Age of Tunisca (Circle Trilogy – Book 3 )

They had almost been late, with Seth stalling until Meshia stepped in to get him moving. Seth was anxious. He had prattled on during the walk down to the training field about how he had been working with his dad Meshia for years and how he felt confident he had an advantage over the other boys, but Leo could tell he was unsure.

Leo gave Seth a light push. The other nine-year-old boys were all smaller than Seth, except for the Narans, of which there were three. Most of the Narans trained separately, but these were sons of palace guards, so they had special training privileges.

As Seth approached, he brought himself up to his full height and looked the Naran boys straight in the eyes. Leo smiled. Sebastian had drummed into Seth that you never let people see fear in your eyes. That you must always maintain the illusion of authority even if you were not feeling it in your gut. It would be interesting to see if Seth managed to maintain his stance.

"Hey … I didn't think girls were allowed to train in this group." The largest of the Naran boys stepped into Seth's face and flicked at the purple chiffon of Seth's top. "Nice makeup, girlie. Did you do it yourself or did your daddies do it for you?" He stepped back and sneered at Seth. "What exactly are you wearing? Maybe we should call you Princess Seth."

Leo backed away from the group and made sure Krunk was standing close by. Sebastian had asked him to let Seth stand up for himself. That he was not to interfere unless it looked like Seth was in real trouble. Leo wasn't sure what real trouble would look like, but he was going to trust Krunk did.

"Step aside, please. I'd like to converse with the instructor if I may." Seth stood his ground and waited for the boys to move.

Leo exhaled loudly. In his efforts to properly educate Seth, he had neglected to teach him the finer details of speaking like a normal person when required.

He covered his face and contained a shriek as one of the Naran boys took the first swing at Seth. The struggle went on for a while, but Seth was holding his own well considering the other boy was almost twice his size. Meshia had spent a considerable amount of time teaching Seth wrestling and hand-to-hand combat.

Leo gasped with pride as Seth managed to flip the other boy onto his back and pin him. Seth was just about to bring his fist down in the boy's face when the instructor stepped in.

"I think we have found out first sparing pair." He grabbed both boys and pulled them into the middle of the training field and threw some protective clothing at them to put on.

Leo stood on the sidelines, wringing his hands as Seth picked out a sword and tested its weight and balance. He swung it in perfect figure eights and tossed it up under his arm and grabbed it cleanly as it descended from the air.

Leo scowled. Meshia had obviously been letting Seth use more than a wooden practice sword already. He would need to speak to him about that.

Seth took a defensive stance and stared at the boy across from him with such menace in his eyes that Leo felt nervous. He jumped when Krunk laughed aloud behind him.

"That Naran kid is going to get his ass kicked," Krunk exclaimed.

"I knew Meshia had been working with him, but crap … I had no idea how far he had come with him."

"Leo, your kid is the best I've ever seen for his age. He's had two of the fiercest warriors training him since he was a toddler. It's no wonder he's so damn good."

Krunk rested his hands on Leo's shoulders and clapped loudly over Leo's head as Seth won match after match against every other boy in the group.

After an hour, Leo could see that Seth was becoming bored. While the instructor wasn't looking, Seth snuck off to sit under a canvas canopy to tidy up his face.

Leo sat beside Seth as he pulled a small bag and mirror out of his discarded bag and started to fix up his hair and makeup. He released his long hair from its tie, smoothed the strands out, then retied it into a knot at the base of his neck in a similar style to his father.

There was so much about Seth that was like Sebastian. His confidence, his humor, even the way he ate, slept, and walked. It was a wonderful experience watching him grow up.