Page 62 of A Whisper of Cinders

“Hit me, you’ve got some anger inside of you. Let it out.”

“I…” He raises a brow as if to say ‘are you scared?’. “Fine, sure. I can do that.”

Without thinking too much about it I throw my fist at his face, my stance wavering as he moves away easily. “Again.”

I make the same movement, but aiming for his throat this time. He blocks my hand. It goes on like that for a couple of times, sweat already soaks my T-shirt. I somehow get close to hitting him, which surprises me, but he evades just in time again and again.

“Have you had training before?”

I stop punching. “Not that I know of. Why?”

He looks me up and down, not in a judging way but more appreciative. “You are weak, you barely have any muscles and because of that your balance is off too.” Here we go again with the flattery. “But, your technique isn’t too bad. We can work with that.”

With that being said, he takes me through one of the doors that lead into a huge mirrored room where weights and multiple fancy looking fitness equipment are placed. He shows me the exercise and adjusts my stance or movement if needed.

I somehow don’t recoil from his touch, although I do notice how every time he touches me, my skin burns in a delightful way and a little rush of energy goes through my body.

After an hour - maybe more - of lifting, my arms don’t belong to me and my legs are trembling endlessly. A towel lands against my face and I barely manage to catch it. I pat away the sweat and take the glass of water Conláed offers me.

“You will be sore tomorrow.” You don’t say. I’m already sore today. “You should go for a swim instead of training. The stiffness in your muscles might ease a little.”

I stiffen at his words, but try to mask it as I stretch my arms behind my back. “I think the water outside might be a little cold.”

“You would get hypothermia if you went swimming in the lake, so no, I do not recommend that.” I nearly sigh with relief, only for him to continue. “Luckily, there is an inside lake where the temperature is perfectly warm.”

Ah fucking great. “I don’t know where that is.”

“I’m sure Aramis will show you the way, he loves swimming.”

Of course he does. “Fine. I will do that tomorrow.”

I try to sound brave, but my heart is racing like a trapped rabbit trying to escape. Don’t get me wrong, Aramis is kind and would never judge me, but telling him I’m not sure if I can swim is a whole other thing. And the fact that you normally swim with a lot of skin on display doesn’t really help to calm my nerves.

But I put on my shoes and start walking back to my room, in desperate need of a cold shower.

Once all the sweat is washed away and I’m not uncomfortably warm anymore, I grab something to eat and sit down with Aramis and Siri.

I haven’t told him about the swimming yet, I’m not even sure I will. Maybe I should ask Siri where the lake is and try out on my own first. But she might ask questions I’m not ready to answer yet. Although, maybe she won’t.

She eats while reading a book and it must be a good one, she hasn’t said a word and barely looked up when I said hi. I totally get it. I used to be the one who had my nose up in a book whenever I could. I’ve never been this long without reading and it makes me realise I actually miss it.

“What are you reading?”

Aramis' lips are twisted in a soft smile, and he turns his head to watch Siri. “She won’t hear you.”

“Siri.” She really doesn’t. Aramis moves an arm as if he’s going to give her a little push. “It’s okay, really, it’s not that impo —”

He gently pushes his elbow against her arm and she jumps up, nearly letting the book fall into her soup.

“Oh, sorry, were you saying something?”

Aramis snickers and mouths ‘told you’, but I ignore him. “I was just wondering what book you are reading?”

A blush colours her cheeks. So it is that kind of book, huh.

“You know, a cute romance where the hero gets the girl.” She responds vaguely, closing the book as her eyes go big. “Do you enjoy reading too?”

“I used to read a lot, yes. I haven’t since I arrived here though.”