Page 118 of Forcing Fate

He didn’t reply. He simply pulled the stool near the fireplace and sat. It was opposite of the bed, and laying on my side gave me a clear view of the brooding General.

“That looks terribly uncomfortable,” I murmured.

He glared and leaned against the wall, stretching his feet out in front of him. He didn’t take his eye off me, and I soon closed my eyes to shield myself from the heat of his gaze.

He was so intense. Everything about him was so… hard. Even when he showed sympathy, he went on to prove he had no tenderness.

After days of sleep, I wasn’t tired in the slightest. I wanted to talk to him, ask him why he helped me months ago in the Dragon Canyon. But I thought better of it. I wouldn’t risk losing my tongue for that. Still, I needed to make sense of what I saw. Did he somehow bribe Elispeth?

Where was his family? Did he have a mate? Where did he come from?

Those were all such private questions. A simple cadet such as I could not ask their General such things.

“General Rafe?” I opened my eyes to catch him staring straight at me. I swallowed and clutched my tunic under the blanket. “Will you teach me how to use my bandit breaker?”

My heart stuck in my throat. Asking for his training gave me a strange sense of vulnerability. It didn’t help that it felt improper for a cadet to ask a favor of a General.

After a pause, he tilted his head. “Is that all you want to learn?”

I frowned, thinking. Wasn’t that enough? No. I wanted to learn how to use any weapon. I needed to know how to protect myself, even without one.

“Could you teach me how to defend myself… against any odds?” I reworded my question and was rewarded with a low chuckle.

“Any odds?” he scoffed. “I’ll do my best.”

“Thank you,” I replied quietly.

“Avyanna, you won’t like it.”

The sound of my name on his lips was so foreign. At least, without him barking it across a field of soldiers.

“Are you warning me?” I asked, holding back a laugh. I was under no illusion his training would be anything less than grueling.

“It would only be fair.”

“Since when are you fair?” I teased.

He grunted in response, though I swore the corner of his mouth turned up. It must have been a trick of the firelight.

I laid there, listening to the crackle of flames and the wind howling outside. I was almost sleepy… but my mind crawled with questions.

“General?” I ventured again, and my answer was his eyebrows meeting in a frown as he glared. “How did you injure your eye? Is that why they sent you here?”

He continued his glower, and after a moment I realized he would not respond. I closed my eyes, hiding from that accusing gaze.

It took me a long time, but eventually, I drifted off into a fitful slumber.

Chapter Twenty-Five

I tore through the woods. The snow bit at my feet. I wrapped my arms around my naked chest. My lungs burned with need, but I kept running. Fear raced through my veins, demanding I go faster. Low branches whipped at my face as my legs pumped harder, stumbling into a tree. I yelped and whirled in terror. The snow was cold and harsh against my bare legs. A fist gripped my heart, and I panted, searching the trees for whatever sought me.

‘Run!’

I didn’t question the voice urging me on. My fingers clawed at the snow as I scrambled to stand. I spun, bolting through the cold forest.

Where was I going? What was I running from?

It didn’t matter. I had to get away—had to find a way out.

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