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‘You don’t have five gold coins you stupid git,’ Cal retorted.

‘I’ll wager ten gold,’ Seb’s voice sounded, drowning out the rest, ‘that the stray will spread her legs just to stay in the program.’

Thea was on her feet in an instant, a fistful of Seb’s shirt bunched in her hand. ‘You —’

But Kipp and Cal were already hauling her back.

‘Not a good idea,’ Kipp muttered.‘Definitelynot a good idea.’

‘Leave him, Thea.’ Cal forced her back down onto the bench. ‘This is exactly what he wants.’

‘What’s going on down there?’ Esyllt demanded from his seat at the head table.

‘Nothing, Sir! Nothing at all,’ Kipp called back.

‘A likely tale,’ Esyllt said, shaking his head. ‘If I see a hint of trouble again down there, so help you all, I’ll let the commanders use you for archery practice.’

Esyllt’s threats were enough to cool the blood boiling in Thea’s veins, and thankfully, Seb and the other idiots seemed to decide that the weapon master’s wrath was not worth the joy of aggravating Thea further.

All Thea wanted now was for the meal to end so she no longer had to look at Seb’s ugly, smug face. Gods, she never thought shewould long for the confines of her sleeping quarters with Wren and the others, but that was not to be.

When the bell sounded, Wren approached her with a hessian sack of her belongings. There was no time to talk, other than Wren’s hushed words of warning.

‘I was told you’re staying with the men now. May the Furies keep you safe, Thea,’ Wren hugged her tightly. ‘Sleep with one eye open.’

Thea squeezed her back, dazed. ‘I’ll be fine,’ she said, though she wasn’t sure if it was for Wren’s sake or for hers. She patted her chest, where her sister knew her fate stone rested. ‘Time to test the fates again, isn’t it?’

Wren’s face paled. ‘You’re running out of lives, Althea.’

Suddenly finding her sister’s fear suffocating, Thea pulled back, gathering herself. ‘I’ll be fine,’ she said again. ‘See you around, Wren.’

But as Thea peeled away from the cohort and made her way towards the shieldbearer dormitories, she started to come apart at the seams. If the evening meal represented the general attitude towards her, then… Well, she didn’t like her chances. Any notion of a safe space had been stripped away from her, there was nowhere to go where she could breathe. From now on, she was to be on her guard at all times.

‘You wanted to be a shieldbearer, Althea Nine Lives,’ she muttered to herself, rallying her courage. ‘You got what you wished for. Now you live as one.’

When she reached the door, hearing the raucous laughter and shouts from within, she paused and squared her shoulders, digging deep for any comfort that might see her through the night.

Audra’s voice filled her mind then. ‘The original Warswords were women. The Three Furies were what our whole culturewas based upon, what everything the guild stands for started with them…’

And with those words echoing, Thea pushed open the door and stepped into the drake’s den.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

The room beyond fell silent as Thea stepped inside, clutching her meagre belongings to her chest. There were at least twelve beds, maybe more and men in various states of undress as she walked in.

‘What’s she doing here?’ someone shouted.

‘You’ve got to be joking,’ said another.

‘I didn’t ask for this either,’ Thea replied tersely. ‘Is there a spare bed?’

A man she didn’t recognise pointed to the far end of the room, where a narrow bed sat beneath a large window.

No doubt the coldest corner of the dormitory. ‘Great,’ she muttered.

‘You know, love… Maybe you should rethink what you want.’ The shieldbearer was an older one, his attitude hardly surprising.

‘To be a warrior is all I’ve ever wanted,’ Thea replied, her chin raised.