Chapter 7: The Stance

The lesson began at dawn behind the water shed, where nobody could see.

"Your feet are wrong," Hanjue said.

"I know."

"They are too close. You stand like a man in a rice line."

"Thanks."

"Spread them."

Hanjue moved Chuhe's ankles with the toe of his boot.

"Lower. Let your hips drop. Do not lean on your arms, they will give out. Everything comes from here."

He laid a flat palm low on Chuhe's belly, and Chuhe forgot what he was doing.

"Concentrate," said Hanjue, a bit hoarse.

"You are not helping."

"I am teaching."

"You are touching."

"Both can be true."

Chuhe grinned and dropped his weight.

Something in him that had always known this stance clicked into place.

Hanjue's hand pressed lightly on his hip.

"There," he said. His eyes were thoughtful. "You have done this before."

"I've carried water yokes since I was twelve."

"No. It is not the same. Again."

Chuhe settled his weight again, and the sword in his hands was suddenly the right size.

By noon he could take a hit without falling over.

By evening he could give a small one back.

When the sun went red, Hanjue stopped him with a hand on his chest and said he had done well.

"I'm exhausted," Chuhe admitted. "My thighs are on fire."

"They will be sore tomorrow." Hanjue's eyes did something complicated. "I would like to help with that."

Chuhe looked at him.

The hand on his chest was still there, and the other was in his own.

The shed behind them was empty and dim and smelled of hay.

Auntie Wen had pressed a small clay jar into Chuhe's palm that morning without a word.

He had gone red and put it in his sash.

"Come inside," he said.

The old storage shed behind the water house had a heap of clean straw in one corner.

Chuhe spread his outer robe over it with hands that would not stop trembling.

"You're shaking," Hanjue said, from the door.

"So are you."

"Yes." Hanjue crossed the shed and knelt in front of him. "I want it very much. I am afraid I will do it wrong."

"We're both going to do it wrong." Chuhe smiled at him, crooked, and kissed him. "It's the only way to find out."

They undressed slowly, this time without hurry.

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