Page 36 of A Simple Truth

“I am not arguing with that…” he started.

Each second we shared a breath, the more infuriating his presence became to me. My heart beat faster in my chest, my thoughts hiding as welcoming anger flooded my mind.

“But you are insinuating that your lie, done only to protect nothing but your fragile ego, is somehow comparable to mine? Your arrogance, General, isappalling.” I threw another flame at him. Faster, one after another, two at a time, getting more andmore irritated that it did nothing to rouse him, no matter how deeply I dipped into the well within me.

He exhaled halfheartedly.

“Perhaps, a poor choice of words on my part. Though, to be very clear, Ididn’tlie to you. In fact, I’ve told you nothing but the truth from the start. Whatever the old traditions and rituals dictate, I have no intentions on keeping them.”

I ignored him, only focusing on the noise of rushing blood in my ears.

“What was your plan, anyway? Charm me with your sword skills? Break the news of our engagement a month into training and somehow think I’d be okay with it?” I sneered.

“My plan—” He gave me a sharp look, and I threw a large fireball at him in response. Though this time, he motioned with his hand, sending a heat shield towards me strong enough to almost knock me to the ground if not for his arms wrapped around my waist, holding me a few inches above the dirt. “My planwasandisnot to marry you,” his voice direct, “Though now, I can only wonder if you are so upset about it, because deep down, you wished to marry me. Truly, it's the only logical explanation,” he smirked, letting go of me as my body thumped hard against the earth.

“Add ‘extremely delusional’ to the list of adjectives!” I shouted angrily after clearing my throat, but he was already across the ring. My eyes trailed his back as he carelessly strolled towards the bench, grabbing his belongings. His ashy scent still lingered in my nose, and my thoughts scattered in my brain.

“See you tomorrow,” he said and without giving me even a single glance, he walked away, leaving me alone amidst the tall, ancient trees.

21

FINNLEAH

The previously white streets of Svitar were empty and sinister, not a soul around. The usually blooming flowerpots were now filled with rotten, wilted flowers and thorns. So many black thorns.

Though I had just barely woken up, I was already yawning, the last bits of my lingering dream still fresh in my mind as I rubbed my eyes. My entire body was stiff and sore. Despite having gone to bed quite early the day before, I felt more exhausted than ever, as if I hadn’t slept at all.

“A smile a day keeps the gloom away,” Gia exclaimed next to me. “It’s a beautiful day to be alive, isn’t it?” She smiled, fully dressed in her training gear. She opened a few window flaps, letting the bright, morning sun eliminate any remaining haze from the room.

“A stupid phrase a day brings more death threats your way,”Ioanna's sleepy voice grumbled as she stretched like a cat, making me smile.Though we weren’t best friends, there was an unspoken truce between us, and even a bit of gratitude on my end, that out of all the Ten, she was brave enough to speak the truth no matter the consequences.

I sorted through a small wicker chest grabbing a few clothes for the day. My eyes paused at the messily folded, black fabric. My face immediately turned sour as I stared and considered what to do with the General’s cape. After too long of hesitation, I grabbed the fabric, and hastily ran to the small training ring on the outskirts of the camp.

The late winter sun was gradually warming the crisp morning air as I took a shortcut through the moss-covered floor of the forest.

“You're late,” the General stated. With his back turned to me, he removed his swords and left them by the bench.

“Actually, I am not. You are just early,” I argued, but before he could object, I threw his cape at his once again shirtless figure stalking towards me. “There,” I said. He recognized the cloth, giving me a silent look, questioning. “I figured you might need it back. Perhaps you could make a shirt out of it, since it seems you have very few of those.”

The corner of his mouth tugged upward, but he didn’t say anything as he directed me to the center. I let out a dramatic sigh but complied, taking a stance in the middle and obediently channeling those hateful fireballs.

I bit the inner of my cheek, calming my heart as the flames carelessly danced on my fingers. Though we’d been training every single day for over a week now, it somehow still stung to summon the fire, but at least I was getting better at hiding the initial wince as I steadied my trembling hand. Per usual, our trainings were mostly silent — the only reprieve to the General’s overwhelming presence. Granted, it was becoming much harder and harder to call these wasted hours trainings—a shirtless Destroyer General just observing me, disintegrating my fireballs with his eyes, no matter their shape, size, or intensity.

He frowned as he firmly grabbed my wrists, adjusting my hand motion.

“You are sloppy today,” he remarked, as if that was supposed to help.

“Like teacher, like student…” I whispered under my breath. He rolled his eyes, uncomfortably stepping on my foot to readjust my stance.

“Anything on your mind you’d like to share?” he questioned, his eyes inspecting me.

“No.”

“No?” He raised his brows, clearly not believing me.

“No,” I sneered.

“So be it.”

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