carried across 31

31 Battered 

Sera 

“Sera, you have to wake up. Now. You’re already late.” 

I groaned and tried to roll away, burying my face in the dark furs. My body felt like it was made of wet sand. “Go away, Mina. Five more minutes.” 

“Yvara is already in the yard,” Mina hissed, her voice rising with a sharp edge of panic. “She doesn’t do waiting. If you’re late, she’ll make you pay for it. Get up!” 

I pulled the furs back over my head. “I’m not a soldier. I’m going back to sleep. Tell her I’m sick.” 

The room went quiet for a heartbeat. Then Mina yanked the furs back, leaving me exposed to the freezing mountain air. “Sera! Have you forgotten you have to fight Taya in six days? She’s going to kill you.” 

My eyes snapped open. The memory of the council meeting-the threat of the flogging and the challenge Fenris had thrown down-hit me like a bucket of ice water. 

“Taya is brutal,” Mina said, her face pale. “She’s actually trained for this. What happened in your room was a fluke. She was caught off guard because she didn’t think you’d swing. On the day of the challenge, she’ll be ready. She’s going to brutally fuck you up, Sera. You have to move.” 

I sat up, glaring at her through tangled hair. My head throbbed. “Fine. I’m up.” 

We walked to the training yard in silence. The sky was a flat, bruised grey, and the air was cold enough to turn my breath into thick clouds of steam. Yvara was already there, standing in the center of a patch of packed dirt. She had her arms crossed over her chest, watching me with the same bored expression she’d used on the council. 

“I’m here,” I said, rubbing the chill from my arms. 

Yvara didn’t say a word. She just moved. 

Her boot connected with my stomach before I could even blink. The air left my lungs in a wheeze, and the world tilted sideways. I hit the dirt hard. I couldn’t breathe. My throat locked up, and I stayed on my hands and knees, clawing at the frozen ground while my vision went white at the edges. 

“Telegraphing,” Yvara said. Her voice was flat. “You watched my eyes. In a real fight, you watch the shoulders. Get up.” 

“Wha…what the fuck!” I struggled to my knees, my chest burning as I finally managed to suck in a ragged breath. “What was that for?” I choked out. “That’s not fair.” 

“Taya won’t warn you either,” Yvara snapped. “Fair is a word for children in the South. If you want to survive here, you learn to take a hit. Get up.” 

I pushed myself to my feet, my stomach cramping. 

1/3 

+25 Bonus 

Yvara moved again. She stepped into my space and drove her shoulder into mine, sending me stumbling backward. I stayed on my feet this time, my jaw locked tight. 

“Better,” she muttered. Then she swept my legs. 

I hit the ground again. My hip barked against a buried rock, and a sharp line of pain shot up my side. 

The next hour was a brutal cycle. Hit. Ground. Correction. Get up. Yvara only spoke to point out my failures. My feet were too wide. My weight was too far forward. I was flinching before she even swung. 

Twenty minutes in, my ribs felt like they’d been hit with a hammer. An hour in, my arms were shaking so badly I couldn’t keep my hands up. I bit my tongue during a particularly hard fall, and the metallic taste of blood filled my mouth. It tasted like a dirty penny. 

I saw Mina watching from a stone archway. I caught her eye once, looking for a break, but she looked away. No one was coming to pull me out of the dirt. 

Yvara didn’t let up. She hit harder as I slowed down. “Exhaustion is when mistakes happen,” she said, her voice a low growl. “Taya will push you until you break. If you can’t fight when you’re tired, you’re already dead.” 

Eventually, I stopped thinking. My brain shut off, and my body moved on pure instinct. Block. Dodge. Fail. Fall. Get up. The world narrowed to the dirt under my fingernails and the sight of Yvara’s fists. 

“Stop,” Yvara said suddenly. 

I stayed on my knees, panting. Sweat was dripping down my face, cooling instantly in the wind. I waited for another blow, bracing my shoulders, but it didn’t come. I looked up. Yvara was watching me, her expression unreadable. She gave a single, small nod. “We’re done for today. Same time tomorrow.” 

She turned and walked away without another word. 

J 

I couldn’t move. My lungs felt like they were on fire. I stayed in the dirt, shivering. Then I heard heavier footsteps on the stone. 

I looked up. Fenris was standing at the edge of the yard. I didn’t know how long he’d been there. He walked toward me and stopped, looking down at my bruised face and the dirt coating my clothes. 

He didn’t offer to help me up. “I have news,” he said. 

“Nadia?” I croaked. 

“Your father released the Voss family,” Fenris said. “Nadia is alive. She’s unharmed.” 

A rush of relief hit me so hard my eyes stung. But Fenris wasn’t done. 

“There is a condition,” he said. “Nadia is forbidden from leaving Valdris territory. Ever. She is a hostage in everything but name.” 

The relief died. Guilt took its place. Nadia was trapped in that stone palace because of me. 

2/3 

+25 Bonus 

“Is there anything I can do?” I asked. “Any way to get her out?” 

“Not right now,” Fenris said. “The contract binds your father as much as it binds you. Pushing back would break the alliance. Right now, you need the alliance.” 

He was right. I hated it. 

“Join me for breakfast after you’ve cleaned up,” he said. He looked at Mina. “I’m sure you can handle her.” 

Fenris walked away, his furs trailing in the dirt. I stayed on the ground for another minute. Mina sat beside me, quiet. 

“I’m sorry,” Mina said. “I don’t understand why Yvara trained you like that. I expected her to go easy on 

you.” 

I swallowed, the movement hurting my throat. “Have you trained with her?” 

Mina nodded. “Not often, but yes.” 

“Did she treat you like a punching bag?” I asked. 

Mina went quiet. She avoided my eyes. That was answer enough. 

“So it’s personal,” I said. I struggled to stand, my muscles screaming. 

Mina didn’t know what to say. She looked at her feet. 

“This is messed up,” I muttered. Everything ached. 

“Six more days,” Mina said quietly. 

I shot her a look. “I’m not doing this.” 

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