Chapter 16
“Duck!”
I bent my knees just in time to avoid the whip that snapped over my head, trying to keep my heartbeat steady. There was no time to recover, however, before the next command arrived.
“Jump!”
I pressed myself off the ground just in time for the log to roll under my feet, though I did nearly trip in the process.
Karl sniggered but didn’t miss a beat as he loaded his hand with another rock.
Otho had been waiting for me at breakfast that morning, beckoning me with a single finger before introducing me to Karl, as Milo.
I was disappointed that my ruse wasn’t ending immediately, but at least the time I had left was limited.
My side heated at the thought of never having to wear a bind again.
I did wonder what had happened to the Otho I had met in the laundry room though.
I was starting to think that had been some fluke and this broody man of few words I knew now was the actual Otho.
A rock to my side knocked that thought from my mind and I bent over in pain, my hands grasping at where my tattoo lay beneath my clothes.
“You should never let yourself drift off like that. In the field, that’s the difference between life and death!” Karl shouted.
I righted myself just in time to duck beneath the crack of another whip.
I don’t know what I had thought scout training would be, but it definitely wasn’t this. Though I supposed the point was to prepare me for anything.
“That’s enough. Time to run.” Karl pointed out a route through the long grasses between where we stood and where I had sparred the day before. I would run directly there, then loop around and run back. Without missing a beat Karl yelled, “Go!”
I suppressed the urge to wince at his volume but took off in the direction he had pointed, not wanting another rock to end up in my side.
Running in the too-small boots I wore was one of the more painful experiences in my life.
Every time my foot pressed into the ground, the sides of the boot pinched.
I was able to maintain a straight face for the first portion of the run, but when I completed my loop of the training grounds and turned to face where Karl stood, a stern expression on his face, I couldn’t help it.
I grit my teeth, grunts coming from my chest with every step.
I didn’t stop though. No, I pushed myself hard, my side aching as it cramped, whether from the rock or the running I wasn’t entirely sure.
And by the time I reached where Karl stood, his back straight and chin held high, I was proud of myself.
Until he said, “Again.”
With a cry, I turned and began the route anew, unable to suppress the noises coming from my mouth. But I knew that I could do this—I had to if I wanted my freedom. If I couldn’t even run two laps there was no way Otho would keep me on as a spy.
After the loop, I looked up to see Karl was no longer alone.
Now Otho stood beside him, looking just as gruff as his captain with his burly arms crossed over his chest. My pace was considerably slower this second loop, but it still felt too soon when I approached them, stopping only to almost keel over as I attempted to catch my breath.
“Come.” Otho didn’t spare me a single glance as he spun toward the building and walked away.
I moved to stretch my aching muscles.
“You won’t get a cool down in the field. Follow him, now.” Karl’s words were harsh, but also correct. War wasn’t the place for stretching.
I had to jog to catch up with Otho, and even when I did, I kept my weight forward as I had to continue my momentum in order to keep up. I thought we would go inside, but instead, he turned and led me to the space between the barracks and Adis’s home.
He stopped so suddenly, I almost ran into his back. It was only by sheer luck I was able to catch myself, pain shooting through my legs as my calves strained with the sudden change in momentum.
“Go steal a loaf of bread from the kitchen.”
That was not what I was expecting him to stay, at all, and I momentarily found myself so confused I couldn’t draw in a breath.
“Did you hear me?” he snapped.
“Yes,” I gasped. “I just . . .”
“Being a spy means you need to be able to sneak in and out of places with ease.” He crossed his arms over his chest, his lips in a permanent frown, and I wondered what had happened to the man I had once met at dawn in the laundry room—because this wasn’t him.
“But if I get caught, Adis will kill me.” The argument was weak, I knew that, but I also didn’t know how I was supposed to steal something undetected. Astrid was astute, that much I knew.
“The way I see it, you’ve been facing death this whole time anyway, what’s one more time?”
His words stung. Not because they weren’t true, but because I’d stupidly thought we’d formed a camaraderie over the last fortnight, and I was now aware that had only been in my head. “Yes, sir.” I couldn’t keep the dejection from my voice, but if he noticed it, he said nothing.
“I’ll wait here.” He didn’t hesitate before pushing me forward, his push so forceful I nearly tumbled to the ground.
I said nothing as I rose to my feet and walked toward the palace. I headed for the corner, intent on entering through the door I had once passed through to access this very area when there was a shout from over my shoulder.
“Faster than that!”
I grumbled under my breath but still shouted, “Yes, sir!” over my shoulder before picking up my pace, despite the painful protests from my feet. I couldn’t wait to not wear the boots anymore, but now that I thought about it, I would probably have to continue to wear them as Runa.
As soon as I was out of sight around the corner, I slowed my pace, hoping that Otho wasn’t timing me. But my heart and lungs burned, and couldn’t take the pace much longer.
It was easy to find the door, and seeing as I had only been gone a day, no one batted an eye as I passed through the hall and ducked into the kitchen.
It was busier than I had ever seen it, with several servants manning the oven, while others cut vegetables and added them to bowls. Astrid stood to one side, a parchment in her hand as she counted sacks along the wall.
I pushed my shoulders back. I would get the bread, but not in the way Otho assumed. I walked toward Astrid.
Always aware of her surroundings, she paused her work long before I reached her. In an abundance of caution, I stood next to her, ensuring my face was in a direction not easily visible from the door in case anyone who did know of my pending execution were to walk in. “I need a loaf of bread.”
“I’m glad to see you are alive,” was her only reply as she took a step to the side. I matched it, ensuring we remained close.
“I don’t have a lot of time.”
“And you probably would get in trouble if I just handed it to you.” There was a glint in her eyes. “Lyle,” she called over her shoulder, not looking away, “can you please fetch some grain from the store room?”
Out of the corner of my eye, I observed as the dark-haired man working the oven closest to us set down his paddle and moved toward the storage area.
“Be quick.” Astrid turned her back to me, moving to the next pile of supplies.
I didn’t need any more encouragement.
I’d never used such a large oven though, and it took me far too many tries to get the loaf onto the wooden paddle, and when I tried to touch it with my hands, I nearly seared my skin right off.
I hadn’t thought about this aspect of taking it right from the oven. I grit my teeth, desperately searching the room for something I could use, while simultaneously feeling hesitant about stealing something else.
One glance at Astrid’s raised eyebrow told me I was out of time.
As quickly as humanely possible, I picked up the bread, funneling my wind magic into my hands.
While I could still feel the heat from the bread, at least my hands weren’t actually burning.
Then I was out the door and back in the field behind the palace, the one with the quaint pond filled with green fish.
I briefly debated jogging back to Otho, but when I spotted the orange flowers by the edge of the pond, which could be pounded into a poultice for my sure-to-be-bruised feet, I decided walking back, with a small detour, would be fine. He would get over it.
When I did arrive back up the hill again, bread clutched in my hand and my pocket filled with flowers, Otho didn’t appear to have moved.
He did uncross his arms to accept the loaf of bread from my outstretched hands, and I relished in the small grimace that graced his lips at the heat.
“Well done.” His voice was even, but his gaze didn’t meet mine. “But next time, you need to walk with more stealth. If there had been an archer, you would have been dead.”
Tired of his quips and games, my temper roared to life. “Are you suggesting they would shoot an unarmed woman carrying bread?”
His brows furrowed. “A woman, no, but a soldier, yes.”
“Good thing I won’t be a soldier for much longer then, hm?” I smirked at my own joke before spinning on my heel and heading for the barracks.
“Where are you going? We aren’t done here!” he called out after me, passing the bread from hand to hand.
“Someone seems to think soldiers standing on a hill are a target, so I figured it was better to keep moving!” I didn’t need to look behind to know he was following me. It was probably a bad idea to argue with the General of Adis’s army, but I also couldn’t bring myself to care.
He fell into step beside me, confirming my suspicions. “You need to walk more silently. I can hear the cracking of the grass beneath your feet from several steps away.”
I had no retort for that.
“Look at my feet, see how I stay on my toes when possible?”
I nodded, watching as he picked the areas of less grass to place his feet.
“It’s quieter and keeps you from knocking down grass and leaving a trail.”
I adjusted my steps to match his, taking the care to pick a route through the grass.
“Good.” We continued our walking for a few more steps. “Though I am teaching you as I would a male spy, I do want to say that being what everyone expects, while also doing the unexpected is also a tactic. It’s why I think you will make a good spy.”
I didn’t know what to say. Compliments were rarely directed at me and receiving one from the General of Ralheim’s army made heat rise in my cheeks. “Thank you, sir,” I said at last, not able to come up with anything else.
Otho didn’t say anything more.