Page 64 of Forcing Fate

Master Elenor surveyed the area with her cold gaze. “Where is the General?”

“I don’t know.”

“Where is the General?!” Master Elenor barked at the nearest cadet.

He flinched at her harsh tone and pointed across the road. I turned around and saw General Rafe reclining against a post beside a group of lively men—keeping his eye on me. I frowned and threw a glare back at him as Master Elenor stalked over.

“Honestly, Avyanna,” Master Niehm sighed. “This is no place for a woman!”

“Why?” I hissed. As of a few hours ago, she was no longer my Master, and my temper was getting the better of me. “The only reason this is not a place for women is because women have never made it so. There’s no rule, no law saying we cannot.”

“There will be after this.”

“Then we should resist it! What is so wrong with a woman wanting to fight for her homeland?”

“Nothing! There is, however, something wrong with a girl of a mere seventeen-winters sleeping in a room with over two hundred randy men!”

I pursed my lips and glared.

“You are young and naïve, Avyanna. In some ways, you are wiser than your years, but in this, you are ignorant.” Anger flashed in her green eyes. “They are men, you are a woman. You’re asking for trouble.”

“You act like they’re animals,” I said, my lip curled with disgust. I worked with these men. I knew how they behaved.

“Most act as if they are. You cannot trust them—not as far as you could throw them.” She threw a threatening glare at a boy who looked her up and down with a low whistle.

I took a steadying breath, unwilling to give this up. “They’ll respect me. I’m one of them now.”

A bitter laugh escaped her mouth. “No. No, they won’t. If you thought your peers were bad, just wait till you see the treatment they have in store for you.”

I frowned and turned to find Elenor again. She stood rigid and unyielding, chin up, biting out words at General Rafe. In turn, the General watched me with faint amusement curling his lips. He made no reply, other than a one-shoulder shrug. With a nod to me, he said something to his little group and walked off.

Elenor stared after him as though her look could kill the man. She said a few short words to the men standing there before marching back to me and Niehm.

“You are coming with me,” she bit out.

“No, I’m–”

“Yes, you are. If you say one more thing before we get to your room, I will drag you by your ear in front of every single soul here.”

I snapped my mouth shut, eyeing the men drifting about. They watched me with open curiosity. Some stood nearby, staring, while others pretended to be busy.

She spun on her heel and carved a path to the gate, and I followed. Knowing Elenor, she would make good on her word.

We passed Willhelm on the way out. When he saw me, he ran a hand through his hair. He eyed Niehm and Elenor and frowned. I offered him an encouraging smile.

I would be back.

“You’re not going back,” Niehm seethed.

I sat on my bed and faced the two crones that blocked my door.

“She is actually.”

Niehm spun around to face Elenor, who was glaring at me for all she was worth.

“Dear Avyanna has signed away five years of her life. She is due in the barracks at the sixth chime.” Elenor rubbed her temples as if the words pained her. “She’s a fool, but she will be an honest fool.”

She took a seat on my stool and patted her graying hair as if during the bustle of activity, a strand dared to find its way loose of her bun. She heaved a heavy sigh and looked at me again. “Is this because of the dragon?”

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