“Come with me. We’re not training here today,” Gwin announced by way of greeting.
Joy and I hesitated before following her out of the training room.
“Where are we going? We always practise there,” I said, my gaze lingering on her long sleeves and the tight shirt that looked warmer than usual.
She stopped beside a door and lifted two folded sets of clothes, holding them up for us. “Outside. You’ll put these on. They’ll protect you from the elements.”
I raised a brow.
“Time to train with the grown-ups,” Gwin said, settling her weight onto one hip. “Like I’ve been doing with Red. And now you, snowflake. Let’s hope you’re not as hopeless as your sister.”
It caught me off guard. I had only just agreed to return to practice with her. I’d hoped it would help distract me from the thoughts and feelings that wanted to cleave my chest in two.
“Is this really the best idea?” I asked. “Training with experienced fighters, people who can actually wield?”
“I’m not doing you any favours letting you train separately,” Gwin replied, tilting her chin toward the room behind us. “Go change.”
Joy would hate this. I took the clothes anyway, if only because arguing would get us nowhere. We changed into the garments she had given us, sturdy and snug, light enough to move freely, before following her deeper across the Hall’s grounds.
Wan morning light filtered down as we left the castle, slipping through one of the back exits and heading toward a stretch of land crowded with pines. Soon, the familiar shape of the Hall vanished behind us.
Joy glanced around cagily, as though she half expected an ambush.
When the trees finally parted, I lifted my brows, stunned by what I saw. A mountain loomed in the distance, its base wrapped in pine, jagged rock climbing toward a snow-capped summit.
Yet it was the clearing beneath it that held my attention. From conversations I’d overheard about security, I recognised the long building lining one side as their barracks. Three floors of weathered brick and wooden doors, likely housing dormitories and communal spaces for patrollers like Gwin.
They filled the grounds, sparring, shouting commands and flinging in and out of sight.
“Welcome to battle mage training,” Gwin said, pride threading through her voice.
I’d heard there were several stations like this outpost scattered throughout Mountheim.
Joy stilled as she took it all in, and I did the same, drinking in every detail of the site in front of us. Until my gaze snagged on someone.
Hestood at the centre of it all, dressed only in sturdy brown trousers and boots, locked in the midst of a sparring match. Itwas impossible to miss him, especially with the loose ring of onlookers that had formed to watch.
Gwin sighed, folding her arms. “He’s not here often, but when he shows up, he enjoys flaunting himself.”
“Will we have to fight like that?” Joy asked, reluctance and worry warring in her words.
“No, not like that. That looks like lazy work to me,” Gwin replied. “Come on. I want to introduce you.”
Curious glances followed us as we made our way deeper into the site. The sound of bodies colliding and conversation surrounded us.
“I want to introduce you to Astrid, one of our most talented patrollers,” Gwin said as we neared a woman with brown hair braided down her back. “Astrid, meet the Darling sisters.”
Astrid detached herself from a group and approached us, hands clasped behind her back. “Welcome,” she said evenly, her eyes flicking to my side. “Do both of you go by Darling?”
“Call me Jane,” I said, noticing her stance, the deliberate placement of her feet.
“Joy,” my sister offered, her brow creased as her attention drifted back toward the surrounding matches.
I followed her gaze, but mine lingered on a sparring pair, one pinned atop the other, a sinewed arm braced against a throat.
Reagan straightened, extending a hand to the man who had been beneath him a moment earlier. The movement flexed the lines of his bare back, muscle rippling as he hauled the other to his feet.
It had been almost a week since I’d last seen him. He hadn’t been at any of the meals in the past few days.
