Dragon Knight-Commander (A Cullen Rutherford Shapeshifter Romance)

Chapter 3

'Which weapon calls to your warrior heart?' Cullen said.

He'd summoned me the next morning to the dusty patch of grass by the training yard and demanded I chose one of the weapons spread on the ground: heavy broadswords, bows as long as I was, magic staves, axes and daggers.

I crossed my arms and said, 'Can I work in the kitchen? I make a great roast dinner.'

'The Inquisition needs you to fight.'

'I'm a lover not a fighter.'

'Lover?' He narrowed his eyes.

'Never mind.'

'You have it in you. I have seen you on the battle field.'

'Yeah and I was a hot mess.' I attempted to pick up a sword and could barely lift it.

'If the stave responds, you will be trained by a mage,' he said. He picked up the wooden pole with a pretty glass top and tossed it to me. 'Hold it with both hands and aim it at that pile of wood.'

I picked it up and pointed it, as instructed.

Cullen's face fell. He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. 'Not even a flicker. I hoped you'd turn out to be a powerful mage. Try the daggers.'

I lay down the stave and picked up two long daggers that were surprisingly light.

'Stab me,' he commanded.

I lunged forwards and stuck the point of the dagger at his metal armoured chest. I expected him to step back but he allowed me to make contact. He reached out and squeezed my bicep. He held onto my arm. 'You have no muscle. You need to work on this or you will die,' he said, his voice cracking. He pushed my arm down and stepped back. 'How long will you stay at Skyhold?'

'Until I work out where I am and how I can get home. I'll be out of your hair as soon as possible,' I said. Having considered my options during a sleepless night I'd decided to stay. Better the devil you know and all that. I needed to save up some money. I needed a plan.

'You can stay if you agree to use your magic to fight for the Inquisition. I will only allow you into battle when you can protect yourself in combat against non-demon threats. Or demons that don't respond to your hand.' He leaned into me. 'There is no place for you in Skyhold unless you show me your warrior spirit.' He called over one of his soldier minions. 'You will train My Lady all day every day to use her daggers. You will train her to be fit and strong.'

And so commenced five weeks of stabbing and lunging, running, lifting and falling. I was up with first light and generally one of the first to go to bed as his soldiers relentlessly encouraged me to learn how to decimate objects with two daggers. At least twice a day my training was overseen by the stern Commander who would come over and heckle me. He would bark instructions and push me harder than my body could cope with.

One afternoon, Cullen dismissed my tutor, stood before me and said, 'Stab me.'

I wanted to impress him. He was possibly the most gorgeous man I'd ever laid eyes on and he seemed to hold me in complete contempt. But if he thought I was improving, that would mean I had to go out into battle and kill demons or maybe even actual people.

'Are you a warrior princess or a flabby cook's assistant?' he roared, making me jump. 'Stab me!'

I ground my teeth, feigned a lunge, twisted behind him and drove two daggers into his back.

He jumped forwards in time so that the blows glanced off his armour. He held up two hands in defence and roared, 'Again!'

I jumped high towards his neck, stabbed by his chin and his sword arm. His arms blocked my blows as I used his considerable body to spring off back onto the ground. I crouched and dashed behind him again raining blows on his upper thighs. He lifted a foot to kick me off. I twisted up, caught him on his cheek with my knife and saw a slash of red emerge from the wound.

He grabbed me with both hands on my wrists, clamped them to my side and bent me back over his knee, bringing his face down to mine. He squeezed my hands making me drop the daggers.

He nodded slowly and the corners of his mouth lifted. His deep voice ground out the word, 'Good.'

When he praised me, I looked up into his dark eyes and smiled. My heart beat fast and pleasure unfurled through my body. He held me in his powerful arms without speaking and his gaze assessed me and heated.

I looked at his lips and he dropped me.

He straightened up and said stiffly. 'Be ready in an hour. There are demons sighted by Emerald Lake. It is time, my lady.'

A few hours later I jumped from my horse and approached the demons with Cassandra, Maxwell and Cullen. They were as frightening as I remembered. My hands shook. Two large green glowing humanoid monsters the size of trucks and my personal favourites: five scuttling spiders the size of cows. They were sort of hanging out incongruously in the beautiful pastoral mountain valley.

Cassandra and Cullen ran in together, slashing at the demons, avoiding the green bolts sent their way and using their shields against the spiders' jaws. Maxwell used his stave to send out fire balls of lethal light that ripped out parts of their bodies. The blue triangle on my hand that had faded into a tattoo, burned blue. Maxwell nodded at me. I held it up and approached the fight, dagger held up in the other hand. Cullen moved back to put himself between me and the nearest spider.

The spider looked at my hand with his creepy eyes and stopped moving. It swayed gently staring at my hand. Cassandra seized the opportunity to chop its head off. One of the large demons saw me and froze in place.

Cullen stopped fighting, sheathed his sword and watched, fascinated, as the rest of the darkspawn followed suit and allowed Maxwell and Cassandra to finish them off. They both whooped and ran back towards us.

Cullen said, 'Well done. You feel well? There are no ill effects?'

'I feel good,' I said. Actually, I felt amazing. Especially when Cassandra and Maxwell reached me, picked me up and dragged me back to my horse, slapping me on the back, cheering and talking excitedly. Especially when Cullen lifted me up onto my horse and smiled at me, his eyes soft and not glaring at me for once. Maxwell gave a blow by blow commentary about how the battle had gone down and what a hero I was. Cullen looked up and shared another smile with me and rolled his eyes. I blushed.

'I take it you're letting her come out to fight with us now,' said Cassandra to Cullen.

'Yes,' said Cullen as he mounted his horse. His mouth twisted into a sudden pained expression. 'Yes. She is ready.'