***
Evan knocked her dagger out of her hand yet again. She let it slide across the floor, her shoulders slumping.
“Again,” Seth called from the wall.
“Again?” Sashe knew her voice came out in a whine, but she was exhausted. Her face and her back were sticky with sweat. Her wrist ached from where Evan kept hitting her. She turned to look at Seth. He stood by the wall of the weapon room, his arms crossed. He had on simple pants and a white button-up shirt rolled up past his elbows. She might be taken with his good looks again if she wasn’t so irritated with him. “We’ve been doing this for an half an hour now.”
“And yet you still don’t have it,” Seth said.
She glared at him. Where was the charming boy who’d flirted with her in the barn? The broken one who’d cried by the tree? Or held her while she cried about her friend? Oh, right, he only came out when it was completely unexpected. Since he’d started their lessons, he’d been a ruthless teacher. “I’m tired,” she said through gritted teeth.
“The Protectors aren’t going to care if you’re tired.”
“The Protectors!” Sashe laughed mirthlessly. “I wouldn’t have a chance against them and you all know it.”
“Do not say that,” he said firmly. “We’re trying to give you a chance, but you keep giving up. Is that what you would do if someone attacked you?”
She gritted her teeth. “Of course not.”
He picked up her dagger and closed the distance between them. “Then keep going.”
She looked at Sierra and Dar, who’d been sitting on the ground since she and Evan started this drill. Evan looked at her questioningly, his dagger in his hand.
She huffed and grabbed her dagger from Seth’s hand. Both daggers were wrapped in leather. Seth said in the future they’d be uncovered but since this was only the third lesson, they kept the blades covered. Good thing, or Sashe would certainly be bleeding. And if that were the case, she wouldn’t be standing here trying to learn this stupid disarming move.
She wiped her sweaty palms on her dress. Sierra had wanted to wear pants, but Seth said they were in dresses most of the time and the chances of the Protectors catching them in pants were slim.
Sashe and Evan were practicing a Jolenian technique of disarming the opponent. She was supposed to block Evan’s attack and disarm him instead. She knew what Evan was going to do and she knew what she needed to do, but every time, he succeeded in disarming her. She got distracted or she over thought it or she moved too fast or too slow.
She wasn’t built for this kind of thing. She wasn’t some kind of warrior.
Evan disarmed her again. She stomped her foot, huffing.
Seth pushed off of the wall and approached Evan. “Let me do it.” He held out his hand.
Evan glanced at Sashe. She tried to keep her face blank, as though she didn’t care if it was Evan or Seth. She didn’t. She would fail either way.
Evan pushed his dagger into Seth’s hand and went to sit by Sierra.
Seth held her dagger out for her, and she took it, glaring at him. He took a step closer to her. “You’re not trying hard enough.”
“Yes, I am,” she snapped.
“Sashe, I know you can do this.” His voice was surprisingly soft.
“I can’t,” she said evenly.
He stepped forward again and gripped her wrist. He brought her dagger up to eye level. “You need to think of this dagger as another part of yourself. Not as an object. But something you can control just as well as your own arm.”
“You told us that two weeks ago.”
“It still applies.”
He stepped back and turned his body into the fighting stance. Sierra let out a breath, bending her knees and raising her dagger. She wondered if he’d go easy on her. If he did, and she disarmed him, could she get out of here and go shower and take a nap?
“Concentrate,” Seth said.
Her eyes snapped up. She watched his every move. He came closer, and she backed away. He moved quicker than Evan, and before she knew it, her dagger was clattering to the ground. So much for him going easy on her.
She picked it up and instead of waiting to start all over again, she went for him. His eyes widened as he moved to react to her. She saw her opening, and she slammed her hand into his wrist. He held strong, though—he did what she was supposed to do. He grinned and advanced on her, swiping at her wrist. She dodged it at the last moment, and he cheered. She brought her hand up from the bottom and knocked his wrist with force.
His dagger fell out of his hand, and they both stared at it in shock. She finally grinned, panting.
“Finally,” Sierra groaned from her spot. “Can we go now?”
“See? I told you you could do it.” Seth swooped down to pick up his dagger. “Although you didn’t follow the rules.”
“Protectors don’t, either.” Sashe walked over to the weapon rack and put her dagger on it. She wiped sweat from her brow and leaned against the weapon chest to catch her breath.
When she turned, Sierra, Dar, and Evan were already gone. It was just her and Seth in the weapon room. Her throat hitched, and she stood to leave.
Seth stepped in her way, hanging his dagger on the rack. “It shouldn’t have taken you that long to try something new.”
She stared at him. “But you kept telling me to do it that way.”
“Every time you dropped the dagger, you gave up, so I had to say, ‘Again’ and you and Evan always started from the beginning.”
“But. . .but. . .” she trailed off. Tears smarted her eyes, and she turned away from him. Why did she want to cry? She swallowed. “I thought that’s what you wanted me to learn.”
“I wanted you to learn how to keep your dagger in your hand and disarm your opponent. We started off with that technique, but I didn’t know you were going to stick with it for half an hour.” His voice was soft, but she still felt as though she was being scolded by a teacher.
“You should have made yourself clearer. I think we need a better teacher.” She started to walk past him.
He took hold of her arm. “Wait.”
She looked at his hand on her arm, then his face.
He let go of her. “I know you feel out of place doing these things. And honestly, you are a little out of place. A little clumsy. A little inexperienced.”
Her face burned. “You sure how know to flatter a girl, Seth.”
“But listen, you need to learn this, even if it’s the hardest thing you’ve ever done. It could save your life.”
Sashe pursed her lips. If Allison had known these tricks, would she still be alive? She nodded. “Yes, sir.”
He sighed. “Really? Am I that bad?”
“Close enough.” She left the room, eager to be clean and rested.