The Queen's Conquer

Chapter 22 : Refraction

Rúnda • [ruin-da]
Magical, mysterious; secret, confidential.

🖤

~+~

The coming week is nothing short of tiresome, mostly because I find myself sitting in the middle of an open-field sparring ring with Lilith near the Packhouse, repeating another routine of breathing exercises and strength workouts.

I was given the weekend to prepare myself for her training. From the information Samuel had briefed me with, Lilith is not known for having much sympathy when it comes to the exhausting workouts she assigns her warriors. That would explain why I wasn't allowed a break until noon even though we've been at this since I arrived at dawn.

We only began meeting a few days ago, each day proving to be warmer than the last. The snow has nearly completely melted away, leaving only the damp grass to deal with the wet aftermath. Now, it looks as though winter has been wiped out by the shifting temperature. It's astonishing how quickly the seasons can alter—how one week can be enough to freeze your toes off and the next smells like daisies and blooming wildflowers.

Most days, Samuel's been the one driving me to these sessions with the convenience of the Packhouse being on the way to his relentless pack meetings and "Alpha responsibilities", as he calls them. But I know it's also because he cherishes every short car ride to spend those few minutes with me. And I do, too.

I'll admit I've never been this mentally and physically exhausted since my training in Mylithia—which, to say, wasn't as brutal as Lilith's coaching. But in my home kingdom, it was usually a routine of hand-to-hand combat exercises and basic defense mechanisms that left me fatigued. Not honing my wolf as some second extension to my powers.

"Breathe," Lilith repeats for what feels like the hundredth time.

"I am," I grit, my fists clenching from where they rest atop my knees, legs crossed.

"You can't breathe correctly if you're tense, Anastasia," she reminds me.

Her words only irritate me further. My eyes shoot open as I jump up from the grass. "I need a break," I grumble, striding over to our things at the corner of the ring, ponytailed hair swaying with every step.

"You just had one ten minutes ago," she calls out, but I ignore her words, grabbing my water and chugging down a few mouthfuls.

Sweat remains slick down the sides of my face while I attempt to concentrate on anything other than her voice and every recited command I've had to follow for the past several hours. I stare out at the trees lining the far end of the open training rings, catching short glances at the other warriors doing basic repetitions of strength and core work, some even practicing sparring in their wolf forms.

"I think your biggest issue is that you and your wolf are still unbalanced," Lilith says. I look over my shoulder to watch as she goes through a familiar series of stretches, the gold rings in her braids glinting against the faint sunlight.

"I spent two months alone out in the Ancient Forest just so I could build a stronger bond with my wolf and now you're telling me we're too closed off?" I spit out, not meaning to sound so harsh.

Lilith ignores my rude tone. "Just because you were isolated with your wolf doesn't mean that you two grew closer," she says, standing back upright to look me in the eyes. Her grey irises look like shining steel even under the partly cloudy sky. "Even with wolf blood in you, you're still part human. This simply means controlling your abilities and forming an understanding with her is much more difficult than it would be for a purebred."