Servants dressed in blue and red moved aside and guards saluted as she approached the ground floor. The sound of steel on steel came from the training yard, the large square field at the centre of the castle keep. Walking along the railing of the second floor, Leyla looked down at the third-year recruits that were completing their morning training. Though younger by two years, most of them, like Berk, were already taller than her. Warrior blood. King Tevuuk's blood. It ran through their veins, pure like the gold of their hair. As for Leyla, she did not know what ran through her veins.

A grim smile curved her lips as she pulled the rope tight on her short black braids and descended another set of stairs. The raised line on her face itched, but she did not lift her hand to touch it. Leyla was not one to lament the past. Regret was a waste of time. Only hard work and sacrifice could help her. By taking on all the despised tasks, sacrificing sleep and training her body until moving became nearly impossible, she had managed to keep up with the rest of the Cadets in the officer training program. She had kept up through sheer will, and it was that will that would enable her to reach her goal of becoming a Captain.

It was all she needed.

Once she was a Captain, she would have access to the Kingdom's archives where classified records were kept and it was in those records that she was sure to find a trace of her parents. Leyla had accepted long ago that her mother must have died in the Battle of Green Hill, but her father...he could be alive and out there. Somewhere...

"LINE FOR-MA-TION!" A Sergeant called from the quad one floor below, surprising Leyla out of her deep thoughts. Then a tall figure pushed forward from the wall just beneath her, his towering presence and air of authority unmistakable: Colonel Alec of the House of Steel. Bloody Diyu! Leyla moved away from the banister, quickening her steps on her way towards the west exit.

"Enough sword exercises." Alec's voice filled the training field as he moved to the head of the gathering, his long shadow falling over the recruits. Leyla was almost out of earshot when his words halted her. "Lieutenant Leyla, come down here please."

Damn! Damn! Damn! How in Four Kingdoms had Alec spotted her when he wasn't even facing her way? Every instinct in her body told her to run away, but she was too well trained to disobey.

"Yes, Sir." She turned back toward the stairs that led down to the training quad, taking steady breaths to prepare herself for what was surely going to be yet another unpleasant experience. The small knife strapped to the back of her brown belt tapped against her waist as she walked onto the dirt training ground and took in the stunned faces of the recruits. It was a reaction she was used to, although she was never sure what shocked them more; her dark hair, green eyes or her scarred face. A murmur began as those who had heard rumours of the mixed-blood lieutenant passed on the news.

"Silence!" Alec's command brought about instant results. He was very good at getting people to obey, she would give him that. "Sergeant, you can rest."

The Sergeant set down two buckets filled with arrows beside the four that were already at Alec's feet, then gave a short salute first to the Colonel, then to Leyla before moving to the far side of the field. Leyla came to a stop in front of Alec, awaiting orders. His golden hair came down in braids and waves around his face today, softening the strong lines of his cheek bones. He used to wear his hair down like this often, she remembered. Back when she first entered officer training...back when he had been her protector.

It was Alec who had insisted the orphan's be punished for scarring her face when everyone else would have let it pass. It was Alec who spoke up when her superiors distributed work unfairly and when she found her uniform covered in horse manure. With his backing, she had become a regular trainee and her confidence had grown. For her, Alec of House of Steel, became a warm hearth; by his side was the only place in the Warrior Kingdom, no in all of Gaia, where she felt cared for. And then, almost two years ago, when she became the youngest female Lieutenant in the history of the Kingdom, everything changed.

Suddenly he had not a kind word left to give her. At first he ignored her, acted as if she didn't exist. Then, after she had finally given up asking what she had done wrong, he began punishing her with extra work and neigh on impossible tasks. When other officers withdrew to rest, Alec sent her to practice archaic sword fighting techniques and demanded she memorise endless volumes of obsolete war tactics. His methods of torture never seemed to end. Nights on patrol, a constant shifting of responsibilities, extra training, extra teaching...soon other officers began to cast strange glances their way. They were probably wondering what she could have done to gain the hatred of the Kingdom's most beloved Warrior.

"You are distracted." Alec lowered his voice, his light blue eyes noting her every movement. What did I do wrong? Leyla blinked, realising she had been staring.

"I apologise, Colonel."

The intensity lifted from his gaze and he took a step back, "You were not training so you should have been wearing your jacket, Lieutenant. How do you expect the recruits to know your rank if they can't see your crescent?"

Considering her colouring and scarred face, Leyla was pretty sure all the recruits would know exactly who she was, jacket or not. "I am guilty, Colonel. Please punish me."

"You have a week to memorise the 63-step Seven Stars Sword!"

The 63-step Seven Stars Sword? Hah! It was a sequence most Generals wouldn't even know by heart, but it was a mild punishment in comparison to what Leyla had come to expect. "Yes, Colonel."

Having delivered his judgement, Alec turned back to the recruits and raised his voice: "Lieutenant Leyla of the House of Kings Wards will be helping me with an archery demonstration. Everyone stand to the side."

Leyla straightened her back, commanding her body to be alert as the recruits parted, scurrying to the left and right walls of the quad with barely suppressed excitement. Breath, be calm, be alert. At least it was an archery demonstration today. The bow and arrow was her favourite weapon, her chosen area of expertise. Whatever he had come up with today, it couldn't be as difficult as the previous tasks.

As if guessing her thoughts, Alec gave her a crooked smile, then bent to pick up the bow by his feet.

"What!?" An arrow flew only a hairs breath above her shoulder. It was a warning shot, Alec wouldn't have missed.

There was no time to curse as he let another arrow loose. One after another she dodged the arrows, their whizzing ringing in her ears. The bastard! Her body moved while her mind pushed aside her fury as she calculated. How many arrows did he have? She jumped, rolling and coming back to her feet in one swift move. If he only used one of the buckets, he would run out after two more shots. She twirled, the tips of her hair grazing an arrow head. Another arrow missed, then there was a moments pause and they were flying at her again.

He was going to use all the buckets!? There had to be several hundred arrows, there was no way she could dodge them all! She could feel the Heat vibrating around her, tempting her to reach out. No! Getting hit by one of Alec's arrows would be far less painful than the aftermath of using the Heat. Leyla thought quickly, glancing around between shots. The wall on the opposite end of the quad had a selection of weapons. Swords, sticks, stars - a bow! Yes, she could use bow against bow, but Alec had all the arrows. She ran, twirled, rolled, dodging another three arrows as she continued to assess her options. Could she grab one of the stray arrows? But no, picking an arrow up from the floor would slow her down and make her intent known. Narrowing her eyes, Leyla jumped to the left and calculated Alec's speed. There was a rhythm to his shots. Reach-place-pull-release. He was fast. Really fast. But there was an extra pause when he switched buckets. Therein lay her chance.

Showing your back to an arrow was a dead-man's move, but she would have to trust in her speed and take the risk. She jumped again, rocking back on an errant stone just a fraction. An arrow nicked her left arm, tearing her uniform and leaving a thin line of blood across her skin. The echo of gasps from the recruits almost made her laugh. Had they just realised that the Colonel was shooting at her in earnest? He wouldn't kill her, but if she got an arrow in her leg or shoulder he would consider it a lesson learned.

Leyla twirled, counting. He was down to 5 arrows, then he would have to change buckets.

4 arrows.

If she was going to outrun the last arrow she needed to be fast. Really fast.

3 arrows.

Leyla ducked and unbuckled her belt, letting the heavy mettle fall to the ground together with her sheathed knife.

2 arrows.

She bent her knees, listening for the direction of the next aim. The shifting feet of the recruits, the wind passing through the banisters, Alec's steady breath; she blocked it all out and focused only on the arrow that ripped through the air as it flew down towards her left leg. She raised her foot straight up in the air, heard the metal tip of the arrow dig into the soil and sprinted.

Beyond the pounding of her heart, she listened for the Colonel's reach-place-pull as she ran for the wall. The pull was longer, his aim higher now for the arch needed to make the arrow fly further. Leyla ran, her legs eating up the ground as the sound of vibrating string filled the air. She had four seconds, five at most before the arrow found its mark. She reached the wall. Grabbed the bow. Pushed off with her feet. Turned.

Someone shrieked.

Leyla flipped the arrow she caught just above her waist, placed it on her bow and aimed at the Colonel's heart.

The silence settled with the dust.

Several recruits had closed their eyes, others had yet to wipe the horror from their expressions. Only Alec was grinning behind his aimed bow and arrow. Ear to ear with an expression that resembled...pride?

Leyla had the intense desire to punch his face. She focused, her arm straining to keep the bow pulled tight, her legs working to keep herself upright. Her entire body hurt like it had been beaten by a dozen clubs.

Alec lowered his bow.

The cheers took her by surprise. Lowering her weapon, Leyla looked up and found dozens of spectators had gathered at the railings to watch. Maids, guards, ladies... She saw Alec making eye contact with one of them; a man in his mid-fifties who she recognised as General Tumblane of the House of Iron. Tumblane, who was also a high-council member, glanced in her direction then nodded at Alec. What was going on?

"Aiming, shooting, dodging," Alec called out, throwing his bow into one of the empty buckets before addressing the recruits. "Ask Lieutenant Leyla's advice and heed it well. What she tells you may well save your lives."

He was complementing her? Baffled, Leyla watched as Alec addressed the Sergeant: "Take over!"

The Warrior stepped forward immediately, calling for a line up as he strode to the centre of the quad.

"Lieutenant, you follow me." Alec turned on his heal and headed for the stairs.