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Iarrived at the training grounds just moments before Malina walked in. Dark circles were already outlining my eyes from my lack of sleep last night. The grounds were originally a part of the gardens on the south side of Morah, but were modified for the Roav to use for training. Stone walls, nearly two stories high, were erected into an oval-shaped arena, lined with exercise equipment, weapons, and smaller confined sparring areas.
Malina was chipper as usual, waking in a good mood—unlike myself most mornings. She skipped over and sat with her legs crossed on the thin mat beside me with a bright smile on her face. She reveled in how her perky mood annoyed me in the early hours of the day.
“Morning!” I winced at the high pitch of her voice. “You look like you didn’t sleep at all. Cade keep you up all night?” She wiggled her eyebrows.
“No. Not that it’s any of your business anyway.”
She raised her eyebrows in challenge.
I rolled my eyes and moved the topic to her. “What about you? I would have thought you’d still be in bed with a hulky Oryn soldier.” I batted my eyelashes mockingly, our usual banter lifting my Spirits.
“Oh I had my fair share, don’t you worry,” she said with a grin.
I shook my head and chuckled. “You ready?”
Malina stood and extended a hand to me. “Let’s do it!”
I took her hand and stood, then walked over to one of the weapon racks and picked out four daggers. I turned and handed two of them to Malina. She held out a blindfold but I shook my head, refusing it.
“No wielding today?”
I avoided her eyes as I began to take off my jacket that concealed my mark.
“Not today.” After tossing my jacket onto a bench, I turned back to her and squared my shoulders, bracing for her reaction.
“What the fuck happened to your arm?!” Her voice was nearly screeching.
Yeah, that’s how I thought she would react.
“The Trial has been called. I am to report to the Temple of the Fallen God in ten days,” I stated, my voice firm and devoid of emotion.
Malina’s face fell and her spine straightened. My heart sank seeing her big brown eyes filled with dread.
“Kya… I…” Her voice was soft and quiet, “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. It is what it is. I’ve known this was coming for a long time now. We all did.” The side of my mouth tilted up.
“So… you’re not scared of the Trial?” She said each word slowly, her eyebrows raised.
“Not anymore.” The truth—mostly. Of course I was scared, but I wasn’t about to admit that to Malina. It would only make her worry more and there was nothing that I could do about it anyway. I had to compete in the Trial. I didn’t have a choice and I refused to cower in fear over a fate I couldn’t control.
“Did you have another one of your internal temper tantrums with yourself?” she deadpanned, tossing the blindfold aside.
“I do not havetemper tantrums. It’s called thinking. You should try it sometime,” I scoffed.
“Uh-huh. Whatever you say.” Her mouth turned into an amused smile. She always had a way of lightening the mood.
We stepped into the sparring ring and took our stances, when she continued, “So why the daggers? Shouldn’t we be working on your manipulation with the Trial coming up?” She lunged without warning.
I grunted and blocked. “No. Our magic is nullified during the Trial.” I brought up my other dagger in a sideswipe.
Malina dodged the blade and spun around. “How many contestants are there?” She kicked a leg out, aiming for my ribs. I leaned back just enough for her to miss.
I knew what she was doing. She was having me work through it mentally while I was distracted physically. Not giving me the chance to mull over anything other than the facts.
“I don’t know. The number of Marked varies from century to century—” I spun, my braid whipping around my neck, and lunged. “And not all survive from birth so there’s no way to tell. Especially given that the Marked are generally hidden from society as much as possible.”
We sparred for several more minutes until we came to a draw and went to the water station for a break. Malina was silent, her eyes distant in thought. I stayed quiet, giving her the time to take everything in.
