A loud thud caused me to snap my eyes open, jolting upright. It was no surprise to find Dallas groaning on the ground since he'd been shifting uncomfortably around the bed for a while now. He sat up, rubbing his head and looking around with confusion.
He then looked up at me and his eyes lit up, realization dawning on him. "Oh, hey," he said, giving me an apologetic smile. "Did I wake you?"
I threw the blankets off and stood up stretching. "No, I was already awake," I said as I rolled my shoulders. He laughed and then stood up, looking around the dim room before walking across the room to flick on the lights. As soon as the light reached my eyes, I began blinking, desperate to get my full vision back.
As soon as they adapted to the light, I relaxed and walked over to the cart, glancing at Dallas as he slipped on his shirt and boots. It was only then that I noticed they were styled like mine, except they were a dark brown and more worn, and didn't reach all the way to the knees.
"I'll be right back, just gotta go change," he said. I grabbed some jeans, my eyes widening a bit as they took them in. I guess members of the TKG really did get more benefits. They were probably the best pair of pants I'd ever owned. "Are you gonna wear those?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
I scoffed. "Should I not?"
He shook his head, quick to apologize. "No, no, I mean, you can wear whatever you want," he said, taking a step closer and lightly punching my shoulder. "I just don't think they'd be easy to train in."
"Train?" He started and let his hand fall.
"Yeah, didn't Duke tell you?" he asked, tilting his head. I felt my chest tighten. I didn't remember Cedric saying anything about training. Well, I did, but not exactly what but I was sure he'd mentioned something about training. Was it that I would be training? It must have been.
Shitty memory.
"Oh, um, maybe," I said, setting the jeans back in the cart.
"How the tables have turned," he said, ruffling my hair and turning around. "Pick out some light, flexible clothes. There should be some basic training clothes in there, too." He reached the door, swinging it open before turning to me. "I'll be right back." He stepped out of the room but just before the door shut, he popped his head back in. "Oh, and wear the boots the King gave you!"
As the door fell shut, I blinked, my mouth hanging open.
Not only was I surprised by the training part, but I was absolutely astounded by Dallas' energy. I shook my head, flopping back onto the bed. I didn't know what time it was but it must have been early and I wasn't much of a morning person anyway. The fact that he'd gotten up, ready, and out in the span of five minutes was envious. Or maybe it wasn't.
My fingers clenched around the soft blankets. Yeah, I don't think I was envious. Just surprised.
I rolled over, yawning. In my earlier foster care days, I'd stayed up for up to three days without a wink of sleep and still be just fine to keep going. There was no way I lost more than five hours of sleep last night and I was exhausted. The only issue is that I knew if I tried to sleep, it wouldn't work. I'd be left staring at the back of my eyelids until it just got annoying enough that I couldn't stand it anymore.
I stood up, resuming my rummaging through the cart of clothes. I'd only found a suitable shirt and clothes were strewn out all over the room when there was a knock on the door. I jumped, my eyes widening. Was that Dallas? I wasn't even halfway ready and he was already back?
Well, I guess I did screw around for a bit. I walked to the door, hesitating when I reached it. If it was Dallas—well, it had to be. There was nobody else that would come see me right now? Right? Cedric didn't seem like the type of person to wake up so early in the morning.
I swung the door open, relaxing. I guess he was the type of person to wake up early in the morning.
"Were you expecting someone else?" Cedric asked with a soft smile.
"Well—not exactly," I said, opening the door as an invitation. It was only when I closed the door and turned around that I remembered what a mess the room was. "The blanket's Dallas' fault," I said in a feeble attempt to defend myself. There was only one blanket on the floor, the rest of the mess was all me.
But Cedric didn't seem to mind as he stepped over the clothes to sit in a chair, facing me. "Dallas was here?" he asked but he didn't seem curious. It didn't even seem like a question, really.
"He, um—" I broke off. Was I supposed to tell anyone he stayed over? Was that even allowed? I mean, why wouldn't it be? Even if it wasn't, Cedric would understand, right? Or maybe he wouldn't. Maybe he'd get angry. And even though I was a tad bit curious as to how he was when he was angry, I didn't want to be the one to cause it nor be on the other end of it. "He stayed the night."
"Yeah?" He nodded, smiling. "That's good. He needs that just as much as you do, I assure you."
I just nodded and then began to dig through the rest of the clothes once again. Dallas needed to stay the night? Did he mean he needed the social interaction? Dallas didn't seem like a person who didn't have any friends—quite the opposite actually. But when he was tired, or when he was discouraged, he did seem like a different person. Or like his mask had cracked for a moment.
Cedric said the members of TKG were offered the position because they'd been through rough lives and needed a second chance. That got me wondering what Dallas' story was. I was curious to know whether his episodes of insecurity had anything to do with his past. He seemed like such a happy person, otherwise. That's one of the reasons why I'd probably never ask. I didn't want to be the reason his mask cracked or even broke.
"What are you looking for?" Cedric asked.
I blinked, realizing I hadn't even looked at all the clothes I'd thrown aside. A sigh slipped past my lips. "Dallas said we'd be training so I'm looking for suitable pants," I said and then turned to him. "Oh, yeah, why are you here? I mean—I don't mind, you can visit whenever you'd like. I just thought that maybe—or, I mean, I was—"
"I actually came to talk to you about last night." I tensed up. He stood up and knelt beside me, picking up a pair of black pants from the pile and tossing them to me. They were tight around the shins and ankles but then loosened up past the knees and up the thighs. They'd definitely be flexible and suitable with my boots. "The Sire seemed in a better mood when he returned. He even brought Hailey a flower." He smiled softly, reminiscent, almost.
"Hailey?" I inquired. That was a new name.
"Oh, the Queen," he said, sending me a smile as he stood up. "And my daughter, of course."
"Daughter!?" Cedric, the Duke, was the Queen's father? That was unexpected. I guess that would explain why he called her by her name. Wouldn't that be pretty awkward, though?
Cedric chuckled. "Yes, my daughter."
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to react that way. I was just surprised, is all," I said, scratching the back of my neck.
"It's alright," he said, sitting on the foot of the bed. "Now, I know it may not seem like a big deal to you, but the Sire giving Hailey any form of admiration is, like, astronomical." He gestured, his face becoming surprised, even doubtful. "So, I'm just curious. What'd you do?"
"I don't know what you mean. I didn't 𝘥𝘰 anything, really," I said.
Cedric shook his head. "Well, no one has tamed the beast in, well—" he scratched his chin "—never, actually. So, you must have made quite the impression."
"I didn't—" I broke off as I heard Dallas' voice, accompanied by soft knocking.
"Hey, are you ready?" I jumped to my feet, clinging to my clothes. I 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 wasn't ready.
"Uh, yeah, just a second," I said, racing to the door and unlocking it before bolting into the bathroom, sweeping up my boots as I did so. I was able to close the bathroom door by the time Dallas had pushed the door open. "I'm almost done," I lied.
I began to quickly undress, not giving a second thought to my bedhead as I glanced in the mirror. When I reached the boots, I suddenly couldn't function enough to decipher how to and 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 buckle all the straps.
I sighed. What was I doing anyway? I couldn't train. It wasn't that I was built like a stick or anything, but pretty much, compared to everyone else. I'd go on runs once in a while but that didn't do much but keep me at the average weight, not to the point of building up muscle or anything. I understood training was required but I knew today would be hell.
"You good?" Dallas asked and my hands moved on their own. My fingers traced up the boots, buckling up the straps as they went up, with a speed I didn't recognize as my own.
"I'm fine," I said, standing up and tossing my former clothes onto the counter. When I opened the door, Dallas was leaning on the wall, his head resting on the frame. He gave me a soft smile and placed his hand on my shoulder.
"Looking good, I see you found some proper training pants." He glanced down at my feet and made a face. "I still don't think it's fair you get better boots than I've ever seen."
"What do you mean? Your boots are nice," I said. I understood that they were nice boots but they weren't any better than Dallas', just newer.
"Well, those are some grade A boots, and mine are like—" he kicked his foot up, taking a look at the worn brown leather. "—a B minus at best."
"Don't be like that," I said, rolling my eyes. I stepped out into the room, glancing over at the chairs. They were empty. Cedric must have had somewhere to be.
"So, are you ready?" he asked, opening the door and gesturing for me to follow him. He didn't give me a chance to answer so I just assumed he wasn't actually asking for one. Even if he was, it's not like I would have said no.
We went back to the same room I'd met Dallas and the rest of the members yesterday. Apparently, as Dallas explained, this room was the TKG training room, specifically made to hone the elite abilities of a TKG member, mentally and physically. He explained that there was also a guard training room down the hall and an ability training room upstairs, which was used for not only TKG members, but for anyone who had been given an ability. Dallas had called it 'the gift' just like Tairen had.
Was it really such a big deal to be given an ability? Did Dallas already go through the magic injecting process?
As we walked into the room, I heard the sound of swords clanging against each other. I could feel the sound in my bones. It was a lot more intense than yesterday had been.
In the back of the room, where Dallas had been yesterday, Adrian and Blake were dueling. Yesterday it was obviously simple sparring but today every strike looked aimed to kill. Blake's swords swung faster and more fluid than they had yesterday, twirling around his arms and just barely missing each other. On the other hand, Adrian was being pushed back and it looked to me like he was getting tired, barely avoiding Blake's attacks. A completely different image than I'd seen yesterday.
Zeke was throwing knives at small discs that shot up in the air from a small machine. They looked like clay pigeons, just thinner. The knives embedded in and through the objects, spiraling as they fell. He threw them with precision and confidence, something I felt was out of my reach.
Dallas clapped my shoulder. "We can start on basic endurance training, or we could do something like that." He pointed at Adrian and Blake.
"Whatever you want," I said, although I really hoped he didn't pick the latter. Dallas laughed and then gestured for me to follow him. We made our way to the back of the room, just about ten feet away from the fighting duo.
Dallas tossed me a pair of padded, fingerless gloves, before slipping on a pair of his own. "you should probably wait to pick out a weapon until you have an ability. It could contribute to your fighting style."
I nodded, feeling a pair of burning eyes on me. I glanced around the room but nobody was looking at me. My nerves were on end and my eyes were drawn to the door, even though it looked closed.
"Have you ever been in a fight?" Dallas asked, lightly punching my shoulder. I followed him across the room. The floor was padded but I could almost feel the soles of my boots adapting to the foreign ground. What was with the odd clothing here?
"Uh, no." 𝘓𝘪𝘢𝘳.
Dallas rose his eyebrows and then pursed his lips. "Well, this is kinda just to see what I need to help you work on so just do your best." He rose his fists and my eyes widened, drawing a chuckle from him. "Don't worry, I'll go easy on you."
I don't know what his idea of easy was because it sure as hell wasn't mine.
Granted, I was hesitating and a little rusty, but still, it shouldn't have been that easy to get me down. If he'd just give me a second to think.
We'd gone three rounds already and each time ended in me either on the ground, forced to tap out, or I was too exhausted to keep going and needed a break.
Blake and Adrian had been going at it the entire time and I couldn't believe they had that much stamina. Maybe my stamina just sucked because Dallas didn't look tired either.
He sat down next to me, handing me a tin container filled with water. It was an odd way to carry water but it was familiar. I'd probably seen it in movies or something.
"Well, we always start with teaching defense. You can't attack unless you know how to block an attack, after all." He then turned to me with a smile. "But I think I'll start helping you with offense first. It seems you know quite a bit about that already."
"What?" How had he—
"Blake, that's enough!" Adrian's voice shut down my thoughts. It was loud, sharp, and 𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥, almost. Dallas had jumped to his feet before I even had a chance to look up.
Blake had Adrian pushed into a corner, breathing hard, all their weapons on the ground. Adrian's eyes were scared but his posture wasn't. Even though he was stuck in a corner, he stood tall and not in a defensive stance, either. If you didn't pay attention to the darting of his eyes, you'd think he wasn't afraid of Blake at all.
Dallas stepped between them. They were close enough that Dallas could place a hand on each of their shoulders. Even though he was shorter than both of them, his presence held more power. Just like yesterday.
"You alright?" Dallas asked but it wasn't directed at Adrian like I'd assume but instead, at Blake.
Blake snarled at him, his lip curling as he took a step forward. A second hand was placed on the opposite shoulder and this time it was Zeke. He didn't say a word but his aura said everything. I wasn't near him but it still sent goosebumps crawling up my arms. Blake scoffed and then shrugged both of them off, storming away. My eyes followed him but I was too late to look away as my eyes met his.
"Whatcha lookin' at, shit-for-brains?" He snapped. Adrian stepped forward, sending me an apologetic look.
"No need to be so vulgar," Adrian chastised as he followed him out of the room. What the fuck did he have against me? I hadn't done shit to him. Looking wasn't a god damn crime. I scoffed, shaking my head.
"I'm sorry about him. He does this sometimes," Dallas said, offering me a hand up. I took it and as he pulled me to my feet, the door slammed shut. I knew if I were to try to suppress a flinch this late, I would have only ended up more obvious, so I didn't and let it wrack through me for a second. Afterward, I felt both of their eyes on me, my eyes refusing to meet either of them's.
I pulled them from the ground as Zeke walked over, placing a hand on my shoulder before walking away. He was quiet and he didn't look like he'd be such a docile person but his eyes told a completely different story. He was sympathetic but I wondered why. I didn't need sympathy. 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵.
I cleared my throat as Zeke began to stretch, turning to Dallas. "So it's normal for Blake to do that? Isn't that dangerous?" I asked. Why wouldn't his eyes just light up again? I wanted them to light up again.
"Oh, uh." he scratched the back of his neck, laughing softly. "He won't hurt anyone—not really. He just—he kinda just explodes sometimes. Be he's not dangerous, I promise."
I nodded. That's not what it looked like to me. He looked angry and empty at the same time. He looked feral.
The door opened once again and in came Cedric. His hair was slicked back, dressed in a deep red suit. I understood the odd obsession with red and purple now, since those were the kingdom colors. At least Cedric represented them well.
"Hey, Duke!" Dallas called, waving.
"Dallas, Zeke," he said, nodding to each of them before turning to me as he grew closer. He stopped and smiled. "Can I speak with you for a moment?"
I glanced at Dallas, who just gave me a gentle smile, before nodding and following Cedric as he led us to the corner of the room. Dallas walked over to Zeke, immediately striking up a conversation. He was so natural, with a calm smile and he placed his hand on Zeke's shoulder without any hesitancy. Then again, he acted like that with me, too, and I'd only just met him. Almost a little too trusting, if you asked me. But I guess one could say the same about me for allowing him to be so friendly. It's my fault because he could have been lying. He could be a horrible person but somehow, I couldn't find a single part of me that bought that. He made me want to trust him.
"I understand that you and Dallas get along quite well," Cedric said. I snapped my eyes back to him. Had he noticed my staring? He must have. I hadn't meant to stare but it was hard not to when I was nothing like him.
"Yeah, we do," I said, my eyes dropping.
"I also heard that you snapped on the Sire yesterday."
My eyes widened as I looked back up at him. He'd figured out? Was I in trouble? What was he going to do?
He laughed, ruffling my hair. "Don't worry, you're not in trouble. I just found it amusing."
I forced out a laugh, my eyes dropping again. "So he told you."
"He tells me most things," he said, his hands slipping into his pockets casually, his eyes narrowing on me. He looked bewildered. "Yet, he won't tell me what he finds so interesting in you. I mean, I understand but I am curious about his reasoning." He smiled wider. "So what'd you do to catch his attention?"
My lip curled into a snarl before I could stop it. "Why does everyone keep asking me that? I didn't do anything." The words came out sharper and cut deeper than I'd meant them to. Cedric raised an eyebrow and then looked away.
"You're right, it's none of my business," he said.
"No, that's not what I—"
"It's fine. I hadn't meant to be so nosy. I apologize," he said with a smile, standing straighter as he relaxed. "I came here to inform you about the magic injecting process."
My jaw clenched, my teeth grinding together. Heat pooled at the center of my palms, like hot magma.
"Since it's such a specific process, there is a chance you won't be able to handle the process," he said, crossing his arms. The corner of my mouth tilted up. 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘪𝘯𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘦—𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘰—𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘨𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘐'𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴. 𝘐'𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. "That being said, it could also critically injure you, to the point of life-long injuries—mental or physical—or to the point of death. So, of course, you have a choice whether you want to participate or not. It's your decision." He tilted his chin down, his eyes pressuring me to look up at him. "I would like to offer my opinion if you would allow me to." I nodded sharply. He could do what he wanted to. "Well, I think you should but then again I could be biased." He shrugged. "I've only seen the process injure one person in all my life. It's more likely that you just won't get an ability but even that is a one in a million chance. It would also help to figure out your ability so we can find a type of training that compliments that ability."
I bit the inside of my lips. It could injure me. It could kill me. But, then again, this whole lifestyle could. From what I'd heard—from what I'd seen—this was the real deal. We were soldiers and soldiers didn't get to sit back and watch. Plus, I was curious. I was curious about what ability I'd get and how it'd feel. Tairen said it felt alive and although that freaked me out, it intrigued me.
To feel something alive becoming a part of you would be scary but it'd also be beautiful. Or it could just hurt. It could be a searing, overwhelming pain. It could be a lingering, slithering pain. I really had no idea and I could hear stories from everyone else but that would only make me more curious.
I wanted to feel it for myself.
Whether it was a searing or slithering pain or a beautiful gift, I wanted to experience it myself.
"I came all this way to fight for the 𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘨 and the country. I knew when I agreed that I could get injured or die and if I was scared of that, I wouldn't have come," I laughed, scratching the back of my neck and meeting his eyes. "Don't get me wrong, I don't want to die, but I'm not scared of it either. So I'm not scared of the risks that come with the process. If anything—" I swallowed down the lump in my throat "—it excites me."