“I’ll be back tonight.  I can stay over.”

“Awesome!  See you then.”

I hugged Chann goodbye and wove my way through the streets until I reached the studio.  It was hidden away in the corner of the historic district, one of those places you wouldn’t find unless you knew it was there.  After checking that no one was following me, I ducked inside.

“Alatan!”  Ariel greeted me in Hebrew, sending a shiver up my spine.  “Welcome back, my Prince!  We’ve missed you so much!  Yakov, Alatan’s back!”

“I missed you too,” I purred.  It felt so good to speak my native tongue again.  “Where’s Yakov?”

“In the back, getting your things together.  Oh, GOD, I’m so glad you’re back!  We worried about you all summer, knowing you only had a couple of your throwing knives on you.  I’m so sorry we didn’t get the chance to give your old swords to Chann before we left!  But I had to get to Israel as soon as possible.  Talora and Shafi’s updated prosthetic for me required a new base and I had to have enough time to recuperate so I could be back here in the States by the time you started school.  Look at how responsive it is!”

Ariel proudly displayed their new prosthetic, bending the knee and flexing the toes.  I marveled at the mechanical masterpiece.  This far outshone any of their previous prosthetics.  It was sleek and modern, with the joints made of a thick, flexy black material and the hard bone-parts made of the same metal alloy as my swords.  The shape and movement were so perfect that, when covered by their pants, it was virtually indistinguishable from a real leg.  The only hint that it was a prosthetic was that their feet were different weights and made different sounds.

“They did a wonderful job,” I enthused.  “I’m so happy for you, Ariel.”

“Thank you, my Prince.  I can’t thank them enough for this – it’s almost like having my leg back!  Anyway, we have your new swords ready, and since it looks like you haven’t grown any–”

“Hey!”

“–we won’t have to make any adjustments!”

I snorted.  “I’d grow if I could.”

“I know, I know.  You will one day.  Remember that neither of your parents were very tall.”

“They were taller than this…”

“Your ima was only five-three.  Yakov!”  Ariel raised their voice so Yakov could hear them.  “Did you hear me?  Alatan is back!”

“What?!”

“They said ‘the bitch is back’!” I crowed.

“Almadi’s back from the dead?!”

“No, Yakov!  Her son, Alatan, is back,” Ariel corrected.

“You haven’t forgotten me, have you?” I teased.

“Of course not.”  We whipped around to face Yakov, who’d somehow snuck up behind us.  “I could never forget Almadi’s son.”  He turned to me with a smirk.  “I’ve been wondering when you’d drag your sorry ass back here.”

“You and Ariel only came back from Israel this morning.  I came as quickly as I could.”

Yakov snorted, unimpressed, although his dark brown eyes were warm.  “Then you should’ve met us at the airport.  It’s dangerous for you to not have your swords.  Now, go change while we prep the course.  I want to see how far you’ve let yourself go.”

“I’m not that out of shape!”

“You’re as out of shape as I say you are.  Change.  Ari, come help me with this.”

Rolling my eyes, I went into the locker room and found a duffel bag packed with a fresh set of uniforms and gear on one of the benches.  I got dressed and adjusted my sword-holder on the small of my back.  With a slight smile, I pressed my twin swords into place, the tight fabric immediately clutching onto them.  I adjusted my hand wraps – similar to but much lighter than the ones boxers wear – and allowed myself a look in the mirror.  With the Cheney Crest – a dragon Ouroboros encircling a Star of David – emblazoned on my shirt, my knives hidden in their various places, and my swords back in my possession, I felt safe and whole again.

I went back into the main room and began to show them how strong and flexible I currently was.  The summer had taken its usual toll on me:  I was weak.  I tired easily and I wasn’t anywhere near as flexible as I should be.

“I can’t believe how stiff you are,” Yakov scolded.  “Do you remember our expectations?”

“Of course I do!” I snapped.

“Then act like it!  Your life depends on your ability to kick straight up with enough force to break a jaw and flatten yourself close enough to the ground so a vehicle can pass over you!  That kind of skill doesn’t come naturally; you have to work for it, and maintain it!”  Yakov shook his head with a dramatic groan.  “There’s no getting around it.  We have to stretch you out before we can do anything with you.”

“It’s not quite that bad,” Ariel countered gently.  “He’s rather decent, considering the atrophy of his muscles.”

“‘Rather decent’ doesn’t meet the standards we’ve set for him!  He has a legacy to live up to, and when he’s not so fucking fragile, he’s one of the strongest warriors in the world.  We train you like we would any Israeli soldier,” Yakov continued as he turned to me, “plus the swordsmanship your family prides itself on and the skills the Cheney Coalition asks that we bestow upon you.  You are the pinnacle of excellence when you’re in shape.  You might not have a country to defend, but you do have countrypeople to protect.  Your loved ones are depending on you to be their warrior, and when you’re this pathetic, we may as well toss you to the dogs for all the good you’ll do.”

“So are you just going to stand there insulting me, or are you going to make me back into your Prince?” I asked with a deliberate coolness.

“Oh, we’ll make you back into a warrior.”  Yakov pushed me towards Ariel – who crossed their arms and held them out to me like a bar – grabbed my leg, and pushed it up until it touched my back, making it perpendicular to the floor.  Pain split across me and I heard my hip pop, but Yakov held it there until the pain became a slight numbness.  “You haven’t any time to waste.  You are a guardian of our people and of your loved ones, and we will make sure you can defend them all to the best of your ability.

“You are the Warrior Prince of Israel, son of the Queen of Beasts and the Warrior Businessman.  Alatan Baruch Cheney, we will train you again, so you can be who you truly are.”

“Thank you.”

Yakov let my leg down, allowed me to rest a moment, then lifted my other.  I felt as if my body would give out under the intensity of the stretching.  It wasn’t exactly zero to a hundred, but it felt pretty damn close.

“Get your swords.  I want to see if your coordination is still about you.”

I slid them out of the holder on my back.  I held a sword in each hand, turned off the safety, and opened the blades with the telltale shing for metal.  They extended to their full length in milliseconds.

“Ariel, open the course.”

“On it.”

The studio transformed.  Ledges, targets, various materials to cut through, and humanoid dummies holding various weapons all appeared.

“Run the course, Alatan.”

I took off for the first obstacle, slicing through the stack of wooden planks without trouble.  I flipped over it, landing flat-footed – “Land on your toes!  Stay light!” – and raced forward.  I leaped onto the ledges, climbing nearly to the ceiling, then threw myself downward, holding both blades out in front of me.  They cut through the metal brick beneath me and, without breaking stride, I dropped to the side of my leg and slid beneath a ledge, not unlike a baseball player skidding towards a base.  I made my way around the course with little effort, marking the targets with smooth, efficient swipes in the designated places and clearing my way like a jungle explorer hacking down vegetation.

The dummies threw me off.  It had been a while since I’d fought another person; with Ariel and Yakov each controlling one, I found myself dodging robots whose movements were alarmingly close to the fluidity and viciousness of real trained humans.  Fighting two at once, I was purely on the defense, painfully aware of my wounds starting to bleed at the sharp, intense movements I had to make to avoid getting even more hurt.  A sword got too close to my cheek and gave me a thin scratch, barely enough to bleed but enough to sting.  I was getting overwhelmed…

“Don’t stay on the defense!” Yakov snapped at me.  “Offense and defense at the same time – I’ve taught you this!”

“I’m trying!”

“No, you’re not!  You’re in your thoughts, not the fight!  Rely on your instincts as much as your taught skill.”

I drew in a shaky breath, trying to fight down my nerves and racking my brain for strategy.  My insides burned with pain and I could feel something warm in my underwear.  Every instinct was screaming at me to stop moving.

Thinking quickly, I sprinted towards Yakov and Ariel and jumped over their heads.  The robots, set on halfway-autopilot by locking onto the heat from my body, ran right into them.  My masters dropped the controllers, both drawing their weapons to defend themselves, and I leapt from ledge-to-ledge behind them, gaining height and advantage.

I threw myself off one of the ledges, landed with a foot on each dummy’s chest (the force knocked them back so I had a form of leverage and balance), and impaled a sword into each neck, sending dark blue blood – just thickened colored water – spurting out.  The dummies fell backwards, collapsing like any human would, and I whipped my swords free before they hit the floor.

“Well.”  Yakov sniffed.  “You’re clever, if nothing else.  Remember that you can’t rely on trick ledges and crowd confusion to win.  Your intelligence, speed, and brute force must meld together.”

“I know.”  I raised one of my swords up to inspect it.  “I wish I could stay longer, but I need to go home.”

“Fine.  Wash your swords, change, and then you can go.”

“I’ll help,” Ariel offered.

“Thank you, Ariel.”

Leaving Yakov to clean up the bloodied dummies, Ariel and I went into the locker room.  I didn’t hesitate or try to hide myself as I stripped to my underwear and put my normal clothes back on.  Ariel rinsed my swords in one of the showers, rubbing at the blades with a washcloth.

“I thought you did well today, considering you’re so out of shape.  You’ll be back on your usual level soon.”

“I hope.”  I undid my bun and pulled my hair back into a ponytail.  “I have a feeling something’s going to happen soon.”

“I trust you to do your best.  You’ve always shown great resilience and strength.  Your parents named you well.”

I let out a dark half-chuckle as I began packing my uniforms and gear into my bag.  Ariel retracted my swords and handed them to me; I slid them back into the holder.

“When will you be back?”

“Soon.”  I zipped my bag closed.

“I’ll see you soon, then.”  Ariel nodded and hugged me goodbye.  We left the locker room together and Yakov gave me a nod, betraying his affection for me.

“I expect you back here at least twice a week, Alatan, preferably four.”

“I’ll try.  Bye, guys.”

As I emerged into the sun outside, I checked my phone for texts.

Sharqiq:  You have one appointment this weekend:  Saturday at 5 pm.  Your next nighttime appointment is Monday.  You may sleep where you like until then.

Only one appointment and three nights with Chann?  I thought.  Not bad.  Not bad at all.