26. Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter twenty-six
Whatever the hell Jeska said must've struck a nerve, because this isn't training—it's an excruciating blend of torture, sprinkled generously with complete and utter humiliation.
Mine, of course. There's mud from my toes to the tips of my ears, I'm one giant bruise from falling so many times, and the coronet braid Willa wrangled my hair into before we started is filthy and damp with a mix of perspiration and slushy snow.
Jeska grins at my fury as I swipe my hot face with the cleanest part of my top. While the rest of the squad spars around us in their usual training ensemble, she'd instructed me to wear my leathers when I walked past. Apparently, they were still too shiny and clean. Not anymore they're not.
Glancing around, she takes a step closer, holding her fists in front of her face.
"What the hell was that earlier?" she hisses, making a good show of acting like she's explaining a maneuver.
"And don't say nothing, I know what I saw.
" Given that's exactly what I was about to say, I opt for silence instead.
"You have to know you two can't fuck around, right?
You shouldn't even be touching, especially when he's got an open wound. It's beyond reckless."
She swings, and I stumble back clumsily, avoiding her fist. "I know all that. What I don't know is why we're talking about this."
"Well, apparently, he's going to think with the wrong part of his body, so you'll have to be the smart one." She circles around me twice before lunging for my ribs. I manage to partially twist out of reach, lessening the impact of the blow.
"Isn't this supposed to be self-defense training? When does that part happen? Because right now, it feels like you're punishing me for something, I'm just not sure what."
"For the life of me, I couldn't understand why he let you tag along—until now. We can't afford to lose his power, or we're fucked, so consider this your only warning and stay away from him."
Anger churns in my gut, shoving the words out before I have time to consider if it's wise to antagonize this woman. "What the hell is your problem? Are you jealous or something? There is nothing–"
Words fail me the second I see the expression on her face: cold, calculating, and almost gleeful, like she's been looking forward to whatever comes next.
While never outright rude, she hasn't exactly warmed to me being here either.
I thought it was because I'm not a Shield, now, the only thing I’m sure of is that I'm in trouble.
Jeska curls her lip in a sneer, stalking to my other side so her back is to the rest of the squad. "I just don't think I believe you when you say nothing’s going on. So why don't we put it to the test?"
My prediction of trouble immediately comes true when, without warning, she lands two quick punches to my jaw, followed by an open-handed slap so hard, it splits the skin across my cheekbone and leaves my ears ringing.
The piercing sound is punctuated by Cayzenn's furious roar from across the training area. "Jeska, stop, right fucking now."
She does as he asks, triumphant smirk stretching across her beautiful face. "Surprise, surprise, right on cue," she whispers, grabbing her jacket and sauntering up the path to camp without so much as a backward glance, perfect braid swinging over her shoulder.
I choke back the tears threatening to spill as my body tries to process the shock of the violence. I need to lock this shit down. I refuse to cry. The twins reach my side first.
"Are you ok?" Willa asks softly, putting a hand on my arm. I nod and pull away. The last thing I want right now is comfort. I'm already humiliated, and she shouldn't be anywhere near my blood.
"I'm fine," I say, voice thick. "Can we get out of here? I need to bathe."
Felix agrees with a sympathetic look. "Of course. Let's go."
"No, we're not finished training," Cayzenn says, holding out a small towel, the corner dripping wet.
“Everyone else, head back to camp." I give the twins a tiny, reassuring smile, wincing when a fresh trickle of blood drips from my lip.
They reluctantly follow the rest of the group in the same direction Jeska went minutes earlier.
"Here, take this and clean yourself up. Are you ok? "
Too tired to argue, I take the towel and dab at my face, watching it smear with shimmering gold. "I'm fine," I lie. "Why did you stop training like that?"
"That wasn't training. That was something else," he growls, echoing what I'd said to his second-in-command. "What happened?"
"Ask Jeska. I don't want to talk about it."
"Alyxia, tell me why she hit you."
"No. Is that all?"
He shakes his head. "We're not done. I want to know what happened."
"And I want to get the fuck out of here."
Cayzenn runs a hand through his hair as I set the bloody towel down, far away from him. Even though my blood on anything else is supposed to be harmless, I'm not taking any chances.
"I'm not letting you leave like this," he says gruffly, watching me. "It will only make things worse."
"Ok, so let's train." I regret the words immediately, but I'm too stubborn to take them back.
"You want me to spar with you now? After that?"
"Sure, why not? Just stay away from my face, and we'll be fine.
" I must be insane. My legs ache, I'm so tired, I could crawl back into bed, and I think I might even be hungry.
Unfortunately, part of me agrees with what Cayzenn said, and I don't want to go back to camp to deal with everyone staring and walking on eggshells.
I also don't want to see Jeska for a while, and I suspect the same might be true for him. A long drink of water helps rinse the taste of blood from my mouth so I can paste on a fake smile. "Are you capable of training me properly? I've had enough bullshit for one day."
There's no time to take up the defensive stance he's been drilling into me before he spins me, one of his huge arms banding across my chest. He doesn't even use the other one, and I'm trapped.
"You need to learn to defend yourself, starting with breaking free if someone gets their arms around you.
Target vulnerable areas of my body with your fist or elbow to get away.
Do something I wouldn't expect. Now, try again," he growls in my ear before gently pushing me away from his chest and letting go of my arm, only to repeat variations of the maneuver over and over again.
No matter what I do, every time results in me pressed against his chest or with an arm wrenched behind my back in a submission hold, making me cry out in frustration. He's careful not to hurt me while also not treating me like I'm fragile.
"This isn’t working." Cayzenn sighs after too many attempts. "Do you need an incentive?"
I eye him warily. "Like what, being able to skip training after today?"
He laughs. "No, definitely not that. You know training's not meant to be a punishment. Out here, your life is my responsibility, so I need to know you can defend yourself. And, stolen or not, you need to build strength so you can mount that horse properly."
"You make some valid points." I pause, debating if there's any point even asking this.
"How about you tell me what you're searching the mountain caves for then?
" I'd overheard the others mention caves multiple times in the last few days, and they often come back with dust coating their leathers, suggesting time spent in dry spaces, well protected from the weather.
"Alright, break free from my hold in the next twenty minutes, and I'll tell you." I narrow my eyes as he starts to circle, just like Jeska did. "Come on, try something different. You're struggling because you think you should be imitating what you see others do, except you're not a fighter."
"I think we've more than established that," I snap, scowling up at him when he steps in front of me and corrects the positioning of my feet for the hundredth time.
He glares. "So stop trying to copy what works for other people and start paying attention to what I'm doing.
Start reading your opponent, see if you can spot patterns, opportunities to stop me as I go to grab you.
Like most things, you need to learn the skills then follow your instincts to execute them your own way. "
Breathing heavy, I step away, and he spins to my left, moving faster than anyone has any right to.
Even after training with him every day, I marvel at the fluidity and grace in his movements, a man completely at ease in his body.
I pretend to be disappointed when he locks his arms around my collarbone and hips again.
Forcing my face to soften, I drop my gaze to the hardpacked dirt and jut out my bottom lip the tiniest bit before sighing loudly.
"It's too hard. We shouldn’t have bothered with a deal.
I'm never going to get it." The irritating whine in my voice lands exactly as I intended, evidenced by the way he tenses behind me.
I take advantage of his momentary distraction and let my body go completely slack.
Using footwork better suited to a dance than a fight, I pull left.
When he shifts to tighten his grip, I throw my body the other way, grabbing his shoulder for leverage to swing around the back of his body, landing with a shout of victory.
Shaking his head, Cayzenn slowly turns to face me, and I have to laugh at the bemused shock on his face, like he can't quite process what I just did.
I'm elated it actually worked. "What was that?
" he demands, a little impressed, even as he folds his arms across his broad chest. I try not to stare at the muscles on display where the sleeves of his black training shirt cling.
"You told me to read you, so I did." He cocks a dark brow, daring me to continue.
"Oh, come on. I see your gritted teeth and deep scowl when someone complains.
Plus, we've been at this for a while, and you were losing patience, so I played into both those things and created an opportunity to try something different, like you said. "
The corner of his mouth turns up into a smile. "Ok, that was clever, I'll give you that."
"Why thank you. Reward now, please. What are you out here looking for?"
He hesitates, and for a heartbeat, I think he's going back on the deal until he mutters, "Feathers.
" "That's it?" Obviously specific feathers if we had to come all the way out here, to a place where I haven't seen so much as a single bird.
Now, I'm even more confused. At least it's something tangible we can help look for when we leave.
"That's it. You asked, I answered. Now, let's recreate that stunt you just pulled, and I'll show you why it was dangerous." All traces of my high at succeeding disappear. Damn, he doesn't let up. Even when I did what he asked, he's still not happy.
Before I know what's happening, he's hooked his foot around my calf and is yanking me around his side and across his shoulder blades in a more brutal version of my move.
This time, it ends with me on my back, the air rushing from my lungs as he follows me down, his body hovering above mine, pinning me against the damp ground with frustrating ease as his arms bracket my head.
"The second your feet are in the air, you're vulnerable," he says, mouth right next to my ear. "Keep yourself grounded, connected to something solid under you at all times. If someone gets you on your back, they have all the power."
His smoky scent fills my nose, and I'm not thinking about self-defense or looking for feathers.
All too aware of how close he is, hips pinning me to the ground, my face flushes hot.
Fuck, I need to stop with all this. It's exactly what started today's mess in the first place.
The second he helps me up, I grab my jacket and storm back to camp, sick of myself and the aggravating man.