52 Phocee

Tyr left for Phocée before Macha woke up. Before he left, he opened her bedroom door to gaze at her sleeping figure. He kissed her forehead and left a note on the dining table letting her know he would be back soon. Tyr wished he could have had more time with her, but Freyr needed him. Tyr was one of the people Freyr truly trusted, so he needed to join his cousin on the trip to Phocée.

Phocée lay across the southern sea past the Twin Maelstroms where Tyr fought the Kraken. He went with Freyr to a conference and acted as his personal bodyguard. Although Tyr was not part of the palace guards, Freyr trusted him more than anyone else and knew Tyr's fighting capabilities rivaled his. Freyr wanted to avoid war with Phocée, the city had been acting aggressively and had been building up their military in recent years. He remembered the first war and did not want his people to experience a drawn-out conflict like that again.

Phocée was an old city that initially founded Marseille. When Tyr and Freyr had been younger, Marseille fought for its independence and won. During the conflict, they made many enemies and some people still wanted to get their revenge.

Freyr's family headed the rebellion and had lost Frigg, Freyr's sister, during the conflict. Their leadership and sacrifice spurred the citizens to elected the Montforts as the royal family. Although most citizens in Marseille came from Phocée, the two cultures grew to be vastly different. Marseille was a trading city that strived to be forward-thinking, while Phocée prided itself on traditions.

Tyr stood behind Freyr and saw his cousin grip the chair's handle beneath the table. He could tell that Freyr grew impatient with the demands that Queen Alala made. She wanted a revision of Marseille's eastern sea border. She claimed it was because Phocée's fishermen were facing hostility from the sirens in the north-west. Queen Alala also wanted to lower the tariffs on Phocée's goods in Marseille.

Freyr listened to her demands and countered, "Queen Alala, I understand you are facing hostility from the sirens, but perhaps you should not have had your men **** them a few years ago. I am willing to lease Phocée a part of the eastern border, but I will not revise the border we agreed on 350 years ago. As for the tariffs, I do not feel that is fair for Marseille. I would be willing to lower them if you allow Marseille citizens to buy land in Phocée."

Alala narrowed her eyes at Freyr, "King Freyr, allowing Marseille to buy land here could easily make my citizens slaves in their own country. I will not allow it. Marseille does not allow Phocée citizens to buy property in Marseille either."

Freyr and Alala continued negotiations for three more weeks before they settled on satisfactory agreements. Freyr hated these sorts of meetings. It was strange for him to talk with Alala like this. He remembered her coming to his family's house for parties when they had lived in Phocée. Now it seemed like she barely tolerated him.

****

One night while Freyr and Tyr were eating dinner, Freyr decided he needed to ask Tyr about his relationship with Macha. Freyr picked at a piece of bread and ventured, "So, how did Boreas's Day go? Anything happen?" This question made Freyr nervous, but he needed to find out the truth.

Tyr grinned and moved a piece of potato around on his plate. "Yeah," he said in a soft tone. "Sorry, I know you liked her." Tyr genuinely felt bad for Freyr, but he refused to stand aside and let Freyr pursue Macha when she did not share the same feelings.

Freyr prepared to hear bad news from the moment Macha said she accepted Tyr's date for that day. He was aware that Tyr spent more time with Macha, so he would not hold it against his cousin. Freyr wished he spent more time courting Macha, but he dedicated so much time to avoid war with Phocée that he barely had time to focus on his other duties. A flash of regret entered Freyr's mind. He hated being the king and wished he had the freedom to pursue things he wanted to. Freyr raised his glass and painted a smile on his face, "Congratulations." Freyr would acknowledge Macha's decision, but he refused to stop loving her. He gave her his word and he knew life took many turns. He would not betray his love for her in case he ever had another chance.

One thing bothered Freyr so he asked, "Tyr, do you know why Macha said I was a flirt?" That had been an issue he never figured out, no matter how many times he tried.

Tyr remembered Macha told him. Now that Macha was his girlfriend he did not mind sharing his knowledge, "She said you kissed her the first time you met her. She also saw you go on a date with that girl by the lake. Unfortunately for you, Macha didn't know you better. She believed the way you treated her was how you treat all women." Tyr never bothered correcting Macha on her misunderstanding.

Freyr threw his piece of bread down on the plate and covered his hands with his face. In a pained voice, he lamented, "No... I treated her special. Every time I am around her I can not help it." Freyr regretted being so forceful, but there was nothing he could do about it now. He remembered how beautiful Macha looked by the lake and wished he never left her then. She misunderstood why he left with that woman that night. Freyr wondered if she would have seen him in a different light if he stayed next to her.

****

Macha had been busy for the past four months. Tyr started developing the land he purchased from his mother and asked Macha to oversee the development project while he was away. He decided he wanted to make that area dedicated to restaurants and eateries. Tyr did not like that in order to eat out, his guild would support the other guilds because there was a lack of fine dining in the area.

Since Tyr left for Phocée with Freyr, Macha received many duels. She found out that when she was sparring with Minh; she made a comment about eating dinner with Tyr nightly. This made many women in the guild jealous and they decided to pick on her while Tyr was away.

Macha did not mind the duels. She could defend herself better than her first fight with Constanza, so she viewed this as extra training. Some fights she won, but most of them she lost. Each fight gave Macha experience that she tried to learn from. Her friendship with Aeson, the boy who healed Tyr after the harpy attack, had grown stronger. He now went to all of her duels and had become one of her biggest fans. After each fight, he practiced his healing on her.

Macha still practiced at Mia's center daily and focused on honing her skills. Today, Minh had asked Macha to spar with her once again. Macha improved so quickly that Minh was forced to use her sparring weapons now. She held up her wooden scimitar and an off-hand dagger. Minh eyed Macha, "I saw you get beat up yesterday," she mocked.

Macha gave a lopsided grin. "Yeah, I ate dirt. What can I do about it? I'm still learning." Minh's attempt to upset her failed. Macha was not ashamed of her losses, she thought it strengthened her fighting skills. She also knew she improved faster than Minh and it would be only a matter of time before she surpassed her rival.

Minh stepped closer. She swung her scimitar in a long sweeping arch. Minh used it to create an opportunity to move in with her dagger. Minh knew she still had too much strength for Macha to block her attack with only one dagger, so she used this knowledge whenever the two sparred.

Macha blocked the scimitar with her two daggers but had to sidestep to avoid Minh's dagger. Macha then pivoted into Minh, lifting the woman's scimitar above her head. She used her elbow to jab Minh's kidney.

Minh darted away to put some distance between them. "Damn, Macha! Quit toying with me. You could have ended it there." Macha's speed of improvement annoyed Minh. Minh used to be better than Macha, but now she was the one usually beaten. She had been training hard to keep up with Macha, but always felt like she lagged behind.

Macha hopped in place. "I know, but there's a move I really want to practice." A few days ago, Macha fought in a duel and her opponent had swapped the way she held her daggers mid-fight. By holding it the reverse way, she was able to hit Macha with a backward thrust. Since Macha was a dagger user, she understood that this move opened many more possibilities which would improve her fighting.

Macha ran towards Minh while holding her daggers in the usual forward position. She sliced her daggers up around her head to push Minh's scimitar and offhand weapon aside. While her attack moved Minh's weapons, Macha changed her dagger's grip to a reverse position and moved her arm back. Her dagger hit Minh squarely in the chest.

Minh dropped her weapons and grabbed her chest. The practice daggers did not break her skin, but the points still hurt. "Ah!" She looked at Macha. The technique Macha used was one Minh had learned a few months ago. It was part of the intermediate dagger training, which Macha was not part of.

Macha stood there and flipped her daggers between the forward and reverse positions. She felt unhappy with the speed of her grip change. Macha looked at Minh and bowed. "Thank you for letting me practice. I have to oversee the development project now. See you later!"

Minh watched Macha leave and decided to increase her practice time every day by one more hour. She knew she was quickly losing ground.