A Court of Death and Retribution

chapter 12

I woke up in a spare bedroom in the House of Wind with a raging hangover, but I knew better than to complain. I was secretly excited to train with Cassian and the Valkyries. My mother told me about them briefly, but she never elaborated. I think she didn't want me to get any stupid ideas about running off to join them, which I totally would have.

Nuala and Cerridwen left me some workout clothes to change into, so I quickly dealt with my hygiene then slipped into the soft material. On my walk to the training room, I threw up my hair in a pony tail.

The training room had basic equipment laying around. Training weapons laid on a rack in the far corner, and padded mats were scattered throughout the floor. I was shocked to see the amount of people inside. I had learned that the Valkyrie group had become so  massive that they had to split up the training times. There were about thirty faces that I didn't recognize, but luckily there were eight people I did.

Gwyn, Nesta, Emerie, and Cassian were found stretching in the far corner of the room, laughing about something Cassian said. In another corner was Nyx, Cal, Adira, and Maeve. I decided to walk over to the latter and started copying Maeve as she stretched her arms.

"Hey, how're you feeling?" Maeve smiled warmly at me.

I gave her a rueful chuckle. "Oh just peachy."

"Exercise helps." Adira sat on the floor stretching her legs.

Nyx scoffed. "Not Uncle Cass's exercises."

Maeve and Adira giggled mischievously and my stomach dropped, wondering how painful this morning would be for me. Before I could respond, a loud clap sounded from the other corner of the room.

"Alright, let's get started!" Cassian raised his voice over the chatter and instantly the room went silent. Gwyn, Nesta, and Emerie went over to the Valkyries and started instructing them as Cassian padded towards us. "Good morning!" His smile looked too excited for me to feel the same way.

"What hell are you putting us through today?" Cal groaned, which only made Cassian smile wider.

"Five laps! Get to work." Cassian crossed his arms as the five of us started jogging around the massive training room.

At first, the constant movement made me want to double over and empty my stomach, but by the time we hit the third lap, the nausea disappeared and I started to feel better. Once we were warmed up, Cassian ran us through a grueling workout. I definitely wasn't as strong as the other four, but I was determined not to fall behind. So, despite the agonizing pain, I continued working just as hard as my friends.

It was fun to workout like this. Normally I would stick to stationary exercises under the bridges I resided in. To do more dynamic workouts with other people who pushed you to work harder—it warmed me inside.

When Cassian was satisfied with what we had accomplished, he let us go for the day. I could barely move my body from the pain and exhaustion. I laid on my back on the ground next to Maeve, who was just as tired as I was. Adira came over and frowned at the two of us, crossing her muscular arms. "You two are a pair of lazy bones."

"Me and my lazy bones are too tired to care right now." Maeve panted from beside me and I let out a breathy laugh.

"Are we still on for tonight?" I groaned as I sat up.

Adira smirked and looked over her shoulder to where Cal and Nyx were starting hand to hand combat. I found myself distracted by Nyx's fluid and precise movements. The way his body moved to avoid Cal's jabs and the way he watched for his opening to land ruthless hits almost made me more breathless. He was cold and calculating, and I wouldn't be mad to spar with him one day.