Page 22 of The Fifth Soul

Jesse Oscuro chuckles behind me. A glint of something shows on Alejandra’s face as she takes notes on a pad. Roman doesn’t share their amusement at my accomplishment.

“Al,” the guard general calls out.

A slimmer and taller man walks into the circle. He pats Roger on the back, shooting him a condescending smile before facing me. He’s not looking at me with the same pitying expression his teammate did. No, Al saw what I can do; he’s assessing me. I can see the determination behind his eyes to not allow me to make him look like a fool.

At first, Al circles me and attempts to take out my legs, but I manage to get out of reach just in time. I stick to defensive moves, hoping he’ll make a mistake or tire himself out. From my heavy gasps and his easy breaths, I can tell he has more conditioning than me.

I need to attack and to catch him off guard, that’s my only hope. But how can I do that when he watches me so closely? I think about who he is. No tags identify him, but I know he belongs to Roman’s personal guards from the small group he parted from. I assume he possesses advanced training and has been involved in combat for years. I realize that my street fighting will be the only thing he is probably not expecting.

I don’t hesitate to go in to attack and close the distance, going for a few blows. I already know he will cover those easily. What he doesn’t see coming is how I scrape my nails down his face, nearly poking his eyes out. He stumbles back and lands on his ass, not expecting the feline-like attack. I use his surprise in my favor, wrap my thighs around his neck, and flip so I’m kneeling on the floor. My front is facing his back. My hands land on the back of his tights, and I push them down on the ground. I add pressure to my thighs, getting close to suffocating him without actually doing it.

“What in the actual fuck?” I hear Roman call out.

His disbelief mirrors the expression of many people staring at me with open mouths. Except for one. I lock eyes with Jesse across the circle; his smirk is gleeful. He’s beyond entertained, I dare say, impressed.

“Who is next?” I direct my question to Alejandra.

Unlike everyone else, she takes detailed notes on a notepad instead of gawking. Despite her attitude, she uses Roman’s little power display to assess my level.

Roman is about to call the next name, but Alejandra interrupts, “I think you’re done proving yourself.” Her facial expression leaves no room for questions. Roman doesn’t argue; he gives her a nod and steps aside.

I’m still on top of Al. When I stand and help him up, the trail of my nails is more visible, with a small sheen of blood on his face. He dusts his pants and shirt as best as possible before huffing away.

“Great, seeing you hold your own with Roman’s men reassures me you’ll do fine with mine.” She gestures to the younger group off to the side. They look fit and confident, but much younger than the other crowds I’ve seen.

“Welcome your new addition,” Alejandra instructs the group.

Their lack of greeting doesn’t bother me, but the sizing looks do. Does anybody here smile?

“Bianca will train with you for the tour. As I told you all earlier, your performance over the next two weeks will earn you the specific post you will hold during the tour.” She turns to me and, in a hushed tone, says, “Try to make it look like you earn yours. It’ll make it easier to explain why you will guard the crown prince and they will not.” She picks up two sandbags from the floor next to me. “Let’s start with seven laps, grab your bags.”

I watch as each of them does as they are told in formation. I wait until the last one has gone to pick up the two bags. They’re not heavy, but that won’t be my opinion once I run the third lap. Alejandra watches me, and despite not having eyes on the back of my neck, I know Jesse and Roman are too. I pull the bags closer to my chest before setting after my group’s last trainee.

After what feels like twenty laps and a day full of conditioning, I’m directed to the showers. Once I wash the dirt off and step into the locker room, I find Alejandra and the girl from earlier today.

“Sofia will take you to the library to continue your training.” Alejandra doesn't wait for me to respond before exiting the room.

Like a child needing supervision, I’m handed off to a young girl waiting for me with an eager smile. Sofia is a chatter box as we walk through the castle. She tells me how the second and third parts of my training will take place in the library. I’m expected to use magic in combat, and while I excel at hand to hand combat, my knowledge of spells is minimal. Her words are kind. Alejandra must have updated her on my performance while I showered.

Learning spells was what I was most excited about, but now my body feels fried. “Do I really need to do this now?” I tap my finger on the stack of books on my desk. Maybe I can get out of this. “My combat skills aren’t lacking. I put all those guys on their backs in the training circles.” I don’t mean to brag but the glee in my tone is evident.

I can’t feel my arms after the conditioning. I don’t remember the last time my body felt this exhausted. Now, I’m expected to study on top of that.

“Which shows potential,” Sofia says with a smile. “Let’s learn to do that with more technique, less hair pulling and face scratching.”

Santiago drops yet another textbook volume in front of me and the bang on the table startles me, making them laugh. Sofia and Santiago are unlike anyone else in the castle, with their smiles and willingness to help.

“You should begin with simple defensive spells and work your way to the offensive ones,” Santiago says as he finally sits with us. He seems to be the one in charge of this part of my training. “Next week, we’ll start on history. This takes precedence.”

“Will we be practicing here?” I look around the low lighted library. No doubt Santiago can point at a random door, and a private training hall will appear behind it. Yet both giggle like I said a joke.

“Oh, you are serious.” Sofia sobers up. “No, you do that with my sister in the training yard. Here, we’ll only learn and memorize spells.”

“I don’t know why you won’t ask your sister for a position on her guard.” Santiago crosses his arms and leans back on the chair.

Sofia’s face instantly blushes. Sofia and Alejandra being siblings is news to me, but I can see it. They don’t look as similar as the Oscuro brothers, but that might be because of their age difference. Sofia has a beautiful youthful face that only someone in their late teens has.

“Does it look like I can defend anything?” she asks as she flips her hair to one side.

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