Arai is talking but Zephaniah hears very little of it. She had explained that she had been suspicious from the start about him becoming separated from his men, so she had been investigating. After all these months, her snooping had paid off in the worst way possible. One of her men discovered a plot to overthrow the royal family. Unfortunately the plotters had already attacked and taken over the castle. Why had I wished to not go home? Now that his wish has been granted, Zeph is beating himself up for even thinking he wanted it. He suddenly has a worse thought.

“What about my sisters?” His sudden interruption of Arai’s flood of information startles her into silence for a moment.

“Ah, like I said, it seems the royal family has not been harmed, though you father was injured in the initial attack. Whoever these people are, they seem to know what they're doing. If they’re smart, your family shouldn’t be in any immediate danger.” They sit with an awkward silence as neither has anything more to say to the other. Suddenly Arai leans forward excitedly with a thought. “Zeph, join my crew.” His expression makes it clear he can’t believe she just proposed that. He’s worried sick about his sisters and she’s telling him to become a bandit? “Listen, I take care of my people. I know you’re worried about your family, but it’s not like you can help them by rushing in without a plan, especially by yourself. Stay with me and I promise to do what I can to help.”

Zeph realizes her offer might be his best option, possibly even his only choice to save those he loves that doesn’t end in his guaranteed death. As it stands, he really doesn’t have anywhere else he can go. Letting out a sigh, he gives his reply. “Okay, where do I start?”

Arai looks both giddy and relieved. “How are you with a bow?”

****

Zeph shivers as the light wind picks up. He has been training for over a month now and in a few more it will start getting colder. When that happens, he will be restricted to mostly indoors. Deciding to make better use of the time he has left, Zeph signals to Arai that he is done resting.

Arai had insisted he train in a multitude of weapons and fighting styles, but he didn’t seem to have a particular talent for any of them. Taking this into account, she had decided to have him train with each equally instead of specialized training. Today is sparring with staffs. Unfortunately, while he has improved, Zeph is still no match for Arai’s skills and is soon out of breath again.

“Remember to use your opponent’s strength against them. Minimize your movements to conserve energy for when you need to move quickly. Stand firm, but know when to not give any resistance. If you face your enemy head on you will use energy equally, but in most cases you’ll have less than them so you will be at a disadvantage. Instead, you have to trick the other person into using more force than you. Do you understand?”

“I think so.”

“Here, I’ll show you.” Arai stands up, and picking up the staffs, she throws one to him. “When I strike, defend yourself.” She brings the staff downward towards Zeph’s head with great force, and he blocks it with his own held between his two hands. “Good, now loosen your left hand while putting your left foot behind your right.” Following her instructions, Zephaniah finds himself in a position to counterattack as Arai’s force-based momentum pushes her past him. Arai uses that same momentum to spin around on the ball of her right foot with a smile on her face. “Well done! The mastery of this skill can be one of your most deadly weapons. Even when faced with those of greater strength or skill, you can have a chance of winning. Plus it can be adapted for all kinds of close combat fighting.”

Arai is overjoyed that he picked up the basics so quickly as mastering this skill can help make up for what he lacks in other fighting skills. Hopefully with enough training she can get him to the point where he won’t get himself killed. She may have promised to help Zeph save his family and kingdom, but her main concern, before all else, is keeping alive this prince she has fallen in love with.