Page 4 of Enchanted Shadows
I glared at her. This was day one. I set the tone from the very beginning for how this would go. “That would beGeneral Raikes, Vivian.”
“Oh, sorry,” she grinned as she moved in closer. “Has it been so long that you call me by my full name now? Vivian, not Viv?”
Was she nervous or was she trying to hit on me? Neither of which I had the patience for. I cocked my head. “We’re not friends here. I am your general, and you will treat me as such.”
Hurt crossed her face before she turned and walked away. I wondered for a half a minute if she would walk right out the wall and back to Savaryn, if I had managed to lose a trainee in the first five minutes. Yet she stayed.
Finally, seven minutes in, unable to wait a damn minute more, I gestured them in closer. “I’m General Raikes.” My eyes went to each of them, some shifting their weight nervously, some looking hopeful, others looking a little scared. My eyes landed on my sister, who sent me a wink. “No matter how you may know me outside of training, I am your general in here.”
Too many of them were too skinny and frail. We had rubber barrels filled with weights to use in just a few days, and I was mentally wagering that only four of the twenty would be able to move it at all.
I glared at another trainee as she came sprinting in, letting out a quick, “Sorry.”
I crossed my arms. “This is the absolute only day I will accept lateness from any of you. Be late again tomorrow and you will have extra running to do.” I switched my attention back to the group before me. “Ladies, you are making history today. Look around. Each of you is part of the first training class of all women. There are twenty of you now. If a dozen of you make it to the end of this class, I will be surprised.”
A few nervous laughs hit the air as they all falsely assumed I was joking. I wasn’t.
“You will be doubted. You will likely have some horrible things said to you. And you will have to earn your position. So, I do hope you are up for the challenge. By the end of this ninety days, you will be able to defend yourself without your Enchantment. In fact, those of you who are Enchanted are not going to be allowed to use your magic during physical training for the morning session.”
“What?” Vivian snapped.
I sincerely hoped she didn’t sign up for this just to flirt with me. She was going to be sorely disappointed. Also just...sore.
About half of the women were Enchanted and we even had one Brakken Enchanted, a redhead named Fern. Jorah had met her while healing Brakken and asked if she wanted to join. To give Fern credit, she looked more ready than the majority of the Wylan women.
I gestured with my head to a trail through the trees. “This is a well-worn trail we use for rookie training. It’s a mile and a half to the turnaround point. You will have to run there and back within thirty minutes. And you don’t have long to get your times down.”
“Or what?” a voice asked.
“Or else don’t bother to keep coming,” I answered honestly.
Someone gasped.
“That is the standard for the men who have been training for the past twenty years, and thus it is for you. Eventually, we might even run it twice.”
Molly was barely holding back a groan. I wondered why she had joined. From what Jorah said of her, I always assumed she preferred books to the outdoors.
“Today we will start slow. Running. A few core and leg exercises.” I gestured behind me to some wooden balance beams a foot off the ground in the middle of the training ring. “Balance. And of course, stretching.” I paused. “It’s in your best interest to get to know one another well. You will be a stronger front if you learn to work together. If you learn to bring out the strengths of each other. So get to know one another while in the barracks, but here, in the training field, you bring your best.”
I stopped to swallow. “I don’t know why you signed up for this, ladies. Maybe it was the lure of being able to say you were a part of this. Maybe you have always wanted to learn to defend yourself. Maybe you wanted to be closer to the castle. Or maybe you justlike the attention. Whatever the reason, this is no princess academy, so you best get used to running. To sweat. One of the best ways to train your mind is to prove to it what your body can handle. I am going to push you. I am going to be mean. But at the end of this, I guarantee youwillbe stronger.”
Almost all of them had a water bottle, as instructed. I gestured to a spot. “Grab a quick drink, leave them there, and let’s go.”
I didn’t look back to see if anyone followed. I ran.
The amount of grabbing of knees and panting by the end wasn’t all that shocking, but they all made it to the big rock and back. I was mildly surprised. And because they were all breathing so heavily, there was very little complaining going on. Nor trash talking like was common in past groups I’d led.
I stood against the fence of the training ring. When I had been in training, Krew and I had jokingly referred to this fenced-in area asthe ring of death. I had taken some tough shots here for sure. Even got knocked out, but only once.
The barracks were within a half mile to the east of the ring. The forest, The Dead Lake, and meadow next to the castle were on the other side of that. The barracks and training space were on the furthermost northwest chunk of Kavan Keep. To the south of us were the barns and wall.
“For the next twenty minutes, we will be doing some balancing, followed by some squats, followed by some pushups, and then repeat the process until everything hurts.”
“Everything already hurts,” Molly muttered.
A giggle and snort combination I recognized as my sister’s agreed.
“Then we will spend a fair portion of time stretching properly. If you haven’t run like this before, your shins will be in a world of hurt within a few days if you do not learn to take care of them.” Was I being prickly? Yes. So I felt I needed to dangle something infront of them. “Showers and lunch will be following that, followed by a history and current events class. And then lastly, a quick strategy training session. The Enchanted among you can use your powers at that point and that point only.”
