Page 100 of Unrivaled
12thDay of Summer’s Wife Moon,
Age of the Locways, Year 272
La’Angi Keep
Beside me, Kaelson continued his instruction of Audrey.“Don’t be afraid to put some shoulder behind it.”He demonstrated, lifting his shield and thrusting it into the gap between her shield and my own.The wood clacked together.“Better too hard than too slow.”
“Apologies,” she said, shaking her head a little.
“Why?You’re coming along better’n you’ve a right to.”He dropped his shield, and we all followed, stepping back.“Again.”
As one we lifted and locked together.Every now and then Kaelson would glance over at me, too.I hoped I’d made it clear I didn’t mind his corrections, though by the time I’d listened to their instructions for Audrey and applied the information to myself, I didn’t need much.
My pride wasn’t invited to these evening sessions with the veterans.I didn’t mind, becauseIwas.
“Single attack.Protect your hands.”Kaelson moved his shield to the side to thrust his spear forward.“Don’t let your blade get stuck.If it does, let it go.Don’t allow any space between us.”
I followed his instructions.I’d never really thought about facing offagainstLa’Angi infantry before, but the thought of hitting a tightly packed group of soldiers with Bliksem made me feel uneasy.Combat in ’Ban didn’t rely on such tactics; the nomads to the north would attack with projectiles without ever stopping to engage.Shield walls weren’t moveable, and they didn’t work against light cavalry that would simply charge past, loot the community you were trying to defend, and be gone before you could reform your ranks.
But heavy cavalry, against a tightly packed mass of spears and axes, would go down.
I wished I’d been at the melee in the last tourney.I wished I’d seen what the Butcher had done to my best friend.If I couldn’t have stopped it, I could’ve at least learned from it.
I wished I’d never left his side.
“You had space between you,” Audrey said.My heart turned over in my chest, making a liar of me.“The other moon, when we were attacked.You had a lot of space.”
Kaelson grunted.“Different way to fight.”
“I’m unlikely to fight likethis,” she said, but continued to move her shield, slash her sword, then fall back.
“You’re unlikely to fight at all,” Kaelson told her.“You’d do better learning to be a general than a soldier, m’lady.”
It wasn’t the first time I’d heard him say that.
I listened with half an ear to Kaelson.I followed his instructions and attacked the trio in their different formations as the light bled from the sky.She’d seen this sort of combat being drilled her whole life, but it was wonderful to watch the lessons really settle in.Her eyes lit up, her brows gathered, and a smile tugged at one corner of her wide mouth.
Kaelson was right.She needed either to become a general or to find one.Mayhap he was right in that she’d get more use from mastering those skills, but he didn’t understand how she planned to seize power.He certainly didn’t know that her worth, in the eyes of an entire rebellion, hinged on her military might.That wasn’t how well she herself could swing a sword, but the army she could raise.
If she wanted to hold the power she seized, she might just need to be able to use that army.
The idea made my heart beat too quickly in my chest.She could do anything she set her mind to, but not overnight, and generals were unlikely to just appear.
If everything went well…she’d have an army.Kaelson was right.She needed a general.
The wrapped tip of Kaelson’s spear slapped my shoulder, and I pulled out of the attack I’d been requested to attempt.Their discussion as Kaelson continued to explain the strategy was muffled by the pounding in my ears.
There was naught to be lost in me looking to train myself in strategy.
If she’d named me as her champion, I would’ve trained dusk ’til dawn until I could carve her father’s eyes out of his head.I’d put them in a jar so he could stare at her with the remorse he’d never willingly show.
But she couldn’t, and perhaps more importantly, shewouldn’t.
I followed along, eating the night meal, looking for my opportunity.When Luca appeared again in the shadows of her tower, I barely felt the faintest inkling of concern.
He still had no idea how hot her flame would burn.
“Isolde.”The Matri’sion paused partway through the door, pulling her gaze away from where Luca and Audrey were disappearing, her lips curled faintly in disdain.“I’m headed out for the evening.Can you…?”
