Chapter 10
Alchera
When Raighne comes back into my quarters, he places a stack of clothes on the coffee table. “These should be more to your liking.”
I get up and look through the three sets of clothes, then gathering them in my arms, I say, “Thanks.”
“Fleur will be with you shortly. I have a meeting, but I’ll be back in an hour so I can take you to your training session.”
“Training session?” I ask.
“With Brenna.”
Right.
With the dream from hell rattling me, I temporarily forgot the training.
When I don’t say anything, he looks at me for a few seconds before asking, “Are you okay?”
“It doesn’t matter whether I’m okay,” I mutter, my tone harsh.
Raighne takes a step closer to me, a frown line appearing between his eyes. “It does.”
I shrug and turning away from him, I carry the clothes to the bedroom.
From the doorway, I hear him say, “Alchera?”
I still need to get used to the name .
God, I need to adjust to everything. Is it even possible?
A burst of cynical laughter escapes me, and shaking my head, I say, “Just drop it, Ry…Raighne. I’m a big girl, and I’ll get over it.”
I hear him move closer and as I glance at him from over my shoulder, he says, “You can talk to me about anything.”
Yeah, I don’t think so.
“I have to get dressed.”
So my sister can kick my ass.
Lifting an arm, he wraps his fingers around the side of my neck. “Things won’t seem so foreign for long. You’ll adjust.”
Feeling his skin against mine makes tingles rush over my body, and just wanting to end the conversation, I nod. “I’ll see you later.”
He stares at me for a moment longer before nodding.
When he walks out of the room, my eyes follow him, then I turn my attention to the clothes.
I listen for any movement, and when I’m sure I’m alone, I take off the nightgown and quickly put on the pants. It’s a little big but at least there’s a leather belt so I can tighten it around my waist.
The top looks more like a corset, and it gives me a cleavage I never knew I had. I pull the strings as tight as possible and make a double knot so it doesn’t come undone while I’m training.
Digging the boots out of the cupboard, I put them on before glancing down at my body.
I wish I had a full-length mirror.
Sucking in a deep breath of air, I decide to braid my hair so it doesn’t get in the way.
Just as I finish the braid, Fleur appears in the doorway. “Morning.”
“Morning,” I say as I turn to face her. “How do I look?”
She glances up and down. “Good.” A smile spreads over her face, then she asks, “Would you like breakfast?”
I shake my head as I walk toward her. “No. Let’s just get the training over with.”
“Shouldn’t we wait for Raighne?” she asks.
“No, he knows where to find me once he’s done with his meeting,” I mutter, determined to get the training session over and done with. “Show the way to where I have to meet Brenna.”
“It’s just over the hill,” She tells me, and as we leave my living quarters, she asks, “Did you sleep well?”
“I slept okay,” I answer, trying not to think of the nightmare.
I glance around the campsite, where everyone’s busy getting ready for the day.
Nothing feels familiar.
I wonder if Molly and Stephen have noticed I’m gone. Will the Calders worry?
The thought that most of the people in Steamboat Springs will die settles heavily in my heart.
We’re quiet as we walk toward a hill, and once we leave the camp behind, she asks, “What are you thinking about? That’s if you don’t mind me asking?”
“I’m just thinking how my sister is going to kick my ass,” I lie, not wanting to talk about my chaotic emotions. “Brenna doesn’t seem to like me.”
Fleur offers me an encouraging smile. “Don’t worry. I’ll be there.”
“Great,” I chuckle.” Someone to pick up my body once she’s done killing me.”
When we get to the field where the training will take place, Brenna’s already waiting.
“I’ll wait over there,” Fleur says, pointing at a tree.
As I walk closer to where Brenna is standing, her eyes settle on me with disdain, making my stomach twist nervously.
“Peace be, Brenna,” I greet her, hoping today won’t be too bad.
Her eyes drift over me, and without saying a word, she turns around and moves a couple of steps away while pulling a knife from the holster on her hip.
Knife? We’re using weapons?
Fuck my life. I’m dead.
Without any warning, she draws her arm back and lunges forward. All I see is the silver of the blade glistening in the early morning sun, and I hear the whistling sound as it cuts through the air.
I don’t even have time to flinch as the blade narrowly misses my throat by mere inches.
Holy shit.
I gasp, and as Brenna comes to a standstill, she says, “Today, you’ll learn how to hold and attack with a blade.”
So much for first learning the basics.
She throws the blade at my feet, and it pegs into the grass.
When I don’t pick it up fast enough, she raises an eyebrow at me before glaring at the blade that looks more like a cross between a sword and a massive butcher’s knife from a horror movie.
“You need to pick it up, idiot,” she snaps.
My temper flares hot, and as I bend over to yank the knife out of the grass, I say, “What the fuck is your problem, Brenna?”
“You don’t deserve the destiny of saving the chosen ten,” she spits the words out. “You’re weak, and you’ll get them killed.”
The nightmare flashes through my mind, and it keeps me from arguing with her.
“Let’s just train,” I mutter.
She holds her arms open and gives me a cocky smirk. “Attack me.”
I have no idea what to do, but figuring I can at least try, I lunge forward.
Brenna moves so fast, and for a moment, she’s a blur. She grabs hold of my arm and twists it behind my back, making pain explode in my shoulder and forcing me to let go of the knife.
When she moves away from me, I have to clench my jaw, so I don’t show any of the pain on my face.
“Again,” she spits the word at me.
My shoulder hurts something fierce as I pick up the knife, but before I can even attack, she darts forward, and with a high kick to my already aching shoulder, she sends my ass sprawling over the grass.
The bitch.
The pain engulfing my shoulder and arm is so intense I have to bite on my bottom lip to keep a cry from escaping.
Determined not to give her any satisfaction, I pick up the blade again and throw it at her face out of pure frustration.
Brenna twists her body, easily evading the knife, but there’s a look of surprise on her face.
I lunge at her, not wanting to lose my element of surprise, but before I can grab hold of her, she backhands me across the cheek and sends me straight to the ground.
Shit.
Tasting blood, I spit it out before lifting my head and glaring at Brenna.
My heart is pounding loudly in my ears from all the adrenaline pulsing through my body, and my breaths are rushing fast, making my lungs burn.
Sitting back on my haunches, I lift a hand to my face, and touching my mouth, my fingers come away with blood on the tips.
Just as I begin to climb to my feet, Brenna darts toward me, and a kick to my ribs has me gagging as I fall back to the grass.
Oh God. That hurts like a motherfucker.
My eyes water from the pain, and I struggle to suck in a wheezing breath, but somehow, I manage to struggle to my feet before staggering a few steps away from her.
Brenna looks at me with a smirk plastered on her face, and it makes me wish I could punch her lights out.
Annoyed with her teaching methods, I spit more blood from my mouth before muttering, “Shouldn’t you be showing me how to fight rather than kicking the crap out of me?”
She begins circling and advancing on me at the same time. “This is the way I teach. Hopefully, you won’t be stupid enough to make the same mistake twice.”
She lunges at me, and the next thing I know, she twists my left arm painfully behind my back. Then she presses the blade to my throat.
“Now that I have you where I want you, let me make myself clear,” she snarls in my ear. “I don’t want to train you. I think of you and your training as a waste of time. You’re a weakling who will only stand in the way of saving the human race. I should’ve received your destiny.”
Her words tear at my heart because I know she might be right.
Tightening her grip, Brenna presses the blade harder to my throat, and it cuts into my flesh. Panic flares hot through my body.
She wouldn’t really kill me, would she?
Suddenly, the knife is ripped away from my throat, and at the same time, I fly forward and out of Brenna’s hold.
When I plow into the grass, I can’t stop a painful gasp from exploding over my lips.
Holy shit. What just happened?
“What’s the meaning of this?” Raighne’s voice thunders over the field.
Brenna lets out a chuckle. “Just teaching my little sister how to fight.”
“The fuck you are,” I mutter as I push myself up off the grass.
There’s training, and then there's standing around like an idiot while allowing someone to beat the everloving shit out of you.
I don’t want to meet the jackass who trained her.
Done with everything, I turn around so I can walk away, but instead, I slam into a wall of muscle.
I bounce back, hissing as pain tears through my body. “Dammit!”
“You must be Alchera,” the man says.
My eyes dart to his face, and shock shudders through me.
He looks like the masculine version of me.
“Peace be, Alchera. I’m Roark, your brother. Welcome home.”
When I just stare at him, he lets out a chuckle. “We last saw each other when you were twelve. I left for training shortly after and only returned once you were sent to Earth.”
Feeling overemotional, I let out a trembling breath and glance away to stare at the trees in the distance.
“Why didn’t you wait as you were told,” Raighne snaps at me as he comes into my line of sight.
“Because I wanted to get this shit over with,” I mutter.
His eyes sweep over me, and his features turn to stone as anger darkens his eyes.
“At least she didn’t kill me,” I say, my words dripping with sarcasm. “But hey, there’s always tomorrow.”
Roark’s eyes lock with Brenna, and his tone is icy when he says, “We’ll talk later. You can leave, Brenna.” When he turns his attention back to me, his features soften. “I’ll take over your training, and I’ll deal with Brenna.”
His eyes touch on my bloody lip and the cut on my throat. “I’m sorry. You weren’t meant to get hurt.”
Whatever.
“Go to the healers so they can tend to you,” he says. “Meet me at the training field near my camp first thing tomorrow morning.”
I’m in no state to train tomorrow, but I keep my mouth shut because I’m too upset and can’t trust anything that will come out of my mouth right now.
I watch as Roark walks away, wondering what other surprises will come my way.
I smell Raighne before his fingers brush near the cut on my throat. When I turn my head to look at him, I see him wipe my blood on his shirt.
Our eyes meet, and the gutted expression on his face makes a lump form in my throat.
“You should’ve waited for me,” he says, his tone tense with anger.
I lift my chin, wanting to look stronger than I feel. “Hey, at least I got a new trainer out of it. Hopefully, Roark won’t kick my ass as badly.”
I try to pass Raighne, but he brings up his arm and blocks my way. His hand curls around my right shoulder as he steps into my personal space, his chest almost touching mine.
Turning my head away, my eyes land on three people in the far distance. It looks like they’re sparring.
Raighne lifts a hand to my face, and taking hold of my chin, he nudges me to look at him.
The moment my gaze locks with his, the lump in my throat grows, and I struggle to swallow it down.
“I’m sorry I took so long to get to you,” he murmurs, his tone low and rough around the edges. “Once our bond strengthens, I’ll get better at sensing when you’re in danger.”
“It’s fine,” I say, letting out a tired breath.
Raighne surprises me when he leans down and presses his forehead to mine.
I close my eyes, and feeling his breath on my lips, it only makes me more emotional and overwhelmed .
“The minute I felt your pain, I ran to get to you.”
Wait. What?
Pulling a little back, I open my eyes to look at him. “You felt my pain?”
He tilts his head, his eyes drifting over the bruises on my face and neck.
“I feel everything you feel. That’s how I know when you need me. It’s something we have to work on, though. With time, the bond will get stronger.”
I don’t like the idea of him feeling my pain one bit.
Needing to know precisely what this bond entails, I ask, “You feel my pain and emotions?”
He nods. “It comes and goes right now, but when you experience something intensely, it gets through to me.”
Noooo.
Does he know about the stupid crush I have on him?
“What else?” I ask, my tone tense.
He shakes his head. “One thing at a time. You’re dealing with enough as is.”
He can say that again.
Letting out a sigh, I glance around us, then ask, “Which way is the infirmarius?”
“It’s north from here. On the other side of Roark’s camp.” He places his hand on my lower back. “Come, I’ll take you.”
I shake my head. “I can find it. I’m sure you have to get back to your own stuff.”
Ignoring what I said, his hand nudges at my back and he gestures with a jerk of his head for me to start walking.
As we head in the direction of the infirmarius, the aches in my shoulder and chest grow, and it becomes harder to take full breaths.
You already had your ass handed to you today, so suck it up and don’t show Raighne how much pain you’re in.
I focus so much on trying to keep the pain from showing on my face and keeping control of my emotions that sweat starts to bead on my forehead.
God, what a shitty morning.