“Yes, butIthought we might try something different today.”
“Um, wellI’vebeen doing it the same way my whole life, don’t think much can be improved upon.”Theyrolled their eyes.
“It’stoo early for this snark,Princess.Justcome with me, you brat.”Iwalked towards them, trying not to seem too eager to leave the confines of my room.
Aswe returned from our usual morning journey,Avlynsteered me towards the deck.Aswe exited the ship’s cabin,Icouldn’t help but rejoice at the sunlight hitting my skin, and the crisp sea breeze whipping at my hair.Iallowed myself a moment to just soak in the warmth creeping across me, closing my eyes, before following after them.Wewalked down the deck until we encountered a small cohort of soldiers who had come out for some exercises.Mostwere male, many of them shirtless, going through a warmup routine not too different from the onesIhad done back home.
Avlynturned to me and placed their hands on their hips, “Alright,Princess, here’s the deal.It’sa long journey from here toXyr, andI’drather not waste my time guarding you whenIdon’t have to.I’drather that you spend your day up here with me and the other soldiers, soIcan do my actual fucking job.”Ipursed my lips, waiting for the other shoe to drop. “Anddon’t get any ideas about flinging yourself overboard again.I’llhave you know my ancestor was a mermaid, soI’llalways catch you.”
Icouldn’t help it as my jaw dropped. “Amermaid?Thelost fae race?Surelysuch a thing would be known?Howhave you—oh.”Avlyn’sface was pure delight.“You’reteasing me, aren’t you?”Theylaughed, a full-bellied laugh that soothed the burn of my embarrassment.
“Iwould never dream of it,Princess.Now, do we have a deal?”Itilted my face back to the sun, closing my eyes again.Ipaused as if contemplating my answer, when really the answer was obvious.
“Deal.Andyou can call meTori.”
“Nota chance,Princess.Here, put these on,” they flung a pair of leather leggings and a loose shirt at me.Ilooked back at the door to the cabins, wondering whereIwould change.
“Suddenlyso shy, when we’ve all seen it before?”Theypractically waggled their eyebrows at me, but the nature of the teasing and the setting reminded me of my time back with the soldiers of thePearlArmy.Icouldn’t help but feel likeIwas slipping back into a routine that suited me like a well-worn glove.
Ipulled off my outer robe, and a few whistles emerged from somewhere in the crowd of soldiers, most of whom were watching me andAvlynnow.Iignored it, andIslipped the leggings and shirt on without revealing too much under my slip.
“Good, try this out.”Theytossed me a wooden practice sword, made to mimic the size and weight of a traditional longsword.WhileIhad trained in that style,Ihad always preferred wielding two lighter and shorter blades, working better at close range.ButIwasn’t about to complain, too much.
“Gotanything made for adults?”
“Notfor you,Idon’t.Nowfall in at the end of the line and try to keep up.”Avlynled the soldiers through the rest of the warmup and into a series of fighting exercises.Themoves were a bit different, but after a short while, the feel of the sword in my hand felt more and more natural, andIlet my body guide me.Itremembered the way to move, decades of practice guiding me without conscious thought, and my mind cleared to a beautiful blank.Forthe first time sinceIhad been taken,Ifelt like myself again, not an animal in a cage.
Thetime passed quickly, and soon the sun was directly overhead, and all of us were covered in sweat.Barrelsof fresh water were pulled out, and tin cups clinked as tired hands dipped them into the sloshing liquid.Igreedily sipped at my cup, letting the cool water spill down my face and body in my haste.Itran and pooled with my sweat and felt absolutely divine.Onmy tongue, it was sweeter than any ambrosia.
Astrong hand collided with my shoulder in a bracing slap, andIchoked, sputtering water everywhere. “Lookslike the princess here has had some sword training.”Asoldier whose skin gleamed in the noonday sun smiled down at me.Hehad his chestnut hair pulled back into a bun and a wide, winning grin, butIbarely noticed those, as my eyes slid to the utterly ridiculous display of defined muscles that danced all over his chest and back.Irealized he had left his hand on my shoulder where he had slapped me, adding additional warmth to my skin.
“Yeah, she’s already better than you,Kaleos.”Avlynmaneuvered themselves between us, forcing his hand off my shoulder.ButKaleosdidn’t seem perturbed in the slightest, a good-natured laugh escaping him. “Youthink so?Maybewe should duel to settle the matter.”Hewinked at me, andIwas glad my skin was already flushed from my exertion, hiding my blush.
“Absolutelynot.”
“Idon’t see why not?”IheldKaleos’ gaze, “PerhapsIcould learn something new?”Ilet him see me lick my lips.Isaw the heat rise in his stare then.Avlynraised their eyes to the heavens, as if pleading with the gods to spare them, muttering something aboutgiving an inch.
“Forall the complaining you did,Commander, it doesn’t seem like you are working the troops very hard.”Theking’s voice cut through the crowd.Allthe soldiers around straightened up then, falling out of their relaxed stances. “Justa quick water break,MyKing, then back at it.”
“Indeed.”Hisgaze dropped to me, that face icy. “Andyou,Princess?Enjoyingyourself?”
“Quitea bit, yes.”Iwas so high on sunshine and sweat thatIcouldn’t even come up with anything snarky to say.
“Well, see you don’t overexert yourself.I’dhate for you to have to spend tomorrow recovering.”Unsureif that was a threat,Igave him a sarcastic salute, but noticed thatKaleoswas nowhere to be seen.Hestalked off andAvlyncalled us back into our lines.Wecontinued through much of the afternoon, butIfound myself unable to focus asIfelt the king’s gaze lingering over me the entire time.
Chapter10
Tori
Ihad overexerted myself.Thenext day every single muscle in my body ached.Imoaned asIstretched into it, relishing the soreness.Istood up and found that a few sets of leggings and linen tops had been left for me.Ihadn’t noticed them before collapsing into bed the night before.Idressed quickly, and perched on the edge of my bed, tapping my toes and waiting forAvlyn’sarrival.Minutesticked by.Ichecked the position of the sun from my window, and knew it was much past when they would normally collect me.
Irose and knocked on my door.Nothing.Igave the handle a jiggle to find that the door easily popped open.Istuck my head out and saw that there was no guard in sight.Mybrain rushed with thoughts; plansIhad let slip away trying to file themself into place.Butas my brain worked on figuring out what it wanted, my feet walked me out onto the deck of the ship.
“Riseand shine,Princess.Lookwho decided to sleep in,”Avlyncalled to me from across the deck.Somejeers rose from the cohort, but they all seemed a bit more subdued than the day before.Iwalked over,Avlyntossed me my practice sword, andIfell into the ranks.Aswe warmed up,Ikept on the lookout forKaleos, but he was nowhere to be found.Mysore muscles complained at every minuscule movement, soIdidn’t have much willpower to think about it.
Whenwe finally took our first water break,Igrabbed my cup and cut through the crowd, looking for him.Thesoldiers might have had some sort of rotation on who trained each day, butIrecognized most of the men from yesterday, so it seemed odd.Aftera few minutes of searching,Isaw him pressed behind some other soldiers.Helooked quite a bit paler than whenIhad last seen him, and when his eyes locked with mine, he immediately stood and bolted the other way.Isighed,Iwasn’tthatdesperate, soIdidn’t follow him.
Luckily,Avlyncalled us back to our lines soon after.Thesoldiers spent much of the afternoon sparing each other whileAvlynhad me watch from the sidelines.Theynarrated the techniques and counter-techniques to me, making it as if they were teaching me something while making it abundantly clear thatIwould not be participating.
