Page 72 of Their Chosen

That was the crucial question now, wasn't it? I huffed out a breath, running my hands through my already tousled hair. “She's going to need a lot more training. And we need to get her magic under control.”

He laughed. “Obviously. I'm working on the magic, trying to find out how best to help her. The bonding will help her according to Master Jude, but we need to know more about her background just in case.” He studied me again. “I figured you could work on her training. If I remember correctly, you were the best with weapons at one time. All types. From what I saw, you haven't really lost your touch either.”

“Baer seems to be doing all right in that area so far,” I replied, unsure of where he was going with this.

“Baer is too easy on her. If we're going to make this work, then she needs someone to be tougher on her. To push her, even if she doesn't want to be.” He crossed his arms, waiting for my answer.

I huffed out another sigh, knowing he was right again. “You know, this smug, knowing side of you is not my favorite.” He laughed loudly at that, knowing again that he had me. Fuck, this bastard was too smart for his own good. He saw too much.

“I promise I'm not always like this. Only when people don't want to pull their heads out of their asses,” he joked with a shit-eating grin on his smug face.

I laughed in return, a lot of the tension leaving me. Apparently not deciding had been weighing on me more than I had thought. I turned back to watch Baer with Rhowyn, evaluating her progress. There was no time like the present to get started. After all, Titania’s moods had only grown more and more volatile the closer we got to the actual trials.

She’d sent Lennox after Rhowyn with a tight deadline. While he’d met it, the trials hadn’t. Meaning that whatever she was hoping to accomplish wasn’t going according to plan, and she’d be looking for something or someone to take her frustrations out on. All of it boiled down to one simple fact. We were running out of time. Any moment, we’d be called to complete the first trial, and none of us were prepared for it.

Chapter Thirty: Rhowyn

“Again!” Callum demanded as he disarmed me. I had to admit, he was good with knives, but maybe that was more my inexperience talking. In comparison, I was not even close. I was trying to do as he'd demonstrated, using the techniques and sequences he'd taught me, but he kept countering me. Each time I would strike out at him as he'd instructed, he'd either slip past my strike or disarm me completely. It was frustrating because while I was panting for breath, he hadn't even broken a sweat.

I knew from hand-to-hand sparring experience that I needed to do something he wouldn't expect, but I wasn't skilled enough to figure out what exactly that could be. An idea formed as I feinted and then switched directions quickly to strike out at him, praying that I'd be successful this time. I wasn't. He didn't fall for the feint, instead meeting my strike halfway, grasping my wrist and twisting hard enough that I had to relinquish my hold on the blade. He didn't stop there, though; he kept twisting, forcing me to flip and land on my back to prevent him from breaking my arm.

The whole thing was over in seconds, and I was left gasping for the breath that had been knocked out of me after landing so hard on my back. I laid there trying to regain my senses, Callum still holding my wrist. His eyes locked onto mine. I could see his judgment there, but I still didn't understand it. He wasn't happy with my progress, which only made my temper flare.

Just as I was getting ready to chew him out, Arryn stormed across the room from where he'd been doing his own training and trying to pretend he hadn't been watching us. “What the hell was that, Callum?” he demanded as he grew close enough.

Callum turned to face Arryn, still on one knee and holding my wrist. His grip tightened slightly at the question, and he ground his teeth together. “That was me training the Chosen so she might stand a chance in the trials.”

“She won't stand a chance if you break her arm or seriously injure her!” Arryn snapped back. He stopped with his arms crossed over his chest, glaring at Callum.

Callum stood with a growl, but a hand on mine drew my attention. Baer had snuck over while the other two got ready to go at each other and offered me a hand up. Gratefully, I accepted it. I was going to be sore tonight, despite the fighting shape I'd already been in. Apparently, knife training took a different set of muscles.

As I stood, my fatigue settled in now that I had taken the chance to catch my breath. I interrupted the brawl that was about to start between the two of the men before me, Baer still slightly behind me with a worried look on his face. “Arryn, calm down. I'll be fine. I've trained harder than this before for fights. Even injured, I was able to compete, so I'm not worried now. Besides, considering that this is a whole different world from what I've known, I would like to have at least some basic defensive skills with the knife. Callum's just doing as you asked him to. Taking it easy on me would only set me up for failure.” I turned to face Callum for confirmation. “Right, Callum?”

His eyes widened at my declaration, and he nodded, his jaw still clenched tightly. “Exactly. I do no one any favors by taking it easy on her. If you can't handle seeing me train her, you should leave.”

Arryn released a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger as he realized we were both correct. “You're right. I'll go check on Master Jude and find out when he can meet us to complete the binding ceremony.”

“Thanks, Arryn. The sooner I can find access to my magic, the better off we'll be, right?” I asked, thankful that he'd backed down from this. He really was rather levelheaded. It made me want to see what I could do to make him lose control of his always put together self.

“Exactly. I'll be back soon.” He turned toward Callum, who stood with his own arms crossed, his biceps bulging noticeably and testing the seams of his shirt. He really was stacked. “Just try to remember not to seriously hurt her. Without her access to magic, she won't be able to heal as quickly, and I can’t afford to expend all my magic healing her when we don’t know when the first trial is going to start. I need to keep my magic full just in case.”

He nodded, at least giving Arryn that much. Once he'd gotten that acknowledgment, Arryn turned and left, leaving us to continue the training.

My own temper having cooled down, I shook out my arms, the muscles wanting to cramp up with the inactivity. “So, what am I doing wrong?” I asked, turning to face Callum again.

“Nothing,” he said simply.

I huffed as Baer laughed, walking off to do his own training and to leave us to ours. “Obviously, I'm doing something wrong. I can't seem to get anywhere close to hitting you,” I pointed out.

“I've also been training since the time I could walk,” he replied, nonplussed.

I tilted my head from side to side in confirmation, but still couldn't shake the feeling of frustration and failure that was trying to grip me. “Which means I have a lot of training to make up for, but it does me no good if I can't defend myself even a little bit. If I can't even get close to you while using a knife, how will I be able to fight someone else off?” I asked, my frustration leaking into my voice as I continued.

He uncrossed his arms, studying me as I spoke. “I just told you I was one of the best, and you're upset that you can't get a hit on me? That seems like an unrealistic goal for a first training session, don't you think?” he questioned harshly.

I blew out a breath, trying to fight my temper, feeling stupid now. “I'm just used to being a lot more competent in combat. Hand-to-hand is what I know. I know that I'd be able to get a few hits in on you that way, but not with a knife. Why? It doesn't seem all that different. I should have an advantage because of my fighting experience, shouldn't I?”

Baer spoke up, reminding me he was still standing near us. “Maybe that's the problem.”

---