Emerge: The Captive: (Book 3)(38)
The training room had seen much use. Swords and shields hung on the walls at opposite ends of the pavilion. Practice weapons were stacked on shelves along with staves of varying lengths. The western wall was open to the gardens, sheets of silken fabric tied back against the pillars.
Jayesh stood at the center of the room, shirtless and moving through a sequence of kalaripayattu forms. His strong shoulders strained against the movements.
“Take those idiotic glasses off. They are an outside distraction,” Jayesh said as he slipped his tunic back on.
Sasha was more than a little disappointed when his abs disappeared behind his shirt. He was a dick, but at least he was pretty to look at—until he opened his mouth.
She left her slippers at the threshold of the pavilion—it was considered holy and she wasn’t the disrespectful teen he thought she was. She hung her sunglasses and the flowing orange silk vest she wore over her tunic on the pegs at the entrance.
Crossing the room, Sasha thought of all the ways she could make this difficult for him, but in this place, with so much history and atmosphere, her palms itched to get started. For the first time she felt her interest stirring, wondering what she would learn while in this sacred place.
“What’s on the agenda for today?” she asked, taking her usual student’s stance in front of her teacher. She wasn’t used to training with strangers. It left her feeling awkward.
“You will touch my feet as a sign of respect when you enter these training grounds.” He stood ramrod straight, waiting for her to comply.
Sasha was no stranger to martial arts training and she was familiar with most customs of respect. She had no doubt what he said was true, but there was no way she was touching his feet.
“How about we don’t and say I did?” Sasha gave him a curt bow instead.
“We will abide by the Chola customs while we are here.” He returned her bow with a level stare.
“I don’t think so.” She lifted her chin. “You’re demanding it as a sign of submission when it should be given in respect.”
“Just sit already,” Jay barked in his military tone and her back was immediately up for the second time in as many minutes.
“Say the magic word.” She put just the right amount of angst into her request. “I am not one of your soldiers. At least not yet.”
“I don’t need the attitude, Sasha. We’re never going to get anywhere if you don’t show some respect.”
“Quite frankly, if the kalaripayattu guru and his student are supposed to have a close relationship of respect and friendship, you are the one giving attitude. I’m just following your lead,” she said as she took a seat on the stone floor, gesturing for him to join her.
“We will begin our first lessons of meithari tomorrow.” He took his seat opposite her. “Today, I would like to take the opportunity to get to know you. Or rather, your gifts,” he amended. “You will not be permitted to use them during our sparring sessions until we reach the second stage, ankathari, but as your mentor during this time, I need to have a thorough understanding of all your gifts.”
“Absolutely not. When it comes to my gifts, my sister is my mentor while we are here,” Sasha said. “I do not know you. I trust you to teach me kalari, but you’ve given me very little reason to trust you blindly where my gifts are concerned. We can discuss my targeting gift, but that is all. The rest of my abilities are mine to protect. Until you show me you are worthy of my trust, I’ll be keeping them close to the belt. To do otherwise goes against everything I’ve ever been taught.”
“Fine. We will begin with your targeting gift. That’s the most interesting thing about you anyway,” Jayesh muttered. “Clearly, it is going to take a miracle for us to achieve the kind of relationship that will get us out of this place.”
“I did not ask for this,” Sasha said. “You are blaming me because you find yourself in this place you hate. That is not my fault. I wasn’t given a choice.”
Jay stood and crossed the room. His shoulders tensed and his footsteps heavy as he paced. “This is hopeless.”
“It doesn’t have to be. If you will just meet me halfway….”
“My mind is on the mission I should be preparing for. My team needs me in Africa, yet I am here. With you. My job there … it means something to me, Sasha. I’m not just a hired gun. I know the Senate wants you trained in a way that will only strengthen the future of my team, but I have never been a patient man. There are things I need to be doing, and training a sixteen-year-old child isn’t one of them.”
“I’m seventeen,” she corrected him. “And there are other things I should be doing than wasting my time here with you.”
“Shopping with your friends for shoes?” Jay turned to face her with a sneer. “Snapchatting your life away?”
“Go ahead. Judge me one more time.” Sasha stood to face him. “Paint me with all the stereotypes of my generation. Don’t attempt to actually get to know me so we can get out of here anytime soon. Go ahead. Keep acting like a dick and see how long we’ll be stuck in this time screw.”
“Please tell me what important things we are pulling you away from, angel?” he snapped as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Tell me what you have going on in your life that is more important than a nation of people at war, suffering under the rule of a brutal dictator? I’m listening.”