Page 23 of Warrior's Reign
Vykhan stiffened as Reign blinked, inferring that the Happy Twins were Vykhan and Ibukay—the duo unmatched in energy. She glanced sidelong at Vykhan. Bet no one ever called them that to their faces.
He nodded, saying nothing else, and Reign’s respect for him went up a notch. He outranked them all, and could have smacked Banujani down, hard. He hadn’t, accepting the rebuke and the chains of chosen family.
Reign trailed Banujani to another section of the yard, the sand under her feet now a cushion rather than a punishment.
Banujani disappeared inside for a moment, then came back out with two pouches of water, tossing her one. Reign glanced at the label listing electrolytes and nutrients suitable for humans.
“Take a bench,” Banujani said.
Reign obeyed, straddling one of the low benches that ringed the yard, and sipping her water.
“You’re new,” she said, “so I bet Vykhan’s been indoctrinating you with that ‘we serve’ crap.”
Reign sucked up water through her nose.
“Fine, it’s not crap, but it’s also not as straightforward as he says it is. You give newbies rules they have to follow, and let experience teach them the nuances. In other words, you don’t have to let Vykhan abuse you just because he’s our commander.”
“I don’t feel abused. I want to knowhow the fuck he knows my sequences, but I don’t feel abused.”
Banujani frowned, and slipped into Earth Standard. “That’s a problem in of itself. Look, I get wanting to push yourself, wanting to prove you deserve to be here. And you were trained in that masochist academy, too. I bet that’s another reason why he’s hard on you. You’re from the sameAdekhyun, so it’s a reputation thing.”
Reign was nearly at a loss. She’d never heard anyone speak of the academy in so withering a tone. “You’re not a follower of Haeemah, I take it?”
Banujani snorted. “We all pick that up over time, we can’t help it because Vykhan and Tai’ri set the tone around here, andthey’refollowers. Though Tai’ri lies and says he isn’t.” She rolled her eyes. “So I’m not a follower officially, but I’ve picked up things.” She jabbed a finger at Reign. “So I know they teach you that self-flagellation shit, and I can tell you’ve internalized it. Listen, if you don’t hold your own with Vykhan, he’ll shred you without even meaning to. His personality is too strong. His focus is a blade that cuts both ways.”
“I’ll consider your words.” She bowed a little.
Banujani sighed. “You’re just like them. Well, I guess that means you’ll fit in just fine.” She set her water down, then smirked. “Here, let me show you a few tricks they don’t teach you at the Way of Silence.”
Reign’s lips curved up in an equally nasty smile.
By the end of the training session, she was bent at the waist stretching her sore muscles, then went inside to the adjacent mess hall for a protein drink.Collapsing into a lounge chair, she closed her eyes and sipped. She had a few minutes before the start of her next shift.
“You’ve chosen a difficult life.”
Reign opened her eyes and looked at Vykhan, but didn’t move. He stood at the edge of the cluster of seating, watching her.
“And I’ve watched this life end the lives of others. The one who you replaced died far too young, defending Ibukay in an attack I should have been there to prevent. I will bear the weight of that death, of the lapse in training that may have allowed the enemy to exploit a momentary weakness.”
She still said nothing.
“It’s no excuse, however.” His tone was grave, his gaze trained on her face. “I offer my apologies. You do not deserve the edge of my temper.”
Shock stirred. Even after just a short time under his command, she knew that an admission to an emotion as unruly astemperwas a rarity. His warriors spoke in hushed tones of his mastery of Silence. Reign had started to wonder if they all needed their eyes and ears checked, but maybe she was just more sensitive. She’d trained with a male who had literally been cloaked, and completely silent. She’d learned tofeela person.
Reign was beginning to realize that the way she felt Vykhan, the others didn’t.
He was waiting. “I accept your apology,” she said. “It wasn’t necessary.” If she sounded stiff, at least she didn’t sound actively hostile. That was a win.
“You may join me in my private meditation garden if you wish.”
And now everything feltalloff center. If he’d invited her to strip naked and dance for him in his bed, she would have been less thrown. This was the second invitation.
“I have a shift coming up,” she said carefully. Would she be allowed to refuse a third invitation? What did he want from her?
He nodded, eyes inscrutable. “When you can, then. There is an entrance that doesn’t require entering my quarters. I will leave it keyed for you.”
Vykhan turned and began to walk away.
