? Now get on with it, and remember what I said about moving your feet.” With that, Marleya stepped away along with Athalia. Through the soles of his feet, John felt the earth trembling slightly with each step the heavily armored knight took.

The man clutched his wooden sword in both hands and cautiously approached John. His larger body painted an intimidating figure, but, as Marleya mentioned, something was off about the way he moved. Just as he came into striking range, his feet stopped, and only then did he thrust forward. This effectively meant that he only used part of his reach.

Rather than dodging, John leaned back and the sword’s tip stopped inches from his chest. Aiming at his opponent’s overextended arm, he then struck hard against the man’s wrist.

“Ouch,” Harden cried out, quickly pulling back his arm, and only then stepping back. He didn’t seem to know how to move his body as a whole.

Taking advantage of that fact, John went on the initiative and attacked.

At first, Harden managed to mount up a good defense, but as the attacks continued and he was forced to the back foot, his lack of coordination started to show.

John landed hits against his hip, elbow, shoulder, then elbow again. As Harden struggled to maintain his defense, John finally struck low against his opponent’s knee. It buckled under the blow, and John followed up with a light tap against the side of his head. The fight was already over, no need to go too far.

Athalia started clapping as the combat came to an end.

“That’s good enough,” Marleya came to their side and helped Harden get back to his feet. “I want you to remember this the next time you’re going against that fighting dummy,” she told him. “A real opponent won’t stay in place waiting for you to hit them. Now, take the rest of the day off.”

Harden nodded, saluted all three of them, and hobbled away.

“See?” Athalia asked with a proud smile. “I told you he was good. And he even held himself back when the outcome was already decided. Jacke would have, at least, knocked a couple of Harden’s teeth away.”

“True,” Marleya agreed. “Still, being a squire involves more than just fighting.”

“I know, and it won’t be a problem, right John?”

John nodded. He was already aware that most of his duties will revolve around taking care of his knight’s needs. It didn’t really matter to him as long as he could improve himself. “Just one question, who is Jacke?”

“Jacke Tascer was Marleya’s previous squire,” Athalia responded. “And a terrible one might I add. Not only did he refuse to do any of the chores expected of him, but he also complained whenever he got hurt during a spar. Unfortunately, the Tascers are a noble house, and cutting ties with the boy could be seen as an insult.”

“That’s where I asked for my lady’s assistance and she talked things over with the boy’s father,” Marleya added. “Speaking of which, I doubt he’ll take well to me having a new squire. What if he tries to cause trouble for John?”

“I’ll like to see him try anything in my husband’s city. Other than sulking, the most he can do is requesting a duel.” She smiled deviously and placed a hand on John’s shoulder. “No need to hold back in that case John. I want you to destroy that little shit.”

Her words surprised John. So she wasn’t all nice after all.

“Well, in that case, John...” Marleya trailed off.

“Yao.”

“Right. John Yao, I accept you as my squire. I want you back here tomorrow at first light to receive your duties. You’re free to do what you want for the rest of the day.” After saying that, she gave a quick bow of the head to Athalia and moved back to supervising the various men and women training.

“Congratulations,” Athalia said while patting John’s head. “Now, come. I want to show you the rest of the castle and we also must find a good magic teacher for you.”

John honestly would prefer to start training with Marleya, but he couldn’t really refuse, so he followed Athalia.