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Author's Note:

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No man stands so straight as when he stoops to help a boy. ~Knights of Pythagoras

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"You're not built for the sword."

Yuan nearly leapt out of his skin. How had he not heard the old man? "What're you talking about?"

"I seen you. You and the boy you serve. You practice swords at night."

Yuan tensed. The fields were empty at night, they always double-checked that. "What do you do out that late anyway?"

The old man was grizzled, with hard lines etched into skin browned by long hours in the sun. A ragged scar ran across his right eye from forehead down until it tugged at the corner of his lips, making him appear to be smiling impishly. A mane of silvery hair was held in check only by a leather tie.

He leaned back against the fence post. "I'm the groundskeeper here. And some plants only show their faces under the light of the moon. But going back to my original point, you're not suited for the sword."

"I don't hafta be. I just need to help him."

Yuan went to turn back to cleaning the stables, but the old man's words stopped him. "You're as loyal as a dog, ain't cha?"

Yuan bristled. "I'm not a dog."

The old man appraised him with a single crystalline eye. "The only thing an attitude like that'll do for a slave is get y' flogged."

"Doesn't matter. And I'm not gonna be a slave forever!"

"No?" The old man chuckled. "Looks like the rumors 'bout you are true, boyo. You are a strange one."

"What're you talkin' to me for anyway?" The horse by Yuan's ear whickered quietly, shifting restlessly. Yuan absentmindedly reached up to stroke him between the eyes, soothing him.

"Wanted to help ya."

"Oh really? With what?"

"With fightin'. The way I figure it, you're a boy who ain't gonna let them get to ya."

"Who's they?"

"Most kids woulda known who I meant."

"What happens if I don't?"

"Who taught you to be so smart, boyo?"

"My Poppi." Yuan has been solidifying the story in his mind, should anyone get suspicious.

"Yeah? What'd he teach you?"

This was slowly heading into dangerous territory. "Bit of this an' that."

"Where you from?"

"The mountains in the northeast."

"Yes, it shows. Your accent." The old man explained at the puzzled look that Yuan gave him. "It makes it very obvious."

"Where are your from, old man?"

The old man got a very strange look in his eyes, one that reminded Yuan of Mama when people talked about Poppi, or Dehua and Kail. Yuan didn't understand that. Home was where you came from and how could remembering home make you sad? "Very far away from here."

"What was it like?"

"There were trees that looked like they grew up until they'd touch the sky. It was very green there."

"Do you remember what it smelled like?" Yuan asked because he doesn't think he can ever forget the smell of pomegranates and lamb.

The old man chuckled. "That's an interesting question."

"Does it have an interesting answer?" Yuan countered.

"I can't remember now. It's been a long time since I was there."

Yuan tilted his head curiously. "Did you used to be a swordsman?"

The man's eye flashed. "I still am a swordsman, boy! It's not somethin' you stop doing when you get too old. It's a part of you."

"Could you teach Kratos?"

"What?"

"Kratos." Yuan repeated. "He…he's good at swordsmanship, but he's so small that the teachers won't really look at 'im. Can you teach him?"

"Humans ain't the kind of people who like to be taught by half-elves."

"People keep saying that! Not everybody's the same!"

"Boyo, at some point, you start noticing that a lot of people are."

"But Kratos isn't! He's my best friend and you should teach him! He deserves it!"

"Why?" The old man challenged. "Why's he your best friend? What about him make it so I should help him?"

Yuan opened his mouth to tell him about the things Kratos had risked, the things he'd taught him, but then he remembered that no one was supposed to know about it because it was their secret and adults never believed kids anyway, so he clamped his mouth shut.

"…He just does." He finally answered.

"How long you been a slave, boy?"

"A little over two years."

Two years, the old man thought. His first thought is to scoff, to tell the boy that two years is nothing, that he'd been a slave for fifty years. But, to a boy, two years must seem like forever. And clearly, the boy was stubborn and hadn't had the fire stomped out of him like so many slaves.

"And you like humans?"

Yuan's nose wrinkled. "Not all of them. To be honest…I think I hate most of them. They raided my village. But Kratos is different."

"Clearly." The old man murmured. "Tell you what. I'll teach him swords if you agree to learn to fight too."

"You said I'm not right for a sword."

"I didn't say with a sword, did I? This is a military school. I'm sure there are weapons here that suit you better."

"…Yeah. Yeah, I'll do it."

The old man nodded. He liked this kid. "I got one more question for you."

"Do you ever run out of questions, old man?" Yuan asked, slightly irritated. He was tired and after he finished cleaning the stables, he could go to bed. He'd been on his sleep for nearly eighteen hours.

The old man acted as if he hadn't heard him. "Why do you care so much about this human? This Kratos?"

Yuan looked at him as if he wasn't sure why he was asking the question. "He's my best friend. Do I need another reason?"

"No. I suppose you don't. Go out to yer usual field tomorrow night. I'll teach the both of ya."

"Tomorrow? Why not tonight?"

"Because clearly, you both need your sleep." The look on the old man's face is daring him to deny it.

"We got—have—lots of work to do." Kratos was slowly introducing Yuan to grammar and, while it was annoying sometimes, Yuan found that he kind of liked it. When he heard himself speak, it wasn't just some uneducated kid. He sounded smart, sounded like someone important.

"And those human kids can't muck out the stables as often as you do? It's their punishment, but since you clean the worst of it, it's not much of a punishment, is it? You've cleaned this place plenty. Let them finish the job."

"I was always told to never leave a job unfinished." Zaren used to tell him that, when he found Yuan slacking off on the laundry.

"I think you're better off leaving this undone in this case. Get some sleep, boyo. You need it."

Yuan could have argued more, but it had been a struggle to stay awake for the past week. The little sleep he managed to sneak in after he and Kratos trained out in the fields or when he could coax Alina to do a chore for him so he could catch a few minutes of sleep—she'd only started agreeing after he'd fallen asleep over the bucket of cold water that they washed clothes in—wasn't enough.

So all he says is, "Thanks, old man." Before leaning the broom against the wall and dashing out of there.

-/-/-/-

Kratos looked as tired as he does when Yuan comes into the room, closing the door quietly behind him. He was squinting at Yuan in the doorway, the lighting dim because of the meager desk lamp.

Yuan lets himself fall on the bed. "Got good news for you."

"And what's that?"

"I found a guy to teach you swords. Properly too."

Kratos whipped around in his seat to look at him. "What? Who?"

"Groundskeeper. Apparently he was a swordsman and he says that I'm not suited for swordsmanship."

"And he'll really teach me?"

"Mmhm."

Kratos' grin should have lit up the world. "Have I ever told you that you're amazing?"

Yuan responded to Kratos' grin with one of his own. "I could stand to hear it more often."