“Well, you certainly know how to pick a defensive position.” Jett’s voice was dry, calling from ahead of his brothers. Two pairs of eyes locked on to me as Blaine and Flynn turned to search for my position. I blushed, ducking my head to avoid their eyes. Blaine’s gaze swept the training yard and took in the masses observing us, his mouth twisted in disgust. Spreading his wings wide, he arched an eyebrow at the crowd, as though daring them to continue to observe us. The response was immediate, despite no command being issued. Valkyries turned back to their training and other tasks, going about their day. Sidelong glances were still thrown in my direction
“So, what’s the surprise?” I didn’t see anyone or anything on the training grounds, nothing that could qualify as a surprise outside of seeing all of them here again.
“Can I tell her?” Hunter was all smiles, flitting around Jett, bouncing on his heels and taking small leaps into the air as he let his wings catch him. Jett rolled his eyes but waived his hand at his energetic brother. “We’re going to train you!”
“Train me?” I always ended up repeating these males, but I couldn’t seem to help it. It was as if they spoke another language, despite using words I knew.
“Yes! You don’t have wings, but you received the basic training as a youngling. We’re just going to expand on that. You don’t have to be helpless against them.” Flynn was nearly vibrating, just as excited as Hunter.
I shook my head, backing slowly away from them. The little training we received as younglings focused more on form and keeping our bodies strong rather than any actual offensive or defensive moves. I hadn’t done anything of that kind in years. It wasn’t my place to. I wasn’t a Valkyrie!
“Emberly.” Jett’s voice cracked out like a whip, pulling my eyes to him. “You will learn this. It’s not an option. Tesha’s your guard, but she can’t be everywhere, nor can we. We want you to be able to protect yourself. We aren’t foolish in our expectations, and we don’t want you to be foolish either. You do not have wings. You are a beginner, a youngling in this. We do not expect that you will win, Emberly. We expect that you can give us time. A few minutes, time for you to evade a killing blow or get away, should be enough for us or a guard to reach you. Remember that, Starshine. Don’t attempt to kill or maim your opponent. You are looking for a chance to get away and to keep them away from you and unable to perform a killing blow.”
Well, that was a cheerful thought. I bit my tongue to prevent the comment from slipping out. He was correct however. “It will probably be foolish to begin this. The king is still making his decision. If I’m to be executed, it is a waste of your time and mine.”
“Would you rather sit and worry?” Neel’s voice was calm, his expression gentle as he stepped from behind his brothers. “We know our Father. We don’t believe an execution is upcoming. In the meantime, we want to begin your training. You may not realize it, but you do have advantages that we do not. If we can increase your strength and speed, give you some basic training, you could be an extreme asset to our protective detail especially with your rapid healing.”
An asset? My skepticism must have shown on my face because he smiled, his eyes crinkling at the corners.
“Yes, Emberly, an asset. You can get into small areas that even the most petite Valkyrie can’t reach with her wings. You aren’t expected to be a threat, that in itself will give you the advantage of surprise. Most Valkyries expect an attack from above while you’ll be coming at them from underneath. You will also have to rely more heavily on your physical strength and your weapons, rather than your ability to fly. All of this will give you a distinct advantage if you practice.”
I gaped at him. He - they - had obviously put quite a bit of thought into this to have thought out the advantages I would have as well as what problems I would face. “You want me to be one of your guards?” They had Tesha and all of her handpicked Valkyries. That they would want me as a guard came as a complete shock.
“Your instincts to protect are impressive. You’re fast and physically strong even without training. You have a good ear and eye for trouble. All of those qualities make you a perfect choice for a guard. You’re beautiful, which also works well as a distraction in political environments. It will take time to get you to that point, even with Tesha and us training you. For now, we’re just going to slowly get your body adjusted to the demands of this kind of training and show you some extremely simple defensive moves.” Blaine’s cool logic helped to center me.
“I can try.” Despite their faith in me - and the king’s decision - I wasn’t sure if it would actually be possible, but I was willing to do my best. I felt an overwhelming need to protect them and care for them as they had done for me.
“In the ring, then.” Jett indicated to me. “We’re going to start with stretching, jumping, and twisting exercises. You need to be limber.” A small smirk covered his lips as he studied me. “You’re going to be worked hard here, Starshine. Don’t think it won’t hurt some. I know you’re healing and I’ll take that into consideration. Nevertheless, I want you strong quickly. You’re going to be with at least one of us daily. We won’t start weapons training yet, but each of us specializes in a different weapon, and we’ll train you on several until we find the one you’re comfortable with.”
“It’s foolish to train you on every weapon, at least to the extent of knowledge that we want you to have. You should know at least two weapons well, with one being a priority. We don’t want you to be helpless without your chosen weapon, however. It’s why we’ll train you in the basics of others. We’ve seen plenty of Valkyries injured or even killed because they lacked the knowledge of how to protect themselves without a sword in hand.” Neel’s eyes were serious as they held mine. I nodded my understanding, though my stomach twisted. I couldn’t picture myself with a weapon. At the moment, picking up a weapon was a death sentence for me. I would definitely be too nervous to carry one outside of their protection.
“Enough stalling,” Blaine called. “We’re all going to train with you. It’s good for us to continue to hone our skills. Follow our movements. If you need to throw up, do so. Then come back. You don’t have to go at our speed but follow our movements as well as you can. We’ll correct you if your form is wrong. Do not take it as an insult. I know you have watched plenty of training sessions, but it isn’t as easy as it looks. Let’s begin.”
Hours later I was nauseated, dizzy, and seriously contemplating the princes’ sanity. Stretching had lead to running, which had then led to practicing different stances. I didn’t feel like my body had remained still for more than a moment or two at a time. Blaine’s advice had proven necessary. I had vomited not once, but twice during our run. I considered myself reasonably strong. As a servant, I had plenty of physical duties. However, this was pushing my body in ways I hadn’t tried in years.
“Good job, Sunbeam.” Flynn was showing some of the effects of their training as well. While I was bent over, gasping for air and debating if there was enough in my stomach to throw up again, he was covered in a sheen of sweat. His chest heaved as he stretched out tight muscles from the hand to hand combat he had been practicing with Neel. “You’ve kept up with everything we’ve thrown at you. We’re going to hand you over to Tesha. It’s time for a bath, a meal, and bed. We’ll get you up tomorrow for the same thing.” I had the most foolish urge to stick my tongue out at him, but I simply tried to execute a small bow. His smirk clearly showed that I had failed.
I hadn’t even noticed Tesha joined our training session, but suddenly she was beside me, handing me a cup. “Drink slowly. I know you’ll want to finish it all immediately, but you’ll just throw up again if you do.” Her face was stoic, but I could hear the amusement in her voice. “You did very well, youngling. You should be quite proud. Trainees usually stop well before you do, and their health is not in the same condition as yours. I think you will be a force to be reckoned with if you continue to train at this pace. The princes have requested to handle this part of you
r training as I once handled it for them. Once you are a little further along, I will also train with you. Their specialties are weapons, and they are fairly good with them.” Jett’s snort proved that the princes were listening in to the instructions. “However, there are many weapons they are not trained on as well as other fighting techniques. As a female, there are other ways to train as well. You are small. Techniques that work for them will not work for you. Try as they may, there’s only so much they will actually be able to show you. Are you comfortable being under my wing?”
I tried to smile, though even my facial muscles felt like water. “Of course, Tesha. Thank you.”
“Good. Then I will tell you something they will not. For most of my students, they will hurt more tomorrow than they do today. With your healing, I doubt that will be the case. A bath with herbs will help in the meantime before your body gets a chance to catch up. Come along.” She executed a sharp salute and a low bow before turning to stride from the yard. We had developed quite an audience. Blaine’s earlier warning appeared to have been forgotten, and Valkyries ringed the training yard, some of whom I was familiar with and others whom I believed to be visitors.
Tesha was correct. Although I wasn’t hurting the way many of the Valkyrie’s were, I was still not catching on. Despite the repetition of the previous day’s exercises, I was still making mistake after mistake as I tried to adjust to each movement and my body began to ache. Sitting on the ground after throwing up, yet again, I leaned my head against my knees. Why did they think this would possibly work?
“Don’t get defeated.” Hunter knelt next to me, a small cup of water in his hand. “It gets harder for quite awhile before it gets easier. You honestly won’t even notice it is getting easier because we’ll keep pushing you. That’s part of training. You’re doing incredibly well; you have a lot of promise as a guard.”
“Up, Emberly,” Tesha’s hard command echoed from the sidelines of the training yard. I raised my head, meeting her eyes. They flicked to the sides, emphasizing all of the surrounding Valkyries watching and scowling at one of their princes serving me, some even had snarls twisting their lips.
“Don’t let them see you struggle.” Hunter’s comment was a mere whisper of breath, his lips barely moving. “They expect you to fail. Prove them wrong. It’s going to hurt. You’re going to want to cry. We all did the same during training. Wait until you’re back in your room. If you need to let off steam just yell. It helps.” Standing, he reached a hand down to haul me to my feet. Hisses, expletives, and growls all echoed from the surroundings. Touching him, even just my hand in his, was too far for the watching Valkyries to accept.
“Enough!” Neel’s voice was a roar, completely shocking me. “You will not judge. You will not condemn. It is not your place to question my brothers and I. We have let you watch our training. You will not interfere in any way, that includes with commentary.” His eyes were hard, his lips curled back as he scanned the gathered crowd. All of my princes joined him, forming a semicircle to face the gathered crowd. Jett’s face seemed carved of stone, his onyx eyes flashing as he stared. Blaine’s eyes were molten, his wings flicking as he settled into his preferred fighting stances, a clear challenge. Hunter rose slightly in the air, his wing held wide, light reflecting in jagged, jade patterns across the grounds. Flynn cracked his knuckles, his teeth clenched tightly, his ruby eyes hot as he studied each face in the crowd. Neel strode forward, his steps fluid and unhurried as he approached me and the crowd. Not removing his eyes from the angry gathering he reached a hand down, settling it on my shoulder. “Emberly is under our protection. She is ours. This prejudice will stop. Immediately. You have been lied to. Emberly is not contagious. She is not cursed. She is simply different. I should not have to explain this, and will say no more on the subject. This behavior ends or you will answer to us and our guard. Disperse. Now” His words were hard and clipped as he met their eyes. The crowd parted slowly, trickling away as they threw final glances at our party.
“That was a little dramatic, Suneel.” The sweet voice surprised Neel enough that he whirled, his wings fluttering to balance his dramatic movement.
“Lady Dierdre?” Neel seemed shocked to observe King Anyil’s lady on the training grounds, her hands stroking her burgeoning belly. The princes all gathered around the lady. “Do you bring us news?”
She shook her head, her eyes clouding as she studied them. “I apologize, but no. Your father, the elders, and the council are all still in discussions. With so much drama at the Court, His Majesty thought the other ladies and I might be more comfortable near our sons and the Captain.” Her eyes met mine and the smile she sent me was gentle. “Emberly, it’s nice to see you here again. Although, I don’t have my bow on me at the moment.” Her laughter was a chime, soft and warm.
I executed a deep bow. Although the princes had ordered me not to bow to them, their command in no way affected my behavior near the king’s lady. “My lady. May I get you anything?” I still hurt so badly I wanted to cry, yet I knew my position.
“No, dear. I just wanted to go for a walk. I caught the end of the little show here. Focus on your training. Once you are no longer a novelty, they’ll lose interest.” With a small wave, she swept past the princes, giving me another small smile as she skirted me to head back towards the guest dormitories. I studied her for a moment as she walked. It seemed as if she had stepped away to avoid any physical contact with me. That was odd. Why would she be encouraging if she believed as the other residents did, that I was cursed? Was it simply in support of the princes?
“Ready to keep going, Sunbeam?” Flynn looked slightly calmer, though his hands were still clenched tightly into fists. I glanced back at Tesha who gave me an affirmative nod.
“Yes. Let’s keep going.” I threw my body into a run, following his glowing wings.
My days took on a routine around my princes. They had been right to keep me occupied. I was so exhausted and sore that I had no time to worry, little time for even idle thought. One of the princes would come to haul me out of bed at first light. We would stretch and run laps, and they began to teach me ways to avoid blows and other aerial attacks. I thought I had started to throw up less, though that seemed to be the only improvement in my actions. Jett’s serious support, Blaine’s logic, Neel’s gentle words, Hunter’s laugh, and Flynn’s teasing made the pain and effort fun and fulfilling. Tesha and I would head to the bathing pools together, with her sharing stories of the princes’ time in training. The days flew by, though I knew it couldn’t last. Over a week had passed, and I laid down to sleep. I was enjoying getting to know the princes more, but I wanted the waiting to be over. Even exhausted, it was just too hard to bear. A decision, in my favor or against, would be coming soon.
Chapter Eight
The hand clamped over my mouth jolting me from an amazing dream involving the princes and their bathing chamber. What in the world? The grip was cruelly tight, nearly cutting off my breathing. More hands reached out to lock around my arms and legs. I tried to call out for Tesha, thrashing my head and trying to bite the hand over my mouth. Whispered curses drifted to my ears as a bag was shoved down tightly over my face.
“Bind her tightly!” The voice said. The voice was clearly female, although not one I immediately recognized. “We must get her out of here during the guard change. Take her straight into the tunnels.”
White and red lights flashed behind my eyes as a hard blow connected with my head and then my stomach. Unable to breathe, I could no longer attempt to scream. I could feel the air closing in around me, musty and thick. We hadn’t gone outside then. I knew at least two people held me, and from the feel of their hands, I assumed they were Valkyries. I tried to regain my breath and calm myself. Tesha was watching out for me. She would notice I wasn’t in my room and come for me.
A door creaked open, and I was pulled roughly inside, the sound of the door closing behind me only a hollow echo. Rough hands grappled with my flailing limbs, shoving me cruelly
onto a hard, slightly damp surface. The bag was whisked from my head rapidly, causing my head to smack against the hard surface. I swallowed thickly against nausea that followed the lights behind my eyes. I couldn’t throw up, not now. I squinted, trying my best to see in the dim light despite the tears that clouded my eyes.
Movement drew my head to the side, and I couldn’t hide the gasp of shock that spilled from my lips. Four Valkyries stood there. Two I could have easily guessed would be involved – Mistress Lynn and Cecilia. I had known they would ignore the king’s orders and come for me. The other two I couldn’t believe my eyes. Rapid blinking cleared the tears, but not the image of the Valkyries. Although I didn’t know them personally, they were very familiar. They both wore the leather and iron armor that Tesha had worn, with the citrine stone set into their armbands. Blaine’s guards.
My chest grew tight, and it was hard to breathe. Not in fear for myself – no, I had known from the moment I was sent back to Scottsdale that I would be killed – but I feared for Blaine and the other princes. They had no way of knowing that they had traitors among them. And poor Tesha, to know that the Valkyries she trained with, that she had hand chosen and trusted with her life to be in her unit, would betray her and their orders.
One of them turned to look at me where I lay. “Don’t bother fighting the bonds,” she advised. I recognized her voice from the bedchamber. “They are tied far too intricately for you to be released without a weapon.”
The Valkyrie's Princes Page 9
