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Kole, not finished with our conversation, taunted, “Get used to that view, littlenix. When you’re a servant, you’ll provide a lot of services to males from that position.”
I cringed. I hated when he called melittle nix, but I hated what he implied even more. I wouldn’t let that happen. I wouldn’t become a servant. I knew how they were treated here, and depending on the household you served, Kole wasn’t far off in his assumption. It was illegal, but the high ranks got away with it all the time. No one ever believed a rank zero.
Anger rose in me as I threw a hook in his direction, aiming for his jaw. But Kole, seeing through the move, grabbed my wrist and threw me off balance. I needed to calm down. He was getting a rise out of me on purpose. He knew me well enough to know that I lost focus when I was angry. I made mistakes, and right now, I was enraged. At him, at my current situation, at everything.
I recovered my footing and blew out a breath before stepping into the circle with him again.
I managed to get in a few more kicks and punches, landing some as Kole blocked or dodged all the others. As much as I hated him and knew how much of a prick he was, he was the best fighter in our class. On top of being skilled in combat fighting, he was expected to be a rank three or four, although we wouldn’t know for sure until the Trials.
I knew he possessed telekinesis and compulsion, as he had used both on me numerous times. And since compulsion was banned, Kole was only allowed to use his telekinesis when he sparred in class, not that he followed the rules. Kole stole a glance at Professor Hale, and I knew what was coming next. His smile turned malicious as he said, “Don’t move, little nix.” He kept his golden hand down, hiding it from view.
Instantly my feet leadened, gluing me to the floor. My arm froze midair as my gaze locked onto his. Only my hair moved as my braids fell down against my back. Kole prowled around me slowly, “You see, this is why you’re worthless. I can make you do anything I want.”
A growl escaped my mouth. I was about to snap a retort at him when he spun around to face me. With his fingers pressed against my lips, he whispered, “Shh. Don’t speak either.” He paused to look at my face before adding, “You see, I can do anything I want to you, and you wouldn’t even be able to cry for help. I could compel you to never speak of it—”
Professor Hale turned around, and I instantly fell to the floor as his compulsion lifted. Kole grinned down at me as I scrambled to my feet and resumed my fighting stance.
“Actually, little nix, maybe I’ll be nice to you and let you be my servant when we graduate. I think we could have some fun together.”
I finally managed to land a front kick to his face. He stopped his taunting as he rubbed his jaw, baring his teeth at me.
I offered him a fake, plastered smile in return. “That will never happen.”
A punching bag and a heavy kettlebell from the corner of the room came flying toward me. The punching bag came first, and I made the mistake of dodging the bag as the weight connected with my left upper arm.
I cried out as the pain pulsated through my body, the bones in my upper arm screaming with agony. Before I could recover, Kole took a step toward me and landed a jab just above my eye. I staggered back in an attempt to regain my balance, but tripped over the bag, landing flat on my back.
Professor Hale’s whistle blew, indicating the thirty-second round was up, and everyone stopped fighting. “What did I tell you, Kole? No objects over fifty pounds. I don’t want to call a healer in for Scottie.”
“Sorry, sir. Honest mistake,” Kole said in his fake apologetic voice. He held his hands up in the air, feigning innocence. Then he offered one to me. I didn’t take it as I swatted him away and jumped to my feet.
“Prick,” I mumbled under my breath, but I knew his answering smile meant he’d heard me.
Two massive bruises formed on my arm and above my eye by the time the sparring portion of the class was over. Smaller black and blue flecks took over my olive skin tone throughout the rest of my body.
“Get out your notebooks and pay attention. I want to go over what you can expect to see at your Guard Trials this weekend,” Professor Hale stated as we sat down on the mats. “The first part of your morning will be your rankings. After that, I want everyone to arrive at the Guard Trial thirty minutes before it starts, so you can warm up. There will be three sections of the Trial itself. This will give you ample opportunity to show off your abilities and prove yourself in combat. The first portion will be combat skills only. You will be fighting amongst yourselves without any abilities.” A groan echoed throughout the class, but I sat up a little straighter as he continued.
“The second portion will be weapons. You will not know ahead of time what weapons will be selected. It could range from target practice with axes to sword fighting. So make sure you are practicing all your skills. The final section of your Trial will be abilities-combat, where you will combine your ability with fighting like we did today. Members of the High Council and Prince Noren himself will be attending your Trial.”
A murmur at the mention of the Prince’s name went out across the gym. It was expected for the High Council members to watch the Trials, specifically the Guard Trial, as the King’s Guards were hand selected. But to havehimwatch, to have him analyze us… I gulped.
“I wish all of you the best of luck on your examination tomorrow morning and your Trials the next day.” Professor Hale finished, then he called out the five names he selected to attend the banquet.
Kole was among them.
To my horror, Professor Hale added as everyone began filing out of the gym, “Scottie will be attending as a suitress. However, I gave her permission before and after the banquet to guard amongst the five selected, so please include her.” I could feel Kole’s eyes on me, but ignored it.
I remained seated on the sweat-covered royal blue mats long after class ended. My mind spinning in circles, processing what Professor Hale had just said. I should do well in the first two stages of the Trial with regular combat and weapons. I’d made myself good. It was why I woke up early—what I trained for every morning. But the abilities-combat fight was going to hurt me, and that was what the High Council would be watching for. The High Council and the Prince.
SEVEN
SCOTLIND
Everyone filedinto the Hall to take their examination the next morning. It took me the entire eight hours they allotted to finish the test. I kept second guessing my answers and doubting myself. As soon as I finished, I sprinted to the nearest bathing room and hurled up my guts. Thankfully, it was mostly bile as I barely managed to eat breakfast earlier and skipped out on lunch.
Vallie and Miles tried to cheer me up afterward, understanding that I needed to score well to make up for what I would lack in the ranking portion of the Trial. They both reassured me a million times that I would get a good score.
“You’ve studied your whole life for that test, Scottie. I know you aced it!” Vallie said over and over again. “Now come celebrate one-third of our Trials being done and get a drink with us!”
