by C. Ellsworth
Around they went again, each taking their turns, with Traizen, Sorsia, Liah, and Ryan all racing up the rope nearly as quickly as they had on their first attempts. Karine, however, struggled at the halfway point, and had to pause for a moment before finally making it to the top.
When it was Addy’s turn, she could not get any farther than she had the first time; in fact, she could not even hang on for as long. The smirks and snickers from Traizen and Sorsia still pierced her like needles, but she would not shed a tear, nor would she show a shred of weakness. She could manage that at least.
A third round passed, and everyone was starting to show signs of fatigue. The four best all gave grunts and groans as they forced themselves to the top, the tiny bell ringing each time, but Karine had finally exhausted her strength, managing to make it only halfway before conceding defeat and dropping back down to the ground.
Then it was Addy’s turn once again. She eyed the rope as if it was a viper. What was the point? Trying again would only earn her more laughter. Couldn’t they see she wasn’t as strong as they were? She wasn’t built for this! She hesitated, arms folded across her chest.
The sun was now high enough that sunlight poured into the training yard, casting a yellow glow upon the sand, but ice still crawled along Addy’s back.
“Again, Adele.” Aeric’s face was unreadable. He had to be enjoying this, but it did not show on those stony features. Had he no heart?
Sorsia let out an impatient sigh, her emerald gaze narrowed. Traizen was busy ogling the muscles in his own arms, his wide mouth grinning appreciatively. Well, no sense in putting off the unavoidable.
Addy stepped forward and took the rope into hands now stinging with blisters. She closed her eyes and breathed a calming sigh. Then with a bellowing cry, she leaped and pulled. And there she clung like a frightened squirrel on a branch until she could cling no more. She dropped back to the ground. This is foolish!
Aeric’s dark eyes watched her. “That’s enough for today.” He must have thought Addy was the biggest fool to ever pass the Proving. And he was probably right. If she couldn’t climb a simple rope, what hope was there that she would survive the Waste?
“On to the gauntlet!” Aeric barked the order, and the others started migrating toward the odd assortment of wooden contraptions. There were two rows of the things, two on one side and three on the other, with a path down the middle. Two of them stood about four-feet-tall on swiveling bases, each about the diameter of Addy’s waist with numerous foot-long poles jutting out at various angles. The other three were of similar proportions, but these were smooth and padded and hung from ropes attached to supports above.
Each one of them could crack an arm or break a rib. Or split a skull. When she was eight, Kale Lelac had fallen from his roof and hit his head on a fence pole on the way down. There had been a lot of blood, and the boy hadn’t been quite right after that. Addy’s heart pounded. Could that happen to her?
Traizen clapped his hands together and chuckled with delight. He was actually looking forward to this! Why would anyone want to run through such a contraption? It looked like a very large meat tenderizer. And Addy was the meat!
The sand beneath Addy’s feet was beginning to grow hot, and the woolen vest was beginning to itch even more with sweat now slicking her skin. How could she concentrate when it felt like bugs were crawling around under the heavy thing?
Aeric followed them to the gauntlet, his face still stony. Stepping to the side, he clapped his hands together twice. “Traizen, you’re first. The rest of you man the instruments.”
Traizen stepped to the beginning of the columns and gave an enthusiastic shout while shaking out any stiffness from his neck and shoulders. If he got clapped on the forehead, it would serve him right! The man didn’t have a single ounce of wit about him.
Addy took hold of her swinging . . . thing. It wasn’t too heavy, and it moved rather easily. Could she get in a hit on Traizen? How would it feel to strike him? Probably quite satisfying, after all the grief he had given her.
The others had taken their places on the machine as well, with Ryan and Karine on one side and the remaining three, including Addy, on the other. Then Aeric set Traizen running with a shout of “Go!” and in he charged, dodging, first, Ryan’s spinning strikes and Karine’s swings. Then he took a couple more steps and dodged Liah’s and Sorsia’s attacks, the large woman’s being the first to even come close.
Then two more steps and it was Addy’s turn.
She set her jaw determinedly and smiled. She would show him! She swung hard and Traizen slipped past with a loud cackle, the padded beam coming nowhere near to striking him.
Sorsia hissed. “Try opening your eyes next time, Princess! You almost hit me!”
Addy had not almost hit the hawk-nosed woman, and she certainly had never closed her eyes, not even once! She just needed more practice. It wasn’t difficult, after all; it was just a matter of timing. She’d be sure to get the next one. I can do this!
Then it was Ryan’s turn, and Addy stood ready to strike. Try as she might, though, Ryan passed through with little more difficulty than Traizen. Sorsia’s move had brushed his shin, but he leaped out of the way just in time to maintain his balance.
Ryan gave her a small smile as he left the gauntlet. Not a smug smile, just a friendly gesture between companions. Addy quirked an eyebrow as he stepped beside her, taking Karine’s place.
Karine took a ready stance at the start. Should Addy hit her? It seemed a cruel thing to do to the woman. The others were hardened, more trained, so they were less likely to get seriously hurt. But Karine probably wasn’t used to such abuse, was she? Had she done this before?
Aeric’s voice sounded suddenly from behind her, his tone meant for her alone. “Don’t hold back now. Going easy on her won’t do her any favors. Do you think the Twisted Lands and the Waste will go easy on any of you? Think again.”
Well, that was that. Addy would just have to apologize later, if she could manage to get this stupid thing to operate properly enough to touch her at all. She gritted her teeth and took hold of her bulky weapon.
At Aeric’s signal, Karine darted in, dodging awkwardly but doing a good enough job not to get hit right away. Then she took a smack to the thigh from Ryan before she stumbled forward and took another hit to the ribs from Traizen. The brute had the nerve to laugh victoriously, as if there was some kind of honor in beating another person. A few more steps and she was ducking and spinning to avoid Liah and Sorsia’s efforts, and she somehow managed to make it through those two without being touched.
Addy tensed. Karine moved into range. Their eyes met briefly, and then the woman darted forward. Addy swung hard and the padded pole raced toward its mark. The aim was true, but at the last second, Karine hit the ground rolling, and the suspended beam swung over her harmlessly.
Karine heaved a sigh and exited the gauntlet, muttering to herself, “Eyes on the target. Eyes on the target.” That seemed like good advice to remember.
Aeric shifted slightly, his hands clasped together behind his back. “Sorsia, you’re next. The first one to make contact gets an extra helping at supper tonight.”
There were scattered hoots from everyone. Traizen gave a bestial roar and flexed his large muscles. “I’m gonna knock you three sides from tomorrow!”
Addy rolled her eyes.
Taking her place at the start, Sorsia waved her muscled arms like windmills and did a few jumps in place. The weight of the vest didn’t seem to affect her at all. She settled into a half-crouch, her eyes wide and focused intently on the path ahead. She looked like a canth about to pounce, an image that sent a shiver through Addy, despite the growing heat.
“Go!” Aeric barked, and Sorsia moved like a striking rattler. She met Ryan and Traizen first, her sinewy form bending and twisting in ways that shouldn’t be possible for one so bulky. She passed by them with ease, leaving the two men cursing to themselves. Liah and Karine had no better luck, swinging wildly and
missing as the big woman glided past. Then it was Addy’s turn, and she swung hard. Her aim was awkward, however, and she hesitated at first before following through.
It was something Sorsia apparently hadn’t anticipated.
Sorsia moved just a little too early, and the ram brushed her shoulder and sent her spinning off balance. The momentum carried her forward to fall face down in the sand.
As the dust settled over Sorsia, Traizen gave a hearty laugh while the others let out a cheer. Addy blinked and snapped her mouth shut. What had she done? She had whacked the nose of a hungry red bear, is what she had done! And Sorsia looked just as terrifying as one as she leaped to her feet, eyes wide with fury and muscled jaw flexing. No, she was more terrifying.
Sorsia stepped up to Addy, her cold stare just inches from her face. Addy’s feet started to take an apprehensive step backward, but she stilled herself. She would not back down! Thick skin! She returned the woman’s stare with one of calm, despite her heart beating like mad.
An uncomfortably long moment passed. Then Sorsia’s thin lips drew back in a sneer. “Not bad, Princess. You got lucky, though. Truly lucky.”
Addy swallowed hard. No shouting? No . . . punch to the face? What mind game was Sorsia playing now? The woman gave a quick nod and then turned to walk away.
The Guard Captain was still watching Addy. Would he have stopped Sorsia if she had attacked? Or would he have let Addy get hit a few times as some sort of test? “Adele, you’re next.”
Addy’s heart skipped a beat and then continued at double speed. Lord, help me. She hesitated a brief moment before she stepped purposefully to the starting point and set her feet like Sorsia had. The others were all watching her.
Swallowing hard, Addy eyed the machine and its meat-tenderizing weapons. Now, how had the others done it? If she stepped just so, wait for a heartbeat there—
“Go!” Aeric barked, and off she went, her feet digging into the sand beneath her. Sorsia’s spinning rod-weapon was coming up on her left and Traizen’s swinging ram on the right. She ducked low as she ran, spinning one way to avoid Traizen’s attack, then another to dodge Sorsia’s.
Something struck the back of her skull, and an enormous bell rung in her head, drowning out all other sound. It sent her spinning to one side before another blow struck her in the face. The world spun, and her vision exploded into countless black-and-gold sparkles.
Muffled voices echoed all around, barely audible through the ringing in her ears. Then someone was lifting her from the hot sand, carrying her for a distance before laying her back down. Papa? No. The sparkles in her vision cleared a little, and Aeric was there, leaning over her. He took her head gingerly into his hands, turning her face this way and that. Was her head cracked like an egg? Were her brains leaking out onto the sand? No, if that were true, she wouldn’t be able to remember that her name was . . . Addy. Her name was Addy.
Aeric lifted each of her eyelids to peer intently into her eyes. His face had lost the stony indifference, his expression now faintly worried. “Are you all right, girl?”
The pain in Addy’s head was small, and the loud ringing in her ears was quickly fading. “I’m sorry. I’m all right. I just need a moment.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Two complete failures in the same day. The first day! I’m not made for this! Why did it have to be me?
Traizen’s voice sounded from somewhere to her right. “Wow, two of you girls fell today! Maybe you need some . . . private instructions?”
There was a smack, and Traizen let out a pained cry. Then Sorsia was growling somewhere from that same direction. “Watch your words, dung-for-brains!”
Traizen chuckled hesitantly. “What did you hit me for? I was talking to the girls!” A second loud thwap said Sorsia was not amused. Perhaps the two of them should get married, the way they carried on like a couple already.
Aeric helped Addy to her feet, dust and sand sliding off her in clouds. Gone was the concern, his face now stone once more. Then he gave the rest of her a quick check as one might inspect a tool for cracks. “Hit the bath. There’s plenty of light left, but I don’t want anyone breaking on the first day.”
Of course he was talking about Addy, but she wasn’t about to open her mouth to protest. Her muscles were already on fire after the rope and the gauntlet, and a nice bath would hopefully ease the tightness. No bath was going to make the days to come any easier, though. Six more months of this. . . .
The other five were leaving the yard after removing their heavy vests, and Addy moved to follow, but she stopped at the sound of Aeric’s voice behind her. “It’ll get easier.” There was no sympathy in his voice, just a statement of fact. Still, it lifted her heart a little.
She turned and gave him a wavering smile. He looked a bit haggard right then, the lines of age deep on his coppery face. He couldn’t have been much older than Papa, but he appeared more so at the moment. Perhaps it was just the light. Or perhaps the past was weighing on him.
Addy slid thankfully out of the weighted vest and then left the yard.
Chapter 13
Addy left the training yard to walk the halls alone in search of the bath house. Her muscles ached fiercely from those hours of training, making the simple task of walking wince-inducing, but she steeled herself against the pain. It would pass. She just had to make it through the next few weeks, when her body would hopefully grow accustomed to the rigorous activities.
Out in the hall a gawking guardsman named Brenly gave her general directions to the bath, but stammering as he was—and awed at being in the presence of the “savior”—he was just as likely to be sending her into a broom closet. Anyone who thought of her as the daughter of the Lord was a fool. The Lord’s daughter wouldn’t have gotten her bell rung in the gauntlet!
She sighed, heart heavy. Papa and Gevin. It hadn’t yet been a full day, and already her heart ached. Was Papa coping all right, having to spend more time caring for Gevin while still working his shop?
The bath was a small room tucked into a back corner of the barracks. Its thick solid door was closed, but there were voices and laughter on the other side. Addy took hold of the handle and pulled the door open, and a waft of steamy air washed over her, bringing with it a thick musty smell. At first a steamy haze blocked her sight, but then it cleared, and her eyes popped.
The room was about three paces across in either direction, with a sizeable fire pit in its center, where flames licked at steepled logs. Suspended above the fire was a large iron kettle of boiling water, its steam rising in clouds to fill the room. Around both fire and kettle were three stone benches, their occupants huddled together in idle chatter.
And those occupants were completely naked!
Well, three of them were, anyway: Traizen, Sorsia, and Ryan. Karine and Liah were bared to the waist, their lower halves covered in cloth towels. Had they all gone mad? Heat poured into Addy’s face, and it wasn’t from the steam.
Sorsia was the first to catch sight of her, and her thin lips stretched into a mischievous grin. “Welcome, Princess!” Her hair was no longer in braids, her damp locks running down to her shoulders in a fall of dark curls. Her copper skin glistened in the lamp and firelight, and a tattoo—three overlapping thorns in a circle—on her left shoulder was visible.
At Sorsia’s greeting, the others turned to Addy as well. Would they think her strange if she just . . . left? Perhaps if she ran fast enough, they might think she was just a trick of the fog. Right, because that wasn’t the stupidest idea ever!
Liah pointed to an enclosed cabinet to the right of the doorway. “Towels are there, Addy. You can hang your clothes in the wardrobe.” That was the most she had said since Addy had arrived at the barracks.
With face still hotter than the air around her, Addy walked over to the cabinet of towels and made a futile effort to conceal herself while disrobing. What am I doing? This is absurd! She glanced over her shoulder, but no one seemed to be paying her any attention. Well, Traizen was sneaking
peaks, but at least he was trying to be subtle about it.
Towel now wrapped tightly up to her armpits, Addy took a seat on the stone bench between Karine and Liah. The heat from her face could have cooked an egg, especially now that Ryan kept casting quick glances her way.
Liah handed her some kind of metal instrument, a thing that resembled a bent and elongated spoon. “It’s called a strigil. You scrape the dirty sweat off your skin with it.” She added the last when Addy stared at her in confusion. “No pretty-smelling soaps for us. Sorry.”
Addy took the device and began drawing it down her arm. Was she doing it right? A strigil? Why hadn’t she heard of a strigil before? Soap was a rare thing these days, but didn’t everyone use cloths? The instrument seemed to do a fair job, though, and the grime came away in lines of icky brown sweat that she deposited in a small bucket per Liah’s instructions. Emptying that on a daily basis would make a suitable punishment.
After her arms and legs were cleaned, she set to work on the parts concealed beneath the towel. Not an easy task! She was probably gaining more attention from all the awkward shifting and fumbling she was doing than if she had just dropped the towel in the first place.
The others all seemed preoccupied, though, Sorsia and Traizen with each other. They actually didn’t actually behave much like a married couple after all. They were more like brother and sister. Their conversation turned competitive, with each one trying to best the other with boastful claims. “I once outran a bear,” the hawk-nosed woman said.
Traizen responded, “I once wrestled a gator out near the pond. Saved Nelly Ardor from getting eaten!”
Sorsia scowled. “I put two arrows in a canth, one in each eye!” That seemed a stretch. Canth wouldn’t stand still long enough to get off two aimed shots, would they?
A chill ran along Addy’s spine. The ones in Old Town certainly hadn’t sat still.
