Shards of Silver

FOURTEEN

"Now? After all this time, you want to start training us now?" Aerelle spoke the words all three of them wanted to say. Isren had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep herself from shouting out too. Her hands clenched into fists at her sides.

Omar gave them a piercing glare, one so cold and hard that could shatter their souls and send them down on their knees. "You will not speak out against me. You all humiliated yourselves, and your performance in the competition embarrasses me." He turned to Isren, pointing his staff at her. "And you, you're not an Esteral, which means you must be better than all your peers. The way you lost was pathetic."

Isren scrunched her eyebrows irritably. "If you had been here to actually train us, we probably wouldn't be having this conversation." She couldn't stop the tone that dipped into her voice. From her peripheral vision, she could see Calvan shooting her a warning glance. The alarm was practically written on his face.

"Watch your tone Castennali," Omar growled. "None of you have graduated my mentorship, so you must follow my orders. In fact, you must follow my orders, whether you have graduated or not."

Beside her, Aerelle rolled her eyes. "Is it just because we're novices or the lack of experience?"

"Both," Omar replied immediately. He leaned heavily against his staff. "Seeing how none of you truly know who I am, means you haven't been studying enough."

Calvan spoke up, "You're the Captain of the Valirus Guard." There was a look of realization on his face and suppressed panic.

The moment of silence that overtook the three students was tense. Isren felt all the blood in her veins freeze at the words. She visibly shivered for a second, goosebumps rising on her arms as she tried to maintain a steady face. Omar saw it anyway, and the sneer on his face told Isren so.

"Oh sh-" Isren elbowed Aerelle to shut her up. Silently, she agreed with the girl. They were probably in trouble--all of them. Isren could list several reasons off the top of her head that Omar would and could punish them for. She was tempted to get down on her knees to plead to the Greaters for help. Training and running were already hard enough.

"So you're not as stupid as I thought," Omar said through smirking lips. "I've heard about your training from the other mentors, and I must say I am very displeased. If your squad is going to train under my guidance, you should win. Since none of you were able to win, not even Castennali, that puts this squadron under bad lighting. If other squads find out that you're losing while having me as a mentor, they'll humiliate you."

Greaters. Why haven't I realized it sooner? Why do I always have to open my mouth when I'm angry. I've dug a deeper grave for myself, I swear...

The binding of the ribbon carried an uncomfortable heavyweight. Isren forced her hands to stay still by her sides, telling herself that she couldn't tremble or show fear. Omar was just an Eysatix Elf. Like her. An elf with an honorable title. A title that could inflict fear into enemies or encourage fools to open their mouths and taunt.

Omar made a list of things they should know to do and fight. It didn't ease the tension on his face when they each shook their head to something he listed, having not yet begun practicing. With each thing he recorded, the deeper his frown went, and the more Isren's heart sank. This was why she didn't want to be a Valirus. This is why she didn't want to be in the castle at all, and not only that, Soren...

Soren who...

"How much do you know for healing?" Omar asked her. Isren tried to keep the tremble out of her voice.

"A lot. I trained under my mother. She's a medical healer."

"And have you begun showing them the basics?"