There was no use in trying to hide it. They already knew who he had been. He had to do as Fawn suggested and tell them who he was now.
“I was press-ganged into Vian’s pack at sixteen. Stayed with him for a decade until Fawn arrested me. Served my sentence to the Crown, helpedkillthe evil fucker, and now I’m a wizard of the Crux, same as you.”
Garrett’s eyebrows shot up. “Woah, wait. Vian Wolf isdead?”
“For a little over two months, now,” Arlon said, and his grin came a little easier this time. It was a nice reminder to have.
“Well fuck me,” Garrett chuckled. “Shame I never got a shot at him, but I can’t be mad he’s gone.”
“You could’ve taken him,” Arlon huffed around a laugh. The tension in his shoulders eased some more. “How’d you learn to fight like that?”
Garrett shrugged as something unreadable crossed his face. “I’ve just had a lot of practice.”
The words were out before Arlon could stop himself. “Would you teach me?”
Garrett blinked in surprise. “Seriously? Why?”
Arlon crossed his arms over his chest, averting his gaze. “I don’t want to lose a fight like that again. Ever.”
Garrett looked him over, slate-gray eyes searching. It was like they could see right through Arlon’s mask to the fear underneath.
But Garrett must have understood something of fearhimself, because he said, “Alright, Arlon. I can give you some tips.”
The next morning, Arlon headed down to meet Garrett in the evocation yard. Unlike the rest of the courtyards that were designed with comfort in mind, the evocation yard saw far rougher use. It contained nothing but a couple of wooden benches scattered around a patch of dirt. Dirt that Garrett was raking as Arlon stepped into the yard.
“Don’t think you’re going to save that grass,” Arlon said, eying the sparse spring green trying to break through the hard-packed earth.
Garrett turned to face him with a grin. “No, but you’ll be thankful I’ve broken the ground up a bit.”
Arlon crossed his arms over his chest with a frown. “Why’s that?”
“Because I’m going to teach you how to fall.”
Arlon raised an eyebrow. “Thought you were going to teach me to fight.”
“You’re asking to get hurt if you pick a fight without knowing how to go down first.”
It wasn’t the lesson he’d expected, but Arlon could see the wisdom in it. Garrett demonstrated first, doing a back fall and side fall that he made look easy before he instructed Arlon to try. The first back fall he attempted knocked the wind out of him. The second was little better, but Garrett was patient and helpful, giving him tips like “tuck your chin” and “slap the groundasyou connect, not after.”
As the morning passed, Arlon was very, very grateful thatGarrett had softened the ground up a bit. When they finally called it quits at the lunch bell, he was sporting new bruises on his hips, but not nearly as many as he would have without Garrett’s forethought.
“Same time tomorrow?” Garrett asked with a bright grin.
Arlon tried not to let his annoyance show. “You going to actually teach me how to fight?”
Garrett chuckled as he looked him over. “We’ll see.”
The next morning, Arlon woke with regrets. He was as sore as the day after he’d been initiated into the Wolves. For a moment, he debated skipping out on Garrett’s lesson, but something stopped him. Maybe it was his competitive streak, some ingrained stubbornness, or maybe… a part of him had enjoyed the other man’s company yesterday.
No matter what it was, he hauled his sore body out of bed and went down to meet Garrett in the evocation yard once more.
“How you feeling?” Garrett asked.
“Last time I hurt this much, I at least had the excuse of having the shit kicked out of me,” Arlon admitted.
Garrett barked a laugh, and the sound tugged at the corner of Arlon’s lips.
“I’ll take pity on you today,” Garrett said. “Let’s see your fighting stance.”
