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‘I wasmade for this,Wren,’ Thea interjected.

Wren’s gaze lingered on where Thea’s fate stone rested against her skin beneath her shirt. ‘I don’t doubt it,’ she said. ‘Just be careful. You’re not invincible.’

A flicker of fear from the previous night fluttered to the surface, but Thea didn’t want Wren to know the half of it.

So Thea finished her food and brushed the crumbs from her chest.

‘Must you?’ Wren chastised, motioning to the mess that now littered her workspace.

Thea only grinned. ‘So, what else are people saying about Althea Nine Lives?’

Wren gave one of her long suffering sighs that constantly had people assuming she was the older sibling. ‘Mostly variations of the two previous notions. You’re either an idiot with a death wish, or an enlightened vision of the future.’

Thea snorted. ‘And what do you say?’

Wren concentrated on her creation, tinkering with an element that Thea couldn’t see. But there was a smile on Wren’s lips and the glimmer of pride in her eyes. ‘I tell them you’re my sister.’

CHAPTER TWENTY

Thea threw herself into the life of a shieldbearer with everything she had, her fate stone a constant reminder of the hourglass draining. When the time came to submit her official nomination for the Warsword she wished to apprentice to, she didn’t hesitate as she scrawled Torj Elderbrock’s name next to her own. Training with the Bear Slayer was going well, and she found she liked the warrior’s openness and sense of humour. He would make a fine mentor, she was sure.

Wilder Hawthorne may have been the youngest warrior to pass the Great Rite, but Torj Elderbrock was going to help her break that record. And so Thea kept her head down, grateful that Seb and his lackeys seemed to have taken Torj’s warning seriously, grateful that Dax still guarded her by night, and even more grateful that she’d had no more run-ins with Hawthorne. At long last, she could focus on her goals, with luck on her side.

A week after her return to Thezmarr as a shieldbearer, that luck ran out.

Thea, Cal and Kipp waited with the rest of their cohort in the courtyard one chilly autumn morning. The stable master, Madden, greeted them, and to Thea’s mortification, hisapprentice Evander, who didn’t bother to hide his shock at seeing her there.

Thea looked away immediately, but not before Seb caught the awkward exchange. Thea didn’t like the glint of interest in his eyes one bit, but there was nothing she could do about it. Instead, she listened to the stable master.

‘I’d like to reinforce the importance of good horsemanship to a shieldbearer of Thezmarr. In your position, you will be expected to assist the guild in any way you can, which can entail anything, including carrying messages, riding into conflict alongside the Guardians and commanders, and attending to them on the battlefield. Should you pass your initiation test, you will be expected to travel swiftly to assist the three kingdoms when called upon. There should be no lack of skills you can offer the guild.’ He looked them over, apparently as unimpressed as the Warswords always seemed.

‘We’ll be taking horses down to the Plains of Orax. There, we’ll have you practise riding with weapons, riding as a unit and riding against one another,’ he told them.

‘Hopefully you’re not as pathetic as yesterday’s group,’ came one of Esyllt’s familiar insults. The weapons master was standing at the entrance to the stables. ‘The first shieldbearer to fall from their horse will be on clean-up duty at the armoury for the rest of the week. Don’t embarrass me in front of Madden.’

They took a shortcut through the Bloodwoods that Thea hadn’t known about and just when she thought they were so deep they might never see the sky again, the trees thinned and eventually opened up onto open grassy plains at the tops of the Thezmarrian cliffs. Past their sharp edges, the dark seas beckoned and even further out, the misty Veil towered on the horizon.

She inhaled the briny sea air. Those lone moments beneath the shadows of the jagged mountains and the lightning felt likea lifetime ago. How long had it been since she’d stood up there, clutching her fate stone, desperately wishing for the chance to be more…?

And now here she was. Her hand went absentmindedly to the piece of jade, but she caught herself at the last minute, stuffing her hands into her pockets instead and turning her focus to the training unfolding before her.

Thea watched intently as Madden and Esyllt demonstrated several styles of riding, itching for her turn already. To his credit, Evander had always taught her it was an advantage to have a slight frame when it came to riding quickly, but this was about more than being fast. The two masters heaved their shields and swords up, and Thea knew her muscles were in for another session of torture.

As she waited for her turn, she noticed Seb cornering Evander with a small group of his lackeys. The stable master’s apprentice had his hands up in defence and was talking low and fast. Thea felt instantly sick. She didn’t know what that bastard was playing at, but she knew no good would come from it. The thought of him havinganyknowledge of her former love life didn’t sit well with her. However, intervening was not an option. Her meddling would only spur Seb on, and who knew what horseshit Evander had said already?

Tearing her gaze away from the troubling sight, she fit her foot to the stirrup and mounted the white and grey gelding. He was larger than her mare had been, and far more stubborn, but she reined him in using the techniques Evander had taught her. She was sure to give the unruly beast only one instruction at a time, walking him in a few tight circles to distract him from his willful attitude.

‘Good approach, girl,’ Madden commented from nearby. ‘It’s always important not to be impatient or heavy-handed, particularly with the young ones.’

‘Thank you, Sir,’ Thea replied.

‘You’ll need to use your knees and heels to guide him,’ Madden spoke again, approaching with a training sword held up to her.

Feeling momentarily dazed by the situation, Thea draped the reins over the saddle horn and took the practice weapon wordlessly.

Cal then handed her a shield, smaller and lighter than the one she’d used on her first day.

‘A cavalry shield, rather than the infantry style,’ he supplied before stepping back.