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The young Fae shook his head.
I pushed my face right up against his and almost felt his restraint not to back away from me. He stood his ground. Point for him.
“We. Don’t. Stop,” I growled.
“Yes, sir,” he answered.
“I want two laps around the track!” I shouted.
“Do you know how far that is?” another warrior asked.
I spun around. “You’re about to find out,” I snapped. “Make it three laps, just to be sure you understand.”
The warriors groaned.
“Way to go, asshole,” someone muttered to their fellow warrior, and they started running.
I shook my head and walked to the well to drink water and wait for them to come back.
It took them an hour to complete the three laps. When they came back, their cheeks were red, and they were drenched with sweat.
“You sound like you have a lot less to say than an hour ago,” I said, walking to them. “Let’s get started.”
I ran them through drills—pushups, sit-ups, lunges, squats. When they’d done half an hour of punishment, I let them pair up.
“Hand-to-hand combat training!” I shouted. “I want to see hits and parries, like I taught you yesterday. No kicks. If I see you kicking, you’re in for a world of trouble. I can think of a lot more laps to keep you busy.”
They started fighting. By now, they were all covered in mud, their young, smooth skins dirty, their cheeks bright red with exertion, and they looked like they’d been at it all day.
One warrior stood to the side, hands behind his back, breathing hard as he watched his comrades.
“Are you spectating today? Taking notes?” I demanded. “Did you think a break is in order?”
“We’re an uneven number, General,” he said quickly. “I didn’t have a partner to pair up with.”
“You’ll face me, then.”
He swallowed hard, but he turned to face me. Good. I didn’t want to put up any insubordination. We started fighting, and I ran through the drills with him. He parried my blows and reciprocated. It was impressive—the new recruits had a lot of potential.
My mind drifted to Nylah, and I clenched my jaw. I punched harder, fought back when the kid came for me. When I delivered my blows, which got harder and harder the angrier I got, he struggled to block them. I knew I was taking it out on him, but my frustration took over.
My vision clouded, and adrenaline pumped through my veins. I fought harder and harder. I was on edge, twitchy, struggling to reel it back in.
When the warrior tripped and fell to the mud, I lunged forward, ready to finish it. Only when he cried out did I realize the others had stopped fighting and were all watching us. The kid looked up at me with wide eyes, breathing hard.
I stepped back and cleared my throat.
“Good job,” I said. “Get up.”
The warrior struggled to his feet. I looked around. Everyone seemed beat. They were all exhausted, hanging on each other to keep standing.
“You’re done for the day,” I barked.
They sagged with relief and hobbled out of the arena. They were going to feel it in the morning.
I pressed my fingers against my sternum. I had an itch in my chest I couldn’t scratch.
Ren stepped out of the door when the warriors approached, and they all bowed to him.
