Azure Mist's Arc

Chapter 5 of 7

The next morning Azure came back to the clearing sore from falling. Jade waited on the cabin porch, but her hands were empty. No swords. No lesson stance. Azure stopped at the steps, confused. Last time she had learned to fight up close, chest to chest, with no room to run. But she had done it with nothing. Her hands had been empty then too, and she knew now that would kill her in the tournament. "I read the body up close," Azure said. "I can throw him. Slip his grip. But when he breaks past my guard, I have nothing in my hands. My swords are too long for that." Jade nodded slowly. "Now you see it." She stepped down and walked into the cabin. Azure followed. The room smelled of woodsmoke and old leather. Jade pulled a small blade from a peg on the wall, no longer than her forearm. She turned it once and held it out, handle first. "Short blade," Jade said. "For the space where a sword can't swing." She pressed it into Azure's palm and folded Azure's fingers over the grip. "Feel it. Not with your eyes. Your hand." Azure closed her fist. The weight sat close and quick, made for the range she fought at. Jade stepped in without warning, chest against her, and hooked a hand behind Azure's neck. Azure's old panic rose. Then it faded. She read Jade's weight through the contact, the same lesson from yesterday. Her arm was already moving. The short blade slid up flat against Jade's ribs and stopped there, resting. "There," Jade said, not backing away. "That's the answer. Speed and reading and now a tooth for the close." She did not move. Her breath was warm. Azure realized she had not stepped back either. Then Jade kissed her. It was quick and certain, the way Jade did everything. Azure froze. The short blade dropped from her hand and hit the floorboards. Jade pulled back and looked at her, plain and unhurried. "You stopped reading me," Jade said. Her voice slowed, the way it did when a thing mattered. "Don't. Not there. Not anywhere. The moment you stop feeling the body against you, you lose." Azure's face burned. Her heart pounded, but she bent and picked up the blade. She set her feet. She would not drop her guard again, not for a grip, not for a kiss. Jade came in a second time, hand rising for her throat. Azure felt the weight shift, turned with it, and set the flat of the short blade to Jade's belly before the grip closed. Jade smiled. "Now you keep it." Azure sheathed the short blade at her hip. Her long swords still hung on her back for distance. But now the close was covered too. She had a weapon for the range where fights were truly won. "Eight left," Azure said, steadier than she felt.