Page 6 of Daughter of the Ninth Line: Part One

But swinging a sword with my brothers once a week did not make me a warrior, and the defensive moves Kian had taught me were only half the skills I’d need. I screamed in my mind and lifted my sword, striking at the dummy in front of me.

Finally, the instructor gave a high-pitched whistle to signal the end of training, and my arm went limp. I couldn’t drop my sword. My fingers were locked around the hilt, seized from the sheer will of holding my muscles taught.

The punishment for dropping your sword in practice was missing three meals at the mess hall, and I had to admit, it was a ruthless but effective incentive for the starving Lower Six Lines. The Upper Six didn’t seem to worry so much, laughing and joking with each other, their muscles strong and their faces full of good health. They joked and teased each other, and a couple even harassed the Lower Six recruits for their weakness, their ragged clothing, their inability to hold the bile from rising when exhaustion took over.

Fuckers.They didn’t understand what it was like to put every ounce of your energy into just surviving another day.

I pushed the thought away and worked on releasing my sword. I did one finger, then another, and someone chuckled beside me.

“Do you need assistance?” The voice was smooth and cool, like a light snow flurry before a blizzard. Looking up, I met the eyes of the man from last night. The First Line Heir.

I shook my head. “I’m fine.” Years of etiquette training had me choking out a strained, “Thank you.”

He lifted a perfect dark eyebrow. Black hair. Blue eyes. Skin like a frozen lake. It was an intimidating, yet attractive package. “Do you know who I am, Ninth?” he asked haughtily, and I nodded, finally removing my fingers from my sword and letting it drop to the dirt of the training ring. “Then why do you meet my eyes so freely?” It was a pompous demand from a man who had lackeys instead of peers.

I tried to stop the intrusive thoughts, I really did. I wasn’t here to make enemies, especially those of the First Line. Instead of deferentially lowering my face, I met his gaze once more as I said, “My apologies. I’ll do my very best to avoid them in the future.” Then I held his eyes a heartbeat longer, because fuck this guy.

The Heir—Vox Vylan—grunted in the back of his throat as he reached for me, a sneer already on his face.Shit.I’d fucked up already.

Suddenly, there was a giant hound between us, its body blocking the Heir from me. Vox scowled down at the large canine, somewhere between a wolf and something even more wild. And huge. “Stay out of this, Taeme,” he said to the hound, and I looked at the dog between us, like it could actually be an Heir to the Third Line. “Or I’ll turn your little pet into a throw rug.”

The hound growled and bared its teeth, snapping its jaws, completely unfazed by the man in front of us.

Huffing, Vox rolled his eyes. “Learn your place, Ninth. I don’t want you to end up like the last of your brethren.”

Clenching my jaw, I turned my back on the Ebrus Prince and hurried away. We didn’t really have princes, or royalty, but if we did, he’d be as close as we’d get. I didn’t take a breath until I was around the corner and out from beneath the icy glare of Vox Vylan.

Looking down at the hound that was still at my heels, protecting my back, I narrowed my eyes at it. “While I appreciate your assistance, I don’t need your help.”

The hound’s eyes glittered, and its tongue lolled out of the side of its mouth. If a dog could give you a skeptical look, this one was calling me out on my bullshit.

Huffing out an irritated breath, I grabbed a stick of the jerky I’d placed in my pocket earlier today. I’d known the training would be tough, and that I’d probably need to start stockpiling fuel to take down to my dorm. Oh well, I’d start hoarding food tomorrow instead. I held out the jerky to the hound, who took it gently between its teeth and laid down before me, chewing at the end.

“Now we’re even. And tell your master that the Ninth Line can care for itself. I am in no way indebted to him for today’s little stunt.”

“I’m sure he’d never even suggest you were.”

I stared down at the hound. Had it just talked?

The hound sighed audibly, and looked over its shoulder as if it worried about my ability to survive life. Hayle Taeme stepped around the corner, a cocky smirk on his face.

There was something incredibly wild about Hayle Taeme. His presence made the hair on the back of your neck rise, and raised goosebumps on your arms. That primordial awareness wasn’t lessened in any way by the easygoing smile on his face.

I straightened my spine, meeting those arresting forest-green eyes. “Good. Then we’re in agreement.” I needed to get the fuck out of here before I ended up a snack for his hounds. For the second time in fifteen minutes, I held my breath as I hurried away from a predator, heading toward my dorm.

I was starving, because they’d made us train through lunch, but worse than that was the gritty, abrasive feeling of dirt in the crevices of my body. I’d go and sit at the bottom of the showerstall until I felt moderately human again, then I’d climb the stairs to the food hall.

Striding through the atrium of the main building, I avoided the eyes of the other recruits. I’d had enough human interaction for one day. The trip down the stairs to my dorm level felt interminable, and halfway down, I wondered if I’d done this whole thing backward. How was I going to climb these stairs on rubber legs later? I needed to build my food stockpile fast, especially if more of today was to be expected.

I stumbled onto my floor and straight into the washroom. It was just one big open room with three shower heads jutting from the walls. Stripping off my clothes, I set the spray to skin-peeling pressure. I needed something to pummel my muscles back to life.

The water down here was icy cold, and I gritted my teeth as I stood under the spray. I could deal with cold showers; I might be a Baron’s daughter, but we lived in the mountains. Ice baths were a way of life. Though that didn’t mean I wouldn’t give my left tit for a warm tub right now.

The cold water chilled my overheated skin, and I tried to push my interactions with the lordlings of Boellium from my mind. I was just a novelty, the lonely Ninth Line recruit, and they’d get over it, especially when they realized I didn’t want to play any stupid political games with them. I didn’t want to marry either of them, or join their courts, or do any of the other shit people jockeyed for here at Boellium. In fact, if I didn’t talk to them for the next two years, I would consider my time in this hellhole a success.

When my skin began to prickle from the coolness of the water, and my fingertips were numb, I turned off the stream, wrapping myself in one of the drying rags that hung on the walls. I tried not to think about who’d used them last, and whether or not they were actually clean. I’d have to find the laundry heresooner rather than later, because if I kept sweating through my clothes at the current alarming rate, they would be stiff and putrid before the week was out.

Moving naked toward my room, I was kind of glad for my forced solitude. This was the most privacy I’d had in… well, ever. No maids, housekeepers, or brothers. Just me.

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