If Stratagor Ziras doesn't kill me, my training program will!
Every day I wake up and go through the motions, but they've figured out that I'm not a Knight. I can't ride, I can't fight, I can't do magic, and worst of all, I can't see whatever it is...
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"You're sure you're good?" Jonah asks for the tenth time. As soon as I agreed to stay, Jonah and Dathid made arrangements to leave. I don't even get lunch like the last time, just up at dawn—if they had dawn here, that is—for a hasty goodbye.
"I'm going to say no if you ask me again. Then you'll be forced to stay here with me."
"She's good," Dathid says as he grabs under my chin and squeezes my cheeks. "Look at this happy face."
I step out of his grasp. "Actually now that I think about it, I'm very sad. You can go, Jonah, but I think I need a faerie here to keep me company for a few months."
Jonah nods. "Okay, good. I'm glad we've worked it out. Dathid will stay here with you and I'll head out."
"You're so cute when you try to be funny," Dathid says to me.
"And you're so funny when you try to be social."
Dathid doesn't give me a retort. Instead, he hugs me. He's getting better at it. "Don't let them get to you. You only have one job, remember that." He breaks the hug and grabs the sides of my head to turn my face up to his. "If it gets rough, call me. I mean it." Then he kisses my forehead and releases me.
I can't help but smile. I think I just got an older brother. I like it. I feel safer now, more protected. I don't know what changed, but something just did.
Jonah hugs me next. Jonah hugs are the best. It's like hugging a bear; he's all safety and warmth. "You and I are to speak at the end of every day. You need to be honest with me. If it's getting bad or too hard, you have to tell me."
We break apart. "I promise, again. I will tell you."
They mount up and I salute them, "Satisfaction in harmony be upon you."
They salute back. "Nan lapè în sül avètk," they say in unison. Watching them leave hurts just as much as it did the first time, maybe more.
Fortunately, I have five unicorns and Levise to remind me that I have plenty to keep me occupied. I try to remember that the council believes I'm good at this part, but it's grueling, and hot, and tiring.
When I'm done I wash down Topper by myself and head to Trelix. Unfortunately, Matban Tadin is waiting for me as soon as I leave the uniquestrian center.
He's still short. That's mean, I need to stop that, but I just don't like this guy. And he's not that short, it's just that his shoulders are so wide they make him look like an upside-down traffic cone. And his military bearing is so in-your-face he should be a character in a video game.
"Hello, Agatha. How was your lesson?" he says with a smile that looks genuine.
I take a deep breath, but try to hide it. I need to stop judging this elf so harshly. He's a weird guy, but who am I to judge weird? "Hey, Matban Tadin." I make sure to use his title because it would be rude not to.
