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She strapped the shield to her forearm as she’d seen Esyllt demonstrate earlier and squeezed her gelding’s sides with her heels. Suppressing the urge to snatch the reins back, Thea turned him so that he faced the open plains, where she was to canter across, holding shield and sword high, without falling off.
Several other shieldbearers had already succeeded, letting out shouts of victory. From the looks of their efforts, many of them had been training in horsemanship for years. Gripping her shield and sword, Thea couldn’t help but glance at Evander, recalling his answers to her many questions so long ago. Even back then, she had dreamed of this moment.
‘We don’t have all day,’ Esyllt barked, almost causing Thea to jump.
But she wasn’t the only one hesitating. A fresh group of riders had mounted, shieldbearers far less experienced than those who had come before, she gathered, their hesitation apparent.
Anticipation pulsed not only between the shieldbearers, but the mounts as well. They were growing uneasy, some pawing the ground with their hooves restlessly.
‘Gods, don’t let me be the one to fall,’ Thea muttered.
She didn’t let herself falter a moment longer. She squeezed her heels and the gelding lurched forward. He was eager and fell into a canter almost immediately, charging across the grass.
Thea engaged all of her core stomach muscles to remain upright in the saddle, the briny wind suddenly whipping her face. She hung on with sheer will, raising her shield against imaginary opponents, and even daring to take a swing with her sword.
She sucked in a sharp breath as the end of the run came upon them all too suddenly. But she mastered her panic, sitting back in the saddle to signal to the horse it needed to slow its pace. There, she used her feet to steer him around and urge him back into a canter on the return across the field.
As she rode with her weapon raised and the chilled sea air kissed her skin, it felt like victory. It felt like liberation.
She slowed upon approaching the group, a wide grin splitting her face —
‘That’s not the only thing you’ve ridden hard, is it, stray?’ came Seb’s nasty sneer.
All illusions of victory shattered with those words.
‘What did you say?’ she said between clenched teeth as she dismounted from her horse, taking a step towards the older shieldbearer.
‘You heard me.’ He gave a pointed look at Evander, who stood alone on the outskirts of the group, his eyes downcast. ‘I knew the stable boy liked animals but…’
Lightning coursed through Thea, and her fist went flying.
It collided with Seb’s left eye.
He staggered back, clutching his face. ‘What the —’
Thea stared at him in shock, her knuckles aching.
‘Sir!’ Seb shouted. ‘Did you see —’
‘See what?’ Esyllt surveyed the shieldbearer with open dislike.
‘The bitch hit me!’
Esyllt frowned, not even sparing Thea a glance. ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about. But if you’re insisting that an untrained woman landed a punch on you, then I’d say you’re the bitch Sebastos.’
A startled silence fell over the group.
Until Madden burst out laughing, which set off a chain of laughter throughout the entire group of shieldbearers.
Seb’s face reddened by the second and he swore, storming off towards the Bloodwoods.
‘You’ll need to throw a better punch than that if you mean to be a warrior of Thezmarr,’ Esyllt murmured in Thea’s direction.
She looked up in surprise, but the weapons master was already walking away.
It wasn’t long before Cal and Kipp joined her.
‘What a prat,’ Cal sniffed in Evander’s direction. ‘No spine on that one, no fucking class, talking about you like that. That’ll be a shiner for sure, though.’
