Iryana thought that would be it, but then Pyetar seized Gintar, dragging him close. As if he were the size of a child and not a full-grown man built to fight monsters.
“I will warn you once.” Pyetar’s voice was harsh, deeper than usual. “You so much as talk to, let alone touch, any soldier on one of my teams, and I will crush your skull in. Understood?”
Gintar nodded, face paling, and Pyetar released him. Then he strode into the middle of the room, and Iryana couldn’t tear her eyes away.
She was not the only one staring.
“This brigade belongs to the Horvols, to my brother,” he roared. “Mess with what’s ours, and you will not live to regret it.”
And all this from the man who wanted nothing to do with leadership, with hisbrother’s command.
Iryana took a shaky breath, but tried to reason with herself. It wasn’t like he was defending her personally; it was the entire team he’d claimed and declared untouchable. But it still left her feeling like the debt she owed him had grown, and she could only imagine what favor he would call in for it.
Iryana walked across the fort, spine stiff as she looked around for her team. She wore a loose linen tunic under her gambeson, her headscarf and the herb bundles in her pockets working to ward off the summer bugs. The dry, warming days of the Honey Moon were growing longer, and soon night would be little more than twilight.
Things had been… difficult since the encounter in the estate. No one had directly messed with them, but there was an undercurrent of aggression. Small things like their stuff going missing, getting tripped, not being protected in the formations on missions. More eyes than ever were watching them.
Pyetar may have protected them, but he’d also put a target on their backs. Labeled them as unable to fend for themselves.
Iryana was more determined than ever to win Vaneshta over, to earn more than the tentative peace between them. If she did, maybe the others would follow. They’d be stronger than ever, and she’d have a better chance of lasting long enough to be admitted fully to the 18th.
For all that she’d done, all the plans he’d spoken of, Karvek had been much too busy securing his power as general to so much as talk to her. It grated on her.
Her birthday had passed; she was twenty now. A birthday was meant to be a day spent with loved ones, a day to ask for a boon from someone close. Hers came and went like any other day. Just like it had since she turned sixteen.
The only progress had been Captain Antar pulling her aside with some of the older initiates to measure her magic and degree of control. Based on his findings, the skills she’d shown in training, and her captain’s recommendations, she’d been approved to forge both a bow and spear.
If she was ever accepted and forged, that is.
Tugging her headscarf loose where it criss-crossed over her neck, Iryana slipped through the open gate toward the barracks.
She made it a single step into the training yard before having to jump back as a partially armored woman nearly fell into her. The soldier righted herself and wiped at her bleeding nose, smearing red across her cheek, and smiled at Iryana. Then she launched back at her opponent.
Iryana wouldn’t call what they were doing sparring. They were just trying to hurt each other. But that seemed to be how the new soldiers trained.
There was a large crowd in the center of the barracks yard, and Iryana started moving around it, trying to avoid whatever was going on, until she heard Vaneshta’s voice.
What had she gotten herself intonow?
Elbowing her way to the front, Iryana found Vaneshta standing between Captain Gintar and Pepha.
“I was just offering to spar with her.” The captain raised a brow, looking around Vaneshta at Pepha.
Pepha was shaking like a willow in the wind.
Iryana knew what these soldiers would think when they looked at Pepha. Cowardly, useless, and weak. But while Pepha was a bit of a coward when it came to other soldiers, she was also an incredibly talented scout. Iryana had seen her pounce on a dakya from the trees, digging her forged knives into its neck and killing it before her feet even touched the ground.
But around people…
Vaneshta laughed, and Iryana narrowed her eyes. There was something different about her roommate that afternoon. Her eyes were wilder, her chin tipped down as she openly mocked the captain.
“Don’t you worry about us; we’re the first team for a reason.”
“Please, Pyetar had to go out of his way to shield you.” Gintar moved around the circle, as if trying to pass around Vaneshta to get to Pepha. “The team rankings will be corrected in no time.”
“You think your team is stronger than ours?” Vaneshta moved to cut him off.
Iryana frowned, clenching her fist.What was she doing?
