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She didn’t hate him for it. Her dad had no place in the Society. Not that she much respected Lorian’s backward view on half-Fae and humans either.
“The sword,” he said, dramatically removing his from the sheath, “is an extension of the self. It must become a part of you, an extra length to your arm, for you to truly master the art form. Not all of you will.” He shot her a look of disgust. “Some of you haven’t even earned the right to be in these halls.”
Kerrigan balled her hands into fists as he called her out.
He stepped up to her. The sword held before him. He could have nicked her chin with barely any movement. She held firm. Not moving an inch.
“We’ll do what we can with what we have.” He split a stray strand of hair, and they all watched the red curl fall to the ground at Kerrigan’s feet. The threat blatant between them. “I assume all of you have had proper sword training in the past. I can’t imagine you being here without knowing how to use one, but nothing would surprise me at this point.”
Kerrigan shifted on her feet, trying to suppress the cramp building in her thigh. Lorian whirled back around to face her. His sword came so close to her nose that she swore that she saw the gods’ faces. She jerked backward on instinct.
Lorian shook his head. “Typical.”
Kerrigan saw red. She didn’t know what he wanted her to do. She wasn’t going to get split in half by this Fae standing before her, but she wouldn’t be cowed either. If he thought threatening her was going to do the trick, then he would need to talk to Basem Nix about that. Hadn’t worked out well for him.
“Stand in a circle and walk through Ravendin’s twelve paces,” Lorian said.
They moved into place. Kerrigan met Fordham’s face for a second. His jaw was set. He was angry with Lorian too. Well, at least she wasn’t alone. Not to mention, she and Fordham had run through Ravendin’s paces so many times that she sometimes saw them in her dreams.
Everyone else, apparently, had likewise studied Ravendin, the Great War commander.
Lorian moved them into Chutrick’s art-of-war formations. Through the basics of Kristoffer’s lunge and parry work. And through three more of the greats.
By the end of the hour, not a one of them had picked up even a practice sword. But they were coated in sweat and panting. Each of the paces moving through the next one in synchronization. So, they looked more like a dance troupe than a group of sword fighters.
“Enough,” Lorian finally barked. “Tomorrow, be prepared for the ancients and not just the greats. We’ll spend a week on footwork before moving into practice play.”
Roake looked ready to pass out as he groaned. Noda pushed her headscarf back off of her face. The entire thing was drenched in sweat. Kerrigan had no idea how she’d done the entire morning with it on. Audria—even perfectly prim and posh Audria—looked less than peaky.
“Get out of my sight,” Lorian said. “Except you.”
He pointed at Kerrigan, and she held back from the rest of the group. Fordham made like he was going to stay for support, but one glare from Lorian, and he relented, following Audria to their awaiting lunch break.
“Yes, sir?” Kerrigan asked.
“You’d do them all better if you cut your losses and bailed on the first day.”
“I don’t know what you mean, sir.”
He arched an eyebrow. “Half-Fae have no place in these halls.”
“Sir,” she responded amicably.
“You’re going to hold them back.”
“I won my spot, sir.”
“You stole your spot,” he snarled. “You stole it from someone who deserved it, and you show no remorse for your actions. I don’t know what you did or said to the rest of the council to get them to approve you, but I will never approve of you. And I will be here every day of your training, reminding you of exactly what you took from the rest of them.”
“Yes, sir,” she got out.
If he wanted a reaction from her, he wasn’t going to get one.
“Training is all about working as a set, a group. Someone that your teammates can rely on. It’s not all going to be as easy as running and footwork, which you are already abysmal at. You’re going to have to trust each other, fly formations together, and anticipate each other’s moves. If you hold them back, the entire unit suffers,” he spat. “Remember that.”
“Is that all, sir?”
The fury on his face at the fact that she wouldn’t rise to his bait was quite satisfactory. Though something else must have shown in his posture because Alura finally stepped forward.
“Kerrigan, you eat with your team as you do everything else.”
Kerrigan bowed her head to Alura. “Thank you, sir.”
