Inheritance

Part 2. Chapter 22: Knocked off Guard

Taylor would never, ever admit she was afraid of the future, but whether she would or not, it was written plainly on her face for all the other conscripted criminals to see. She could hear them laughing at her as she and Pollyanna ate breakfast together.

"Look at that trembling fairy girl!" Whispered a dwarf to a human. "She won't last a day!"

Taylor turned in her chair to shoot a glare at the human and dwarf who were making jokes about her, and they suddenly became deathly quiet.

The fairy girl ate lightly, and Pollyanna was shocked about how quiet she was being.

Taylor's attention turned from the biscuit she was eating to the red lighting filtering through the air. Her eyes were fixed unblinkingly on it.

Red light danced about in the air to cast light on criminals—staining their red hands all-the-redder and fittingly trapping the detestable creatures in with a suitable death. Taylor knew the obnoxious, pretentious thought was not her own.

Get out of my head! This is my body! Taylor's thoughts bellowed loudly in her head as her fingers dug into her biscuit and it crumbled between her hands.

Pollyanna was watching in surprise and wondered what the girl was thinking about. "Hey Eory, I was thinking that we should maybe cut your hair and—"

Taylor slammed her fists on the table. "My name is not Eory! Don't call me that! Stop it, stop it, stop it!"

Pollyanna took a sip of her water amidst the noisy cacophony that was the dining hall. "I'm sorry, Taylor. I was just thinking it would be a good idea to cut your hair because long hair is generally not a good thing to have in battle."

Taylor narrowed her eyes at the old woman. "Are you trying to make me into a man? Into that coward, Eory?"

Pollyanna was silent for a moment and had to search quickly for the right words to say. "No, it's as I said, I merely want your hair to be short so you can fight more efficiently—"

Taylor stood up abruptly—knocking her chair over and marching away with her plate of tasteless food.

"Taylor, come back!" Pollyanna called after her.

Taylor seethed as she looked for a different spot to eat, but could find none that looked appealing. She didn't want to sit next to dwarves or elves or humans who happened to make up most of the criminals.

However, Them waved her over to his table frantically with an encouraging smile adorning his face. Taylor turned her nose up and sniffled sadly as she picked a spot to eat on the floor.

Dust flew up as she sat on the ground against the wall, and she sneezed.

As she swallowed her anger and took a bite out of the biscuit in her hands. As she chewed, Taylor kept glancing over at the human, Maruka, who was overlooking the room and thought he was very odd-looking for a human. His eyes seemed to be all black and had no whites, and his skin looked almost slippery to the touch.

Taylor bit into her apple subconsciously while gazing upon him. What a coward. Reminds me of Eory. I don't want to be like him.

She thought of the earlier instance of him nearly weeping in fear when Pollyanna grabbed him by the scruff of his collar and nearly giggled to herself. If I don't want to be like him, I ought to get good at fighting on my own. Time to stop playing around with Pollyanna and Them.

They had an hour to eat, and then Maruka addressed them all with his arms spread wide. "Follow me, new recruits! We will begin training you how to fight now!"