Mask of Shadows (Untitled #1)(14)

Nine


The Left Hand made us wait. I stewed in my seat, listening to the drone of conversations around me. Twenty-Two was one of the oldest here—an archer and swordswoman by the look of it—and she asked her servant to bring her wrist guards after the first session. Seven and Eight were twitchy northerners, with Seven keeping his eyes on everyone else while Eight whispered in hushed Erlenian. Twenty devoured plate after plate of food and chewed with his mouth open the whole time. I poured myself another cup of tea.

Eating before running always made me sick. Best not risk it—strength training could mean anything.

The door to the nook creaked open. Amethyst stepped out first and whispered to Ruby’s servant. The Left Hand filed out.

“Lady Amethyst will oversee your first session. She suggests you all take a moment to drink a glass of water.” The servant looked at us in turn till everyone had downed a glass. Another little test to see how fast we obeyed? “If you’ll follow me.”

We all rose at once and stopped.

None of us wanted to walk out first. Or last. Two and Fifteen did an awkward dance to see would go first with their backs to everyone else till Two squared her shoulders and strolled through before we could react. Four and Three followed, guarding her back. I’d not thought much on making friends, but they’d be good people to know.

Till they turned on me and each other.

Familiarity bred trust, and trust got you killed, made you think someone was there to catch you when they weren’t. The trio would find that out soon enough.

I slipped into the middle of the crowd. Five’s massive shoulder brushed mine, and he glanced at me with his dead eyes. The sun might have sapped all color from them if not for the dark ring of gray around the blue.

He knocked me aside. A knife hidden under his shirt hit my arm. Odd. I’d figured him for a fencer with his noble airs.

“Anyone they trap in training won’t last the day if we’re smart,” Five said to Eight in a low whisper. “Any archer worth their salt would be Opal by sundown.”

Eight stared at Five.

“Any archer who doesn’t get caught,” Seven said dryly.

“They’re looking for initiative.” Five clapped Eight on the back, and I caught sight of his bored, crooked smile through the mouth of his mask. He wasn’t making friends or keeping them. “Spend your time wisely and they won’t care if you skip training.”

Seven kissed his last three fingers and sent a prayer off to the Triad while Eight walked on, none the wiser. Five was playing a whole different game.

I stumbled forward into Five, gripping his arm to steady myself and cursing to distract him. My other hand dipped under his coat and grabbed his knife. He elbowed me off without even looking at my number. I sunk back into the crowd.

Five touched his chest and stopped. I ducked behind Twenty.

Five could play his game, and I could play mine. One less thing for him to kill me with.

Later, sweat-drenched and trembling under the weight of my clothes, I just wanted to fling my belt and knives and all extra weight away from me. Amethyst stalked over us, mask blinding in the sunlight. Only seven of us were on the ground, noses close to the dirt and bellies pulled tight to our spines so we looked like planks as we balanced on our forearms and toes. I was sure only four of us needed it. Four and Two were across from each other in our circle and keeping an eye on each other’s backs. I could barely keep my eyes open.

“Ten, nine, eight.” Amethyst walked past me, legs barely trembling even though she’d run laps around the courtyard for ages with us. “Seven, six, five.”

I sucked in a long drowning gasp through my nose and counted her footsteps. The cloth stuck to my face in an itchy, sweaty clump. “Two, one.”

I collapsed. Amethyst clucked her tongue.

“Up. Straighter. Another ten.” She stuck her foot under Eleven’s stomach and toed her off the ground. “I do not care how untrained you are—your back should be straight. Controlling the muscles at your center will widen your range of motion and abilities. People without control have no place here.”

I clenched my jaw and straightened my back. Again.

“Chin up.” Amethyst toed my nose off the ground. “You should only stare at the ground if you’re giving up.”

On a shaded wall way across from me, Five watched us. He’d not been one of the weaklings included in strength training, and he hadn’t moved since he’d climbed up there. Waiting.

Eight was nowhere to be seen. Emerald and Ruby must’ve been evaluating those not in training. Judging what the auditioners did in their downtime.

But why was Five auditioning? If he was a noble, he’d all the wealth and forestland he needed to live on. Unless he got greedy, but still.

“Down.” Amethyst tapped her foot.

I lowered myself to the ground, hands next to my shoulders and elbows up like she’d shown us. Eleven collapsed into a panting heap and curled into herself. Under her new clothes, she was all bones and dead runes. The deep, aching burn in my own stomach begged me to roll up into a ball and never move again.

Showing weakness like that would get me killed.

“Being able to support yourself is a must as Opal.” Amethyst, still in armor despite the sun and not showing a single sign of feeling it, grabbed one of the bars standing head-height and horizontal in the center of our ring. With two hands shoulder-width apart, she lifted her feet from the ground. Her arms didn’t shake, her back didn’t bend, and she pulled her chest over the bar with her legs straight out in front of her. “While our positions consist of public displays and protecting Our Queen, there are also a number of jobs that require discretion. Escape routes are subject to chance. I have hung by my fingertips in winter from a windowsill waiting for a room to clear—from sunrise to midmorning. Letting go would’ve killed me. Gripping the sill with my hands fully would have gotten me killed. You must be able to support yourself and your gear, or you will fail.”