Page 52 of Enchanted Heir
“Everything. And definitely those shoes, too.”
My shoes were the simple flats I typically wore. I squinted at him. “You’re going to enjoy this, aren’t you?”
The oaf winked.
For the next hour while still within our sound barrier, he taught me how to stand, how to try to stay in movement so my weight was ready to spring into action, and also reiterated the soft spots of the body to aim for: eyes, throat, groin, and knees. And for the Enchanted specifically, if I could put pressure on the bones in their hands or bend their fingers, it would mess up their control over their magic.
And then he ended the impromptu session in the forest by demanding I do some push-ups, squats, and hold a plank for as long as I could.
“I hate you,” I moaned from the ground, feeling like my abdominal muscles were on fire.
He had done the plank with me, but he wasn’t even remotely tired. And was still going.
“I have to admit, the push-ups went better than expected,” he offered while still in a plank.
“That’s because baking takes arm strength,” I defended.
The squats, however, were another story entirely. I had only done twenty. Only ten of those likely had proper form. I was already dreading all the stairs back up to Krew’s room.
A full minute later, he finally stopped and reached a hand down to help me up. “Now stretch.”
“What?”
He showed me what to do. “Stretch, woman. Tomorrow I’m making you run.”
“Owen,” I hissed. “I didn’t mean military training. I just want to know how to defend myself.”
He leaned in to better glare at me. “Your being in shape physically could mean the difference between life and death when facing an Enchanted. A lot of them too heavily rely on their magic to save them. So like the king, lots are lazy and out of shape. So if youarein shape, it could make all the difference, Jorah.”
I groaned, hating that he was right.
I brushed off my dress as we prepared to head back.
“I’ll talk to Silvia about getting you some different attire for running with me.”
I spun to him, eyebrows furrowed. “But won’t the king know or find out we are doing this?”
Owen shrugged. “We will go in the mornings. He isn’t always up and at ‘em. And is usually drug into meetings with the parliament members, the princes, or his personal guard. So as long as we go right away in the mornings, we should be fine. Plus, you can just bat your eyelashes and remind him how much Michael scared you, and he won’t think a thing more.”
“Got it,” I said with a shake of my head. “Let’s do this.” I paused. “I guess.”
Owen slowly grinned and I worried, not for the first time, what I had gotten myself into here at the castle.
* * *
Death.I was dying. It was pure agony. My lungs were killing me, my body done for. I lay in a ball on the ground, waiting for the darkness to take me under.
“We ranamile, Jorah,” Owen provided from where he loomed over me.
I groaned. From the very little we had done the day before, I was still slightly sore in my legs and shoulders. But I wasn’t about to admit that to Owen. Then again, I didn’t need to since I was in the fetal position. “It was awful. I’m not cut out for this life.”
“Get up,” he demanded.
I shook my head and hugged the cold ground, begging it to save me from my vicious teacher.
But then he was lifting me up by my waist, hauling me to my feet. “That was just the warmup. And now we will walk a full mile. Then we will start our session for the day.”
“Just the warmup?”
