Their Light

Chapter 14

Isaac

"What do you mean no?" Hadley asked, hands on her hips.

Even though she was a foot shorter than Ryder, it felt like she was looking down at him somehow. I stood on the sidelines watching the battle go down, wishing I had popcorn.

"No, you aren't training with us," Ryder restated.

The entire Statio had awoken early this morning to get back into a daily training regiment. We needed to be in peak condition in order to protect and serve our Probus. To the surprise of everyone, Hadley had come downstairs wearing yoga pants and a loose tank, her golden strands pulled up into a high ponytail, stating she was ready to go. The twins had strong objections to that.

"Why not?" I could tell Hadley was furious. One of her eyebrows twitched as she glared at Ryder.

"It's our job to protect you," Ryder explained, sounding like he was explaining something simple to a child. He really was just asking to get slapped. "You have no reason to train."

"What about if I want to be able to protect myself? What if I want to help protect you guys too?" I saw the twins flinch at her words. She didn't mean them the way they were taking them. It was an honor to protect our Probus, but by saying that she implied she didn't think we were capable of doing it.

I also saw where she was coming from. I indulged more than the others in human novelties and shows. Therefore, I like to think that I understand humans a little more. Even though Hadley certainly wasn't human, she was raised in their society. As much as I enjoyed watching them go back and forth, I figured someone needed to step in and why shouldn't that be me?

"Now, now children," I teased, waltzing up between them. Ryder thankfully stepped back with a look that told me to deal with this. I returned it with a glare. I knew he was frustrated, but he needed to remember who this was. She was still a Probus, our Probus. Wow, never I thought I would be the reasonable one.

"Hadley," I started, turning my attention to her. "Walk with me?"

Offering her my arm, she sent one last glare towards the twins before accepting my offer with a huff. I walk us back towards the house, leaving the rest of the Kustos in the backyard.

"What was that about?" she asked me sharply. I patted her hand comfortingly.

"It was a pride thing," I told her. She paused, looking at me questioningly.

"Pride?"

"Yep," I replied, popping the word. "It's our job to protect you and keep you safe. By saying you want to protect yourself, you implied we couldn't."

"That's not what I meant!" she exclaimed, turning to go back towards the twins. I held on and stopped her progress. I noticed Peter talking to the others now, though. Good, he'll make them see her side.

"I know, I know," I appeased her. "I get it, and hopefully after Peter finishes his little talk with the twins, they will understand your side of it."

"I'm tired of being scared," she admitted quietly. "I just wanted to feel a bit more confident, to feel like I wouldn't just be a liability in a fight."

"Well, hopefully, now that you have us, you never have to be in a fight ever again," I told her cheerfully. She snorted and shook her head slightly.

"That seems unlikely with my luck." I continued to joke with her until we finally headed back to the group. Ryder stepped forward again once we reached them. I dropped my arm, letting her step forward.

"Do you understand now?" Ryder asked her bluntly. I rolled my eyes up to the sky, asking Fato de Sorte for some help. Immediately the anger rises again in Hadley's eyes.

"I understand just fine," she snapped. "You guys go be alpha males. I'll be the nice little damsel on the porch." Without another word, she turned and stormed back toward the house. I leveled a glare at Ryder, who just glared right back.

"Really?" I asked him, feeling satisfied when I see him flinch a little. "With her past, learning how to defend herself is a big thing for her."

"We will defend her. She understands," he replied, turning away, indicating that the argument had been settled.

"Oh no, no, no," I taunted. "If you think this is over, you are sorely mistaken. I doubt our Probus is going to let this go anytime soon. Maybe, I should get popcorn."

Tilting my head, I walked past him to the others who were starting on the warmup. I glanced at Hadley, who had taken a seat on the porch. Even from that distance, I could still see her seething. Joe walked out and plopped down beside her. She looked down at him before her eyes widened and a spark of mischief seemed to make the hazel gems glow brighter.

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We were about midway through the workout when Hadley made her move. We had just moved on to training with our sabers. I brushed the symbols on my silver bracelet, materializing a long silver, curved blade in each hand. I noticed Hadley move off of the porch and towards the trees in the back of the yard. No one else paid any attention to the movement.

The twins led us through the motions like always. Everyone was so focused on what we were doing that no one noticed the girl join the back of the group, mimicking the motions with a large stick she must have found. It took everything I had not to smile. She apparently wasn't going to take no for an answer.

We worked for about half an hour more before we broke to practice the motions with each other. It was at that time that our sneaky Probus was unfortunately discovered.

"What are you doing?" Ryder exclaimed, storming toward Hadley. She flinched but stood her ground. I plopped down onto the ground, breathing hard but wanting to watch the show.

"I'm training," she stated evenly.

"No, you're not."

"Yes, I am."

"Why?" he practically shouted at her. She winced and paled a little, but took a deep breath before answering.

"I never want to feel helpless again," she told him in a quiet voice. "I get it. You guys will protect me, great. I don't care if I never will have to use these skills, I just want the knowledge that I could. I could protect myself and kick anyone's ass that tries to hurt me." The look in her eyes was so honest. What she was saying finally got through that thick skull to his brain.

"Fine," he said, causing her entire face to brighten. He sent her a small smile, noticing the change as well. "But not our training. I'll meet with you separately that way you get training specific for your size and level." She paused for a moment before smiling brightly at him and nodding her head.

"Fair," she stated, dropping her stick. She looked over at all of us waving as she headed back toward the house. "I'll get started on breakfast."

Ryder went to stop her, but Kent intervened. A Probus cooking a bunch of Kustos breakfast. Never thought I would see the day.

She was unlike anything I had ever seen before, and all I knew was that I wanted to keep seeing more and more. 

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