I was finally going to get to be me.
CHAPTER 16
“Duck!”
I bent my knees just in time to avoid the whip that snapped over my head, trying to keep my heartbeat steady. There was no time to recover, however, before the next command arrived.
“Jump!”
I pressed myself off the ground just in time for the log to roll under my feet, though I did nearly trip in the process.
Karl sniggered but didn’t miss a beat as he loaded his hand with another rock.
Otho had been waiting for me at breakfast that morning, beckoning me with a single finger before introducing me to Karl, as Milo. I was disappointed that my ruse wasn’t ending immediately, but at least the time I had left was limited. My side heated at the thought of never having to wear a bind again. I did wonder what had happened to the Otho I had met in the laundry room though. I was starting to think that had been some fluke and this broody man of few words I knew now was the actual Otho.
A rock to my side knocked that thought from my mind and Ibent over in pain, my hands grasping at where my tattoo lay beneath my clothes.
“You should never let yourself drift off like that. In the field, that’s the difference between life and death!” Karl shouted.
I righted myself just in time to duck beneath the crack of another whip.
I don’t know what I had thought scout training would be, but it definitely wasn’t this. Though I supposed the point was to prepare me for anything.
“That’s enough. Time to run.” Karl pointed out a route through the long grasses between where we stood and where I had sparred the day before. I would run directly there, then loop around and run back. Without missing a beat Karl yelled, “Go!”
I suppressed the urge to wince at his volume but took off in the direction he had pointed, not wanting another rock to end up in my side.
Running in the too-small boots I wore was one of the more painful experiences in my life. Every time my foot pressed into the ground, the sides of the boot pinched. I was able to maintain a straight face for the first portion of the run, but when I completed my loop of the training grounds and turned to face where Karl stood, a stern expression on his face, I couldn’t help it.
I grit my teeth, grunts coming from my chest with every step. I didn’t stop though. No, I pushed myself hard, my side aching as it cramped, whether from the rock or the running I wasn’t entirely sure. And by the time I reached where Karl stood, his back straight and chin held high, I was proud of myself.
Until he said, “Again.”
With a cry, I turned and began the route anew, unable to suppress the noises coming from my mouth. But I knew that I could do this—I had to if I wanted my freedom. If I couldn’t even run two laps there was no way Otho would keep me on as a spy.
After the loop, I looked up to see Karl was no longer alone. Now Otho stood beside him, looking just as gruff as his captain with his burly arms crossed over his chest. My pace was considerably slower this second loop, but it still felt too soon when I approached them, stopping only to almost keel over as I attempted to catch my breath.
“Come.” Otho didn’t spare me a single glance as he spun toward the building and walked away.
I moved to stretch my aching muscles.
“You won’t get a cool down in the field. Follow him, now.” Karl’s words were harsh, but also correct. War wasn’t the place for stretching.
I had to jog to catch up with Otho, and even when I did, I kept my weight forward as I had to continue my momentum in order to keep up. I thought we would go inside, but instead, he turned and led me to the space between the barracks and Adis’s home.
He stopped so suddenly, I almost ran into his back. It was only by sheer luck I was able to catch myself, pain shooting through my legs as my calves strained with the sudden change in momentum.
“Go steal a loaf of bread from the kitchen.”
That was not what I was expecting him to stay, at all, and I momentarily found myself so confused I couldn’t draw in a breath.
“Did you hear me?” he snapped.
“Yes,” I gasped. “I just . . .”
“Being a spy means you need to be able to sneak in and out of places with ease.” He crossed his arms over his chest, his lips in a permanent frown, and I wondered what had happened to the man I had once met at dawn in the laundry room—because this wasn’t him.
“But if I get caught, Adis will kill me.” The argument was weak, I knew that, but I also didn’t know how I was supposed tosteal something undetected. Astrid was astute, that much I knew.
