Page 140 of The Blade in the Ashes
Ayanna’s expression darkened, her eyes rolling impatiently. She faced the twins, pointing towards the hill that led to where she had bathed. “You two go wash up now. The sun will be setting shortly.”
There was no room for negotiation in her tone. Kent’s sisters only looked at each other before nodding and jumping to their feet, hurriedly making their way to the water while Ayanna turned her attention to Ezmie.
“I’mnotsleeping on the ground,” the princess insisted to her instructor, crossing her arms petulantly over her chest.
Ayanna only mirrored the stance. “Yes, you are.”
“No, I’m not—”
“Young lady!” Ayanna’s voice snapped out, so firm and unyielding that Ezmie’s jaw snapped shut. “I do not recall asking. This is the situation at hand and aprincessshould know how to be a leader during even the most difficult of circumstances. Would your brother be throwing a childish fit like this?”
Ezmie’s chest rose and fell, but she pressed her lips together even as her eyes flashed golden.
“I didn’t think so. Now, if you do not wish for this night to be made any more difficult, I suggest you thank Kent for helping you set up your bedroll, sit down, and eat your dinner quietly.”
Everyone in our group stilled. A chunk of rabbit meat hung from my hand inches away from my open and waiting mouth. I’d never seenanyonetalk to Ezmie like that.
Surely, the princess was going to shift...
“Thank you, Kent,” Ezmie muttered before marching to sit herself down on her bedroll. Patrek tentatively reached over to offer her some meat, his fingers shaking as if he thought she might bite them off, but she only accepted the offering and began eating without another word of complaint.
Kent watched it all wide-eyed, hands on his hips and brows lifted appreciatively.
“Damn,” Antoni whistled, when Ayanna turned that heavy stare back towards us. “How did you do that, and will you teach me?”
Ayanna turned her narrowed gaze to him, and he muttered out an apology, suddenly becoming incredibly interested in the laces on his boots.
When she turned her icy stare on me, I did not turn away or tremble under it like the others had. She held my gaze for a long moment, before turning away with a flick of her hair and a disappointed sigh.
The twins, Myla, and even Ezmie all fell asleep soon after the sun went down. Michone and Patrek sat close to them, watching for trouble while Antoni laid in his bedroll trying to force himself to sleep so that he could take a later guard shift. Elaijah lingered beside me, tracing circles in he dirt with a misshapen stick. Kent remained on my right, sharpening his blade with a haunted look in his eyes.
And that damned instructor wasstillglaring at me from across the fire.
She was seriously starting to annoy me.
She was firm with the princesses, but kind enough to Elaijah, Kent and the others. She seemed entirely single-minded in her dislike of me, and I hadn’t the slightest idea of what I had done to offend her so.
“We will meet with the king tomorrow?” she asked.
Kent shook his head. “We have one more town we’d like to travel through before we return.”
She tilted her head at him. “Why?”
I tossed the rest of my unwanted meat into the flames. “We’ve been stopping at towns along our travels, searching for any Descendants willing to join the army.”
Next to me, Kent’s head jerked up as his focus narrowed in on the instructor. He scanned over her, lips pursing. “Why does that make you so angry?”
She turned her glare from me to him, twisting her hair into a knot and securing it with a hairpin. “You are asking them to join you or demanding it?”
“Asking,” I bit out. “I’m not in the business of forcing people into battles they do not wish to be a part of.”
She snorted, her eyes flickering with suspicion before she set about unrolling her bedroll, avoiding the weight of my stare.
What right did this school teacher have to judge the actions of my army? She knew nothing of war. She knew nothing of how we recruited our forces or compensated them for their service. She knew nothing ofme.
“You doubt my intentions?” I asked her even as she kept her back turned to me. Kent smacked my arm sharply, shaking his head in a silent warning to leave her be.
Ayanna must have been hitting him with some pretty intense waves of anger. Perhaps anger even stronger than what I was feeling.
