Bastion

she was about old enough to fling ’em. And her pa made her a little grapple on a cord she could use to fetch things to her so she didn’t have to struggle to get ’em. Clever bit of kit, that. Wonder who thought of it?”
    The Weaponsmaster gave him a long look, as if to make certain that Mags was not trying to pull some sort of joke on him. “Darts, you say?” He repeated, sounding a bit incredulous. “And a grapple?”
    “Well, think about it. When you gotta drag a near-useless leg around, so yer pa set you up a target you can pull to you, and pull back into place, you got a lot of incentive to learn to hit it, so you don’t haveta go chasing scattered darts,” he pointed out reasonably. “And if you got a way to hook a basket, or a book, or an apple and bring it to you, well, you get good hooking things real fast.”
    The Weaponsmaster nodded thoughtfully. “The skill of hand and eye would translate somewhat to the sword as well,” he mused. “But not, say, the staff. Which explains why she is not much better than I would expect in staff.”
    “I dunno about that, but I’d have her at my back with a bow any time,” Mags said with open admiration. And then his pupils returned with their new bows, so he moved them closer to the target to begin all over again.
    The next class was swordsmanship again, and Amily tired quickly after teaching two classes in a row. The Weaponsmaster put her to correcting the youngest and least experienced in the class, something she could do without having to partner them, while Mags took another group of mixed Heralds and Guards. And then it was time for luncheon—or, rather, it was just time to get themselves clean before going to luncheon. They all set off for the bathing rooms and filled the place. No Trainees ever wanted to present themselves at the dining hall stinking of sweat.
    The afternoon was much the same as the morning, except one of the classes was in staff rather than sword, and Mags saw for himself that Amily was barely adequate. In a way, that was a little bit of a relief—it would have been just a bit depressing to discover she could outfight him in every aspect of weapons work!
    At least he could be sure she would never be able to scramble across rooftops the way he could. She didn’t have much of a head for heights, and with her leg still strengthening, she would likely never be able to climb and leap the way he could.
    Just as well. Her pa’d murder me if I took her roof-walkin’.
    :He would murder you and find a way to bring you back so he could murder you again, Chosen,: Dallen chuckled.
    Amily arrived at the dining hall at almost the same time as he, both of them with wet hair from a good dousing, and Mags had the feeling they even looked much alike: tired, but satisfied. Lena and Bear gave them startled looks as they sat down at the table, took plates, and began helping themselves.
    “Dare I ask what you two have been up to?” Bear ventured.
    “We’re the Weaponsmaster’s new chew toys,” Amily said dryly.
    Bear looked confused, and Mags chuckled. “She means we’re his new assistants. All day, every day. Tell you what, we’re getting more’n our share of exercise.”
    “I can believe it!” Bear explained. “But . . . why?”
    “Dean Caelen wants t’hold me outa classes for a while. Dunno why,” Mags said, making it public knowledge for the first time. “Weaponsmaster reckoned he can use the help, and I ain’t arguing with him.”
    “Don’t blame you, but that doesn’t explain Amily,” Bear retorted. Amily shrugged. “What else have I got to do?” she asked reasonably. “And you wanted me to exercise more to strengthen the leg before the snow came. This is certainly exercise.”
    “It’s all of that,” Bear replied, though he sounded a little dubious. “Just don’t overdo it—”
    Mags and Amily looked at each other and burst into simultaneous laughter. “Don’t tell us, Bear,” Mags choked out. “If yer really serious ’bout us not overdoing, you need to tell Weaponsmaster!”
    Bear looked away for a moment. “Not sure I’d dare,” he confessed.
    Amily patted his hand fondly. “That’s all right, Bear,” she said. “Not sure I would either.”
    •   •   •
    Whatever else the new regimen was doing for him—and Mags was pretty certain he was getting very damned good at weapons work, and his stamina was increasing—it also wore him completely out. Despite being with Amily all day, he was