Page 18 of Feathers of Ash and Hope

My next step is not completely centered, and my foot slides to the side. There is a collective intake of breath from the crowd below that seems to suck all the air from my lungs. I bring downmy other foot, praying to all the gods that could possibly be interested in my fate to find my balance again. I wobble, and it’s probably pure defiance that keeps me from falling, but I take it. The sigh from below lets my lungs expand again.

I keep going and increase my tempo. Going slower only gives me time to hesitate, and that hasn’t worked out for any of the other candidates I watched.

My body knows what to do. My job is to keep my head from interfering.

Jumping, climbing, balancing, repeating over and over.

My muscles burn, the air rushes past me, and my body pulses in the rhythm of my heart, my breath. I’m alive.

Suddenly, I’m at the end of the course. I jump down and roll again to compensate for my speed, and the moment my hands hit the sand, a smile splits my face. I did it.

I hop up right in front of the wide-eyed rider, stopping my time. He scribbles it down next to my number, shaking his head all the while and copies it to a stamped slip of paper. One of three I have to turn in at the end.

Since it is a round course, I end up only a few steps away from the starting point, so I exit the same way I came in.

I walk past the line of candidates who will go next. Calix is the first.

“Watch out for the tree stump. You have to hit the middle or pray,” I whisper to Calix while passing. The whistle sounds behind me while I make my way to the next test.

I’m standing in a line again, waiting for my turn, this time for sparring.

My eyes wander to the area dedicated to weaponless combat, where a red-haired girl takes down a guy a head taller than her with apparent ease. I’m fascinated and desperately try to understand how she did it.

Calix cuts in right behind me, ignoring the grumbling candidate he stepped in front of.

“Damn, Gray, you flew through that course! I have never seen anyone move that fast.” Calix nearly knocks me over by slapping my back. “The rider taking the time was still stunned when I made it through. Thanks for the tip, by the way. That would have cost me otherwise.”

I watch the male candidate surrender to the redhead before I turn to Calix, who grins down at me.

So much for evading attention.

I smile back. I’m glad about my decision to hide between the men. If my time was that fast, it would have probably caused even more attention as a girl.

“You practically ran up that wall.” He shakes his head in wonder.

I shrug. “I like climbing.”

“Yeah, no kidding.” His gaze wanders from me to the shooting range behind me. “Will you excel at that, too?” He inclines his head toward the targets. “Or is there something you're not good at?”

“I’m good with a sword and a bow, passable with knives, but I have never even seen something like that.” I gesture to another pair of candidates fighting with their bare hands. “So I'll probably get my butt kicked.” I shrug again.

I better make sure I don’t break something.

I watch as one of the candidates flips the other on his back and wince in sympathy at the impact. “Strength is not my strongest suit either.”

Calix turns to me again and sweeps a glance over my shoulders, which are nearly half the size of his. “Yeah, you are a bit scrawny, if you don't mind me saying so. But speed and technique can make up a lot.”

“Did you train with your brothers?” I ask Calix.

He laughs.

“No, I begged our neighbor to train me. He is with the city guard. I had enough of always getting my ass handed to me since I was the little chubby brother.”

“Chubby?” I give his athletic body a once-over. “Well, I would say that worked out well for you,” I say.

“I’m not complaining.” He smirks. “Did you train with your brothers?”

“I joined my brothers' lessons as soon as I was able to hold a blade … and they dragged me back to our mom. But I was right back … so they gave up eventually,” I say, and Calix chuckles. We both watch two candidates go at each other with swords, their movements fast and so fluid it looks like a dance.

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