I slowly walked along the grass field, looking at the woman ahead of me.
Brown eyes. White skin tanned to the color of a warm beach. She stood about six feet tall, perhaps an inch or two below that, which still gave her a few inches of height over me. Her long chestnut hair was pulled back and tied into a bun.
One thing was clear.
She was not a Solrein.
A Solrein's eyes were never plain colors. Our eyes were always vivid, ranging from my ruby red to my brother and sister's diamond blue. Sometimes they were neon colors like pink or orange. A Solrein's eyes almost glowed like a cat's in the dark.
That was because Spellblood flowed through our eyes as well, changing their color.
"Glad to see you could arrive at least on time. I would have preferred it to be early," she said.
Both her hands rested on the longsword at her hip. The pommel was a solid ball of metal.
"I am never late, my lady. I simply despise showing early," I replied.
I noticed she had not called me by my title. If she had done that to my father, she would have been hanged for such impunity.
She wore dark gray pants and a large dark blue overcoat. A pendant on the front of her coat caught my attention. Two golden swords crossed over a roaring lion. The symbol of the Emperor's Rangers.
The Rangers served the Emperor's Knights as professional mercenaries. For every Knight of the Emperor, there were forty-two Rangers. The question slipped out before I could stop myself.
"How did you receive such a pendant?"
I immediately knew it was a mistake. Her eyes glared down at me.
"What? Did you think a human could not serve a Knight of the Emperor?" she said. "I am a Ranger. I am off duty for the year after the last battle, when my Knight was injured. I am here because your father requested a Ranger from my Knight."
She slowly drew her longsword. Forty-five inches of heavy steel.
The kind that could cut me in half like a twig.
"I meant no disrespect," I said quickly, raising my own sword. "I simply did not expect humans to become Knight Rangers."
"So how do you wish to begin?" I asked and would regret speaking instead of paying attention.
I barely had time to react. A massive slab of metal came straight for my face. I stumbled back and to the side, nearly tripping over my own feet as I avoided the strike.
"What was that for?" I shouted.
She swung again, this time toward my chest. Her sword moved like a cleaver. I dropped into a roll beneath the blade, scrambling back to my hands and knees.
"I will give you this, kid," she said. "You have instincts like a cat."
She stepped forward and thrust her entire sword length toward me. I raised my gladius barely in time. Metal collided with metal, and my sword shook violently in my hand. The force traveled up my arm like being kicked by a horse. If she had been a Solrein, my arm would have shattered.
"You have weak arms, though," she added casually.
She stepped back. I released a breath and dropped my sword, gripping my right shoulder with my left hand as if that alone could fix the pain.
"You could have killed me," I muttered.
"I know. Your father said it was fine if you were injured," she said, smiling slightly.
She was enjoying this. Beating someone from a race that was supposed to be superior to hers.
"Then you could at least introduce yourself before trying to kill me," I said, letting go of my shoulder. The muscles were already healing thanks to my Spellblood.
"Sorry. The name is Venula Zen," she said. "And for the record, I did not try to kill you. I just wanted to see if you could react to a surprise attack in the open." She slid her sword back into its scabbard as if she had done it a thousand times.
"So glad I passed," I muttered, glaring at her before looking away.
"So how do you even lift that thing?"
"My longsword?" she asked. "Steel-plated bones. A little surgery and some mechanical replacements for muscle."
She grinned. Only then did I notice her arms were not flesh at all. They were artificial tissue, designed to look human, but with a faint metallic sheen. They healed themselves within seconds. That at least softened the humiliation. She was part machine.
For the rest of the day, I was forced to stand there, blocking blow after blow. Her reasoning was simple. I needed to get used to the sudden shock and strain of impact. My Roman gladius was knocked from my hands more times than I had fingers to count.
When I was not blocking, she made me swing the sword the same way over and over again. By the time the sun set over the wet grass hills beside the ocean, she finally allowed me to rest. My brother and sister had seen everything.
Needless to say, whether she was a Ranger of the Emperor's Knights or not did not matter. Word spread quickly. I had lost a sword fight to a woman. And that same woman was now my sword instructor.
That evening, we sat once again in the dining hall where we had eaten breakfast that morning. Instead of sunlight pouring through the windows, a star-filled sky reflected in the dark blue waters below.
Chandeliers of diamond and glass hung high above, their lights glowing like fireflies trapped in crystal jars, casting rainbows across the walls and floor. The maids filed in silently, setting down trays.
As always, Mother dined alone in her room. For dinner, we ate steak with gravy. Each time I cut into it, pain flared through my arms. How much damage had that training really done? I endured it silently.
I was a Solrein. By the names of all the gods worshiped by Warlocks in their sacred halls, I would not allow myself to be beaten again. Yet I saw the way my brother and sister looked at me. How my father seemed completely undisturbed by what had happened.
Perhaps it was already too late. The second son. Destined to inherit nothing more than a forgotten town or a useless shed. The stain of my family. Those thoughts lingered, heavy and unending, sinking into my heart and soul like a void that consumed everything I was.