A Dance Of Blades and Hearts

amber

Training in the barracks consisted of things I had mastered ages ago, I tried not to show how skilled I was since I was posing as a simple girl who learned how to fight from her brother who had trained for war, and not a warrior turned assassin.

each day drilled exactly what I was here for more into my head.

The housing barracks were decent, I was placed to room with the very few women who cleaned the barracks, something I was grateful for.

The men got used to the idea of having a female around, the sneers and side talks didn't stop though, and I ignored them all.

clen for some reason had stuck to me, training with me and having lunch with me,i avoided him at first but he was persistent, he was a chatter box and his eyes reminded me so much of azumi that I found it hard to tell him no, especially when he looked at me like a kicked puppy everytime.

"You're pretty good at this "

clen commented as I shot arrows at the target,

" come to think of it" he said hands on his chin,

"you're good at alot " I looked at him and shrugged, coming up with excuses was exhausting and I wasn't about to remind him for the umpteenth time that

"my brother was in the army and he trained me "

We weren't exactly friends, I couldn't make friends here, I was here for one thing only and making friends would make it hard, azumi always said I easily got attached,

and besides, clen was perian, I tried not to hold it against him cuz he seemed nice enough and buried my irritation with everything perian to the back of my mind.

It was hard to focus on the hate when all I ever saw on the streets were people trying to survive, I acknowledged at the back of my mind that some of them were just caught t up in this, they were born into this.

"careful not to hurt your fingers love "

one of the trainees commented as he passed behind clen and I, I ignored them as usual. From the corner of my eye I saw clen glaring at them, it brought a small smile to my face, at least he had sense.

"women can't handle hard labour, you should learn your place and run back to your family "

I gritted my jaw staring ahead blankly, aiming my arrow at the target.

But instead I turned and aimed it at the man, the arrow going right over his head, he froze and looked like his heart had left his body, his eyes turned from shocked to a full on glare

"what do you think you're doing!?! ". He yelled, I stared at him unimpressed

" oops, forgive me, my female hands seemed to have missed it's target " I said in a high-pitched voice with a fake smile.

"it won't happen again "I said flatly, tone cold, the smile slipping off my face, his eyes widened, I saw him gulp then scurry after his group.

I rolled my eyes and focused on the target,

idiots, why didn't the masters tell me I would have to deal with shit like this.

My mother trained me to never let myself be looked down on or walked upon, and I have stuck with that teaching all my life.

" kiara that was the most awesomely badass thing I have ever witnessed "clen said in a slightly awed voice, then he burst into laughter

"did you see his face! " he said clutching his stomach.

The training period would come to an end today and I couldn't wait to be free of the barracks, I wondered about how the final selection would play out