Darkness Girl: Trickster God

Chapter Forty-Eight: Good Manners

Regan scuffed her boot against the ground and looked at the sky with a bored expression. A dry wind gusted past her, pulling at her hair and whipping up small tendrils of dust. 

The training grounds were an expanse of hard packed clay behind the Silverwater barracks that had been carefully swept and rolled flat. Canvas screens surrounded the area to provide some protection from the wind that rushed across the treeless fields and dragged at the colourful flags and banners decorating the otherwise barren waste. At the centre of the training ground, a circular arena had been marked out with white paint. 

Sarafina stood by Regan's shoulder. 'There are more here than I expected.' 

Regan followed her gaze. There were small groups of other candidates standing awkwardly around the area. Most of them had congregated in front of a set of bleachers that was slowly filling up with Silverwater personnel who had come to watch the trials. A few of them were self-consciously doing stretches and exercises to limber up. As Regan watched, a boy with long hair dropped his wooden sword. 

Sarafina laughed. 'If you gave them feather dusters, they might make halfway decent cleaners. You might want to consider holding back a little.' 

'There's no point in prolonging a fight. An idiot's blade makes you just as dead as an expert's.' 

Regan turned as she heard a call, and saw Forrester walking towards them. His eyes were bright, and he gave an excited wave as he approached. He was holding something in his hand wrapped in red cloth. 

'I love the trials,' he said as he got closer. 'There's something about the atmosphere that's electric.' 

'Did you find it?' said Sarafina. 

Forester held out the object in his hand and pulled back the cloth. Inside was a battle scarred wooden sword. He held it out to Regan. 

'It's a short sword, like you asked for.' 

Regan pulled the wooden sword out of the cloth and examined it. 'It's heavy.' 

'It's made of hardwood. It's old but it's tough.' 

Regan shrugged. 'It'll do.' 

'It was surprisingly hard to find. Do you want to know where I found it in the end?' 

Regan ignored him and shifted her attention back to the other candidates. 

Sarafina gave Forester a gentle pat on the shoulder. 'I'm sure it was a fascinating story.' 

'You know Bennet's mind,' said Regan. 'What's her next move going to be?' 

Sarafina looked at the ground for a moment before she answered. 'It won't be private. She'll want to humiliate you in front of everyone.' 

'I know some of the people organising the trials,' said Forester. 'I can ask around and find out if anyone's heard of any last minute changes.' 

'I can save you the time,' said a low voice behind them. 

Sarafina and Forester looked back in surprise. 

'Kai?' said Forester. 

Kai ignored Forester and Sarafina. He brushed past them as he walked towards Regan. His eyes were intently focused on her back. 

Regan didn't turn around. 

'You're bold to keep your back to me.' 

Kai waited for a response, but Regan didn't seem to have heard him. 

'Regan,' said Sarafina. 'This is Kai. He's a protector, like Forester.' 

Kai walked forward until he was level with Regan and examined her profile. He waved a hand towards the other candidates. 'They want to be fighters, but not one among them is worthy of the title. They don't understand what it means to fight. They have no fighter's presence.'