The room is large, and lit with a series of magical lanterns. Moonlight tiptoes through the open windows. The sounds of the gulls and Icelace are recognizable but distant.
The man that stands before me staring blindly ahead is slightly tall, unkempt and not much to look at. His frame carries strength from years of servitude and a warrior’s training. He shifts nervously as I walk around him.
His name is Matthew, but Salin and I just call him Mat.
His blindness was voluntary, granted as divine penance for breaking an oath to Salin who stands beside me. Of the many things mom taught me, the value of an oath ranks highly. “A person’s word”, she told me, “Should be true and have honor”. This man broke broke an oath and asked for penance.
I respect that.
If I have made any recent friends it’s these two. I don’t know why or how, it just more or less happened. I tended to the wounds of both. We’ve chatted over inconsequential things, and traveled together. I find myself drawn to Salin over his handsome features and friendly smile. I know appearances are superficial, but the man is blessed with a degree of charisma. Mat just seems to tag along quietly in the background like Salin’s shadow.
But what Mat did tugged at my sense of honor, so for the time being I’ve offered to train him twice a week, and teach him that sight can be over rated.
My footsteps are soft on the straw floor as I walk around him. I’ve tied some of that straw to the end of a pole, so that it swishes when I move it. I teach him to pay attention, much as I taught Shallyah. I had hoped that I would see the spark of intuition in Mat that I couldn’t find in Shallyah, but the absence of it was very apparent. I could only teach him the basics. It would have to be enough.
“Notice the pitch change as the staff moves toward you”, I say, moving the staff quickly past his ear. He flinches, but not until the staff is past. “If you’re going to react to the staff”, I tell him with a smile, “It’s better to do before it hits you, and not after”.
I bop him lightly in the nose and he blinks reflexively. I do it again and he looks frustrated. I do it a third time and he puts his hand up in anticipation. I smile a bit, but say nothing.
“Listen to my footsteps Mat. When I swing, there is a pause. Most people need to pause in order to shift their balance to strike with a slash. With a thrust, the lead foot may come down a little harder. Sometimes your opponent will scream. People scream a lot when they fight. They’re scared, angry or both. They will breathe heavily. Moving quickly in armor is tiring.”
“All these things are clues”, I continued, “But you have to pay attention. You have to divorce your mind from contemplating your next move and just do it”
I shifted my stance in exaggerated fashion, and swung at him, pulling the stick way back so he would have time to hear it. He rewarded me by stepping panic-stricken away from it, but that was good.
“That’s great!”, I said encouragingly, laughing a bit. “Not the most graceful of moves, but at least it was in the right direction!”
He regained his balance and rewarded me with a smile
We continued like that for the next thirty minutes. There were a few successes alongside the many failures, but I was pleased with the results. The man was eager to learn, and that helps considerably.
I had promised Salin that I would help him to learn to simple sword play, but time got away from me like it always does. The next class had arrived and these were guardsmen, my primary responsibility. I felt terrible, and looked over at Salin apologetically.
“Salin? Would you mind waiting another half hour while I tend to these two? There’s bread, cheese and water in the back. If you look hard enough you might find some honeyed corn bread. I’ll get to you after these two, I promise”
Salin just gave me back that quiet, eyes-twinkling, moustached smile he had and said, “Sure. I’m hungry anyway and I’m sure Mat is too. Take your time”
As I watched him head to the back room a lot of thoughts went through my head. I remembered another set of friends just like these. In time they left this land, and I wondered to myself as I turned back to the guards, how long it would be before these two left as well.
