Page 30 of Spirit Trials (The Spirit Kingdoms #1)
“Yes,” I say simply. “I won’t say that I’m happy with how it all started, but...” I lift my shoulders and drop them. “This may end up being the best thing that ever happened to me and to my family. I just have to win this thing. No pressure, right?”
He steps back. “Yeah. I’ll do the dishes; go take a bath.”
“No, it’s fine. I made the mess; I’ll clean it up.”
“You are so stubborn.”
“Me? I'm stubborn? Have you looked in a mirror, Prince?”
He scowls. “Don’t call me that.”
“Prince? I hate to break it to you, Big Guy. That’s your title.”
“And I’ve always hated it.”
I start scrubbing dishes. “You shouldn’t hate it. It’s a gift you’ve been given; you should use it. I’m serious,” I add when he shoots me a dubious look. “You could do a lot of good, especially when you become king one day.”
“I don’t want to become king one day.”
“Okay, but think of all the good you could do.”
“Like what?” he questions.
“Like freeing the banished and letting them live in your city.”
His mouth tightens. “That would never happen.”
I refuse to let his words anger me. “Well, it won’t if somebody doesn’t step up and make those changes.”
“Farrah, those rules have been in place for hundreds of years.”
“Well,” I say brightly. “Then it would be a fine time to change them, don’t you think?”
“I know those girls are your friends.” He lowers his voice. “But don’t get close to them; it will only bring you heartache.”
So much for not getting angry . “If you’re too blind to see that the banished deserve to be part of your city just as much as you do, then you’re right.
You shouldn’t be a leader because you’d make a terrible one.
” I brush past him and leave the kitchen before I say something I’m going to regret.
I storm up the stairs and head towards my room.
After a quick detour to make sure Harper and Kinsley don’t need anything, I head to my room.
I’m ready for some down time and a warm bath.
I crash hard and sleep for several hours.
As soon as I’m up, I grab the girls and get right back to training.
After several hours of hard, physical training, Rysden orders us to take ice baths. Kinsley turns to me with eyes wide. “What?”
“It’s exactly what it sounds like,” I tell her.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Harper says.
“I don't kid,” Rysden returns, deadly serious. I know when he’s like this that there’s no use arguing.
“Come on. Let’s get it over with.”
Lox drags three tubs out from who knows where. They look like feeding troughs for horses, but I don’t point that out. I help drag buckets of ice and then water to fill them. Kinsley and Harper stare at the tubs with growing horror. “This is insane,” Harper says.
“And we have to do this out here?” Kinsley asks, looking around.
“We keep our clothes on,” I reassure her.
“You don’t have to,” Lox throws out with a mischievous grin. He grunts, and I turn around to see him rubbing his stomach. I swallow my grin, knowing Rysden just got him good.
“Get in,” Rysden says, nodding at the tubs. His arms are crossed over his chest, his feet planted solidly on the ground.
Knowing I have to take the lead on this, I take a deep breath and then step inside.
My body locks up tight, but I keep going.
Soon, I’m submerged. I can’t breathe, and I feel panic overtaking me as my body screams for me to get out.
I hear a mouthful of curses spewing, and I can’t fight my grin as Harper gets into her tub.
“Ohhhhh, this is s-so c-c-cold,” Kinsley says in her soft voice.
“You can do it,” I throw out through clenched teeth. “It’s only cold.”
“This is idiotic! Why are we doing this!” Harper yells. “I’m not doing this any longer.”
“Two more minutes,” Rysden says. “Surely you can survive two more minutes.”
Harper grumbles, but I don’t hear her climb out. I breathe deeply, shutting the world around me out. Finally, Lox calls, “Time.” There’s a loud sound, and I open my eyes to watch Harper practically jump out of the tub. I start to move, but a hand on my shoulder keeps me down.
My eyes flash to Rysden’s, and I panic for just a minute. His hold on my shoulder eases, and he squats down next to my tub. “Not you.”
“W-what?” My voice is breathless because of the cold.
“You’re not done yet.”
I open my mouth to argue with him, but he turns around to Harper and Kinsley. “Go inside and warm by the fire. Don’t take a hot bath; your body is too cold yet.”
“W-wh-what ab-bout F-farrah?” Kinsley asks through chattering teeth.
“She’s not done yet.” Rysden’s voice is harsh, and I close my eyes. I don’t feel like I can take the cold another moment. But I’m not going to show my weakness in front of Rysden and the guys. “Hector will see to it that you get warm. Now, go.”
I don’t open my eyes, but I hear them eventually leave.
Harper argued with Rysden for a little bit, but the conversation was too hard for me to focus on.
I finally find myself start to warm a little.
“Farrah!” Rysden snaps at me. “Look at me!” I manage to pry open my eyes, and the cold comes rushing back.
“Wh-what?” I ask through chattering teeth.
“Don’t go to sleep,” he orders.
“As if I-I c-could,” I manage.
“Ry,” Lox says, coming over to stand next to him.
“She’s fine,” Rysden says.
“Yeah, but for how long?” Lox asks in a low voice.
“She has to do this,” Rysden growls at him. “Or she’s no competitor.” His words poke at me, and I open my eyes to glare at him. He’s staring at me. “You gonna give up?” There’s an arrogant smirk on his lips, and it grinds on me.
I glare at him. “No.”
“You sure about that?” He asks. I bite my tongue to keep from crying out in pain. I’m so cold; I just want out. “This is nothing for what’s coming, Farrah.” His words are as cold as the ice I’m sitting in. “If you can’t make it through this, you may as well give up now.”
“I’m n-not g-giving up,” I manage through chattering teeth. I close my eyes and try to focus on anything but my present circumstances.
“Don’t go to sleep!” he snaps.
“I’m n-not.” I focus on just taking one steadying breath after another. One more minute—that’s all I have to endure. I tell myself that over and over again, hoping at some point, my body will believe it.
“Okay. You’re done.” My eyes fly open. Dark eyes meet my own. “Get out.” Lox moves over to help me, but Rysden stops him. “Don’t help her.”
I grind my teeth together and work on getting out; it takes an embarrassingly long time. My body is beyond numb. “Now run to the trees and climb one.”
I stare at Rysden. “Are you s-serious right n-now?”
“Deadly.” His eyes bore into mine, and I see the challenge there.
I keep my frustrated scream inside and turn and start making my way over to the trees.
It’s painfully slow. “A child can run faster than you are right now,” he calls out from behind me.
I ignore him and focus on moving. When I get to the base of the tree, I stare up at it.
It looks more formidable in my weakened state than any other tree I’ve ever tried to climb.
“What are you waiting for?” Rysden calls out. “Climb.”
And so, I do. I push the pain down, and I focus on just getting up into the tree.
The first branch is the hardest. It takes me longer than normal to get up to the first branch, but then I’m moving.
My fingers are frozen stiff, so it’s hard to get a good grip but I keep going forward.
I’m encouraged when the movement seems to push a tiny bit of warmth back into my body, so I keep going.
When I finally reach the top, I take a deep breath.
“Can I come down now, or do I have to spend all night up here, Your Highness ?” I can’t resist the dig.
“Come back down,” he says from far below.
I make slow work of climbing down. It’s bad enough that my extremities are frozen, but now my clothes are as well.
It makes moving stiff and awkward. When I make the last jump to the ground, my legs go completely out from under me.
Rysden makes no move to help me up, and I finally manage to gain my feet. “Back in the ice bath.”
I stop and turn slowly to him. “What?”
“You heard me.” He starts walking towards the bath.
“I can’t,” I call out from behind him.
“You can’t, or you won’t?” he asks without slowing his stride.
I feel like crying as I make my way over to the tub I left not long ago. I stop next to it and stare at it. “Rysden, I can’t.” My words are soft, so soft in fact I don’t think he’s going to hear. But he does.
He steps close to me. “Pain is just an emotion. Don’t let it rule you. Push the fear away. You can do this, Farrah.” He lowers his head, so his eyes are level with mine. “Show me you can do this; show me who you really are.”
I bite my lip and take a deep breath. And then, before I can allow myself to think, I plunge into the bath and sink down.
I cry out in pain before I can help it. “That’s it.
” Rysden’s voice is really close to my ear now.
“It’s just cold; you can do this.” His words are low, and I don’t really understand the intensity behind them.
I make myself think about anything but the ice bath I’m sitting in.
I think of my mom and brother, but that brings pain.
I think instead of a warm fire. For some reason, the warm fire I think of is in Rysden’s room.
I let that thought wrap around me, and it almost feels like I can feel the warmth of the fire.
“Okay.” Rysden’s voice cuts through the image in my mind. “You’re done.”
“What if I don’t want to be done,” I return in a weak voice.
A quiet snort leaves his mouth, and I open my eyes.
His dark eyes are inches from my own. “You did good,” he says in a low voice.
And then without warning, his hands plunge into the water and grab my sides and hoist me up and out of the tub.
The cold air wraps around my body, and I shiver, feeling the cold to my bones.
“Let’s get you inside.” He puts a hand on my back but makes no other move to help me.
As soon as we get inside the house, I’m instantly hit with warmth.
I want to lie down right here, right in the entryway.
Rysden must pick up on what I’m feeling because he pushes me forward. “Come on. Don't quit on me.”
I stiffen my back. “I’m not quitting.”
“Good. Then let’s get you to the fire.” I move forward, so he’s no longer touching my back. As soon as I step into the main room, the heat from the fire hits me. “Don’t get to close too quick.”
Those are Rysden’s last words before he leaves me. I don’t care; I’m just happy that I can start thawing out.