The Twelfth Moon || ✔️ [LOTM #1]

27. Friend Or Foe

My daily morning workout with Feytan had been going well. Today we were focusing on the legs, and I was already dreading the walk back to the Manor after this.

As usual, men were training around us today, too. I recognized most of them from the other mornings I'd spent here, but two males had faces I couldn't quite place. They looked very on edge and shot me daring glances every now and then. I quickly looked away, blood rising to my cheeks every time I got caught peeking at them. But I warily kept my eye on them, as if somehow, my subconscious knew something bad was going to happen.

Still, it didn't matter if I looked out for the danger that was intertwined with every punch they threw in their combat training. As soon as Feytan left to go fill our water flasks behind the corner, the two men halted their sparring and walked over to me. They came so close, that I could feel their raging hot breaths drooping against my skin.

It suddenly made me feel cold, shivering to the core of my being. 

My heart got stuck in my throat as the first one opened his mouth and stepped even closer. "Hasn't anybody told you that you're not welcome here?"

I took a step back to get out of his reach, but he was quicker. He followed me and angled his foot behind mine, which made me tumble to the ground with a loud thud. A small cloud of dust went up around me.

The others stopped with whatever they were doing, and all eyes turned to me. To me eating dust, falling down and not getting back up. I knew none of them would help me. I also knew I wouldn't be able to defend myself. All my hopes of getting out of this mess unscathed rested on Feytan, who seemed to have gone to the drinking fountain further away. He usually didn't stay away this long to fill flasks, only if the nearest fountain was broken.

But wasn't the whole purpose of this to be able to defend myself against the monsters that wanted to hurt me? Yet here I was, waiting for Feytan to come save my sorry ass.

The wolf took another step forward and stood over me. Looking down on me from his position of power. The other wolf laughed to my side and in the corner of my eyes I saw his feet shuffle next to my face, making sure some clouds of dust found their way onto my face in his movement.

My gaze shifted back to the wolf standing over me as he spoke once more. "No one wants you here, Fire Moon whore," he said. He spat in my face after he spat his venom-laced words. 

I closed my eyes just in time to feel his small puddle of saliva bounce on my eyelids. Beckett had spat in my face often, too. The last time was in the Castle, after I decided to leave Spitta and start anew. But now I found myself in a very, very similar position.

And by the Moons, I'd had enough. I didn't think much about it, all I knew was that I would fight back. The sun would have to burn me before I'd let myself get in that position again. The fear subdued for rage, the shivering in my fingers halted and I balled my hands into fists. 

Moons, this had to stop. And I knew it had to be now. I had to assert myself from the start, or the road to my salvation would become only harder. The rage bubbled and sizzled in my blood, and I wiped the spit clean off my face. 

At that moment, I let my instincts take over. And so I swung out my left leg in a quick, unexpected motion, causing the wolf standing over my legs to fall down. I quickly drew my legs in towards my stomach, preventing the wolf from falling on my legs and blocking my escape. 

"You little bitch," the wolf still standing growled. And that was my cue to roll away from him, knowing he'd lash out. He grabbed at the sand where I lay mere moments ago, a frustrated expression growing on his features.