Page 21 of Enchanted Shadows (The Enchanted Kingdom #6)

“ O ne would think,” Sam panted as we ran the second time to the rock and back, “that we might have been let off the hook after last night.” Another breath. “Allowed a reprieve.”

“One would think,” I argued as I slowed to run next to her, “that last night should prove to you why I push you as hard as I do. So that you are ready to deal with the pricks of the realm.”

“Insulted you can run— and talk,” Elsie huffed at my back as I passed her.

The obstacle course was long gone, and we were nearing the last chunk of the first session of training.

I was pushing team strategy time hard, knowing that the upcoming final maze trial was the last one which would determine if they could make it or not.

They’d go in groups of three, and if they couldn’t get through it, then all three were out.

It was supposed to test a person’s teamwork skills in addition to individual. As well as the women were doing lately on the challenges I put them through using each of their strengths, I wasn’t terribly worried for it.

By tradition, Team One got to be in charge of making the maze a little harder than just random dead ends. Though I had trained more than half of Team One at this point, I still selfishly wanted these women to make a statement.

So our asses were running. Merely passing the maze wasn’t enough for me. Not with everything else going on.

“Tomorrow is rest day,” I reminded them. “So move it!”

I heard Pippa the Pepper mutter, “This is what we get for group hugging him.”

I grinned as I pulled up to Molly and Zara.

Zara groaned.

“Wanna race?” I asked her.

“I do not wish,” she began, “to be either humbled, nor embarrassed.”

“Is this where I give you both a pep talk—about how your mind is the most important aspect to physical strength?”

“No,” Molly panted. “This is where you run along ahead. Leave us to our misery.”

I picked up speed to do exactly that, tossing over my shoulder, “Greatness can never be deterred for long.”

Vivian and Jessina were in a sprint to the finish. I let them beat me today, in no rush to beat them just to shove their noses in it.

They were high fiving by the time I crossed the finish line.

“Feeling tired today, old man?” Jessina jested.

“A little,” I admitted. “Was up late taking out the trash.”

Both girls laughed.

It was Jessina’s turn to try to land a good blow on me in sparring, so I headed to grab some water.

As the other women were finishing up their run, they all gathered around to watch Jessina and me before they’d break apart and fight against one another.

The daily routine of trying to hit me had become a bit of a crowd pleaser.

So much so we sparred twice a day now. And they all cheered for one another, never me.

Which was damn rude, but it was what it was .

Jessina put a foot forward to walk over to where I waited, but Zara grabbed her arm, pulled her back, and whispered something to her. Jessina nodded and then walked over.

I squinted at Zara. She was jaded by life in such a way that made her keenly observant.

She gave me a cocky little shrug that did nothing but solidify my suspicions.

“Shall we?” I asked Jessina.

“We shall!” She didn’t look scared or nervous, she sounded rather excited.

She began a series of moves we’d been teaching the women. How to kick out at the ground, how to distract with an attack to one side of the body, just to quickly move to the other, trying to catch the person off balance.

Two minutes in, I was impressed with everything Jessina was throwing at me. These women were not the women who had shown up here a few months ago. None of them had been able to come at me like this when we started.

And then it happened.

I moved to block her kick while Jessina turned around and elbowed me directly in the chest forcing me to stumble back.

The yelling of the women was enough to shatter my ears, but I quickly moved, snagged that elbow before it could go far, and then made quick work of pinning down both of her arms behind her.

“But I win, right?” she asked as she stopped fighting me.

I rolled my eyes. “You do. But let this be a lesson to everyone. Don’t get so excited about landing a good blow that you forget to guard yourself for a return one.”

“I need to hear you say it,” Jessina beamed.

“But did you hear a thing I just said?” I asked her. And all of them, really.

“Don’t get too excited that I don’t see a return attack coming,” Jessina recited .

I gave my head a shake but let go of her. At least it had been a hit to the chest. I would hate to bear witness to the amount of celebrating that would have occurred if the shot had been to other more important parts of me. “Jessina wins as the first person to deliver a blow to me.”

They were jumping and crowding around, but my eyes went to Zara. What exactly had she whispered to her before?

I let the shower water drip down over my head and run down my back. It had been a long day. A damn long day. I had a long strategy session with the women, then had to check in with both Miles and Krew about all things from the attack the night before.

The Stirlings were raging that their son was imprisoned. They felt the punishment was too severe. So Krew had to leak to the public the part about the back door being locked, proving how wrong it could have all gone.

And I couldn’t get past those few moments between when I had heard the barracks were on fire and when I arrived on scene. The sheer terror that coursed through my veins.

I stayed in the shower longer than necessary and let the steam and sound of the water invade my senses while I regulated my breathing. Despite my best efforts to treat this team like any other, I was coming to care for these women and felt a bit protective over them.

I reminded myself for the hundredth time that I didn’t want this group torn apart and tossed among the already made units.

I wanted them to stay together. They were gold together.

Now I saw what a disservice it was to the team to treat them like any other training group.

They weren’t. Pretending otherwise didn’t do them or me any favors.

I had to head to the castle the following day to brief with Jorah about the celebration event for the team, so I added another discussion on the future of the team to the never-ending to-do list. Krew and I seemed on the same page the last time we discussed it, but I wanted to make sure.

I shut the water off and dripped a few moments before grabbing my towel.

A knock sounded on my door. Twice. Three times.

“Hang on, Em,” I called. He’d been begging me to play cards recently.

I threw on sweatpants and didn’t bother with a shirt as I threw open the door.

But it wasn’t Emric at all. It was Zara.

Her blonde hair was down around her shoulders, her necklace she loved tucked low enough between her breasts that I wouldn’t follow the cord to see where it stopped, even if it was tempting.

But it was the haunted and misted look in her brown eyes that had me tensing.

“What’s wrong?” I asked immediately. “Has there been another attack?”

“Not yet,” she croaked, glancing to my still somewhat damp chest.

“Zara,” I said more gently. “Do you want to come in and sit down?”

Her answer was quick. Like she didn’t even think about it. “No. You don’t have a shirt on.”

I dipped my chin. “Didn’t realize a man without a shirt on was such the scandal.”

“It is when it’s you.” She moved to sit on the two steps leading to my small cabin, her arms going around her legs.

Did she mean because I was the general in charge of training her? I sat as far away from her as possible, but the steps weren’t that wide, so we were almost touching. “Tell me something, Zara. Anything to help you. Give me something real . Please. I want to help you, but I don’t know how.”

“Something real? ”

“Yeah.”

She took a shaky breath. “I am scared, Owen. So damn scared. All the time.”

“Of who? Your family?”

She nodded, wiping at an eye. “And of myself.”

“Of yourself ?”

She gave me a shrug. “I almost participated in helping my older brother hurt my younger brother. I was nothing more than a puppet.”

I vowed in that moment to hunt down her older brother and give him the life he deserved. A short one. I clenched my jaw but forced my voice to come out gentle. “You were manipulated, Zara.”

She put a shaky hand to her forehead and let out a long sigh. “I think I should leave.”

“My cabin?”

“No. Training.”

What the hell? “No.”

“No?”

“No.”

She spun to me, that furrow in between her eyes back with a vengeance. “You let Aletta and Harlow leave when they were ready to.”

“You aren’t leaving,” I snapped. “I won’t let you throw this away because you’re scared and panicking. Not until you tell me everything, what’s really going on here. And definitely not if I don’t think you’ll be safe hiding in Nerede.”

She stood, anger replacing the confusion in her features. She gestured wildly toward the barracks. “Don’t you get it?! When I woke up last night, I thought it was my family trying to kill us. It could have been my family trying to kill us. Trying to get to me.”

“Zara.” I didn’t stand or raise my voice to match hers. “You’re trying to leave because you are scared, and you think that will keep the team safe. ”

“Yes!” she hissed.

“Your guardian Amos thinks you are safer here than in Nerede, so why would you jeopardize that?”

“Because I don’t want anyone else in the crosshairs!”

I gave my head a shake. “No. My answer is still no.”

Both of her arms went out at her sides. “Why?”

I stood then slowly, taking a step toward her. “Because even in trying to quit, you are attempting to do what’s best for the team. You are leading, without even trying to.” I cocked my head as I took another step. “Why’d you tell Jessina to elbow me when I caught her leg?”

“Because you always reach for the kick and leave your body open,” she explained.

I grinned. “Exactly. So why not use that yourself? Why not be the one to finally hit me?”

That stunned her into silence. “Because I am not meant to lead.”

“Bullshit,” I spat.

Her eyes scanned mine. For what? I had no clue.

“Until you tell me a better reason, I’m not letting you leave Kavan Keep. And I’m sure as hell not allowing you to quit something you’ve worked so hard for.”

She gasped out a breath.

“Do you still not trust me?” I asked quietly.

She shook her head. “No. I do trust you. I just—” she cut off, again struggling against the weight she was carrying. A weight I was certain wasn’t all hers to bear. “It hurts.”

I took a big step forward, so much so that we were almost touching. “So tell me what hurts. Why it hurts. Where it hurts. And we’ll fix it together, yeah?”

She looked into my eyes. For a small moment, I thought she’d do it. I thought she’d tell me everything. But then she turned and ran before I could say anything more, shutting me out yet again. “I’m sorry,” was all she said over her shoulder .

I let out a sigh. I’d been close. Part of me wanted to chase her down and carry her into my cabin, forcing her to tell me.

But I wanted her to be able to tell me on her own terms. I grabbed my socks and boots and began walking toward the wall.

I needed to talk to Miles and Team One. I’d play the long game and wait her out, but like hell would I let her quit and leave for Nerede.