“I think I know how to fight the Elvasi,” he said softly.
“You know how to spar against your friend,” she corrected. “That might give you an edge in one-on-one combat, but did he ever really sit down and explain Elvasi fighting techniques? Did he get a net and teach you how to cut out of them by finding the weak points? Did he teach you what rows of Elvasi soldiers were the most vulnerable to attack?”
“No,” Emerian said in a drawn-out way. “Is that what he’s teaching everyone else?”
“It is,” she confirmed, smiling. “He’s talking about the Elvasi ranking structure, how to find leaders to take them out. How to dodge net throws, the weaknesses of their weapons, and the strengths. He’s talking about how Elvasi archers aim for specific weak points we have. Not kill shots, but how to get us out of the air, so they can then kill us while we’re vulnerable.”
“Do you know all of this?” he asked, but not disrespectfully.
“I had to pick much of it up over this past winter before leaving on the spring campaign. Come on. Knowing and not needing something is better than needing it and not knowing.”
“Of course.”
Walking to another clearing, she was able to pick Trevan out easily, with Kian at his side. Trevan never trained Andinna alone. Whenever he was scheduled, he did so with someone protecting him. She never had the duty, but she knew every single one of her husbands had, and so did Kian, Nevyn, and Varon. It wasn’t often Trevan had the chance to train since his duty to protect and help Dave took precedence.
“Now, when you approach an Elvasi using a net, how do you take him down without risking your own safety?” Trevan loudly asked the Andinna in front of him. No one answered. Some were looking past him at Mave, who lifted a finger over lips, a universal symbol of silence. Catching those Andinna looking beyond, Kian turned slowly and grinned. He said nothing as she snuck up behind her Elvasi friend.
“Anyone?” Trevan sounded annoyed at the silence, running a hand over his face. “Come on, we’ve been over it—AH!”
Mave reached out and pinched his side, making the Elvasi jump nearly two feet in the air. Everyone laughed as Trevan spun around. She tried to keep a straight face, but a smile cracked through as Kian howled with laughter.
“You don’t,” she answered. “You keep him occupied while one of your fellow warriors comes around to attack from the back because the Elvasi will use the net to trap your weapon if he has to.”
His face was somewhat pale from the scare she just gave him, but he smiled, nodding in appreciation of her answer.
“That’s definitely the best option. What do you do when you’re alone?”
“You fake him out and get him to commit to throwing his net, losing his best weapon. While he’s still trying to draw up his sword, you go in for the kill,” she quickly answered. “But never commit to an attack while he’s holding the net. That is a good way to get killed.”
“You’ve been netted,” Kian said nonchalantly. “Remember?”
Groaning, Mave reached out and pushed her father for bringing that up.
“A mistake I’ll never make again. They were aiming to capture me, however. I do think Trevan is asking with the idea a net is for the kill.”
“I am,” the Elvasi agreed, nodding. “I never knew you got netted, though. I don’t know the story.”
“We were ambushed in Olost,” she explained quickly. “There was a bounty out on my head, back when Shadra wanted me returned to her, not just dead. Skies, it feels like ages ago.”
“It practically was. We left Olost two years ago now,” Kian said, rubbing his jaw with a thoughtful expression. “To think, you only spent about a year there, if that.”
“Yeah.” She had spent more time free in Anden than she ever had in Olost. She wondered for a moment if she ever wanted to go back and quickly decided she didn’t. She felt at home in Anden, even with a war going on around them. There was no reason to go back to Olost. There was nothing important to her there.
“So, what brought the two of you here?” Trevan finally asked. “Emerian is yours to train now. I don’t want him back.” It was said in obvious jest and made her chuckle at her nemari’s expense, who growled at the Elvasi.