He smiled in approval, and it somehow felt less forced than usual. “That is excellent, Frisha. You will come as well, then.”

“What? You can’t use a sword, Frisha,” Tam objected. “It’s dangerous, and you could get hurt.”

Frisha placed her hands on her hips and turned to Tam in challenge, “I can certainly learn to use a sword as well as you. Besides, I think the idea is that I can learn to protect myself, so I don’t get hurt.”

Tam frowned and turned to Rezkin. “Don’t you have some kind of rule about this? You seem to have rules about everything else.”

Rez nodded. “Of course, let me think … Rules 47, 96, 164, 233, and 239 should be sufficient,” he said as he ticked them off on his fingers.

“There, see,” said Tam.

Frisha pursed her lips and scowled at her young companion. “And, what are all those rules, then?” she asked irritably.

“Have the necessary Skills for the task, always be prepared, do not depend on others, you are the weapon, and protect yourself before others to the exclusion of Rule 1,” he recited by rote.

Frisha turned to Tam with a smug grin, “See? He supports me.”

Shocked, Tam exclaimed, “Rez, you were supposed to back me up!”

Rezkin shook his head. “If Frisha is willing to learn the Skills, then it is my duty to help her to do so. To actively try to prevent her from learning the Skills would mean that you are hindering her in growing to her full potential. Consider this. If you prevent her from learning to protect herself and she dies when she might have been able to save herself otherwise, then you have effectively killed her.”

Tam’s face paled. “I-I never thought about it like that.” He glanced back and forth between Rezkin and Frisha. “Very well. Just … please don’t let her get hurt.”

“If she gets hurt, then she will learn her lessons more quickly. But, since there are no healers aboard, you will both have to strive to adhere to Rule 6.”

Tam rubbed his jaw. He thought he had heard Rule 6 before but could not remember what it was. “And that would be …”

Rezkin looked directly into Frisha’s eyes and said, “Do. Not. Get. Injured.”

Both of his companions laughed as though something humorous had occurred. He did not see what was funny about getting injured. Many injuries could be life threatening, especially when they involved swords.

He led his friends to the quarterdeck. The riverboat was moving steadily down the center of the wide channel now, and while it was swift, it was also fairly steady. Rezkin started by showing them both the proper way to position their feet to maintain balance and had them move their arms in various motions to simulate sword techniques. He also taught them how to fall properly so that they did not get injured. When Lieutenant Jimson arrived, he saw Frisha participating in the lessons and looked at Rezkin quizzically but said nothing.