Warrior's Mind (Book 2 of The Warrior Chronicles)

Chapter 69

It had been four days since she got out of the dungeons and with no morning classes scheduled, Leyla took the opportunity to do rigorous training. It wasn't until the sun was halfway across the sky that she made her way to the training fields.

"What's so amusing?" Michael raised his spoon, shovelling rice and spiced beans into his mouth. They were sitting under the army tent, having their usual mid-day catch up over lunch. Not that Leyla had managed to eat with all the staring she'd been subjected to.

"I was just imagining what these soldiers would do if they saw a Warrior officer training in the heat of the summer." She pushed back the chair, crossing her legs in front of her with a shake of her head. After her workout she had discard her jacket and tied her shirt just under her breast to allow the soft breeze to dry her sweat, but what was with the ridiculous reaction? If the weather was hot, she would have been training with just a strip of cloth over her breasts!

Michael snorted, "They'd probably keel over." He looked up from his plate, "But did you ever train like that? Half naked, like Warriors do, I mean?"

Obviously, Michael was also a prude. "You're acting like you've never been to a Aschian bathhouse." When he looked like he was about to argue, she went on: "Aren't you running late for your meeting with the Book Keeper? I thought today was the day she was going to let you see the unmarked collection you've been obsessing over."

Michael sighed, narrowing his eyes at his last spoonful of rice. "She was, but it got pushed to later in the afternoon due to a High Council meeting."

"Oh?"

A group of soldiers saluted in her direction on their way back to the training field. Leyla nodded her acknowledgement, then watched as one of them almost fell flat on his face because he couldn't managed to take his eyes from her bared stomach.

"If you don't put something on, someone is going to get seriously hurt," Michael warned.

Leyla rolled her eyes, looking around the now almost empty tent. A few soldiers were still working on their meals and doing their absolute best not to look her way. "This is unacceptable. If they are this easily distracted, they will get themselves killed out there."

A jacket suddenly covered her as Raphael's annoyed voice filled the tent: "If they keep looking at you like that, they won't have to enter the No Lands, I will kill them right here."

Michael laughed as Leyla tried to throw Raphael's jacket from her shoulders. "Prorex, take this away. Are you trying to torture me?"

Raphael stepped around her and began doing up the buttons of his jacket with great focus, "You, Colonel, have been torturing me for days. Do you hear me complaining?"

Leyla followed his gaze to her bare wrist and blushed. He was right, she had been avoiding giving him an answer about the marriage, but it wasn't her fault. She just couldn't think of a way around her loyalty dilemma. "What brings you here?" She asked, changing the subject.

Raphael arched a brow, clearly aware of what she was doing. "I've come to take you to the Defence meeting."

Michael pushed up from the table, all smiles. "If La-La is attending, it is bound to be better than this morning's meeting!"

Raphael shot him a haughty look. "Our gatherings don't meet with your approval, brother?"

"With all due respect, Prorex, you were present this morning! Waiting for the Minister of Health to make a point is like waiting for Delphine to stop talking about dresses."

"That will never happen," Leyla agreed, following them out of the tent. She looked around for Timken, her drill master, but he was at the other end of the field. "I just need to see to something..."