Page 5 of Enchanted Shadows (The Enchanted Kingdom #6)

T he hardest part, the first week, was done. The women were about to do their first thirty-minute timed trial test. This one wasn’t real, the one that really mattered was still two weeks out. I hadn’t told them that yet, as I wanted them to treat it like it was real.

But first things first.

I put a box on the ground. “Your water bottles are atrocious.”

“What?” Vivian said in confusion. “Why?”

“They’re far too small. When Remy’s cramps got unbearable last week, I noticed how small all of your water bottles are.” The biggest one was maybe two glassfuls worth.

I held open one of the contents of the box.

“So these are your new ones. A gift from her royal majesty, Queen Jorah. More of a jug, less of a bottle. Not as pretty, but far more functional. They are all white. I could’ve chosen pink, but I thought that might be insulting to some of you.

” Naturally my eyes landed on Zara. “So here they are. Nothing special, other than they are larger. Because as much as I am pushing you, and wanting you to get stronger, you also have to help me in that endeavor by making sure you’re getting enough protein, water, and sleep. ”

Lights out was two hours prior to midnight, but I wasn’t na?ve enough to believe they really went to bed at that time. I knew I never had when I was in training.

“So here you go,” I handed the first one over to Fern. “Go fill them up with ice and water from the kitchen before we get started.”

I noticed as they formed a line for me to hand them over that all of the women had bright pink nail polish on today.

It was somewhat hard to miss. Rather than be annoyed, I understood they had done something in solidarity to ward off their nerves for this morning.

I wasn’t mad about that at all. So long as they weren’t forcing me to do mine, I was fine with it.

Zara was last in line. Like she often was.

I looked to her nails. “Didn’t take you for a pink kind of woman.”

“I prefer black. Like my soul.”

Not expecting that, a laugh escaped out my throat. “Okay then.”

“But we did it together. And despite my best efforts, they are wiggling their way into my good graces.”

I grinned. “Okay.”

She held up her new water jug. “This was a good idea.”

“Okay.”

“You’re in a whole mood today, aren’t you?”

I cocked my head. “Go fill up your jug and find out.”

“Great. More yelling.” But this time she seemed less mad about it.

Just to be a pest, I decided that was the perfect time to hurry them along. “Hustle up!”

Their groans and Zara’s dramatic head shake had me laughing.

I waited for them to gather back at the starting point.

“Big rock. Back. Thirty minutes. One of three big tests in the first round of training. You don’t need me to lead the way today, you already know where you’re going.

” I tapped on my temple. “You will need to control this. The doubts of if you can make it in time. You can. Remember to control your breathing and watch your strides. I’ll see you in thirty. ”

“Or else,” Sam added.

“Or else,” I agreed, but not really.

“Go!” I yelled and they took off.

Some of them ran alone, some of them, like Molly, preferred to run with a buddy to pace themselves. I settled in to wait, suspecting that most of them wouldn’t be back for at least twenty-five minutes.

Jessina ended up being the first one in at twenty-one minutes.

“Nicely done!”

I saw a few bodies far off in the distance, too blurry to tell who they even were. “Keep it up!”

The third woman in was Zara, who ran to the starting point and immediately spun on her heel to head the opposite direction.

“Zara?”

She didn’t respond, just kept running.

“Zara?” I tried again, a little louder.

Fern arrived next, and did the same exact thing, following Zara.

“You do not get bonus points for extra,” I hollered at them.

Jessina was taking a big pull from her water jug. “It’s Viv.”

“What about her?”

“She sprained her ankle on the trail.”

Oh. And because they believed this was real, they were going to help her.

I felt like a prick for not disclosing that this was the practice run, but I was proud of them for the decision all the same.

I knew it had nothing to do with me. They had only known me for a week, but it spoke to who they were.

Who they really were, underneath it all.

Another group came in. Wren among them .

“Twenty-four minutes!” I yelled.

Six minutes. Zara and Fern had six minutes to get Vivian here. Could they do it? At what point had Vivian sprained her ankle?

Magnolia and Harlow arrived.

I saw Molly in the distance and was mildly impressed. She was a bookworm, but she had been throwing herself into this and doing everything I asked of her. I guessed this was why you didn’t just judge a book by its cover. Pun intended.

“Hustle,” I called out to her. “Hustle your bustle.”

“That’s new,” Jessina snorted.

“I like to switch it up, make sure you’re paying attention,” I told her.

Molly crossed the starting point and immediately headed for her water, huffing, “This bustle is all out of hustle.”

I smirked. “Twenty-eight.”

Three more made it in.

Jessina was speaking to Harlow. “When you see them, we will run out to help. Carry Viv if we have to.”

I wasn’t sure if a piggy-back ride was explicitly stated in the rules, but I wasn’t certain they were going to make it back in time anyway.

“Come on,” Molly whispered as they gathered around at the starting point. “Come on.”

“At what point did Viv sprain her ankle?” I asked.

“Not long after the big rock.”

So she’d made it at least the first mile and a half before getting hurt. That gave them a chance.

“I see them!”

Sure enough, there they were.

Fern was jogging beside Viv and Zara. Viv had her arm across Zara’s neck, using Zara as a walking crutch.

Jessina and Harlow jogged out and offered to switch Zara, but she shook her head. They were almost in .

“Twenty-nine.”

Sam made it in. Two others were still missing, but it looked like with the extra help, Viv was going to make it.

As soon as Zara and Viv crossed the starting point, a writhing mass of a hug formed on the ground where they gently lowered Viv.

Honestly, these women might take longer to strength train, but they were way faster at forming relationships than my last class had been. Maybe the bright pink nail polish was to blame, but I thought it had more to do with them and knowing that they would be doubted at every turn.

As the final two made it in, one of them, Elsie, immediately started crying.

Sam, who had also struggled today, was there to give her a hug.

As soon as they all quieted down, I barked, “Water!”

The way Elsie grabbed her jug, holding it by the handle in defeat, and clomped toward the barracks, made me feel low.

“Hold up, Elsie.”

Her feet shuffled to a stop, though she didn’t turn around. Probably not wanting me to see her cry.

“This is not the real trial run,” I said loud enough for everyone to hear.

“What?”

“Excuse me?”

There were a few comments, and it was hard to keep straight from what direction it was coming from.

“I wanted you to treat it as real. I wanted to see what you’d do. How you would handle the pressure. Neither Elsie or Aletta are kicked out. At least not yet.”

Elsie turned to look at me in shock. Aletta seemed more confused.

“You two have a second chance. And only one. What you choose to do with it is up to you. ”

Elsie’s voice was strained as she asked, “So I’m not out?”

“No. I don’t think having the official first trial run after only seven days is exactly fair.”

“So when will it be, then?” Viv snapped from where she sat on the ground.

“Two weeks.” I gestured to her ankle. I needed to get her to the healers to see what they said. “We have two weeks to get you healed.”

Molly and Sam ran for Elsie and Aletta to congratulate them. While I turned to find Zara before me, hands on her hips, an angry furrow between her eyes.

“So I busted my butt for nothing?”

I didn’t hesitate. “No. You saved a team member. I would never consider that nothing.”

She shook her head in anger.

I turned over my shoulder and said, “No balance drills today. Head for the showers. Good job to all of you. A week ago, I think half of you wouldn’t have made it. Today there were only two. It is likely in two weeks that all of you can make it.”

Before she could leave, I added, “Zara, stay back for a moment.”

She did, hands still perched on her hips. “What?”

“First of all,” I began, my anger flaring to match hers, “I am damn proud of you for the way you went after Vivian.”

My angry compliment surprised her. And me a little, too.

“Second, I don’t appreciate you snapping at me for giving those two women a second chance. Like it or not, all of you believing this was real helped me to see what you would truly do. Like how you didn’t even hesitate to go after Viv.”

She inhaled deeply.

The anger in my voice was going nowhere. “Third, do you have any idea what you just did?”

“What I just did?” she repeated, looking at me like I was a crazed lunatic .

I pointed to the starting and finishing line. “Yes. That.”

“Well, I thought I was saving Viv from being eliminated from the team, but I was being lied to.”

That’s right. This woman had some serious trust issues.

“Again, I might have led you to believe it was real, but only to see how you would really act. Now before the real trial, someone like Sam goes into it already knowing she can do it. Someone like Elsie will run just that little bit faster. Like it or not, this was a learning moment. But no, none of that is what I meant.” I crossed my arms and gave her a mocking smile. “That just separated you. As a leader.”

“I don’t want to be a leader,” she snapped back without delay.

“Why the hell not?”

“Look,” she flung her hands out at her sides, “I only wanted to save Viv. She might be a flirt, but she isn’t a bad person. She’s the better leader. Pick her.”

“Why don’t you want to lead?”

“I’m not cut out for it,” she had the audacity to tell me.

“Do not lie to me, when I clearly just saw otherwise.” I let out a sigh, dialing back my anger. “Until you tell me the real reason you’re holding back, Zara, I’m going to assume you’re leadership material.”

I spun for the barracks, frustrated she couldn’t embrace what she had walked into so naturally today with the trial.

I was only five steps away when I heard her say quietly, “I stood there while someone got hurt too. Kind of like what happened with you and Wren.”

I spun back to look at her.

She was playing with the chain of her necklace, which she never took off.

I assumed it was a family heirloom and meant something to her.

She took a shaky breath as if haunted by a memory.

“That’s all I feel comfortable sharing, but I’m not cut out for it,” she repeated, “because I don’t deserve it. ”

Braid swinging, she headed for the barracks. Wren and Viv were there, waiting for her.

As she brushed past me, I snagged her arm to temporarily stop her, as gently as possible. “I don’t know what happened, but speaking from experience, punishing yourself won’t help.”

She removed my hand from her arm and stomped off toward the barracks without another word.

If Zara wasn’t careful, the hold her past had on her was going to limit her future.

We were one week into this, twelve more to go. I had one woman quit, one injury, and self-confidence issues left and right. I decided I needed to check in with Krew and Jorah tonight and spend a night at the castle.