Page 27 of Brutal Birthright

She would gladly hack his foot off at the ankle and toss it in the lake if he dared think he could humiliate her further right now.

Looking up, she was met with an intense glare. Darkened storms clouded Rowan’s normally piercing blue eyes. He didn’t just look unimpressed but furious with her.

“You’ll stay back after class has ended, Oriana.”

She opened her mouth to protest, only to be cut off with a snarl. His lips curled back; a warning flashed amongst the thunder in his eyes. Clearly, the dick had forgotten how to communicate in anything but primal mannerisms.

Rolling her eyes, she clamped her mouth shut and glared at his boot, still holding her weapon captive beneath the heavy tread. “Fine. Please may I collect my sword, sir?”

He made some sort of grunt and kicked the handle towards her. Moving away like a furious dark cloud as the resounding clash of metal filled the air. She slunk to the back of the crowd of students, keeping her head down and unwilling to make eye contact with anyone. The last thing she wanted—or needed—was anyone’s pity or commiserations. She’d rather gnaw her own arm off than have someone feel sorry for her.

At least the other students seemed far more interested in each ensuing round. Their focus remained intent on each battle as Finnic continued calling out subsequent pairings, strikes, and victors.

Finally, the last round ended. Everyone was in various states of bloodied, dirty messes. Half the class grinned wildly with the spoils of their winnings, while the other half nursed their bruises and flesh wounds. Feeling grumpier than ever and still smarting over her loss, Ri hung back as the class began to disperse, and students made their way back to Trelithia Hall for the night. Just as Brynne waved at her from across the far side of the crowd, she sensed the looming dark presence without needing to see his face.

Brynne clocked the situation immediately and mouthed the words ‘see you later’ with a grimace before heading back towards their rooms with the others.

“You’ll complete ten rounds of the assault course before leaving class.” Rowan stepped in front of her with arms folded, still looking like someone had shoved a stick up his ass. Pompous dick.

Wait. His words sunk in.

The fucking assault course?

Was he for real? That had been part of their training on the second day and formed a track that wove deep into the forest throughout the outer reaches of Astracadia’s grounds. It was designed to be wearying and downright bone-numbing, even for a supernatural being. Enchanted obstacles that they were required to climb, scale, and crawl under, with each one more magically taxing than the last.

That day had been the killer blow for most of the students, some of whom had dropped out of the class immediately afterwards.

It had been torturous enough completing the course several times while surrounded by friendly faces and other classmates to nudge each other on and lend a hand when someone inevitably wound up flat on their face in a muddied pit.

Now, he expected her to go ten rounds? Alone?

That was going to take her hours. But there was no way he’d see her flinch in the face of his challenge.

He wanted to break her, but she was already cracked and damaged.

Ri would prove just how high she could soar on broken wings.

Nevertheless, she’d officially reached her capacity for biting her tongue today. If she was going to face Rowan’s brand of punishment, she’d at least enjoy unloading all the frustration and fresh sting of her loss onto him.

He could wear the torrent of verbal barbs she’d been swallowing back.

Fuck him.

“Just because I’m short and curvy and fae… and not a muscled behemoth like you… you think you can judge me? Deem me unfit for this academy? Punish me with this bullshit, for what reason exactly?” She hissed. Her fists clenched into tight balls at her sides as her fae magic desperately wanted to manifest her favoured golden blades.

Ones that would look perfect sunk into his stupid tattooed neck.

His sneer of indifference and the way he looked down on her… Ri was ready to accept any consequences there might be for assaulting one of the academic staff. Bonus points if she succeeded in inflicting grievous bodily harm.

“Size or physical shape is no determination of skill or power, Oriana.” Fuck, she hated the way he said her name. Wrapped in a gravelly tone that strangled her senses and sucked the air from her lungs. “I’ve seen creatures the size of mountains felled by forest sprites no bigger than the palm of my hand. I’ve seen every shape and sized supernatural creature fight to great success… irrelevant of their muscularity, as you so eloquently put it.” A tick formed in his jaw as he surveyed her. His darkened eyes narrowed, flicking up and down the length of her body.

He left a searing trail of goosebumps in the wake of his gaze.

“No, I couldn’t fucking care less about your physical appearance.” Ri sucked in a sharp breath like she’d been kicked in the sternum. “What I care about in this training arena is your mindset and determination to be the best you can possibly be. Which, based on the farce that I witnessed in that sparring session today, is sorely lacking.”

But oh no, the asshole still wasn’t done. He stepped forward, looming like a mountainous shadow.

“So, you are going to get the fuck out of my training arena and complete that course. Ten. Times.”

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