Page 75 of Flameborne: Chosen

‘Tell me, Little Flame. Tell me what’s on your mind?’

‘It’s impossible. I’m not strong enough—and I’m not weak, Akhane! I’ve been harnessing our horse on the farm since I was five or six years old. I carry hay and work hard. I’m strong! But this is too much. There’s a limit to what any one body can lift and throw, and this istoo heavyfor me. Even if I somehow manage to get it off you, how do I get the harness back to the tack room? How will I harness you tomorrow? If they require me to do this now, I’m going to fail. I don’t want to fail!’

‘You’ll find your way,’my dragon sent kindly.‘You’re strong, Bren. I know you can do this. Is there a way to unbuckle so there is less of the harness to carry? Could you make it lighter that way?’

I shook my head. “Even if I took it apart on you—I have to get up to release that neck strap and then I have to get all those long straps curled together without tangling them—and it’s so heavy. God, Akhane, I’m failing you. I’m so sorry. But I’mfailingyou.”

As my dragon crooned and tried to reassure me, I put my face in my hands and wept. But even that didn’t help.

Swallowing back the tears that were still sliding down my face, I tried once again to find a way to loosen the straps and remove the harness without releasing that top buckle.

But it was no damn use.

Soon I cursed that awful harness and every man who’d ever decided that I could evenfathombeing a Furyknight.

What a joke.

22. Lift Your Chin

~ DONAVYN ~

When Kgosi and I reached the stable, it was to find Akhane standing at its center, her neck turned to nose a crying Bren, who held the mounting strap in both hands, her knees trembling almost as badly as her chin.

When I caught sight of blood on Bren’s sleeve and Kgosi gave a concerned rumble, I thought Bren was hurt and hurried forward, Kgosi lumbering in my wake.

But when Bren saw me coming, her eyes went wide and fearful—then her mouth closed, her lips pressed then before she shoved away from Akhane and stumbled back.

“I can’t do it! I can’t fucking do it—you’re all just trying to torture me. You think this is funny? You think it’sfunnyto humiliate a woman, is that it?!”

I froze, midstep, startled by her fierce anger, and baffled by her words.

“What—”

“Don’t pretend to be kind—don’t pretend you care! I know what you’re all doing—this is punishment, right? And when I fail you’ll have your excuse to kick me out, you sadistic bastard. Is that what you want? So, it’s all my fault and none of you have to—”

“Flameborne,attend!”I barked sternly.

Bren’s eyes flew wide. She snapped to attention and fixed her eyes on the darkening windows high above my shoulder, her dirty cheeks flooding red, tears welling in her eyes.

Anger bubbled in my chest, but I also knew a person on the edge when I saw one, and I knew from experience that escalating the emotion would only break her further.

So, I left her standing in silence for a minute, folding my arms, and staring until she swallowed and released a heavy breath.ThenI spoke.

“I don’t know what kind of men have ruled your life before now, Flameborne Kearney,” I muttered. “But I can tell you withgreatauthority that no one here seeks to torment you. If you have been left a challenge it is exactly that: an obstacle to overcome. Nothing more.”

She blinked and a single tear trickled down her cheek to clean a new track in the smears of dirt on her reddened cheeks.

“As forme,”I said with a warning growl that Kgosi underlined with a rumble of his own, “I am neither sadistic, nor a bastard, though my father might have chosen differently,” I said through my teeth. “If I hear those words out of your mouth and aimed at an undeserving target in future, you will sent to the scatpits without warning, do you understand?”

“Y-yes, Sir,” she said, her voice catching. She swallowed again.

“You stay at attention, Flameborne. Your Commanding Officer has a lesson for you,” I growled. “I understand that the Academy is new for you. No Flameborne is expected to walk into the Reach and know all the rules—this is why we train and educate. However,manners.I hazard a guess that your parents taught you manners—would that be an accurate assumption, Bren?”

“Yes, S-Sir.”

“Then I will say this to you only once: in our line of work, the hierarchy of rank and experience isunassailable.Authority will not be challenged, and in fact,cannot be.Your job is not to lead. It is to follow. And that is not for the sadistic pleasure ofanyman. That is for the safety of you, your brothers, and our entire legions. Your self-control and willingness to follow rules, to respect authority, and to follow orders may seem like a bit in your teeth, but trust me, when we reach battle, it will be the safety net that keeps you alive.

“If I were to give an order in the field while we were under flame, can you conceive of the fact that thereis not time to explain myself?”