CHAPTER SIX
“Alive? What the hell does that mean?” I jogged behind Terran as he rounded the corner and we found ourselves in a green, grassy clearing surrounded by an orchard of fruit trees. Across the way, a dozen of those black, Kevlar guards faced off, working on close-combat grabs and running through striking weapons and entrenching tools. Yee-haw.
Terran gave me a look and I nodded. We’d finish our conversation later.
Tightening up his youthful lope, Terran straightened his back and squared his shoulders. The commanding officer of the group was barking direction as we strode up behind him. Hierarchy in the military saves lives, I knew and respected that, so instead of bounding in and joining the fun like I wanted to do, I played nice and observed until we were addressed.
Standing barefoot on the soft, carpet-like grass I realized, this was the first real greenery I’d seen since I got here. Bronze metal walls and stone floors had a remarkably soothing effect on me, but the cool, strength of green things reminded me of Haven.
When the commander’s attention shifted, he looked at me for a long moment, quite expressionless. “What is this?”
“Constable Tasso, Sir,” Terran said, staring straight ahead. “The Princess of Grace has asked to observe your men in training. She is new to our City and has heard of the skills of our Queen’s mighty Strati soldiers.”
“And why does she wear indoor training gear?”
Terran blinked but showed no emotion. “Having arrived late last evening, she has yet to be fitted. The wardrobe provided her was not to her liking and it was too early in the day to rouse her sisters in search of something appropriate.”
So . . . Terran wasn’t slow after all. The commander’s scowl softened, but his beady eyes didn’t leave me for a second. He wasn’t the first man to feel threatened by me.
“I’m sorry for interrupting your session,” I said, offering what I hoped was a genuine smile.
The scowl returned. “If you wish to observe, do so. Settle yourself out of the way and don’t disrupt training any further. Princess or not, there is no place for the mounds and valleys of a female in the field of war. I don’t care who you—”
“Constable Tasso,” a voice boomed behind us and squelched the rebuttal about to spew from between my clenched teeth.
The three of us turned to the harsh glare of Master Constable Estes. With his shoulders stretched to his full height and his brow deeply creased, his dark features raised the hair on my skin. “You are addressing an Eligible!”
“Apologies, Master Constable.”
Estes joined our little group, his gaze sweeping over my garb. “Princess Grace is an important guest of the Queen’s and will be awarded the highest courtesy you and your men have to offer. If she wants an extra guard you will provide it. If she wants a dance partner you will clear the floor and start the music. And if she simply needs directions to the grand dining room you will escort her through the palace and pull the damn chair out for her. Is that clear?”
“Perfectly, Sir.”
Estes frowned, still looking piqued. “Take a shuttle to bridge two-sixteen. There are reports of violence and thievery along the outer ring.”
“Two-sixteen is in the Badlands of the fire ring, sir.”
Estes arched a brow. “And?”
Tasso shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “That’s tier one work. I’ll send one of the duty soldiers—”
Estes looked almost amused as he leaned closer. When he spoke, his voice was calm and controlled. It crept across my skin like shade beneath the passing sun. “I said nothing of deploying duty soldiers. You are relieved of your duties here. Now go.”
Tasso didn’t argue. He lowered his gaze and turned to go.
Though the scene was really none of my business, the tension was electric, much too entertaining to turn away from. As he stepped past me, Tasso’s eyes fixed on mine, dark coals in the bright morning light. ‘You did this’ they said, and, ‘I won’t forget it’.
That’s fine. Neither will I.
When the fiery orange of Tasso’s cape disappeared out of the clearing, Estes pulled Terran to the side and spoke to him privately. The Master Constable didn’t seem to be angry and though Terran was standing at attention a good distance away, his responses remained straight forward. Yes sir. No sir.
“Princess?” Estes said as they rejoined us. “Chamber Guard 11 assures me the two of you have gotten on well enough this morning. Do you share his opinion on that?”
I caught Terran’s wide gaze and smiled. “Yeah, I do.”
“Very well. I’m assigning him as your personal guard.” Estes held up his hand as I made to speak and shook his head. “Indulge me. Your return is the talk of the city. It would lessen my worry if a palace duty soldier was with you. This is no time for an Eligible to be alone.”
“All right.” I tilted my head toward the five soldiers in black, glaring at me from where Tasso had been holding their training session. “So, what’s up with them?”
Estes lifted an ebony brow. “Your guard said you were looking for a dawn workout.” He gestured to the stiff-lipped group. “I offered for you to join these men.”
That piqued my interest and I took a closer look. Physically they were conditioned, thickly muscled through arms, shoulders and thighs. They held themselves with confidence and seemed comfortable within their frames. Young, but strong.
“There are two types of soldiers in Attalos,” Estes said. “The duty soldiers and the Queen’s guard, which we call Strati. The Strati are the city’s strongest and most promising warriors. With the rising conflicts flaring from the outer ring, the Queen is strengthening her forces. I’d like to see how they fare against a warrior from outside the realm”
I eyed the five and my heart quickened its pace. They were out to make me suffer. “Cool . . . but I have to warn you, with the Alice in Wonderland turn my life has taken I’m going to be tough on them. I need the exertion.”
“Then enjoy your workout.” Estes gestured for the Strati to close in. “See if they possess the mettle to become more than they are. I believe the trainings here have left them lacking in some areas. The nobles refuse to listen. They think it foolish to restructure a military system that has been in place for millennia.”
I eyed the men. They were obviously insulted by our conversation and the order to spar with a woman in front of a high-ranking commanding officer.
Ooooh fun. “All right. I’ll see what they’ve got.”
Estes bent at the waist and stepped back. “Begin at your pleasure.”
A guttural growl came from the one on my right. “Permission to speak freely, Princess?”
“Of course. Always.”
“There’s not much to you. Ydorus and I will snap you like a glass doll. You should run along back to your quarters and play hair and dress-up. We don’t wish for you to get hurt.”
“Yeah,” another one chimed in. “You have much to learn from the other Eligibles.”
I snorted. “Ah, that’s sweet, but when I can’t sleep I get cranky and when I’m cranky, I really should crack a few heads before I’m put under pressure or I tend to go off. I’m supposed to meet the Queen for lunch. Wouldn’t want to cause a scene now, would I?”
“Enough talk,” a soldier in the back said, his gaze narrowing on me. “If she needs a lesson on what roles are fit for women in Attalos, I have no problem teaching her.”
I snorted again. “You’re not my type either, hon, but my father taught me it was rude to point out a man’s short-comings. It makes him bristle.”
“Bristle, eh? Well, Princess, if you swear not to go crying straight to the courts saying that we abused you, and you’re sure you won’t reconsider . . . ready yourself for battle.”
Yee-haw.
A good while later, with my mind finally settled and my body aching for all the right reasons, I accepted the canteen from Estes and joined him and Terran under the shaded umbrella of one of the clearing’s date-plum trees.
“Well?” Estes asked, watching the last two soldiers I’d faced off with. Their comrades had hauled their asses upright and were currently in different stages of regrouping their manhood. “What do you think?”
“They’re decent fighters.” I gulped down three large swallows of sun-warmed water. It was stale but wet. I gulped down a bit more. “They’re too rigid in technique. It makes them slow on adaptation. Maybe because I’m a woman they underestimated me. Maybe not.”
Estes nodded. “Thank you, Princess. If you find yourself in need of another workout and wish to continue working with the Queen’s men, that can be arranged.”
Terran’s unfinished warning still niggled in my head. “I’m not sure what my days will be like yet, but I’ll think about it.” I scanned the crowd of bruised egos, reluctant respect, and all out fury. “Nicely done, guys. Don’t let your pride take a hit because I’m a woman. Like you said, I’m not from around here. Besides, you gave me quite a workout.”
One of them huffed, his lips pursed. “Don’t patronize us, Princess. You aren’t even winded.”
“Next time. If you’d like a rematch I can show you where you faltered.” The daggered looks were nothing I hadn’t seen a hundred times before.
“Who taught you to fight, Princess?” one asked.
“My father.” My stomach knotted and a pang of betrayal flipped in my gut. The kind-eyed man in the courtyard had been my father too, yet I knew nothing about him. “I was raised by a warrior named Maximus Reign.”
Estes adjusted his breast plate when he stood and joined us. “You men would know him as the Reign of Terror. Those legends of the unstoppable warrior from the Realm of the Fair have been whispered as bedtime stories for decades.”
Eyes widened and jaws dropped slack. It warmed me that Reign’s reputation had touched this secluded corner of the Realm of the Fair. Made me feel less cut off from him.
Terran and I turned back toward the palace. “If you want a rematch, boys,” I called over my shoulder. “I’m sure the Master Constable knows how to contact me. Or not. Your choice.”