Chapter 18
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
T hea had pushed all thoughts of Hawthorne aside, hurrying back to the dormitories, having dressed in tomorrow’s fresh shirt and trousers to avoid any awkwardness in the morning.
As the minutes passed, she steeled herself once more, determined that she would grit her teeth through the hazing and bullying, that she would prove the bastards wrong.
She was going to be the best damn shieldbearer they’d ever seen – and one day, something more, something formidable.
But as she’d crept back into the sleeping quarters after her encounter with Hawthorne, dread had settled in her stomach. If anyone inside was remotely like that prick Seb, there would be unpleasantries ahead.
Inside, a lone candle was still lit. The same man who’d called her ‘love’ earlier was reading. His eyes roved over her as she made her way to the dark corner where her bed was and Thea’s skin crawled. She was more glad than ever she’d dressed in a shirt and pants and not a nightgown.
The man’s words returned to her in a chant. You don’t belong here. You don’t belong here.
Her prickling scalp told her there was more than one pair of eyes on her and all that determination and courage she had felt only moments before fell away as she resigned herself to a sleepless night, wishing that she had her dagger with her.
Heart hammering in her chest, she reached her bed and pulled back the covers, checking the sheets for any sort of pranks they might have put in place.
There was nothing to be found. But that didn’t mean she was out of the woods. The tension in the surrounding air told her that there were several who wished her harm.
Fighting to keep her movements steady, Thea tucked her possessions under the bed and slipped beneath the quilt, suppressing a yelp at the cold sheets, her body tense.
The lone candle blew out.
Pitch-black swallowed the room and Thea’s heart pounded.
Would they wait until they thought she’d fallen asleep? What manner of horrors did they have planned? Was it merely hazing? Or something far more sinister…?
The springs of a mattress sounded, and Thea tensed, hearing bare feet slapping against the floor.
So there would be no waiting. They were coming for her now. She balled her fists, ready to swing, vowing that if she made it through the night, she’d steal a weapon from the armoury, or even a knife from the morning meal. She could hear them getting closer.
A menacing growl sounded.
Thea sat bolt upright.
‘What the —’ a shieldbearer muttered, followed by a shout of terror.
Someone lit a candle, cursing at the noise.
Only to see Dax, Malik’s dog at the centre of the room, his huge paw nearly crushing a man’s head beneath it.
‘Alright, alright,’ the man, the one who’d called Thea “love” cried. ‘Call off your beast, girl. I meant no harm.’
Heart still hammering, Thea caught her breath, approaching her would-be attacker, who was sweating under Dax’s considerable weight.
‘Please,’ he moaned.
Another growl echoed across the length of the room, low and full of warning.
Thea fixed the man with a dark stare. ‘You won’t be trying that again, will you?’
‘I wasn’t, I wasn’t going to —’
Dax bared his fangs, spittle dripping onto the man’s face.
Thea watched, utterly impassive. She was half tempted to let Dax maul the bastard, but it would hardly make for a positive start as a shieldbearer.
‘Dax, come,’ she said at last.
The man let out a whimper as Dax removed his giant paw and bounded for her bed.
The shieldbearer scrambled away.
Thea smiled to herself as she slipped between the sheets and watched the massive dog turn in three circles before settling at her feet, his yellow eyes watching the dormitory.
For the first time since she had returned to Thezmarr, Thea felt at ease.
She scratched the giant beast behind the ears. ‘Good boy,’ she told him.
With Dax guarding her, she curled up in her narrow bed and slept dreamlessly through the night.
It wasn’t yet dawn when the grumbling of her fellow shieldbearers woke Thea. All around the dormitory they were wrenching on clothes, muttering curses at the cold, flesh bared with no mind for her presence. It was too early for them to care, it seemed.
Thea sympathised. Outside the warmth of the covers, the air and floor were icy, which did nothing for her stiff, sore body. Her numb fingers struggled to pull her woollen socks over her feet.
Dax was nowhere to be seen, though a patch of heat lingered on the end of her bed where he had been curled up.
Thank the gods for that dog , she thought to herself as she laced her boots and tugged on her cloak. With no clue as to what happened next, she sat on the edge of her mattress as she waited for the others to finish dressing, wondering how she might get word to Wren that she was safe and whole.
‘Survived the night, I see?’ Cal said by way of greeting.
‘Apparently.’
‘Kipp will be glad to hear it. He seems to think he bested you in sparring yesterday.’
‘He did.’
‘Has anyone ever told you that you’re a terrible liar? Besides, even those of us who love Kipp know he’s no swordsman.’ Cal tugged on her sleeve. ‘Come on, or all the food will be gone.’
Thea followed her new friend down to the Great Hall. The rest of the fortress wasn’t awake yet, so the shieldbearers spread out across the tables for morning meal. Thea preferred it this way. She could take what she wanted from the main table and then retreat.
Kipp waved at them happily, a book of maps laid out before him. ‘You’re alive!’ he called.
Thea glanced at Cal suspiciously. ‘Did you doubt me?’ she asked when they reached Kipp’s spot.
‘Not for a second,’ Kipp replied between mouthfuls of bread.
‘Good,’ Thea told him, warming her hands around her mug of tea. ‘Because I’m here for the long haul.’
‘I know,’ Kipp said. ‘That’s why I put three silvers on you.’
Thea baulked. ‘ You’re placing bets on me?’ She didn’t know why she was surprised. She had known Kipp and Callahan for exactly one afternoon, they owed her nothing.
‘Sure am,’ Kipp said proudly. ‘Bet Lachin three silvers that you’d pass initiation with flying colours.’
Cal nudged her with his elbow. ‘Kipp’s betting against the others,’ he said. ‘He’s saying you’ll win.’
Thea didn’t know if it was the cold or the lack of food in her stomach that was making her obtuse, but the pieces clicked together. ‘Oh. Well, I’ll aim to make you rich.’
Kipp looked pleased. ‘When I’ve got Lachin’s coin, we’ll head out to Harenth. I’m dying to return to the Laughing Fox for some of their sour mead.’
‘The Laughing Fox?’ Thea asked.
‘It’s this jester’s favourite tavern in Harenth, apparently,’ Cal supplied, shaking his head. ‘Though I suspect he hasn’t set foot in any tavern —’
‘I’ve been to loads.’
Thea drizzled honey over her porridge and shovelled it into her mouth, unsure when they’d be able to eat again. ‘I didn’t realise shieldbearers could leave the territory…’
‘Not for free time,’ Cal scoffed. ‘We’re often sent on errands for the Guild Master, the commanders, and the Warswords. Delivering messages, picking up goods and supplies for the fortress and such.’
‘And sometimes we might accidentally stumble into a tavern on the way…’ Kipp added.
Cal rolled his eyes. ‘One tavern. One time. Allegedly. And it’s all you bloody talk about.’
‘It wasn’t just —’
Thea sat back and ate her breakfast as they bickered.
They reminded her fondly of Sam and Ida, and her and Wren, but she made a vow to herself not to become too reliant on them.
They had kindly taken her under their wing for now, but who knew how long it would last?
She needed to find her own two feet as a shieldbearer, and she needed to find a way to make the others respect her, or better still – fear her.
Even as she thought such things, the glares she was getting from the other tables bored into her.
She had no doubt in her mind that Seb was sowing the seeds of some underhanded mutiny against her.
If there was one man in Thezmarr whose masculinity could be threatened by the mere presence of a woman, it was him.
‘Who’s dog was that on your bed last night?’ Cal asked. ‘I’ve seen him round the fortress for years, but he never approaches anyone like he did with you.’
‘A friend’s,’ Thea told him.
‘I see…’ Cal replied, a suggestive hint in his voice.
‘Not that kind of friend,’ Thea said quickly, though at the insinuation she couldn’t stop the memory of Hawthorne surveying her naked torso flooding back.
Cal raised his hands in surrender. ‘No judgement.’
A shadow fell over their table. ‘By all means,’ Esyllt’s voice grated like a rusted blade. ‘Let’s all gather round the fire and tell our life stories rather than work.’
All three of them scrambled to their feet.
‘Courtyard! Now!’ The weapons master was apparently already in a foul mood.
They practically fell over themselves to get to the doors.
Someone shoved Thea from behind and she went sprawling across the stone floor, hands stinging.
‘Watch where you’re going, stray,’ Seb snarled, doing his best to step on her as she tried to get up.
Kipp hauled her up, surprisingly strong for such a wiry frame.
Seb had pushed his way ahead, but he called back loudly, ‘Heard you even sleep with dogs, stray. Won’t be long before they throw you out with the rest of the ferals.’
Thea dusted herself off, nodding her thanks to Kipp before cupping her hands around her mouth. ‘How’s that rash coming along, Seb?’ she said loudly. ‘Some of the fortress girls said you were red raw for a week?’
There was a burst of outraged commotion up ahead, but Seb couldn’t get back through the doors where the throng of shieldbearers were at a bottleneck.
Both Cal and Kipp looked at her in disbelief, and she gave them a smug smile. ‘My sister put him and his lackeys in the infirmary a few weeks ago…’
Kipp’s mouth fell open. ‘I have to meet her. Immediately.’
Thea laughed. ‘If you can tell me the best way to get a message to her, I might just introduce you.’
‘Whereas I need no introduction,’ Cal declared, resting a hand on his puffed out chest.
Thea suppressed a snort, quietly wondering what Wren would make of the two shieldbearers beside her. But all thoughts emptied out of her head as they stepped out into the chilly courtyard.
Osiris, the Guild Master, stood before the fortress gates, his glare cold and hard.
Esyllt was to his right, flanked by the three Warswords of Thezmarr.
Including Hawthorne. Thea’s gaze fell to him immediately, her body reacting with a rush of heat.
Wearing all black, his swords were strapped to his back, and his hands rested on the hilts of a pair of wicked cutlasses at his belt.
He looked as unflinching as always. Gone was the hooded gaze and parted mouth she’d glimpsed the night before. Thea’s heart stuttered.
She hoped to catch his eye, but he didn’t look at her. He merely scanned the shieldbearers before him and his comrades with a look of contempt. Even Torj, the one who’d seemed the most relaxed to Thea, was taut with tension.
‘What’s going on?’ Kipp whispered.
‘Announcement,’ someone muttered back.
‘They couldn’t have made it in the hall where it’s warm?’ Kipp replied bitterly.
‘Shut it,’ another man snapped.
Osiris raised a hand, and the crowd of shieldbearers fell silent.
‘We have news for you today, recruits,’ he began, his voice ringing out across the courtyard.
‘Recent years have seen our Warswords travel far and wide in order to protect the midrealms. Though their numbers have dwindled, it is thanks to them that our three kingdoms have remained whole and that the magic of their rulers has endured. But our kings and queens have decided that we need our leaders close, need their wisdom, their expertise to shape the warriors of the future…’
Thea was hardly breathing.
Osiris cleared his throat. ‘It has been over a decade since this last occurred… From now on, shieldbearers will be more closely scrutinised than ever.’
All around Thea, the shieldbearers were buzzing with anticipation. She glanced at Kipp and Cal, but they were transfixed on the Guild Master.
‘Look closely at our glorious Warswords, gentlemen. Think of whom you might be proud to serve. For after the initiation test, the Warswords of Thezmarr will each select an apprentice.’