Page 19 of A Court of Ash and Midnight
I turn to face my fate, walking forward and pushing through the door into the dining hall. I’ve not traveled ten paces when I see Professor Julian cutting through the crowd toward me. His face looks slightly stricken.
“Embyr, there you are!” He stops in front of me, his eyes searching me up and down as if I could be injured. “Where have you been?”
I decide truth is the best option. “I went to one of the gardens. And on my way back, I ran into the kitchen staff, and they fed me breakfast.”
He looks puzzled. “Why didn’t they bring you here? Were they pressing you for gossip?”
I wave my hands. “No, no. It was my fault, I didn’t want to…” I sigh. “I’m not accustomed to being around this many people.”
His expression lightens somewhat, seemingly mollified. “I understand. But you’ll need to go get changed. Breakfast is almost over, and sparring starts soon.”
“Sparring?”
“Yes…until we figure out why you are so valuable to our enemies, you’re to begin training with the other students here.”
I shake my head. “Training to become a Guardian?”
“Well, no… only fae can become Guardians. But we hope that exposing you to magic and sparring and all the other things we do here will… shed some light on things.”
“On what things?”
“Well, we don’t know yet. And that’s exactly what we need to figure out. No better way than to put you to the test, so to speak.”
“So, I’m going to jump into classes with students that have been here for years already?”
“No, of course not.” He looks taken aback. “You’ll be in classes with the first-year trainees, who are about five years your junior.” He says this as if it makes the whole preposterous idea any better at all.
“And you realize I’ve never done anything except work as a blacksmith, right? I know nothing of magic or… well, as far as sparring goes, I can’t say I haven’t been in a bar brawl or two…”
Professor Julian surprises me by letting out a low chuckle. “Well, maybe you can teach the other students a thing or two, then.”
“But—”
“Gielle will take you to the sparring room and get you fitted properly.” He raises his hand and makes a gesture, and a few moments later my least favorite fae strides up. “Gielle, please get Embyr ready for sparring, and show her around to all the first-year classes today.”
Gielle’s face twists as if his words are sour. But a moment later she nods. “Of course, Professor.”
He turns, melting into the crowd of trainees rising from their tables for their first classes. Gielle doesn’t say a word to me, but spins on her heel and does her best job to lose me in the rush of people. I manage to stick on her tail, barely, as we pass out of the dining hall and down the main corridor. We travel all the way to the other side of the castle, and when Gielle shoves open thedoors to the outside I catch her glance of disappointment when she sees I’m still behind her.
She leads us twenty paces, past the turn off to the stables and down a set of shallow steps to the next building. It’s nearly as large as the castle itself, but only three stories high instead of five. Once inside, we pass into another hallway. Doors on each side reveal glimpses of rooms that hold weapons or are set up for practice, cleared of furniture and set with target dummies. We cross nearly to the far side of the building before turning into the last room on the left.
A dozen trainees are scattered about the room, all in various states of undress. I pause for a moment, surprised, before following at Gielle’s heels to a large trunk that contains sparring attire. Without looking at me, she starts digging through it, and straightens a few moments later with a leather vest that looks like it’s been made for a child.
“Try this one.”
“I don’t think that’s going to fit,” I say with a raised brow, looking down at my generous curves. Gielle may be thin and straight as a whip, but I most certainly am not.
She rolls her eyes. “Just try it. They’re supposed to be tight.”
I pause for another moment before sighing and stripping off my tunic. I feel exposed, standing there in nothing but my brassiere in front of a roomful of strangers, but then, it’s not as if it’s the first time I’ve been naked in front of someone. If Gielle thinks she’s going to embarrass me, I won’t give her the satisfaction. Taking the vest out of her hands, I slide my arms through it and attempt to lace it up the front as I see the others doing, but it won’t come within three inches of closing.
“Gielle, I told you, it’s not going to—”
“Here!” she snaps. She steps forward and tries to wedge me into it like a corset, which only serves to shove my breasts practically halfway up my throat.
It’s at that moment Toryn strides up, looking radiant and sun-kissed like an ancient god. “Do you need some help?”
His golden eyes are pinned on me, but Gielle takes his offer as directed at her. “Well, not sure what you can do about this!” She waves a hand at me as if this is somehow my fault.
