“Alright, Callida, try again. Watch closely and tell me what you see.”

Callida took a deep breath and concentrated hard on the fight in front of her– a sparring match between her mother and one of the other Wolf Tribe captains. “Mom’s going easy on him.”

“Besides that,” Probus grinned. “Maybe focus on Captain Yanli. You already know your mom’s fighting style.”

She shifted her focus. “He’s older.”

“Good. Which means…?”

“He’s slower, prone to injury, and more likely to have old injuries. And he’s likely more experienced.”

“So his skill level should be high while his power is low. Good. What else?” Probus coached.

“He’s shorter?” Callida suggested timidly.

“So…?”

“Lower center of gravity?”

“Yes! Which means…?”

“Uh, I don’t remember,” Callida looked at her dad sheepishly.

“Well, think about it, Callida. When things are heavier at the base-”

“Oh! They’re harder to knock over!”

“Good! What else do you see? Maybe about his position?”

“He… keeps turning to the same side?”

“Yes! Why would he do that?”

“Maybe because he’s stronger on that side?”

“Exactly,” Probus smiled happily. “So what does that tell you?”

“Uh…” Callida racked her brain trying to remember all the possibilities, “his dominant side may have been overtrained and his other side neglected; he might be protecting an injury on the other side; he could be undertrained generally; psychological causes?”

“What are some common psychological causes?”

“Under or overconfidence, cognitive inflexibility, overdependence on his weapon.”

“Excellent! You are getting better,” Probus encouraged her. “In Captain Yanli’s case, why do you think he keeps presenting the same side?”

“Compensating for an injury?”

“Why?”

“He’s a captain, so he should be well-trained. And he’s older.”

“Any other reason?” Probus nodded in agreement. “Look closely.”

“Uh… I’m not sure,” Callida shook her head.

“Do you remember talking about full range of motion?”

“Oh yeah!” Callida grinned and studied Captain Yanli with new purpose. “He’s keeping his left arm to his side! He’s not counterbalancing with it!”

Probus chuckled a little at her enthusiasm. “And why do you think that is?”

“Um… shoulder injury?”

“Yes! You got there!” Probus high-fived her. “You’re right. Captain Yanli tore something in his left shoulder about ten years ago that never healed properly, greatly limiting his range of motion in that arm. What does that mean for his opponent?”

“He’ll be easier to defeat if you can get around him and attacks that require more shoulder movement to defend against will be more effective. And he’ll struggle more to recover if he loses his balance or falls.”

“So how would you fight him?”

“Dad, I’m only nine!”

“So?”

She sighed heavily. “I’m smaller and faster. I’d try to get around him.”

“And if he manages to keep his right side facing you?”

“Um… force his sword arm out to the side. Fight into the middle. If I were taller, attacks over his head would be really effective. Oo! Like what mom’s doing now!”

“Or you could upset his balance, take the fight to uneven terrain where that counterbalancing is more critical, or getting behind him would be a good strategy because he’d have to turn to follow you-”

“-and he only has one good side to present, so his turn would be predictable-”

“-and easier to counter. Yes,” Probus nodded. In front of them Jineng ended the fight and shook hands with Captain Yanli.

“‘Ready to give it a try, Callida?” Jineng asked as she approached the sidelines.

“Me?!” Callida gaped.

“You’ll never get better if you’re always practicing beneath your skill-level,” her mom quipped.

“Get in there, Callida,” Probus said with a small nudge.

***

“I got the fight schedule,” Buhne grinned as he returned to the small meadow just outside the town housing the arena. “They all take place in the evenings so the arena can be used for training during the day.”

“Parrot, did you get a good look at the layout?” Erkunden asked.

“The fights take place in a caged off stage in the middle of the room. There are gambling tables scattered around the floor and bars up against two of the walls-- opposite walls where you can order drinks and food during the fights. The back wall has a set of doors that, I assume, lead to the fighters’ prep area and likely a kitchen or something. There might be a back exit or two that direction as well-- something to check out first thing. There’s also balcony seating up high so people can watch the fights from above. 'Might be a good place for Papa and Professor to camp out.”

Spahen nodded his agreement. “And you and Shield will work the ground floor tables.”

“What about us, Professor?” Callida asked.

“You two will be sticking close together and mingling with the crowd. Beta, tonight you need to pay attention to the fighters to feed gambling tips to Parrot and so you know how to approach people tomorrow to give them your recruitment pitch. Stag will be paying attention to the rest of the crowd, trying to spot your competition.”

“Right.”

“Actually, Professor, it might be good to have Beta and Stag walk in on the training now to declare their intentions,” Bern said.

“What are you thinking, Papa?”

“Just, if they declare themselves early, the ‘competition’ might come to them, or there might be some bureaucratic hoops to jump through that we won’t know about until they start recruiting. I’d imagine that it’s bad business for the proprietors of the arena to allow people to recruit away their fighters. We might find that the recruiting doesn’t even happen inside the arena.”

“Oo. That’s a really good point, Papa. I hadn’t even considered that,” Spahen said with a frown. “Beta, you might need to play this differently.”

“Differently how?” Callida asked, she was getting a bad feeling that her week's worth of preparation wasn’t going to be worth much.

“Just, instead of pitching your recruitment spiel to the fighters, you might need to pitch it to the proprietors first.”

“But, that’s not what I practiced!!”

“It’s a simple adjustment, Beta,” Buhne smiled reassuringly. “All you have to do is explain how letting their fighters work a side hustle will benefit them. Say things like ‘jobs are voluntary and can fit around their fight schedule’ and ‘with the extra income, they can afford to stay in the brawling circuit longer’ or ‘the extra training you will give them will improve the entertainment value of their matches’. See! It’s easy. You just pitch it a little differently.”

“Remind me again why I’m going in as the front man instead of you.”

Buhne laughed. “You’ll do fine, Beta. Just remember to be confident and flirty, and they will eat out of the palm of your hand.”

“You’re awfully sure of that,” Callida sighed.

“Well,” Bern interrupted, “Beta, if you’re going in before the matches start, you should probably get ready and go. Honestly, it wouldn’t hurt for all of us to get ready.”

Callida branched off from the squad to wash her hair in preparation for Buhne’s beautification services. They’d been rehearsing and experimenting with this part all week too. Once clean, she put on one of her new outfits (thank the Primordials that it’s not the black dress today) and found Buhne to help her do her hair and makeup.

“How do I look, Stag?” Callida turned to Erkunden who was waiting patiently for them to finish.

“Uh, great,” he blushed. “Ready?”

“She’s ready,” Buhne grinned. “Just a reminder: while you guys are at the arena, we’re going to the local inn to rent a room or two.”

Erkunden nodded. “See you guys later. Let’s go, boss.”

“Boss?” Callida gave him a funny look, but followed him down the road into town.

“You are Aria Mendacium, an entrepreneur and my boss,” Erkunden smirked.

“Oh. Right. So, then what do I call you?”

“For simplicity, by my first name.”

“But I don’t know your first name, Stag. All you’ve ever told me is your last name.” Callida huffed. She knew that he was just teasing her, but she was already so nervous, she wasn’t handling it very well.

“Stetig.”

“That’s your name?” He nodded. “It’s really similar to Stag.”

“Kind of, yeah.”

They walked for a good while in silence. Callida glanced around at the beautiful trees surrounding the town and the rustic-looking log buildings and homes, identifying the inn that they would be returning to that evening. There was a gentle but nearly continuous breeze making the summer heat bearable, but she was so anxious, it was hard to get out of her own head long enough to truly appreciate it.

“That must be the arena,” Erkunden’s voice pulled her out of her thoughts. He was pointing down a small lane branching off the main road toward a large building, probably the largest building in the entire town.

Callida took a deep breath and replayed her recruitment pitch a final time in her head. “So, Stetig, in case someone asks, what is it that I’ve hired you to do exactly?”

Erkunden stopped to look at her. “Didn’t Parrot tell you that?”

She shook her head, and Erkunden suddenly looked worried. “Why? What’s wrong? Can’t you just tell me?”

“It’s just, he didn’t tell me either. We should probably invent something.”

“Oh. Uh. Maybe you help me contact employees to set up their job schedule? You know, once we know when our clients need a bodyguard?”

“Good idea,” he exhaled relief. “So the business stuff like personnel and scheduling?”

“Something like that,” Callida bit her lip.

“Hey, you’re not nervous, are you?”

“Is it that obvious?”

He frowned. “Take a deep breath, and trust yourself. I know this isn’t exactly your ‘thing’, but just take things as they come…. Starting with walking through the front door.” Callida released a shaky breath, her hand unconsciously resting on the hilt of her sword in a self-soothing sort of way. “'Gonna be ok?”

She nodded and started down the path to push open the front doors.

“Excuse me, miss, but the public isn’t allowed in for viewing until sunset,” a behemoth of a man stopped her as soon as she’d pulled the door open. “You too, sir,” the guard said to Erkunden. “You’ll have to wait outside, same as everyone else.”

“What’s your name?” Callida asked in a desperate move to keep her foot in the door.

“Rohling. Now kindly step back outside.”

Callida thrust her hand out. “My name is Aria. I’d like to offer you a job.”

Rohling scowled at her. “You’re one of those people, huh?”

“Sorry?”

“Coming here looking to hire away the fighters?”

“Well, not hire away, exactly, but I am offering a side hustle to interested muscle.”

Rohling sighed. “I’m sorry to disappoint you, miss, but you’ll have to take your sales pitch somewhere else.”

“Oh, come now,” she insistently stepped closer to him, invading his personal space. Rohling automatically stepped back. “I’m sure we can find an arrangement that works for everybody, including this fine establishment.”

“Hey, boss!” Rohling suddenly shouted. “We’ve got another one.”

“Get rid of him!” Came the disembodied response.

“It’s a her, actually, and she won’t take ‘no’ for an answer.”

Another slightly less enormous man came grumbling from around the corner, stopping short upon seeing Callida. “Who are you?” he growled.

“Aria Mendacium,” Callida said with a bow for flair. “Who are you?”

“Gierig Bengel. This is my establishment, and you’re not welcome here.”

“Five minutes,” she negotiated, trying not to sound as rattled as she was feeling.

He glared angrily at her. “Say what you came to say, then get out.”

Phew. Callida stifled a sigh of relief. “In that case, thank you for taking the time to talk with me…. Are you going to invite me in?”

Gierig jerked his head toward a small table, and Callida and Erkunden obediently took a pair of tall, wooden chairs. “And who is this?” Gierig indicated Erkunden.

“My business associate,” Callida replied casually.

“Your business associate? You’re a little young to be running a business, aren’t you? You can’t be more than twenty? If that?”

Callida granted him a small smile and launched into the pitch she’d been practicing. “I run a small bodyguards-for-hire business. People these days are anxious about bandit attacks, so I connect wealthy worriers with muscle. Jobs are flexible and voluntary, so they would be easy to fit around… other obligations.”

“I’m listening,” Gierig said, leaning back in his seat, the anger in his face cooling slightly.

“Jobs pay well. Plus, I provide training to all new hires-- training that would have applications in the arena.”

“So what you’re saying is, you have the perfect side job for my fighters, and I should be totally on board.” The suspicion in Gierig’s voice was palpable.

“I’m saying that I have an opportunity for both of us to make more money.”

“How does this benefit me?” Gierig scoffed.

“Better trained fighters means better matches and more patrons. Better paid fighters means happier fighters, and they can afford to stay in the circuit longer. Flexible hours means no one is missing their fights. In fact, I would encourage them to fight in the ring. It’s good practice. And, I understand that you’ve been losing fighters to other types of recruiters. Between this job and their fights, they’ll be less likely to accept work that will take them away from the arena. In other words, there’s no downside for you.”

Gierig considered her for a moment. “It sounds too good to be true. I don’t believe you.” He stood up, the anger returning to his face. “Get out!”

Callida hadn’t prepared for her pitch to be so wholly rejected. She panicked and landed on her go-to default. “Try me.” Erkunden glanced at her anxiously from the corner of his eyes. Ah, crap. What am I doing?!

“What?”

It was too late to back out now. “I provide the training personally. Try me. Perhaps you’ll believe me once you see what I’m capable of.”

Gierig laughed. “You’re serious?”

“Give me ten minutes with one of your fighters. I will fight him, evaluate his fighting forms and provide feedback to help him improve.”

“Aria,” Erkunden shook his head in warning.

“Do you have a better suggestion, Stetig?”

Erkunden looked like he wanted to argue with her, but he eventually crossed his arms and slouched back into his seat without another word.

“Deal. If you can beat my man or at least hold your own and provide useful instruction, I’ll consider not kicking you out.” Gierig got up and gestured for Callida to follow him.

“How are you going to fight a professional brawler without a weapon?” Erkunden fussed in a whisper as they followed Gierig to the stage.

“Let me worry about that,” Callida whispered back, and if she was being honest, she was definitely worried.

“Stark!” Gierig called out to a towering middle-aged fighter with some of the broadest shoulders Callida had ever seen. He was wearing little more than a pair of shorts as though inviting her to stare at the bulging muscles… everywhere. He was huge, and Callida cursed internally. “This is Stark Zanken. Stark, I’ve got someone that I’d like you to humble.”

Stark’s eyes rested on Erkunden, his muscles flexing subtly. “This young cub?” His gravelly voice matched his physique and gave Callida involuntary shivers.

“Nah. The other one,” Gierig sneered.

Stark looked Callida over, confusion evident by the silent stupor that settled between them. “Seriously?”

“Yup.”

“You want me to fight a little girl?”

“Yup.”

Stark started laughing as though he’d just figured out the punchline to a particularly good joke. “Go home, kid.”

In response, Callida sat down to pull off her tall boots, weapons belt, and tunic. Good thing I wore an undershirt. Standing up, she pulled her long, citrusy hair over her left shoulder and tied it in a braid. Without permission or acknowledgement, she climbed the steps into the caged stage. She spent a few minutes warming up along the sidelines; there were a pair of fighters already tussling with each other in the middle. She stretched and turned to find Stark watching her, his face dark.

“What are you doing here?”

“Looking for new employees.”

“No, I mean, why are you here? In the ring?”

“Gierig doesn’t believe that my business is legitimate.”

“That doesn’t explain why I’m supposed to fight you.”

Callida smiled gently. “I train my men before they can work. I’m proving that I have something worth teaching.”

“I see.” Callida could practically see the pieces click into place together. Stark sighed. “Alright boys, I need a few minutes.”

The guys in the middle cleared out immediately, and Callida noted that Stark must be really good to command such respect around here.

“What’s your name, miss?”

“Aria Mendacium.”

“I apologize for this, Aria.” Stark dropped his chin to his chest and released a deep breath. He lunged. Callida barely had time to react and dodged to the side. “You’re quick!” Stark said, pleasant surprise curling his lips.

Callida nodded and thanked the Primordials for the rush of adrenaline making such speed possible. He shifted and came at her again, throwing lightning fast punches that hit nothing but air. Callida danced around his fists, observing his form, looking for weaknesses to exploit. He was unconsciously protecting his left knee. It was affecting his basic stance. If she could force him to turn quickly and upset his balance, she could probably knock him to the ground. She grinned.

Stark threw another punch, and Callida somersaulted behind him on his left side. He pivoted, Callida scissored his ankles, Stark fell. As Stark rolled onto his stomach, Callida dove onto his back, wrapping her arms around his throat in a strangling hold. As Stark snatched at her arms, her legs wrapped around his waist, securing her position. Stark started choking and tapped out, and Callida found her feet, offering him a hand up.

“That was unexpected,” Stark chuckled and accepted her hand. Callida had to use every muscle in her body to provide enough leverage to pull him up.

“Your left knee,” Callida pointed. “Old injury?”

“You noticed that, huh?” Stark nodded approvingly.

“Protecting it cost you your balance. Your base wasn’t wide enough.”

“Very good. You obviously have some training? I didn’t land a single punch.”

Callida snorted. “Good thing too. Your punching form is practically flawless, and you have enough speed and mass that you could probably knock me out with one hit.”

Stark grinned and turned to Gierig. “Where did you find this girl?”

Through the cage bars, Callida could see that Gierig was fuming. “You were supposed to humble her,” he growled.

Stark just laughed. “She’s good, Gierig. I’m still not exactly certain what she’s trying to sell, but it might be worth your time to hear her out.” With that, Stark bowed slightly to Callida and gestured to the stairs. “Ladies first.”

“Thanks.” On the other side of the cage bars, Callida got dressed and released her hair from its braid before approaching Gierig again, opting to silently wait for him to speak first.

“It won’t compete with their fight schedules?”

Callida smirked. “Not at all.”

Gierig huffed. “Break your word, and I’ll ban you. My fighters won’t be allowed to work for you, and you won’t be allowed in this arena or anywhere near it.”

Callida cocked her head to the side and extended her hand. “Deal.”

Gierig took her hand gruffly, almost as though he were trying to crush it. She merely smiled back at him. “You may come back this evening and meet with the fighters in the back room to deliver your sales pitch.”

“That’s generous of you,” Callida said. “Thank you.” Gierig grunted and indicated the exit with a nod of his head.

“So, what did the boss say, Miss Mendacium?” Rohling asked at the door.

“He invited me back this evening,” Callida said, allowing her excitement at not botching the act to shine through. Her giddiness was promptly followed with an idea, and she nudged the guard’s arm playfully. “Rohling, you mentioned that you get recruiters here a lot?”

“All the time. They’ve taken some of our best fighters.”

“That sounds bad for business,” she pouted.

“Obviously,” Rohling nodded.

“What sorts of gigs do they recruit your fighters for?”

“All sorts,” Rohling muttered. “Occasionally, some rich guy will hire a full-time bodyguard. Those are probably the sweetest gigs. But usually it’s people recruiting for a private army.”

“A private army?” Callida scowled. That sounded serious.

“Yeah. They're usually pretty vague about the job description, but the men are sometimes seduced by the whole ‘fighting for a cause’ and ‘making a difference’ rhetoric,” Rohling said bitterly.

“How many fighters have you lost to these private army recruiters?” Erkunden asked.

“It’s hard to say. At least three just this last month. They’ll make promises that the fighters can work duty shifts that aren’t in conflict with their fight schedule, but it often leads to a full-time position.”

“How long have they been coming here? The recruiters, I mean,” Callida clarified, resuming a vaguely flirty smile despite Rohling hitherto seeming unaffected.

“Oh, years. We have a high turnover of fighters with injuries and what have you. Only a handful like Zanken stick around longer than a year or two. The recruiters aren’t terribly picky about accepting the retired brawlers.”

“But occasionally they’ll persuade away an active fighter?” she pouted again.

Rohling nodded. “That’s why we have to be careful about recruiters coming and going. It’s not like we have a problem with the men finding side jobs, but when the jobs take them away from the arena-”

“It hurts your bottom line,” Erkunden finished for him, and Rohling nodded. “Out of curiosity, when do the recruiters typically come by?”

“Evenings, late, towards the end of the night’s fight schedule. You’ll see them lurking around the back entrance of the building looking to catch the men as they leave. Sometimes they’re more bold and try to sneak into the locker rooms, but we’ve tightened security back there recently.”

“Thanks, Rohling,” Callida said, leaning in and setting a hand on his arm. “It’s always good to be aware of the competition.” She winked.

Rohling’s stern exterior melted slightly with a subtle shift of his weight. “You’re welcome… Aria,” he tested her name, and Callida’s flirty smile broadened, the hand on his arm retracting with a gentle stroke of her fingertips.

“I’ll see you tonight,” she said, raking his body with her eyes before turning to walk out.

“Bye,” Rohling’s face lit up with the realization of what she was implying.

With the door to the arena shut behind them, Erkunden started chuckling softly to himself. “What?” Callida frowned when Erkunden shook his head. She was feeling all jittery and agitated again… and suddenly exhausted. “That was SO STRESSFUL!”