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“Only until you outshine me.” He placed his hand on her head and ruffled her hair teasingly. “Now, let’s get to work so you can replace me one day.”
Ancilla wasn’t allowed to come to our training sessions. It would be too risky to have her here. After she dropped Stella off she went roaming the castle, possibly even cleaning my disastrous room. If someone were to walk in on Miles and I training with Stella, we could always pull the babysitting card, but if her mom was there, it could stir up questions.
I got to the training room early so I could set up an obstacle course for us to run through. The guilt of not being able to train as much with them motivated this project. I set up four different stations in each corner of the room with a different task that needed to be completed.
“In phase one, the course focuses on accuracy and aim,” I said, striding further into the room. “The three of us will be practicing our archery skills.” I pointed to the corner closest to us on our left, where three bullseyes stood. “Standing twenty feet away from the target, you have to shoot a perfect bullseye—or in Stella’s case just anywhere on the board—before you can move on to phase two.”
I pointed to the northwest corner of the room where the glass wall began. Three thin wooden beams lay stretched from that corner of the room to the opposite.
“Phase two focuses on balance. You will need to cross that wooden beam to the other side of the room without falling off. If you do fall off, you will have to start that phase over from the start of the beam.”
All of our eyes shifted to the end of the beam in the northeast corner of the room where sixteen bags of flour sat. It was a complete pain in the ass to drag all of those here from the kitchen, but thankfully, I had Stella’s dad to help.
“Phase three consists of strength. In order to complete this task, Miles and I must move six fifty-pound bags, and for Stella six twenty-five pound bags, to the final corner of the room where the last station is held. The final phase centers on strategy.”
I pointed to the corner to our right where three tables were set up, each holding a single deck of cards. “The first one to successfully build a house of cards using the entire deck wins. If any of your cards fall off of the structure you built, it will not count; you must use all the cards in your pile. You may use any strategy you deem best to create the sturdiest card tower, just make sure none of your cards are lying flat on the table.” I could already feel the competitive energy surge through the room as the three of us scanned the course, calculating exactly what we needed to do in order to win. “Any questions?”
“Are you ready to lose?” Miles asked with a smirk.
“I don’t plan on it.”
The three of us walked to the starting line drawn in chalk before our respective targets. I stood on the far right, Stella in the middle, and Miles to her left. All of us were performing a variety of stretches.
“Let’s make this a little more interesting,” I said. “The person who comes in third will have to sit on the throne in the grand hall tonight, by themselves, in the outfit of the winner’s choice.”
I knew that Miles absolutely hated sitting on his throne in front of people, and being able to choose what he would wear was icing on the cake. I started laughing to myself at the image of him sitting up there in one of my old gowns.
“Oh, you’re on,” Miles said with a sinister look.
Stella looked at me nervously, and I gave her a quick smile before my eyes darted to Miles. With just one glance we were able to let each other know that the two of us would either be first or third—we wouldn’t allow Stella to come in last.
Stella took a deep breath. “I’m ready when you two are.”
I nodded. “Then on the count of three, we will begin.
“One. Two.”
I took a deep breath, steadying myself into an eerie calm.
“Three.”
We shot off towards the bow and arrows that lay stacked on the weapon rack against the wall. I got there first, grabbing the one on the middle shelf, and then bolted back to my respected target. By the time I had my arrow strung and ready to fire, both Miles and Stella were back and readying their bows. I aimed toward the target and fired, landing the head on the line of the outer circle surrounding the bullseye.
I grunted, grabbing another arrow from my sheath as I noticed Miles shot the bullseye with his first arrow, and Stella landed on the target as well. Both of them moved on to the beam portion of the course.
I strung my bow again, taking a deep breath through my nose and then out of my mouth, focusing more on my aim and taking my time. I let my fingers slip off the string and watched the arrow fly straight into the bullseye.
I didn’t give myself time to celebrate as I ran to the next coroner of the room, where the beam began. I watched Stella fall off her beam and let out a sigh of irritation as she ran back to the beginning to start over again. Miles was halfway across his beam, probably repeating the phrase ‘slow and steady wins the race’ over and over in his head.
I chuckled a bit at the thought as I lifted myself up onto my beam and darted across it. I kept all of my weight on my toes as I ran across the beam that was only about two inches in diameter. I caught up to Miles and let out a laugh, throwing up the finger behind me as I passed him. Balance had always been my strong suit, so I knew the beam would be the obstacle I would gain time in.
I leapt off the beam and strode toward my pile of flour bags, calculating if it would be faster to carry one at a time or two. I glanced behind me and saw Miles almost off the beam and Stella not too far behind. Not giving myself too much time to think, I decided to go with one at a time, figuring my speed was better than my strength and I’d be able to complete this phase faster with lighter weight. I grabbed my first bag and slung it over my shoulder, the weight buckling my knees slightly. I jogged as fast as I could to the other side of the room and threw the bag to the floor. I turned around and found Miles coming my way carrying two bags of flour, one over each shoulder.
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
Damn his stupid guard strength. I kept light on my toes and ran back to my pile, grabbing two bags this time. Stella was starting to carry her first bag of four beside me. When I was halfway across the room, I realized I made a mistake and should have only taken one. The weight slowed me down big time, and now Miles had officially lapped me. I grunted as I slammed the two bags down in my pile, panting and giving myself time to catch my breath.
I used every bit of energy I had in me to run back and forth between my two piles until I finally dropped down my last sack of flour and headed to my table. I turned over my shoulder to see Stella dropping off her last sack and joining me at the table to my left. Miles had already started his house of cards on the table beside Stella, and when I looked over to see Miles’ progress, I watched him misplace one of his cards, causing his cards to fall down and scatter across the floor.
