A Court of Wind and Song

7: Control

Leur

"They're making good progress." A voice sounded at my side from where I stood, watching my trainees run laps around the frosted field.

Devlon was standing next to me, watching all of them with an analytical eye. He'd gained a few more scars in the war, namely a large one that ran across his right cheek and down his neck. And it seemed that something else had changed in him too after the battles.

He was a hell of a lot more open to the women being trained, and had been acting much less like an asshole. At least, that was what Cassian had told me. The man had always been prickly, but I didn't know how he had behaved in the years I was gone.

"They are, aren't they?" I turned to him, "Who knows, maybe some of them will qualify for the Blood Rite come spring."

"I would gladly allow them entrance, but I would worry that they'd be... targeted." Devlon frowned.

That was a polite way of saying that he worried the males would go after them not for the sake of the competition, but for something else. Something worse.

"That's certainly a concern." I nodded at him, "We'll address it when the time comes."

"I heard that you took over training the High Lady's sister." He said.

Damn, word travels fast.

"How?" I turned to him.

"I had gotten word that she was going to be trained here, and when nobody came yesterday- I sent a letter to your brother ensuring everything was alright." He said, "A few hours later, General Cassian showed up and informed me she was now under your supervision."

"I see." I nodded, "I've opted to train her privately."

He raised his brows at me, clearly waiting for me to go on. In the past months that I had been training the women every other day, we'd formed a sort of... friendship?

That might be the right word, but it felt odd to say.

"She's a private person." I shrugged, "Perhaps when we progress a bit, I'll have her join the others and see how that goes."

"That is another big responsibility that you've taken on." He frowned, "When do you sleep?"

It was comments like this that made me hesitant to call the male a friend. He treated me differently than you would a friend or a sister, even a trainee. It was something I didn't quite understand.

"I'll sleep when I'm dead." I shrugged.

A stern look, "I'm serious."

"Me too." I said to him, taking a step out into the training fields and throwing him a grin over my shoulder, "Haven't you ever heard the phrase 'no rest for the wicked'?"

I was met with only a frown spreading across his face. I ignored it, calling the women to move onto the next section of our training for the day.

Devlon stayed and watched most of it.

-

The small shop in the center of Windhaven was not new. I couldn't remember the name of the family that had owned it before, only that they sold quite a lot of clothes and leathers within. When I was a child, my mother used to stop by and help sew when she got a chance. I could remember looking through racks and racks of clothes, could remember her coming in here to source the fabric when she made me my first set of leathers.

It was warm inside, the kind of warmth you could only truly feel in Illyria when you stepped inside and escaped from the harsh winds. The echo of a fire crackled in the distance and the bell above the door jangled when I stepped over the threshold. The floors and walls were all pine, fresh and polished, a bit different from what I remembered. But the scent was the same, washing soap and the scent of fabrics. And I could have sworn that the clothes on the mannequins were the same ones I used to run my fingers across as a girl.