It was what we were taught to do after a fall: Assess the body. Search for pain. Move each limb independently. Ask yourself if you can see clearly, hear clearly…
I was still in the grass on my back, trying to get my lungs to inflate properly, when Terra’s concerned face popped into my line of sight and her hand cupped over my forehead. She pressed down, instructing me not to move or sit up.
“Let me check for you: What hurts the most?” she asked me quickly.
Oh God, I’d forgotten the medics were here today.
“I’m fine. Just winded,” I croaked.
“Bullshit,” she cursed, as she pressed on my injured ribs and I flinched. “You’ve re-injured this, and you haven’t strapped thatknee like I told you to,” she chastised me. “I bet that’s hurting more now as well, am I right?”
“It was feeling better this morning,” I said weakly. But even though I was humiliated by the entire session, I was secretly grateful to lay there for a moment while she checked me.
Of course, it wasn’t until she’d unbuttoned my jacket and shirt to examine my rib again, hissing when she saw it, that Ronen trotted over from where he’d landed Ekko.
“Are you hurt, Bren?” he asked worriedly.
I shook my head—which made Terra curse—and blinked back tears of embarrassment. “No, I’m just embarrassed. I got muddled in my head for one second. It’s my fault, not Akhane’s. She was trying to correct for me. I think we hooked Sona’s tail and it cut through my strap and—”
“This needs to stop!” Terra barked, clasping my hand and cupping the back of my neck as she helped me sit up so she could check my spine. I clasped my open jacket over my chest and kept my eyes down, cheeks burning. “She’s not a man, and she cannot be expected to do everything you do!”
“We’re teaching her skills to keep her alive,” Voski snapped, appearing near my feet, his hands on his hips.
But Terra didn’t even flinch. “It won’t save her life if the endless training kills her first.”
“Thank you, Terra, but please, let me handle it,” I said on a sigh. “And my back is fine. I rolled. I was just winded.”
I made myself sit up straighter, and kept my eyes down as I rebuttoned my jacket, praying Voski didn’t get an eyeful from that angle.
Terra bristled, but shut her mouth, glaring between me and the men as I reassured them that the injuries weren’t from this fall. It was just poor luck that they’d been knocked again.
“…I’ll be fine in a couple days. I was feeling a lot better this morning. Akhane helps me heal, and—”
“And if she keeps going like this, you’ll destroy her before she can be of use to anyone!” Terra insisted, pushing to her feet and planting her fists on her hips as she turned on Ronen. “She isn’t the same as you—and she shouldn’t try to be—that’s the point! You have different strengths and different skills. She shouldn’t be trained relentlessly, not if you want her at peak performance. She should be trained for what she can do thatyoucan’t!”
Ronen opened his mouth, but I was easing to my feet and turned to face her. “Iwantto train,” I said, which was true. Though I hadn’t shaken my uneasiness that I was being equipped with the wrong tools. “Once I’m on a mission, I’ll use what I know in whatever way suits me—”
“Not if it kills you first. Or injures you so badly you have ongoing weakness. Even the dragon’s healing can’t bring dead tissue back to life, Bren. If you break your body, youwillsuffer for it.”
Ronen raised his hands, and gave me a look to remain quiet.
“We’ll discuss this later. It was time to finish up anyway.Squad!You’re done for tonight. Don’t forget formations again on Thirdday.”
Everyone groaned, but most of them hadn’t dismounted, so they just urged their dragons back into the sky and towards the Keep. But Ronen, Gil, and Voski all stayed on the ground.
While Ronen spoke quietly to the other two, Terra squatted at my feet and began wrapping my knee again—over my leathers.
“It was always a risk with this kind of work,” she muttered. “If the dragons are going to start Choosing women, we need to drum it into their thick skulls that thingsmustchange.”
I sighed and shrugged, too tired to argue anymore. But watching her made my chest ache. She was so efficient and knowledgeable, her hands moving quickly. No hesitation. She got the bandage tied off, then palpated my knee again. I triedto stifle the wince, but she didn’t even look up, just nodded to herself, then stood to meet eyes with Ronen.
“No more training for her today—or tomorrow if you can help it. She’ll heal if the body is given time. But if she keeps taking these blows, it’ll go wrong.”
Ronen nodded. “We don’t train again until Thirdday. I’ll have her signed off patrol tomorrow.”
“Thank you.”
“What?! No! That’s my job!” I protested.
