Assassin's Curse (24 page)

Keisha nodded and quickly moved the targets.
 
When all was ready, Jeda crouched down and caressed each twin’s cheek softly.
 
“Watch and learn little ones.
 
Someday I’ll be teaching you these things.”

He turned and faced Keisha and began the lesson.
 
Natasha came and stood behind the twins, overlooking and seemingly protecting them while Jeda taught Keisha the basics of knife throwing.

“First, you must learn the proper way to hold a knife,” he said.
 
He demonstrated the two basic ways of holding a knife.
 
He further explained.
 
“Each method is made for the type of knife you will be throwing.
 
With a heavy knife, you use your entire hand, but seeing as we are using light-weight knives, we will be using a pinch method.”

Taking one of his knives out of his sleeves, Jeda showed her how to hold either the handle or the tip of the knife between the thumb and forefinger.
 
“It takes a good deal of muscle and stamina to be a good knife thrower,” he continued.
 
“First take the knife between your fingers, bring your hand backwards until it is near your ear and
..
.”

The lesson went on for several minutes while Jeda gave her the basics of holding and throwing a knife.
 
After he was satisfied she understood the basics, he drew a line in the dirt with his foot.
 
“This will be our throwing line,” he told her, looking at the closest target standing about ten feet away.
 
“Now the real fun begins.”

With a blur of his arms, Jeda threw three knives in quick succession at the nearest target, striking dead center with each throw.
 
Keisha’s eyes nearly popped out of her head at the display of marksmanship.
 
She jumped up and clapped her hands enthusiastically.
 
He smiled and motioned for her to get the knives.
 
He also noticed that his little lesson had drawn quite a crowd.
 
Foremost in the gathered crowd was a large man with a frown frozen on his face.
 

Keisha came back with the knives and began her turn.
 
After more than a few mishaps, she finally hit her target and nearly danced with joy.
 

After a few more hits, Jeda moved to the next target and showed her how to judge the number of revolutions the knife would take before hitting the target.
 
“One of the most important fundamentals to understand is learning to judge the distance to a target so you can angle your throw properly,” he explained.
 
“It wouldn’t do you any good to throw your knife and have it bounce off your target because you misjudged your distance.”

The distance of fifteen feet proved to be the best Keisha could accomplish during her first lesson.
 
The target at twenty feet was too far for her to hit.

Jeda praised the results of what she had accomplished.
 
“You did very well for your first time.
 
Now I think
it’s
time for your part of our bargain.”

Just as Keisha was about to answer, a small commotion erupted from the gathered crowd.
 
Jeda looked behind him and saw the big man pushing his way toward him.

Keisha sighed.
 
“Oh no, not again.”

The big man jeered at Jeda.
 
“Easy to show up a woman who’s never held a knife before, eh, little man?
 
Why don’t you try your skills against one who knows his way around a blade?
 
Or do you just pander to babies and young girls?”

Jeda looked at the man and saw Mirabelle standing a short distance behind him.
 
It was clear that she had somehow instigated the big lout into challenging him and now wore a small, smug smile of satisfaction on her face.
 
Probably thinks I will be intimidated enough to leave.
 

The insult the big man aimed at him was biting, but Jeda would not break the guest rights that Natasha had afforded them.
 
A few insults were the least he could afford for the welcome and meal he and the twins had received already.
 
“You must mean someone like yourself, right?
 
Sorry, but I don’t feel the need to try myself against someone like you today.”

“Ah yes, now I understand,” the man continued.
 
“You’re nothing but a nursemaid, not a real man at all.
 
It’s really too bad because I was going to give you a proper lesson in knife throwing, but that will have to wait until some of the other
boys
are ready for that lesson.”

Jeda felt the flush rise up his neck as the other men in the crowd snickered and laughed.
 
It reminded him too much of his days back at the guild when he was a young apprentice.
 
Although he had the self-discipline not to do anything foolish in front of a crowd, the slur still bothered him.
 

“Bruno, that is quite enough,” Natasha said, stepping between Jeda and the large man.
 
“I want you to leave our guests alone.”

“Of course, mother,”
Bruno
replied, bowing condescendingly.
 
“I won’t bother your charges any longer.”

“Who is that ass?” Jeda asked Keisha quietly while Natasha admonished Bruno.
 

“That’s Bruno.
 
He’s the master knife of the family.
 
He wants me to be his woman, but I’ll have nothing to do with him, so he causes trouble for anyone that I even look at.
 
He thinks that if he scares off any man that looks my way, I’ll eventually take him.
 
He’s a big oaf and he makes my life a living hell.
 
I’ll bet Mirabelle told him you were showing me how to throw a knife and now he’s jealous.”

“Oh, I see now,”
Jeda
replied, turning to see that Natasha was pushing Bruno away.
 
“Wait.
 
If it’s a lesson you want, then it’s a lesson I’ll give you.”

“Jeda, please let me handle
...,
” Natasha began, stopping when Jeda held up his hand.

“I thought you welcomed me to be
part of the family
while I was here?” he asked.
 
“If you truly meant that, then let me handle this as such.”

Natasha hesitated momentarily but acquiesced when she saw his resolve.
 
“If that is what you desire, then so be it.”
 
Natasha nodded her head and stepped out of the way.

“Good, then let’s get at it, boy,” Bruno bellowed.
 
He stood in front of Jeda, trying to intimate him with his bulk.
 

“What say we have a real test of skills,” Jeda said, taking a step back and pulling out another throwing knife.

“There will be no bloodshed here today,” Natasha commanded from the sideline.

“That’s not what I meant at all,” he replied.
 
“I meant a test of throwing skills with any knives of your choosing.”

“Agreed,” Bruno said.
 
He pulled out a pair of large, wicked-looking blades.
 
“Best throw at increasing distance until one of us beats the other.”

“Agreed,” Jeda said.
 
“The first throw is yours.”

Bruno sneered again at the younger man and stepped up to the same throwing line Jeda had dug for Keisha’s lessons.
 
Jeda ignored the man, walked to the sidelines, and moved the twins a few feet away to a safer resting spot.
 
Natasha came and stood over them like a mother hen.
 
Jeda nodded to her and strode back to Bruno.

“Let me show you how it’s done,” the big
man
said.
 
Throwing at the twenty-foot target, Bruno imbedded his knife dead center.
 
“There, match that,” he said.

Jeda stood up at the line and threw one of his lighter blades and hit dead center as well, exactly beside Bruno’s blade.
 
There was a gasp from the crowd as they saw how close the blades were to each other.
 
The next target was set at thirty feet.
 
First Bruno, then Jeda, both hit dead center again.

“You’re not bad for a little man,” Bruno admitted when he saw Jeda’s second throw.
 
“But this is where the real men start to throw.”

Bruno indicated the next target to be set out to fifty feet.
 
It would take a true knife master to hit the bull’s-eye at that distance and Bruno knew the advantage was his with his heavier knives.
 
He stepped up to the line and let go with a mighty throw.
 
The blade seemed to stay in the air forever as it travelled to the target, but as it finally hit home, the crowd gasped again when the blade struck just a hair off-center.
 
It was a magnificent throw and Bruno practically preened as he saw the hit.
 
Bowing magnanimously, he motioned for Jeda to take the line.
 

Jeda’s throw would have to be perfect for him to beat Bruno.
 
He took up his lighter knife and sighted down at the target.
 
His knives were designed for
close-in
throwing, usually at no more than twenty-five feet.
 
This target was near double what he would usually try to accomplish.
 
He took one more look at Bruno and his condescending smirk before letting the knife fly.
 
The knife soared through the air.
 
The crowd held its breath and they all sighed in shock as the knife passed cleanly over the top of the target.

“Ha!” cried Bruno.
 
“The better man won.
 
You didn’t have it in you, did you boy?”

“Sorry, but I just wanted to get this over with,” Jeda replied.
 
“I didn’t mean to make you look bad in front of the
family
.”

“What?” Bruno’s brow creased in a frown.
 
“Are you daft?
 
My throw hit the target at fifty feet.
 
Your throw flew over it.”

“I know,” Jeda said.
 
“I wasn’t aiming at the target at fifty feet.
 
I threw at the target further on.”

Bruno whirled around and stared downrange.
 
The crowd followed his gaze.
 
Off at seventy-five feet stood one of the targets the men used for archery practice.
 
Embedded in the dead center of the target was Jeda’s blade.
 
The crowd went wild with shouts and applause when they realized what Jeda had accomplished.
 
Keisha came running over to him and practically threw herself in his arms, congratulating him.
 
Bruno, seeing he was decidedly beat, stomped off, pushing and shoving through the crowd.
 

Jeda gave Keisha a quick hug before releasing her.
 
He smiled at the crowd and walked over to Natasha and the twins.

“That was an amazing throw,” Natasha said.
 
“However, you have made a deadly and bitter enemy in him.”

“He was that before we began,” Jeda said.
 
“He’s not the first and probably won’t be the last enemy I make, but at least I’ve given him something to worry about.”
 
He stooped down and picked up the twins.
 
Through the whole competition they had rested quietly, but now that that it was over, they began to fuss.
 
“Ah, just in time, I see,” he said to the pair.

“You must stay the night with us,” Natasha offered.
 
“You’ll would have to stop to make camp soon in any case.
 
In our camp, you will find good food and better company.”

“And I haven’t even shown how I lifted your knives yet,” interjected Keisha, coming up from behind with the knives that Jeda had thrown at the targets in her hands.

“Well, with two such invitations and a pair of cranky and hungry twins, how could I refuse?”

After Jeda’s little display, the musicians got back together for more music and festivities.
 
Instead of the practice from earlier that day, the men and women danced with wild abandon and for the sheer joy of moving.
 
The intricate and seductive moves by both sexes would ensure that not many beds would be occupied alone tonight.
 
Keisha showed Jeda all the tricks she knew about ‘borrowing’ other people’s property and had eventually gone off to bed.
 
He was sitting with a pair of sleepy babies, relaxing and enjoying the evening, when a roar broke the calm of the night.
 
Across the camp, Jeda saw Bruno approaching him full-steam.
 
The man was incensed and had murder in his eyes.
 
Bruno stopped in the middle of the camp.
 
All eyes were on him.

“I issue a call of challenge,” the big man roared.
 
“I have been wronged and my honor demands satisfaction.”

All sound within the camp ceased as Natasha got up from beside Jeda and the babies.