Chapter 47 #2
But of course…maybe she’s remembering the way I moved when she first encountered me. I was quick. She and her lackeys didn’t touch me with their power.
She arches an eyebrow at me. “Don’t worry, Oracle, I’m fast enough to pull my punches if you aren’t quick enough to avoid them.”
She steps to the right, but her left fist flies at my stomach.
I jump back, again evading the blow.
She follows me, her fists flying.
I dart left, right, and back again, this time landing at a crouch.
“Damn.” Her arms lower to her sides. “Fuck.”
I rise upward.
I’d love to tell Lilis that I can evade all strikes, but the iron burn scar across my right side makes that a lie.
Fiercely, I shake off the memory of that moment. I can’t let my past fears and my interactions with Hadrian cloud my mind right now.
Lilis chews her lip as she glares at me, no doubt trying to decide what to do with me.
I speak a fraught truth—dangerous to acknowledge because it reveals my weaknesses and she could exploit that, but I can’t risk that she’ll stall my training.
“Evasion can only get me so far,” I say. “What I lack are the skills to fight back. Effectively and efficiently.”
Her fingertips drum her thigh.
“Fine,” she says. “We’ll strap your hands today. When you’re ready to start leg work, we’ll use protective padding.”
Within minutes, she’s retrieved two long strips of material.
Starting with my right hand, she describes what she’s doing as she slowly wraps the material around my hand, starting with my thumb, then around my wrist and palm and between my fingers, an intricate process that provides support for my wrist and creates padding across my knuckles.
“Now you wrap your other hand.”
It takes me four tries before I strap my left hand to her satisfaction. She pays close attention, correcting me if I wind the strap at an incorrect angle or leave it too loose.
After inspecting my hands and finally giving a grunt of approval, she leads me to the only thick, wooden pole that doesn’t have wooden spokes jutting out around it.
She steers me away from the side of the pole she must have pummeled a thousand times, judging by the worn patches, and instructs me how to stand, how to hold my thumb, and how to deliver a strike up close.
“Try it,” she says, hovering beside me, her arms extended, as if she’d pull me away from the pole if I as much as twitched the wrong way. “Gently.”
I learned my lesson from throwing myself over Nara’s back this morning.
Slowly gliding my arm forward, applying the technique Lilis taught me, I tap the pole lightly, then look to her for confirmation I did it correctly.
“Good,” she says. “Again.”
Another three hours later, I’m pouring with sweat. We’ve stopped multiple times for hydration, but I haven’t eaten anything and I’m not sorry about it. I’d only bring the food back up.
She finally steps back from me. “That’s enough for today. Take a few minutes. Cool down. Make sure your temperature is regulated before you step outside.”
Using the time it takes to unstrap my hands, I manage to say between breaths, “Thank you.”
She blinks at me. Then her jaw visibly clenches.
“Don’t worry, Frost General,” I add. “I won’t thank you in public.”
I’m goading her and I know I shouldn’t. Asking for help is a sign of weakness in Frost, and now, judging by her response, it’s clear that thanking someone could be a mortal sin.
She snaps back, “You’d better fucking not.”
Despite her obvious fury, she reaches carefully for my hands after I unstrap them, inspecting my knuckles.
Not a single mark.
Still, she says, “Put them in ice tonight to make absolutely sure bruises don’t develop.
You can keep the training suit. I’ll ensure the palace staff provide you with five more like it.
Be back here first thing in the morning.
We’ll train six days a week, today being day one.
This week, we’ll train full days, but from next week, we’ll train only in the morning.
I have other duties I can’t put off forever. Don’t be late.”
I quickly take note of all her instructions. My breathing has now evened out again and my skin has cooled.
I hold my tongue before I thank her again, knowing it would be like poking a wolf and I should consider myself lucky to be leaving unscathed.
After scooping up my discarded clothing, I make my way back down the hallway.
I pause at the closed door to what could be the bathing room, grimacing.
I really need to pee, but she’s right: this is her private space and she was forced to open it up for me.
I walk on.
Stellen and Nara wait outside the door. I don’t worry about telling him what Lilis said. I’m certain he heard it.
Before I can reach Nara’s side on my own, Stellen scoops me up and places me lightly on her back, sliding on behind me.
Nara’s moving before I can catch my breath.
“Bathing room,” Stellen says.
My eyes widen at the hint of humor in his voice.
He adds, “You drank a lot of water.”
I’d laugh if I weren’t so desperate.
Then he says, more quietly, “My silences don’t mean I’m not paying attention. Each one of your needs is important to me.”
Oh. My breath catches. Strange for my heart to feel so warm when his promise was prompted by my near-embarrassing bodily need, but then…
My most basic needs determine my dignity.
Clearing the lump from my throat, I venture to say, “In that case…my monthly courses will start soon. I’ll need provisions.”
He nudges my cheek with his. “I’ll make sure you’re provided for.”
Okay, then.
I lean into him, my muscles aching from so many hours of exercise. Tomorrow, I’m certain, my muscles will hurt even more.
We reach the palace gate in no time. It’s already opening for us and Nara glides right on through. She moves at a quick pace but doesn’t jostle me, which I appreciate.
Soon enough, we reach the Rose Room, and I catch the tilt of Stellen’s head at the corner of my view before he says, “It’s safe to go inside.”
With that, he scoops me off Nara’s back and strides down the path and through the door. Before I know it, he’s carried me to the bathing room and set me in front of the toilet door.
Without another word, he turns to the bath and begins filling it using the pump at the side that took me a few puzzled moments to figure out last night.
As soon as the water starts running, he strides from the room and away down the hall again.
The sound of running water is nearly my undoing. Without another pause, I dart into the toilet room and close the door.
When I emerge, the bath is still filling, the water gently steaming. Two buckets of snow rest beside it, no doubt for my hands.
Stellen waits near the door.
I didn’t bother pulling the training suit all the way up and over my arms since I’m about to take it off, anyway, and the in-built corset keeps the bodice upright around my chest without needing to hold on to it.
“The warmth will help your sore muscles,” Stellen says. “The snow is for your hands.”
“Are you certain I need it? The snow, that is.” The question leaves my lips before I can stop myself.
I clamp down on my lower lip, fighting the resurgence of a physical need that spiraled into a storm last night.
Mentally, I shout at myself that Stellen was right to walk away. No matter how he’s attending to my needs, there’s still a tension between us that won’t disappear simply because he ran me a bath.
But…
But.
Strands of his white hair fall across his face as he tilts his head, his pale eyes piercing mine. His lips are still. Not yet answering me.
Maybe he’s reading my emotions from the sudden pounding of my heart.
On the tip of my tongue is a challenge I probably shouldn’t utter, but I haven’t forgotten the threat he issued this morning to ensure my safety.
With a catch in my voice, I ask, “Don’t you wish to inspect my body?”