Chapter 50

It’s been three weeks since I first stepped onto the training grounds with trembling knees and aching doubt.

Three weeks since I gasped for breath, unsure if my legs could carry me through one more lap, one more push-up, one more round of sparring under Aethel’s sharp eyes and sharper tongue.

And now?

Now I run.

I fly across the field, hair loose in the wind, boots pounding the earth with a rhythm