The Hidden Princess: Secrets Revealed (Book Two)

Chapter Twenty-Six: Then It's Settled. We Kidnap Two Small Children

It had been a week and a half since the night drill and training was killing me. Orion wasn't lying when he said that I would not get special treatment. We had just finished a three hour run of the obstacle course. Groaning, I fell to my back, sweat dripping from my face and landing on my shirt. At this point my shirt was drenched in sweat and the murky water from the course. I felt a foot kick my ribs and without looking my arm snapped out grabbing the foot and yanking hard. I heard a thud and Alakay let out a yell as he fell beside me.

"You dead?" he asked, going to poke me in the face, but I swatted his hand away.

Wiping the sweat off my forehead I groaned as not two seconds later my forehead was covered again. "I know I've been gone a lot, but I didn't think it would take this much out of me," I groaned.

"It's not that you are out of shape, Sam. Orion's been pushing us hard these past few days. If the ground wasn't so far away I'd be right beside you," Benedict said, sitting on a bench beside us.

"What are you all doing slacking?" a new voice calls.

Turning my head slightly to look at who walked up my face turned to a glare. "Go away. I'm still mad at you," I said before turning away from Luke.

He didn't listen. He just laughed and took a seat beside Benedict. "Sam, I was following orders. I did what I was told," he said.

"You didn't have to do it so well. I nearly took your head off," I argued.

"I trust your instincts. You would have pulled back," Luke said confidently.

Pushing myself to my elbows I shook my head. "My instincts were telling me to take off your head for being a traitor and taking Alakay to get to me. I honestly thought you had betrayed us," I said.

"It did take awhile for me to figure out it was a drill. At first I wanted to rush into things like Sam," Louis said.

"Wait! You figured out it was a drill?" I asked, rolling over and sitting up.

Nodding Louis looked at the shocked faces of the rest of us. "I remember each of us facing a night drill as an apprentice. Sam's needed to come at some point. When Orion didn't call for us to go to the king I figured it out. Even though Sam is technically still just a Dragon we all know it's more than that now and if this had been a serious threat we would have had the king's backing as well," he explained.

Sighing, my head dropped back. "Sometimes I hate your brain, Louis," I mumbled.

"Why didn't you tell the rest of us?" Benedict questioned.

"Because Orion wanted to see how we would handle the situation. If we'd known it was a drill we wouldn't have reacted the same even if trying," he said.

"Again, sometimes I hate your brain," I said, letting myself drop back to the ground.

"Alright you guys. We've had our rest. We need to move on to our sword drills," Benedict said standing up.

Raising an eyebrow I looked at Benedict without getting up. "Seriously? We are doing more? I thought you were my favorite," I said not moving. "I'm calling the princess card on this one," I said, stretching out with a big sigh.

"Sorry princess card doesn't go into effect until you're crowned and then you'll be queen so you're out of luck," Benedict said, walking over and tossing me over his shoulder.

"Put me down! I'll have you thrown in the dungeon for this!" I cried struggling in his arms.

"Would you quit moving around, you're worse than a child," Benedict said, readjusting his hold on me.