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Chapter10
The wooden staff whistled through the air for a split second before it connected with my back, propelling me forward onto my knees.
Slamming into the ground, my body rang with the sudden impact. I flinched against the pain, as my face heated from my fury and the shame that I’d let my weakness show to anyone, let alone a room full of fae who were laughing at me, including Prince Noah.
A growl vibrated in my chest and gave me the momentary strength to overcome my embarrassment and rise to face my assailant.
The dry, unsmiling royal guard lieutenant’s lips twitched as I inhaled sharply and readied my training stick again. “You may be far from acceptable as the prince’s feeder, but you are certainly spirited. I'll give you that.”
My teeth ached as I gritted them together. Hard. Bite your tongue, Cora, I reminded myself. He was my superior after all.
“I’d hardly say she’s far from acceptable. Her skills outmatch any of my previous feeders, Lieutenant Tomas.”
Prince Noah’s comment hurt more than it should have, thinking about Noah with other feeders. Though it was ridiculous that I even cared to impress a person who simply needed me for food.
Not that he actually used me for my purpose. But the point remained.
Captain Coltrain was still absent. Off on whatever quest he’d taken most recently. Which meant instead of waiting for his return, Noah, the fae, and of course us feeders were stuck with the almost cruel Lieutenant Tomas. His demeanor infuriated me and reminded me far too much of the village guards that had brought me here. That alone left a sour taste in my mouth, not including the fact that he seemed determined to make me look incompetent in front of everyone today.
“Again,” I said. “I’m ready again.”
Lieutenant Tomas threw his wooden staff down and yanked mine from my hands just as quickly. “Hand to hand.”
I glanced at Nicole, who raised an eyebrow and shrugged. Her training today had been light, nothing like this. We’d never gone one by one before with Captain Coltrain. I hated it. The intensity of being in the spotlight like this was too much.
My hands clenched into fists as the tiresome lieutenant watched me, emotionless. For some reason that lack of emotion infuriated me and fueled my attack. He avoided my first few punches, but then I kicked and connected with his shin.
As he lunged forward, I dodged to the side and stuck out my leg to trip him. He narrowly missed it, but in his concentration to stay on his feet, I landed a punch to his side.
“Scrappy little thing,” he muttered under his breath.
Scrappy was one word for it. And probably the only thing I had to be thankful for living with Darryl.
The lieutenant rushed me, and I held my ground for a very short moment before toppling hard onto my back. The breath was forced from my lungs, and I opened and closed my mouth a few times, unable to breathe.
Even as my chest begged for air, I refused to let the lieutenant have a shred of a victory. He approached me slowly, too slowly, and I knew he’d seen that I’d lost my breath. His overconfidence was my ticket to ending this.
I waited, struggling for air but watching until Lieutenant Tomas was standing above me. Before his irritating voice could utter a word I swung my legs up, connecting with his groin and shoving him off balance. I used the momentum to swing myself up onto my feet. In the lieutenant’s weakness of clutching himself in shock, I swiped his legs from under him and stood over his now huddled body.
I finally got a sliver of air into my aching lungs. I narrowed my eyes and cocked my eyebrow, waiting for him to admit defeat.
Anger flashed momentarily in the guard’s eyes and I almost stepped back, remembering where I was, but Noah intervened.
He clasped me on the shoulders, and dispelled the tension with his humor. “Well now, I’d hardly say that’s fighting fair in training, Cora.” His laugh teetered on the edge of sounding forced, but Lord Gabriel barked a laugh that even Tomas had to join in on. He finally stood and rejoined the banter between the fae.
Noah stealthily pushed me off to the side as the three of them huddled together. I plopped down next to Nicole.
“Prince Perfect just saved your ass, huh?” she muttered.
I glowered at the name and rolled my eyes. “The lieutenant deserved it,” I whispered.
Nicole nodded as she undid her loose braid and flipped her hair over, redoing it in a high ponytail. “Yes, but imagine the pride of a royal guard being bested by a newbie nobody in front of the prince.”
“He didn’t hold back when he was winning,” I argued.
Nicole shook her head. “Girl, you were fierce and I’m not at all criticizing, so take that growing attitude elsewhere.” She finished with her hair and flicked the length falling over her shoulder behind her. “It might be prudent to not show everything you have to them though, yeah?”
She hopped up and jogged over to Lord Gabriel since the fae were dispersing.
