"Will it, effete Persian?" Thyatis sprang over the bed in a mighty bound. Shirin ducked aside, but Thyatis clipped the Khazar girl with her shoulder. Shirin gasped and rolled back, but Thyatis caught her leg with her own and fell on top of her, pinning one hand. Shirin cursed and squirmed aside, but Thyatis locked her left leg and- after a fierce struggle- managed to pin Shirin's other arm.

Sweat dripped off of Thyatis' nose and made tiny pearls on Shirin's cheek. They slowly slid down the golden skin into the hollow of her throat.

"Just like a Roman," Shirin hissed, glaring up at Thyatis, "all brute force- no subtlety at all."

"Just like a Persian," Thyatis said, smiling, bending her forehead to touch Shirin's, "blame defeat on their enemies failings." She was breathing a little heavier than usual.

"Like schoolchildren, more like," a musical voice said with an odd lilt to it.

Thyatis' eyes widened, and her entire body suddenly surged upward, one arm sweeping Shirin away, behind her, and the other fanning in a block across her head and shoulders.

A thin hand, dusky gold, arrowed past the blocking move and collapsed into a knuckled fist. Thyatis, catching a glimpse of a thin, small woman with a crown of tightly braided black hair, tried to twist aside, her arm continuing to push Shirin behind her. The thin fist tapped her on the inside of her right breast, and Thyatis coughed at the impact. Pain blossomed across her chest like fire in grain dust, and she flew back, crashing into the stone wall by the window. Her mouth was open in an O of surprise, and tears welled in her eyes.

Shirin, thrown aside, attacked in the same instant, her right leg snap-kicking at the stranger's head. She followed with a blurring open-hand strike at the woman's sternum. The stranger barely moved, her head drifting aside from the kick, her black eyes smiling at the rage on Shirin's face. Shirin's fist strike was plucked out of the air by the woman's left hand, moving with unhurried ease. In seemingly the most natural movement in the world, the woman's right hand came up into Shirin's chest as Shirin carried forward with her strike and ran herself onto the open palm.

Shirin gasped in pain, all the breath driven from her body, and stood stock-still, her mouth working to breathe. The woman stepped away, every movement as graceful as a swan's, and smiled again, bowing at the two women. Shirin, unable to breathe, shuddered and collapsed forward onto her knees and then to the floor. Thyatis, with a Herculean effort, pushed away from the wall and crawled to her friend. She rolled Shirin over and, with a trembling hand, traced a line with her two middle fingers from the side of Shirin's nose, down the side of her throat, across her chest, and to the inside of her thigh. The Khazar girl twitched and then gasped for breath, able to breathe at last.

"Well done," the woman said, her voice lilting with amusement. "But you were poorly prepared and: distracted."

Thyatis looked up, her face filled with surprise, delight, and fulminating disgust. "Sifu," she croaked, still barely able to speak. "never just a hello?"

The little golden woman shook her head, face sad. "No, not in this world of troubles. Welcome home."

Thyatis stood, lifting Shirin from the tiles with an arm around her waist. She bowed. "Thank you, sifu. This is my friend-"

"Shirin of the House of Asena," the golden woman interrupted, "a new student in the Temple."

"Yes," Thyatis said, her voice edged with suspicion. "I was going to bring her to meet you tomorrow."

"Tonight will do for meetings," the woman said, smiling and showing perfect white teeth. "Tomorrow will do for beginning her training."

Shirin's eyebrows rose up, and she looked sidelong at Thyatis, who was staring at the little woman in concern. "Training? She will not be here long enough-"

"She will be here as long as she is here," the woman said, overriding Thyatis with calm authority. "And while she is here, she will be one of my students. This is the Way."

"Not all students in the Temple are your students, Sifu! She does not have to-"

"Wait!" Shirin interjected in a cold voice. Thyatis stopped and looked at her friend in surprise. Shirin met her eyes with an icy glare. "I will decide," Shirin said. She turned to the little woman and bowed, her hands pressed together before her. "Sifu," she said, " you are the one known as Mikele? The master of the art of the open hand? The one who taught Thyatis- this great lumbering ox of a Romanto fight with her whole body?"

Mikele inclined her head, bright dark eyes looking the Khazar girl up and down. "Yes," Mikele said, "I am a teacher of the Way."

Shirin met the dark eyes levelly and returned the slow observation.

Mikele was very thin, even lighter than Shirin, who was not heavy at all. The little woman was a swordblade, balanced and whip-thin, with a core of steel. An enormous amount of pitch black hair was curled up on Mikele's head, held in place by silver combs and tiny golden pins. She wore a plain cotton shirt, with a round-notched collar, and Persianstyle pants with wide bottoms. Her face was serene and elegant, marked by high cheekbones and slightly slanted eyes. Shirin knew, looking upon her, that in her youth the little woman had been surpassingly pretty. But now, age had peeled away everything but a clear beauty that shone from her eyes more than the appearance of her face. Her lips were thin, but creased at the corners by a constant smile. Every thing about her spoke of balance and restraint, nothing hinted at the effortless speed of her movements.

Shirin bowed again, tendrils of raven hair falling around her face. " If the teacher would allow a student to learn, the student is ready."

One of Mikele's eyebrows rose now, and she glanced at Thyatis. "Well spoken, at least. Come, the Matron would have you sit with her at dinner."

Moonlight slanted between round-bellied pillars. Thyatis stood in shadow, leaning against the cool marble surface of a low wall. Shirin stood close to her, a shawl of light knotted wool pulled over her shoulders. They stood in a small circular temple raised on the highest point of the island. A narrow stair of a thousand steps fell away below it, leading down to the hidden temples and rooms below. The night air was cold on the height, and the Temple of Artemis was open on all sides, revealing an enormous vista of barren ocean. Beyond the rocky walls of the island was nothing to the horizon. A full moon rode high in the sky, filling the world with a lush silver light.

A breeze passed over them, and Shirin edged closer to Thyatis. The Roman woman slid her arms around Shirin's waist, and the Khazar girl settled into her chest, pulling the shawl tighter. Somewhere on the barren slope, bats were hunting, their squeaking voices faint in the background.

"Was this the first building here?" Shirin asked in a quiet, dreamy, voice.

Thyatis shook her head and rested her chin on the crown of Shirin's head. "No," she said slowly. "The first temple lies on the floor of the lagoon. Sometimes, when the sun is high in the sky, you can see the roof, deep in the waters. It is nearly covered with sand, though. Once, when I was learning to swim, I dove deep enough to touch it. All the others- the Temple of the Winged Huntress, the dormitories, the kitchens and bakeries, the workshops- were built later. The Sisters came and carved them from the stone of the island by hand."

Shirin clasped her hand over Thyatis' and held it tight to her. Her thumb traced a puckered scar on the back of Thyatis' wrist. "That must have taken centuries," she said in a small voice.

"Yes," Thyatis said. "But the Sisters have been here for a long time."