The Exiled Gem

The Second Year's Miracle

'Your second year, is the most important. If you do not learn this, you cannot be a good spy. Not at all. This year, we shall focus on combat training. By using your body as a weapon, as well as with a dagger. You might wonder why only knives? Why not real weapons like spears and swords and bow-arrows. To be honest, a spy has to defend himself-'

'Or herself,' Alexandra put in. It was a month after the End of the First Year, Fannel had already sent her two letters and it all seemed to going good. Vellesmere had changed a lot. Terrorism had come down, people were gathering up their lives again in the city. But it seemed like he wasn't able to do the same.. this air suffocates me. I hate staying here.

'Or herself,' Master George agreed, 'rather than attack anyone. And he - or she - needs to be quick. Very quick. You can be quick with any weapon, but a dagger is the quickest one of them all. Easy to hide, hard to shield and very difficult to learn, we shall focus on knife-using in your second term. For now, we have to look more closely at using your own body as a weapon. Because you might lose your knife, and in such a case, your only weapon will be your own smarts and your body.

'So, as I hope all of you are fit enough to at least wrestle an old man, I'd want someone to try.' He said, no one looked eager to try at all. They were young, not fools. No one dared wrestle Master George.

'Alright, no enthusiasm. I'll choose then. How about you, young man?' He asked, pointing to Hans.

'M - me?' He stood up, 'I'll try...' they all watched with bated breath and surprisingly, Hans won. As Master George touched the ground, he got off, looking the most shocked one of them all, 'how did that happen?' He asked, dazed. 'I think he's fooling me!' 

Master George got right back up.

'Alright, Lords and Lady, that was me, using no skill. Raw, brute strength. As you see, the young man here, Hans, won. Now let's see what happens when I fight skillfully!'

'No, thank you.' Hans muttered under his breath, but he resigned to his fate. They watched as Master George got into a steady position, balancing his weight uniformly on both legs, giving him equal access to both his sides. Hans copied that.

What he couldn't copy was the skill.

Within two minutes, Hans was flat on the ground, and the rest of them were praying that they wouldn't be used as a demo-giver next.

'So, there you go, my students. That is how much advantage skill can give you. Don't worry, you are not dueling me - or anyone - anytime soon. First, let's practice some basic ideas and moves...'

Overall, things went quite good for the first few months. Alexandra enjoyed the classes. This was the best part, she didn't want to be a skill-less lass. Self defense was something she'd always wanted to learn.

Quite good, and then came the term test.

Nothing much, just combat a man two years older to you. And she had to admit it, for the first time, since she had joined the council, Alexandra felt afraid.

It was one thing to duel simply ... for practice. Completely another to duel till one of you accepted defeat. And she had to do that against a huge fourth year.

For a practice, the day previous to the exam, they separated into duos. Their only goal being to duel until one accepted defeat. The six boys formed their groups of three and, no surprise, Alexandra was left partner-less.

'How about you duel me, Mabel?' Master George offered, scaring the living daylight out of her. Everyone else seemed amused.

'Sir, but-'