A Court of War and Sacrifice

12. Hidden Truth

The artwork above is not mine.

•༻☾☽༺•

Seren rubbed her hands together, then massaged her temples wearily. Already, their first week in Ironcrest was past and it had been a disaster. Amren sat on the fence railings nearby.

"Your class gets smaller every day," she said.

"I've noticed." Seren didn't look at her. "Let's work on hand to hand combat now." The remaining females quickly paired off. She gave them a nod and they began.

Jorah finished wrapping her wrists and joined Seren. "I don't understand why the females have stopped coming. They were always excited to train before."

"This is Erebus and Kallon's handiwork," Cassian replied, flying over to their ring. His own was completely empty. "Their plan is to drive us out of Ironcrest. They're targeting the females, hoping to deter us. If that doesn't work, they'll start targeting us directly." He looked over the training females. "Reya, tighten your fist and remember to land your punches on your first two knuckles." He crossed the ring to help her.

Amren slid off the fence and went to a vacant corner of the ring. She began running through a stretching routine. "What's her problem?" Jorah asked. "She's always in a bad mood."

Seren shrugged. "Amren doesn't like me. Being around me tends to put her in a bad mood, but I know she has a good side. I've seen it occasionally."

"Why doesn't she like you?" Seren held up her hands. Jorah bit her lip. "Oh."

"Rhys is hoping that we'll learn to get along while we're here, but I'm not sure that will work out." Seren's gaze flickered to Jorah's wrapped wrists. She could see hints of bruises poking out from beneath the wrappings. "What happened?"

"Nothing." Jorah hid her hands behind her back and tucked her wings over them.

"Was it Kallon?" Seren let her daemati powers manifest into a flaming hand. She sought out Jorah's presence and hovered near it, waiting to feel her emotions.

Jorah tensed and anxiety rippled from her. "I..." She jerked her head sharply. "It's nothing. Don't worry about it."

Seren felt waves of anger, frustration, and anxiousness building within her friend. Her flaming hand dissipated. "What's going on?"

"Nothing, Seren. Please stop asking." Jorah looked away.

"All right." Seren crossed her arms. She closed her eyes briefly as her headache turned into a bout of dizziness. Wings flapped overhead, capturing her attention. Feyre and Rhys landed near the training ring.

"That's enough for now," Cassian called. "We'll see you here again tomorrow." The females broke off sparring and left the ring. Jorah followed Seren across the ring. Amren joined them shortly.

"Where's Az?" Rhys asked.

"Trailing Kallon today," Cassian answered. He ran a hand through his hair. "Things aren't going well, Rhys."

"So I saw. What happened? I thought nearly all of the females in the camp were training."

"They were, until Kallon made good on his word. Let's go to the hut to discuss it."

Rhys nodded and he and Cassian headed off. "You can come with us," Seren said, facing Jorah.

"I need to get home," Jorah mumbled. She ran off before Seren could respond.