A Court of Fire and Mountains

Chapter 3

Nesta

I opened my eyes and groggily stared at the ceiling. I could hear Cassian getting up from the couch and eating breakfast. I rolled out of bed and threw on the Illyrian armour lying on the chair in the corner. I braided back my hair and stepped out of the bedroom. I sat beside him on a rickety table.

"I'm going to fix the hut today," Said Cassian. "But I'll take you over to the training ring first," I grunted in what I hoped could be interpreted as thanks.  

Cassian walked me past a row of small shops, with frosted up glass, and wide doors to give easy wing access. I tucked my hands in my armpits to keep out the cold and watched Cassian's breath curl out of his mouth in white tendrils. I averted my eyes when he glanced at me.

"Nesta, I have to warn you," He said. "Your trainer won't put up with anything. Try not to... well..." I glared at him.

"I will just try not to be me." I huffed. 

"Yes. Basically." Cassian chuckled. "And try and stay out of everyone else's way. They might not be trained but they will still be bigger and stronger than you."

I didn't deny it. Everyone I'd seen at this camp so far was almost a head taller than me. 

"I'll try my best," I replied as they reached the edge of the ring. It was almost deserted except for a small group of winged females in the centre.

"There's hardly anyone there!" Cassian exclaimed, outraged. 

"Ok, bye, I'll meet you back at the house," I said in the vague direction of Cassian and quickly walked towards the centre of the ring, and the little huddle of winged women.

As I approached they all turned round to watch me, and the one male in the centre frowned.

"These sessions are for Illyrians only," he said. He was huge, with dirty-blonde hair and pale but muscly arms.

"Lord Cassian said I should go," I replied, smiling inwardly. If I don't have to train, and Cassian gets in trouble it's a win-win.

"Oh, well, If Lord Cassian said so..." He smirked. "Let's get going then. Everyone, pick up a sword."

What followed was 3 hours of absolute hell. Every part of my body ached. I couldn't believe the others were still going, as the rest of the group took to the skies to do aerial training. I limped back to the house, which was in a noticeably better condition than this morning.  A few minutes away I saw a group of females swoop down towards me. I recognized them from my training session. There was four of them, and I was pretty sure I knew what was coming. I knew enough about bullies from my childhood and I wasn't prepared to put up with any more.

I decided to keep walking and not pay any attention to them. I would not give them the satisfaction. They landed a bit behind me but had soon caught up with their non-achy legs and large strides.

"So what's a little high fae like you doing here?" Said one, the biggest, and also the ugliest, with buck teeth and thick heavy eyebrows. I figured she must be the ringleader. 

"What gives you the right to come to our camp and spy on us?" Another chipped in. They all nodded aggressively. I was itching to defend myself, but despite my disdain, these brutes were twice the size of me. I kept walking towards the hut and its inhabitant, which were now my refuge.

"Hey!" Another one said. I rolled my eyes. One with thick bushy hair pushed me, and I tripped over my boots and landed in the mud. They all snickered as I stood up, trying in vain to wipe the thick cold mud off my leathers. I felt the anger brewing in me like a roaring fire. I'd been through too much to put up with these bitches. 

I walked up to the one with the hair who had pushed me. She looked down on me, a mean smirk still plastered on her face. I knelt down and scooped up a handful of the mud, and gritted my teeth.

"Don't you dare touch me," I growled, and shoved the mud onto her face. Her annoying smile vanished in an instant. I knew I was in for it now. All this time wasting my life away and now I was going to die because of a bunch of Illyrians. I suddenly felt my legs being taken out from under me. Another cronie had tackled me to the ground. I shrieked in anger and started clawing at the females, going for the wings. All I saw was a flurry of wings and hair and mud above me as I yanked on hair and shoved mud into faces. I got my fair share of a beating too, but my anger blocked out everything but the gang of overgrown bats. Until another annoyingly handsome overgrown bat came into sight, yelling, with a look over pure rage on his face. The others pulled themselves out of the fray reluctantly and walked away fast, trying to keep the dignity of not running away from Cassian. He ran to me and hauled me up, at which point the pain kicked in, and I swayed.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," I murmured, as he scooped me up and carried me towards our hut.

"I'll kill them," Cassian growled, and I chuckled.