Chapter 16
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
H awthorne led them past the stables and through the courtyard, past the southern end of the fortress.
‘Where are we going?’ Thea frowned, urging her mare to keep pace.
But the Warsword didn’t respond.
Then, it became clear. He had told her he’d take her straight to Esyllt. What he’d failed to mention was that a sparring session would be in full swing.
When they arrived at the armoury where the weapons master was indeed shouting at a trio of shieldbearers, it took all of Thea’s willpower not to baulk.
Twenty or so young men’s eyes snapped up to Hawthorne in awe and then slid to her suspiciously. To Thea’s dismay, she spotted Seb in the crowd, his knuckles turning white as his gaze fell upon her and he gripped his practice sword menacingly.
Thea tensed. If he’d disliked her because of that one self-defence lesson all those years ago, his hatred would know no bounds now that she was infiltrating his shieldbearer cohort.
‘Hawthorne,’ Esyllt ceased his reprimanding and bowed his head to the Warsword. ‘What can I do for you?’
Hawthorne jutted his chin in Thea’s direction. ‘New recruit.’
Everyone stared openly. Seb was seething.
‘What’s that?’ Esyllt said, cupping a hand to his ear as though he’d misheard.
‘New recruit,’ Hawthorne repeated. ‘The rulers approved her petition, and she now has permission to train as a shieldbearer.’
‘I see.’
‘I’ll leave her with you then, Esyllt.’
‘As you wish,’ the weapons master replied, frowning slightly.
Hawthorne nodded and turned his horse back towards the fortress, facing Thea. He glanced pointedly over his shoulder, surveying the now angry looking men.
‘Well, Alchemist,’ he spoke quietly.
The reversion to her former title didn’t go unnoticed, nor did it sit well with Thea.
But the Warsword seemed determined to be cold. ‘This will not be easy.’
Thea dismounted her mare and passed the reins up to him. She ignored her flushing cheeks, pushing her shoulders back. ‘Who said I wanted easy?’
Hawthorne’s callused fingers brushed hers, sending a bolt of energy through her as his intense silver gaze lingered on her for a moment.
Then, he rode off without another word, her horse in tow.
Thea stared after him, her chest tight, wondering when she’d see him again, wondering if the quiet moments they had shared together would simply fall away for him, if he’d remember her at all.
To his credit, Esyllt did not miss a beat. He threw Thea a wooden practice sword, which thankfully she caught, and waved her towards one of the younger looking shieldbearers.
‘You’re with Kipp,’ he told her.
‘My name’s Thea, Sir —’
‘I don’t care,’ he said bluntly, facing the group once more.
Refusing to blush, Thea gripped her own wooden weapon and went to stand by the young man Esyllt had pointed to. He was long-limbed with a wiry build, his auburn hair flopping into his eyes and he offered a sheepish grin as she approached.
‘I’m Kipp. Kipp Snowden,’ he added unnecessarily.
Thea had already noticed he was holding his sword incorrectly.
She gave him a polite nod and turned her attention back to Esyllt, but not before sensing the biting resentment rippling off the shieldbearers around her.
Angry scowls were aimed her way, many of the recruits muttering bitterly, others greeted her with twisted mouths and unkind smiles, while some openly shook their heads in disapproval at her presence.
Thea trained her gaze on Esyllt, ignoring the impulse to flee.
‘I want fifteen minutes of sparring,’ Esyllt told them sharply. ‘Consider it a warm-up. And no broken bones today, Sebastos.’
A sour taste filled Thea’s mouth. So, Seb was a bastard to everyone.
‘Fifteen minutes, starting now.’
Noise broke out across the courtyard, wooden swords clapping together and shouts of frustration.
Seb took no time at all to seek her out, as though her presence were a personal insult to him. ‘How many people did you have to fuck to get in here, stray?’ he taunted, circling her.
Thea’s chest tightened, but she didn’t answer.
Her silence only seemed to provoke him further. He closed in, surveying her travel-worn pants and cloak, the messy state of her braid and the man’s shirt rolled to her elbows. ‘Dressing like a man doesn’t make you one of us,’ he spat.
Thea’s grip tightened on her training sword. ‘You’re no man.’
‘Wanna bet?’ Seb snarled, face reddening.
‘Barlowe!’ Esyllt yelled, spittle flying. ‘Did I say measure your dick or did I say spar?’
Seb’s ears now matched the crimson shade of his face, and thankfully with a muttered curse, he skulked away.
‘You ready?’ Kipp turned to her, grinning.
Thea gave him a slow smile, the tension easing from her body. ‘Do your worst,’ she replied, taking up her fighting stance.
Without another word of warning, Kipp lunged forward.
But Thea was ready. From the way the shieldbearer held his sword, she knew the strike would be sloppy.
And it was. Seb’s cruel words forgotten, she batted it away and parried, revelling in the vibration the contact had sent up her arm.
Circling him, she thrust her blade at his middle.
Kipp only just managed to block her attack, stumbling back.
Thea whirled around, bringing her sword down on his left side.
The shieldbearer let out a yelp of surprise.
But Thea gave him no chance for reprieve. She attacked, hard and fast, lunging, dodging and striking with as much precision and strength as she could muster.
Heated thoughts and feelings about Wilder Hawthorne retreated.
Thea was glad he was gone, she told herself.
She didn’t need or want the distraction, or his moodiness, not now with her dreams at last within reach.
She was here . She was training . With the shieldbearers .
As she sparred with Kipp, knocking another blow away from her torso easily, she tried not to let it go to her head.
She was good . She was holding her own —
‘Messy,’ came a voice. ‘Very messy. Undisciplined.’
Thea turned, confident she was going to find the weapons master staring at Kipp, who was indeed all those things, but she found herself face to face with him herself.
He must have caught the look of surprise on her face. ‘Oh yes,’ he said. ‘ You. We all know Kipp is as useless as the sky is blue and the seas are wet. But you… You are messy , there is no discipline to your movements.’
Heat flushed Thea’s cheeks.
‘And I said fifteen minutes. Have you not wondered what else this lesson has in store for you? Or are you so eager to prove yourself that you would expend all your strength and energy in one burst?’
Thea opened her mouth but words failed her.
Esyllt shook his head. ‘By all means, carry on. If you drop dead from exhaustion, it will save the other shieldbearers the effort of hazing you.’
Thea’s grip on her sword tightened, but Esyllt was already walking away, berating the next pair in line.
‘Don’t worry about him,’ Kipp told her. ‘He’s like that with everyone.’
‘I don’t need your pity.’
‘Nor do you have it. I save all my pity for myself, you see,’ Kipp replied, straight-faced. ‘You heard him, “ Kipp’s useless” … It’s only the twentieth time he’s said it today.’
The tension drained once more from Thea’s shoulders and she failed to suppress her smile.
‘You’d best wallop me again or he’ll accuse you of being lazy next,’ Kipp warned.
He didn’t need to tell Thea twice. This time however, she moved with conserving energy in mind. She kept her strikes strong and relentless, but she did less whirling, ensured all her footwork was concise and necessary. She thought about her style, what about it was undisciplined?
‘Now you’re thinking too much,’ came Esyllt’s voice, taunting.
Thea clenched her teeth. Heard that before . She suppressed the urge to tell the weapons master that there wasn’t much teaching happening in the courtyard. How was she meant to learn if he merely critiqued and didn’t instruct?
‘Good gods, Kipp. It’s a wonder you haven’t fallen over your enormous feet yet,’ he shouted, loud enough for the whole cohort to hear.
Laughter sounded around them and Thea could make out Seb’s jeers from the crowd. Had they all stopped to watch?
The hair rising on the back of her neck told her they had.
But Thea was too focused on Kipp’s movements to worry about the others.
His footwork was clumsy, like a newborn foal that wasn’t used to its own legs, and even after only a short time of sparring, she knew his weakness was his left side – he left it open far too often.
Esyllt’s words had stung her ego to be sure, but poor Kipp seemed to be the brunt of every criticism, every joke. Thea’s mind churned as she blocked and feinted. She had two options before her: the first, she could take advantage of Kipp’s open left side and end it, or —
She stepped into the path of Kipp’s flailing blade and hissed in pain as the wooden sword came down on her shoulder.
‘Your point,’ she said.
Kipp gave her a baffled look.
Then, that familiar jeering laughter rang out across the stones. ‘Guess we’ve finally found someone worse than Kipples,’ Seb snorted. ‘They make a fine pair don’t they?’
Several of the bastard’s lackeys sniggered, but for once, Seb’s insults didn’t land.
Let him underestimate me, Thea thought. And if it took some heat off poor Kipp in the meantime, that was fine with her.
Seb looked ready to continue his taunting, but the weapons master silenced them with a raised hand.
‘I’m going to take this riveting recess as a sign that you’re all sufficiently warmed up. Get your shields.’
While Thea wasn’t exactly overjoyed at Esyllt’s teaching methods so far, she had to admire the sheer command in his voice and the fact that even pricks like Seb followed his instructions without question.
As she went after Kipp towards a shed where the shields hung, the weapons master pulled her back by the elbow.
‘Interesting choice there…’ he murmured.
‘I —’