“Damn you boy, fight back,” Ulgar yelled as he jerked the wooden sword from the kid’s hands. “Aridan come let’s show them one more time,” Ulgar and I had started to train Yesui’s three younger brothers in earnest the day after our joining, but for the oldest of the three, Temur things were not going so well. It would seem he was not too keen on violence which I found to be quite disgusting. How can someone hope to survive being so timid? So, once again I took up my practice sword and strode over to Ulgar’s position. “like this,” I said sprinting the last few steps to Ulgar giving him little chance to ready himself for my blows. Even if this was just practice and I was trying to demonstrate to my new students that I did not hold back in the slightest. I had come to realize that the best way to learn was to either get your shit kicked in, or watch as someone else had their shit kicked in. I slashed at Ulgar with all my might and built up momentum from sprinting. He attempted to block the blow but was unable to get his feet set properly so my blow threw him off balance and forced him to stumble back away from me. I gave chase not wanting to give him a second to breathe or go on the offensive himself. By the time he turned back to face me I was already on him once again, this time going with an overhead strike baring down on him with all the force I could muster. Ulgar tried but failed to get his sword up in time to block my blow so he took most of it on his shoulder. I was aiming for his face but sadly at the last moment he shifted his body, so the blow landed relatively harmlessly on his shoulder. Ulgar grunted and tried to get away from me and create some distance but the damage was done and now he was favoring his left arm meaning for the rest of the fight it would most likely be out of commission. Even injured I still wouldn’t be satisfied until he was completely out of the fight, so I relentlessly pursued him making sure he had no room to breathe or think up a strategy to fight back. In all the times we have sparred Ulgar has only gotten one hit on me and usually doesn’t make it past my first two blows, so this was actually impressive for him. Ulgar took up a stance so that his right side faced me, and his injured arm was protected by the rest of his body. His sword was raised poised to parry my next strike or strike me if the chance arose. But I did not intend to give him that chance. I planned to end this demonstration duel in just one more strike. I rushed up to him and abruptly stopped right out of his reach which caught him off guard since he thought I would do as I had the last two times I attacked and use the momentum from running to give him a powerful blow. That is exactly why I changed things up this time. Alton always said, ‘being predictable will inevitably get you killed, always keep your foe guessing what your next move will be keep them on the defensive never let them go on the offensive if at all possible.’ That lesson had been brutally beaten into my brain with a wooden sword and there was no way I could forget it.

While Ulgar was trying to figure out what I was doing, I brought my sword down next to my hip and crouched low. In one smooth motion I lunged forward bringing my weapon up for an uppercut. My blow knocked Ulgar’s sword from his hands and the tip of my own weapon caught him in his jaw knocking him to the ground. I stood over his body putting the tip of my sword to his throat, “you done?” I asked with a cocky grin? “Done,” he said spitting out some blood as he spoke. I tossed my weapon off to the side and reached down to help him up, but he refused my help and grunted as he got up on his own power. I ignored him and turned back to look at Temur and the other two boys standing by his side. Temur looked to be shaken by the little fight he had just witnessed while the other two looked on in admiration, something they tended to do whenever I personally gave them a demonstration. “what’s wrong boy?” I asked Temur even though I knew what was wrong since this had happened more than once already. “Y-you hurt your own brother,” he said visibly shaking, “he could have died.” I couldn’t help but let out a tired sigh. This again? I thought to myself. “He isn’t dead,” I said pointing to Ulgar who was rubbing his jaw which was now quite red around his chin, “And now he will be stronger than he was before. This is how things are, this is just the way of the world, the strong survive and the weak get put into an early grave by someone stronger than they.” My words were harsh, but they were the truth and he needed to hear it lest he end up in an early grave himself. “But its not right master,” “The world doesn’t care what is or isn’t right,” I said throwing my hands up in defeat, “You have to learn to live with that fact sooner rather than later boy.” Temur stared at the ground for a long moment and inside I was praying to the heavens that I had finally gotten through to him, but he opened his mouth and dashed that hope. “I just can’t accept that,” he spoke almost in a whisper, “I can’t except people hurting each other like that and I don’t want to live in a world that does.” After speaking his mind Temur ran past me off towards the creak. “Come back here boy I’m not done with you.” Temur didn’t turn back or even hesitate for that matter and just kept running. “Damn fool,” I spat. He is too idealistic for this world, I thought as I watched him attempt to run away from reality. I turned back to his brothers to see what they had to say but neither said a word they just shuffled around nervously. “Do you two share Temur’s thoughts?” both boys immediately shook their heads negative. “good, I don’t need any more deadweight around here.” I turned back towards camp picking up my discarded practice sword as I went. “Finish things up here Ulgar we need to speak later.” I didn’t wait around for a response from Ulgar I knew he would get things done so I just kept walking. “Yes, brother we will be back shortly.” Temur is a lost cause it seems, I sighed looking up into the morning sky.

Other than Temur things had been going quite well up to this point. Yul and Od had been proving themselves useful with their leatherwork while the women weren’t all trying to vie for control over household maintenance and had been differing over to Kulan which was a relief. I had worried that the older wives would try to exert their dominance due to their age, but Kulan had assured me that things were going well, and the transition was a smooth one. Yesui was also doing her best to learn what she could from Kulan and the other women to be a good wife and head of the household work. I think that one of the reasons that things had been going so smoothly on the women’s front was due to the knowledge that one day Yesui would be the one leading them and having one of your family in control meant you yourself would have more power in the long run. This was all fine by me, it meant one less headache to deal with and allowed me to focus on my other tasks. There were many things I needed to do such as secure our food stores for the next few months, train the boys, and I needed to go trade with the Mansurians. The house desperately needed some salt so we could preserve our meat for the coming winter. Vegetables would also be good to supplement everyone’s diet especially once berries would no longer be readily found in the vicinity. I planned to be self sufficient by the time we made it back to the clan. I had no intention of relying on others for help during my first winter being independent.

Most young men receive help from their fathers during their first few years on their own, but I wasn’t most men and my own pride wouldn’t allow me to be reliant on others. Maybe that was wrong on my part and maybe I was pushing everyone too hard, but still this was what I wanted and the way I wanted to run my house so no one could really fault me for that. I was still young and naïve and was bound to make plenty of mistakes in the future, but we would just have to deal with those as they came, no use fretting over something that had yet to occur.

So, in order to fulfill my ambition of self-reliance we mainly needed three things to happen. Firstly, we needed plenty of preserved food for the winter months which required a trip to Mansurian lands. Second, plenty of warm clothing to ward off the cold which required the hard work of Yul and Od along with the women of the camp, plus plenty of furs courtesy of the livestock and mine and Ulgars hunting. Third, we needed fuel for our fires, some of which we could forage from the plains, but we still would need some wood from outside the borders of the plains which would have to come from trade. After coming to that conclusion there really was only one thing for me to do and it should be done sooner rather than later since right now, we had plenty of food stocked up from all the hunting I had been doing lately with Ulgar and the boys. It required me to leave the house for a time and that greatly worried me. I needed to have a talk with Kulan, Yesui and Ulgar about it so that is where I headed after leaving the space set aside for training swordsmanship.

I walked over to my Yurt expecting to find Yesui and Kulan to be working on something around my home, but I didn’t see them anywhere around the vicinity of my Yurt or any of the others for that matter. So, since they weren’t outside, I slipped into the Yurt where I found Kulan, Yesui and Od’s wife sitting around the fire working on some clothes and conversing quite amicably. It made me happy to see them all getting along so well, it meant the integration of our families was going as smoothly as Kulan had said. As the old saying goes a happy wife makes for a happy life. They looked up to me and stood as one when I entered the room. I nodded to them and walked over to my seat at the head of the room. As I sat the three women resumed their positions as well but instead of going back to their work, they looked up at me expectantly. I just watched them for a while not wanting to break the silence that had settled over the room since I had entered. I let things stay as they were for a moment just enjoying the quiet and the view of my wife that this spot gave me. I had been so busy since breaking off from my father that I very rarely had time to just sit and relax. But I knew there were things that had to be done so I couldn’t just sit around idly. I adjusted to get more comfortable “how are things going around the homestead in your eyes Kulan?”. Kulan sat there looking panicked at my sudden question. Apparently, she didn’t expect me to call her out so suddenly. Why wouldn’t I ask my sister for advice? I thought as I watched Kulan struggle to formulate an answer. “U-umm honestly brother I think things are going well.” She said clearly flustered, “everyone seems to be integrating well and becoming productive we shouldn’t have food or fuel problems for a while.” I nodded, “those were my thoughts as well, but we are lacking in certain areas.” They all three began to nod at my words. It’s clear I wasn’t the only one who noticed our shortcomings. It was heartening to see that others were thinking of the future and it wasn’t just me. Seeing this lifted a large burden off my shoulders since I knew I could rely on the others to look to our futures and it wasn’t just me. “I will have to travel east to the Mansurian trading hub and trade for what we can’t make ourselves or forage from the land,” I said rubbing my head which as of late always seemed to be aching for one reason or another. “Do you, personally, have to go?” Yesui asked. “I’m the only one who I can trust to get it done, so yes I have to go personally.” “Th-that may be right,” Yesui said looking dejected at the prospect of me leaving for an unknown amount of time. “Well,” Kulan said drawing my attention away from my saddened wife, “who will be going with you?” “It will just be me. we cannot afford to have anyone else leave.” “But isn’t that dangerous?” asked Od’s wife. Yesui and Kulan both voiced their agreement with her question. “Yes, but it is more dangerous to take anyone else away from here.” “What if you’re attacked out there all alone?” Yesui asked. “I can handle myself in a fight,” I retorted. Yesui just stared at me, frustration written all over her face. I know she is just looking out for my safety, but I too am looking out for everyone else’s safety in my own right. So, we just sat there staring each other down. I was not going to change my stance and Yesui was upset that she could not talk me out of doing this. “Can you promise us that you will return safely no matter what?” Kulan asked breaking the oppressive silence that had taken hold of the room. Yesui glared at Kulan, annoyed that Kulan wasn’t taking her side in this but Kulan ignored the glares and focused on me waiting on my response. “I promise you that I will do everything in my power to return here safely.” Kulan nodded, “good then that is all we can ask since you’ve already made your mind.” Kulan stood then looked to Yesui and Od’s wife to follow her out of the Yurt. “by the way when will you be leaving?” she asked while standing by the door. “The day is still young and the sooner I’m off the sooner I can return,” “Then we should hurry to get you ready,” she said before she slipped out of the Yurt followed by Od’s wife while Yesui still sat there staring at me.

“You know as well as I that this has to be done Yesui,” I said trying to placate my angered wife. “I know that but why does it have to be you, why can’t someone else go?” “I already told you why, I can only trust myself to get this done right.” “still why do you have to go alone, why can’t at least one other person follow you?” she asked her voice getting higher in pitch the more she spoke. “I don’t have enough men to protect the camp in my absence Yesui, I don’t like having to go alone either, but this is how it is, I have to protect you above all else so this is just how it has to be.” Yesui opened her mouth to speak but shut it again before any words could come out. She wanted to keep fighting me on this but couldn’t without looking too disrespectful, the only reason she was fighting me so hard at the moment was because we were alone. Even then if I were a lesser man, I would’ve taken offense to any back talk and punished her for it but I liked getting others opinions on things since it opened me up to new ideas, its just at the moment there really wasn’t anything else we could do in these circumstances. All Yesui could really do was sit their looking dejected. I found that I could not stand the sight of her being upset so I stood up and walked over to her. Yesui looked up at me confused, “what are you doing?” she asked tense expecting a blow that would never come from me. I leaned down and picked her up into my arms holding her close. She squirmed around trying to break free from my sudden assault but after realizing she wasn’t getting free and I wasn’t angry, she stopped struggling and just accepted my attention. “I have to go,” I whispered while running my fingers through her long black hair. Lately I had found that Yesui rather enjoyed having me run my fingers through her hair and right now I was trying to placate her any way possible. “I-I know,” she sighed, placing her chin on my shoulder. “I’m sorry for questioning you like I did.” I pushed back from her and looked her in the eye, she tried to turn away but I forced her to look at me, “I’ve already told you I want to hear your opinions on things and I won’t hear you apologize to me for stating your opinion again.” “But others were here when I did it,” She said shaking under my intense gaze, “it will look bad for you if your wife disrespects you like that.” “Fuck everyone else I don’t care what others think, understand?” She looked away again and once again I forced her to look at me, “do you understand?” I asked putting pressure into my grip. “Y-yes I understand husband.” I nodded at her response pulling her back into my embrace. “you are the only thing that matters to me right now,” I said soothingly, “I couldn’t care less what others think, only you Yesui.” “I-I understand,” “Good,” I said releasing her from my grip, “Now go help Kulan and the others get things ready for my trip.” Yesui collected herself before swiftly leaving avoiding my eyes the entire time.

Once I was alone, I let out a deep sigh, I really don’t like seeing her upset. Our relationship had been moving fast but that was just how life was out here, you never knew what day would be your last, so you had to live life to its fullest. I need to get ready to leave, I thought as I finally turned my attention away from the door where Yesui had just left.

When I finally left the Yurt, everyone had gathered around to see me off. It seems the girls had already told of my plans. Batzorig was saddled and ready to go while two other horses were tethered to her loaded down with goods for trading. I waisted no time walking over to Batzorig and placing my packed saddle bags upon her back. Ulgar walked up behind me holding my bow and a full quiver. I took the bow and slung it on my back while he strapped the quiver to my belt opposite the side of my sword. Once he was finished, I pulled him close and spoke so only he could hear, “If anything happens to Yesui while I’m gone you better be dead, otherwise you will wish you were.” Ulgar nodded to my threat without a word. I mounted Batzorig and got settled into the saddle when Kulan and Erhi came up to me. “Be safe brother we will be waiting for your return,” Erhi said. “Remember your promise,” Said Kulan. “Will do,” I replied to both of them. After Kulan and Erhi walked away Yesui came to see me off. Before she could even get out a word, I reached down grabbing her and pulling her up placing her in front of me. Shock was written all over her face which I found quite cute and I just couldn’t resist kissing her in that moment. She was shocked at first but after a moment she too got into it and what started as an innocent kiss soon got rather heated but before I could fully lose myself in my wife murmuring from those surrounding us brought me back to reality and I grudgingly broke off the kiss. “I will be back in a week if things go well,” I said nearly out of breath. Yesui nodded, “I will be waiting for you,” “Good,” I said picking Yesui back up and placing her back on the ground. After Yesui was out of my lap I readjusted in the saddle to get comfortable again, before looking at my family. I let my gaze drop onto Yul, “Keep everything running smoothly.” “Of course, everything will be as you left it master,” He said bowing his head in respect. “Good,” I said while hitting Batzorig’s flanks. me and my three horses got moving and before long we were out of sight from my family heading east towards the mountains and the Mansurian trading center on this side of those imposing peaks. Let’s hurry up with this task so I can get home to Yesui, I thought with a smile on my face.