Reyna didn't wake at dawn.

All thoughts of being ready for a run at the day's first light escaped her the moment her head hit the pillow the night before.

Instead she remained in bed where her muscles ached and the sheets and blankets protected her naked body against the morning chill.

She thought about waking up as the sun's light began to peek over the mountaintops and through her bedroom window, but thought better of it and rolled over and fell back to sleep.

It wasn't until she heard the pounding of boots stomping up the stairs that she realized her absences was noticed.

Letting himself in, Thessan threw open the door of her bedroom, chest heaving and sweat making his shirt cling to his chest as though he'd still gone for the run without her. "Get your lazy, entitled ass out of bed. We have work to do."

He tore the blanket away before she could respond. "Hey!" she yelled, sitting up and grabbing the blanket back to cover her naked form. "It's freezing in here!"

The General only rolled his eyes before tossing the blanket back over her, doing well to not to look at her even though she swore she saw a deeper flush on his already heated cheeks. "Just get some gods-damned clothes on."

She started at him, but he did not turn to go. He waited as if he knew if he didn't, she'd bury herself within her blankets again.

He wasn't wrong.

Reyna was not lazy. When a task needed to be done, she would normally do it, do it willingly, and do it with passion. However, as to when that task would be done, she tended to want to run on her own schedule.

Not to mention, she was a glutton for a soft bed and warm blankets.

So when dawn came and went and she was nowhere to be seen, this should not have been a surprise to anyone, especially the male who barged into her cabin and attempted to disrupt her comfortable slumber.

And now that he insisted on remaining to ensure she did, in fact, wake for the day...

She gathered the blankets that had been unceremoniously returned to her and tossed them aside to reveal her naked body.

Another fact about Reyna the General seemed to want to forget or refused to acknowledge- nakedness never seemed to bother her.

It used to irritate her mother and aggravate her father all those years growing up in the palace as walked without a wrap on between the bathing room and her bedroom.

Once, when she first arrived at the camp, she walked the entire distance from her cabin to the lake on the other side and back, as naked as her name-day. A silent challenge to any male to look at her, a dare to try to touch her. She never used sex to her advantage, but she knew how much of a distraction being a female created within a war camp predominantly male.

Once her father heard about what she'd done, she didn't do it again.

And she also knew it was the male in front of her who informed her father of her brazen attempt at riling the recruits.

So, she rolled over in bed, knowing full well what she exposed to Thessan in doing so, and simple murmured against her pillow, "No."

"No?" the General echoed, bristling. "If you're not up by the count of five, I will drag you from that bed, naked or otherwise, and I will haul your ass down those stairs, throw you into the cold. We are going for that run, even if that means I have to tie a rope around your waist and drag you behind me while lead the way."

"I dare you," she taunted, still not looking at him. But if he did dare lay a hand on her, she was mentally prepared and physically ready to beat the shit out of him.

"Your father will be pleased to hear you're squandering his gift," Thessan growled, not making a move to the best bit instead walking to the nearest window. He pulled back the curtains and opened it wide, allowing in both the sunlight and the cold morning air.

"My father is well aware that one must sleep to conserve their energy in order to properly kick your ass well into the night," she countered, closing her eyes tight as she brought the pillow over her head to block out the hideously bright light. Her skin prickled and she cursed, wishing she still had her blankets.

"Your father will also recall that he didn't get days off when he was being trained. Do you believe you deserve special treatment because you're the Heir?"

"I never requested a day off. I'm merely requesting a later start time." She still refused to move, but now it was a challenge.

He issued the initial threat. She wanted to see how far he'd follow through with it.

"Not happening." Thessan spat before he finally moved towards her, grabbing her ankle and pulled her from the bed. "You have five minutes to get dressed and meet me downstairs, or you can explain to your father why you're spoiled ass is looking for another trainer."

But she was waiting for him.

The moment he put his hand on her, she moved. She threw the pillow at him, aiming for his face to cause a distraction, using the momentum of him pulling her from the bed to her advantage. She pushed herself off the mattress with her arms, sending her feet straight into his chest, sending them both to the floor.

The next thing they both knew, she was straddling his chest with her forearm under his neck in a revised choke-hold. Her smile broadened at the look of absolutely surprise on his face. "And then you can explain to my father how you ended up on her ass. Again."

He leveled her with a flat glare as his nostrils flared. "At this point, I hardly think he'd be surprised."

"Good. So long as we are in agreement."

Reyna released him and slowly returned to her feet, partly to increase the dramatics of her taunt, but mostly because she still hurt horribly from the day before. But would be damned if she let him know that.

Thessan pulled himself from the ground once she was standing, keeping a suspicious eye on her all the same. "If you're serious about training, you're going to have to have better discipline. I am not your nursemaid. I will not be here every morning to make sure you get out of bed and eat your breakfast and clean behind your ears."

"You're right- you have me to remind you about your ears," she teased as she walked over to her armoire, gathering her clothing for the day. She slipped on her undergarments in front of him without care before she rummaged through her clothes for a clean shirt and fighting leathers. "As for my training, it also doesn't give you an excuse to be more of a hard-ass just because my father is making you do something you don't want to do."

"Would you listen to me if I was any less of a hard-ass?"

"Probably not," she smirked from over her shoulder as she pulled on her pants.

"Then stop bitching, and let's go."

He dramatically held the door open for her as she turned to him, pulling her shirt down over her head. "What, no breakfast?" she asked as she flashed him a mischievous grin.

"It'd be brunch by now."

"I do enjoy brunch," she mused as she sauntered past him and down the stairs to the main floor of the cabin, braiding her hair behind her head as she moved.

She truly didn't know what had gotten into her that morning. Maybe it was the potential of the Trial. Maybe it was the sleep she had. Maybe because it was another day and she was alive. But regardless the reason, she was ready for whatever Thessan had in store for her.

Especially now that it wasn't the break of dawn.

Thressan trailed behind her, making his descent down the stairs slowly as she moved to where her boots waited by the door.

"So what am I kicking your ass with today?" she asked as she pulled them on. "Swords? Fists? The charm I inherited from my father?" She grinned at that.

"Your father was never all that charming. His arrogance, however..."

"Arrogance, I have learned, is an innate Northern quality," she informed him and she buttoned her jacket. "So whatever I have from him now mingles with my own."

Thessan only glared, and she sighed.

Grabbing her belt of knives with one hand and her blade in the other, Reyna turned to him. "Are you ready?"

"I've been ready since four this morning," Thessan reminded her flatly as he again wore that all-too-familiar condescending smirk. "Come on," he gestured as he opened the door, stepping past the threshold.

Reyna was quick to follow, finishing the final strap on her knife belt.

"Oh," he added as though in afterthought, making her stop short so as not to walk into him. "You won't be needing those." He motioned to her knives as he grinned, as if he purposefully waited for her to finish strapping them on before informing her.

"And why the hell not?" She needed at least one blade on her at all times- she'd feel like a part of her was missing if she didn't. She knew there were even rumors circulating throughout the camp that she kept one in the bedroom...

Even rumors can have some truth in them.

"What is the point in training with something you won't be allowed to use?" He looked over his shoulder to match her incredulous look. "None," he said without waiting for an answer.

She glared at him, then groaned out in frustration with an over-dramatic eye roll as she began unbuckling the straps. "So then, what are you going to show me? How to build a fire from scratch? How to climb trees? How to gouge eyeballs out with my fingernails?"

"As much as I'm sure you'd love to gouge my eyeballs out, I'll be showing you how to not die, and hopefully you'll pay attention this time."

Three weeks went by faster than Reyna ever thought possible.

She continued to remain a pain in Thessan's ass- it had become an art form- but she eventually made the effort to waken when he asked it of her and to join him for the morning runs before they began their extensive training for the Trial.

As the Trial grew closer, there were mornings when she was awake and running before Thessan ever stepped foot outside his tent. Those were the mornings she was exceptionally lethal and well-prepared for everything the General could potentially throw at her.

The impending trial did not scare her- she knew she would be able to complete it. It was who she was, and what she was born for. And as the number of males within the camp began to increase as the Trial drew near, they all seemed to finally realize that she- a female, a princess, the Heir- was going to join them.

And she was going to kick their ass.

The morning before Reyna would be taken up into the mountains with the rest of the males for the Trial, she and Thessan were in the woods training once more. But she could tell he was taking it easy on her, allowing more breaks, pushing her through less strenuous exercises. As if she had earned a reprieve before she had to fight for her life.

They were training with hay-filled pads today, with Reyna's fists wrapped as she punched into Thessan's waiting hands so as not to cause any excessive damage before the next day's excursion. Her thoughts were preoccupied with remembering the training she had endured, the pressure of what waited her, and everything she was potentially going to leave behind her once she went into those mountains.

Her parents kept their word- they did not return to the camp since last they departed, and it was difficult for Reyna to not send her father a note, especially the day before the Trial. But it was she who had asked him to stay away, to prove to them all that she could do it herself, and he listened to her. But if anything went wrong, and she never had the chance to say goodbye...

Shaking her head to dissipate the dismal thought, she punched Thessan's pads again, one-two, and met his hazel eyes before she jabbed again. "Have you received word from the palace?" she inquired as casually as she could. She knew he continued to communicate with her father- as his General he would have to.

Thessan just stared at her as she punched his padded hands. "If you think your father doesn't write almost every day inquiring about your progress and your health, you're more naive than I thought."

She punched his hands again, ignoring the personal attack. "How is he?" she allowed herself to ask as she focused on the pads. "And my mother?"

"I'm sure they're splendid. Unfortunately his inquiries were more professional in nature than giving me the comings and goings of palace life."

She punched harder at his response. "What did you tell him?"

"I told him you continued to be a pain the ass, but a moderately productive pain in the ass who occasionally followed orders."

She pursed her lips. Of course he did. Why would Thessan ever consider conveying a single sentimental thought, even if he was the only connection she currently had to her parents? None existed in his arrogant Northern Warrior body.

She punched harder, furrowing her brows with the effort. She would not second-guess her decision. She would not doubt herself. This was what she wanted, what she had trained for, and she would be ready, whether he thought so or not.

Thessan let out a dramatic sigh that caught her attention. She darted her eyes up to meet his in the midst of her efforts. "I told him you've been making impeccable progress considering where you were in your training a few weeks ago. I did tell him you were a mouthy little pain in my ass, but that's only because you are." She faltered slightly, and he let a small smile curl his lips. " Lighten up, Rey. You'll have plenty of time to be moody when you're fighting for your life up in the mountain tomorrow."

She didn't say anything as she put most of her strength into her punches. She didn't want to think about the Trial. She didn't want to think about what she was going to have to fight for. She could only consider what she was leaving behind.

She finished with a right cross to the left pad that sent a spark of pain up her arm. "Shit," she cursed as she shook it out, and eased her stance. She raised her eyes back to Thessan again, but the General was already watching her.

"Unwrap them," he said, motioning to her wrapped hands as he removed his own padded gloves.

She hated where her mind was going.

"If anything happens to me..." she started but couldn't get the words out. But it was something she needed to consider, if the gods decided it her fate ended in those mountains...

His attention snapped back up to her, forgetting the gloves entirely. "Don't you dare," he growled through clenched teeth with more emotion than Reyna never knew he possessed. "If you start thinking like that, you're letting failure become an option, and the gods will damn me and you both if you don't come back from that mountain."

She only shook her head. "You're only saying that because you know my father would kill you for your inability to train me well enough to survive," she muttered as she focused on her hands, unwrapping them per his instructions.

Closing the distance between them, Thessan strode towards her and gripped her chin between his fingers, forcing her to look up at him. "I'm also saying that because I've watched you grow-up more in these last three weeks than however long you've been in this came. I have seen you grow into a female with a strength of will that could rival your predecessors. You will come down from that mountain, because you have to. And you will not consider any other option. Do I make myself clear?"

There was something in the way he looked at her, in the words he spoke, that caught and held Reyna's complete attention. With his hand on her jaw, she had no choice but to look at him- to truly look at him- and underneath the arrogance and cockiness and overall insufferable male, she realized he actually meant it.

So she nodded, holding his stare, and tried her best to ignore the burning in her eyes.

"Good," he said, releasing her and avoiding her gaze as he finished removing his gloves. "Go back to your cabin. Rest."

He dismissed her as he began packing up the supplies he'd brought for today's lesson.

She nodded again, more to herself than anyone, but lingered for a moment. She opened her mouth to speak, she immediately closed it again. She felt like she needed to say something. To show her gratitude and appreciation for the time he took to train her, for what it meant to her despite her best efforts to piss him off on a daily basis.

But Reyna was never truly comfortable with emotion, especially the ones that left her feeling vulnerable and turned away from the General without another word.