He stepped back and started back the way we’d come. “But not yet, Lark. Not until you are trained and ready to do what you have to.”

What I had to do. The words unspoken hung in the air between us.

To take down those who had killed my family.

A shiver of fear and anticipation ran through me. “You think I’m not gentle, like her. That I have the killer instinct to do what I must?”

His eyes met mine, never wavering. “You have it, Lark, in spades. I think Wick saw something in your eyes to make him leave so quickly.”

I jogged to his side and looked down at him, thinking about Wicker, about Cassava and all the years I’d thought I was alone.

He tipped his head so he could look at me. “You may look like your mother, but you are most definitely not her.”

A smile flitted across my lips. No, I wasn’t like my mother at all.

And for the first time in my life, I was grateful.

Chapter 9

The next month was nothing short of grueling, which was good. It kept me from being able to brood on the fact that Cassava was a murderer and I had no way to prove it unless I convinced Wicker to confess. The odds were most definitely not in my favor.

All I could do was keep my head down and do everything I could to get stronger, faster, and more deadly. I had to believe there would come a day where I could face down Cassava and Wicker, and whoever else helped her.

I worked every day with the other recruits and then when they went off on their free time to rest, I worked with Granite. Ash never told Granite what I could see when another elemental used their power. And neither did I. It was my only leg up when it came to dealing with another elemental with no power of my own. More than once, I dodged blows from rocks being thrown, or holes opening up under my feet.

My body ached all the way through to my bones and every night I lay down exhausted. So tired that if I dreamed, I didn’t remember.

Finally, we were given a day off.

“You actually going to take a break?” Mal asked as we sat around eating breakfast. I nodded, and shoved another spoonful of oatmeal into my mouth. It had taken a solid week before the other recruits relaxed around me again, but there had been a definite change in how they treated me. No more catcalls of useless or cuckoo.

I thought about what Niah had said, about going to see the recluse near the southern edge of the forest. He was tolerated since he wasn’t an elemental, but as one of the supernaturals that wanted to keep away from the humans, we allowed him to stay there.

“Going to take a long walk, I think.” I spooned the last of my breakfast into my mouth and chased it with a glass of milk.

Mal laughed. “A walk? I was thinking I’d sleep all day.”

I gave him a half-grin. “Isn’t that what you normally do? If you moved any slower on the sparring mats you might as well be sleeping.”

A chorus of ‘oohs’ erupted along the table and Mal lifted a fist, shaking it at me with mock anger. “You just wait and see, Princess, I’ll best you one day.” Around his fingers a glimmer of green gave me the heads up and I stepped to the left as a hole in the ground opened up where I’d been standing.

“Damn, how do you do that?” he muttered.

I just shrugged. “A girl’s got to have her secrets.”

I went to my room to pick out what I’d wear. The outfit we were given as Seeders was an imitation of a true Enders leathers. Snug fitting pants and a vest made out of thick, woven cotton, boots that laced up over my ankles, and then the belt for my weapons. I attached the practice spear to my side, splitting it in half with a quick twist, and hanging it from my belt, blade pointing down. I hesitated over the bow and arrows. I wasn’t as good with the bow as I’d like to be. I grabbed it and slung it over my chest, hanging the quiver from my left side. Maybe I would get a chance to practice with it. Finally I took a large knife, the blade the length of my forearm, the handle made out of antler, and tucked it into a sheath built into the left side of my vest, just under my heart.

“Where are you going?” The voice came out of nowhere and made me jump.

I spun and glared at Ash in the doorway. “You shouldn’t sneak up on people.”

“Not sneaking up, you weren’t listening. Something that will get you hurt or killed someday.” He tipped his head. “I’ll ask again, where are you going?”

“For a walk. Why, you want to pick flowers with me?” I raised an eyebrow at him and he rolled his eyes.

“You aren’t picking flowers covered in weapons.”

“Why are you really here? Just to prove you can still boss me around for a bit?”

He laughed at me, and his eyes sparked with humor. I was pretty sure he was laughing at me, not with me. Ash flexed his arms as he stretched them out in front of his body. “For a bit? You have at least two years before you can even be tested for the entry level of our order. Two years, Princess, of work and deprivation. Of learning to kill, of fighting for your place here. Assuming you don’t give up before then.”

I shrugged. “They used to test Enders faster. During the wars, Enders were trained in less than a month and sent into battle.”

“That was then”—he bent to look at the small array of rocks on my nightstand—“this is now. Two years of work that will go down the river when you are kicked out for failing your final testing.”

I swept the rocks away from him. “Maybe you wanted to give up at one point, and maybe so did everyone else, but I have nothing left. There is no option. I’m either an Ender, or I’m dead.”