Page 7 of Enchanted Shadows
My eyes snapped in the direction of the voice. Zara. Zara who was always poised, always on the quiet side, chose now of all times to pipe up? “Do you have something you’d like to say?”
“You’re not teaching us. Not yet. Running us into the ground?Yes. Pissing us off? Also yes. When do we learn how to defend ourselves? When will you stop trying to get us to quit and actually teach us something valuable?”
Damn. Judging by the heavy silence which settled on in, it seemed that Zara wasn’t alone in that feeling. They didn’t like me all that much as their trainer, but that was just fine with me. They could bond over their mutual hate of me.
I pointed to the weighted rubber barrels near Wren. “I’ll make you a deal. If half of you can squat and lift one of those, no Enchantments, tomorrow we will start self-defense.” I crossed my arms. “The first week is for getting your bodies moving, building your reflexes, and building the team. The whole lot of you are scrawny. You each need about fifteen pounds of muscle. It’s in the plan, just not for the first week.”
“Maybe it should be,” Zara fired right back.
She did have a point, but what was her deal?
She moved for the barrel. “We are a team of all women, training despite knowing the doubts and comments we will get. Self-defense is absolutely necessary.” And while glaring at me, she bent down and lifted, legs straining against the pull.
“She’s going to make him even more unbearable,” Magnolia whispered.
“Is that even possible?” Harlow said back.
Wren added, “Can confirm. Yes, yes, it is.”
“I can hear you, you know,” I barked.
With a final push, Zara flipped the barrel end over end. The look she sent me could only be categorized as cocky.
I smiled at her. “One down. Nine to go.”
Over the next few minutes, the women circled around and all took turns. It came down to Jessina. Nine failed. Nine passed. Jessina would make it or break it for the team.
“Come on, Jessina. You’ve got this,” Wren cheered.
Zara spoke up again. “Drive with your legs, weight in yourheels.”
“Just chuck the damn thing,” Sam said.
Though it took three tries, she finally got it. The women all jumped together fists in the air in victory.
They all turned to me, laughing. And after the last few days of getting into the routine and grind, they needed this. Even if I became their common enemy. “I’m a man of my word. Tomorrow we will start self-defense. You are dismissed for the night.”
As they all headed for the barracks, Zara hung back, watching. She always seemed to be watching.
“What?” I snapped. “You got what you wanted.”
“Did you just use my anger toward you and create a test that would help us become stronger both physically and as a team when you suggested this little challenge? Ultimately proving your point that we are weak?”
“If I did, would that mean that I was, in fact,teachingand not just barking orders?”
She shook her head and squinted at me. “I just cannot decide if you were smart enough to pull that off on the fly or just lucky.” She moved to head for the barracks.
I sidestepped to stop her. “Look. I have been hard on all of you. I get it. But I know how hard the rest of Wylan will be on you. I want this team to succeed. And believe it or not, you might not like every decision I make as your General, but I do often times have a reason for doing things the way I do them. This isn’t my first training class by a long shot. It isn’t fair to make the ten of you that tipped those barrels tonight carry the weight of the others. We all need to be improving. Together.”
She considered what I said. “Is it true that you trained the queen?”
“I did.”
“Were you this...” she gestured with her hand toward me in a circle, “growly?”
I bit down my laugh. “Yes.”
It looked like the start of a smile was trying to show, but she shut it down. “I guess I don’t have to approve of your methods, General Raikes, though I really do feel as if you started us out by trying to get us to quit.”
