Read Online Bird of Chaos: Book One of the Harpy's Curse by Susie Mander - Free Book Online

and I thought I would, inevitably.
    “Keep the tip down and put all your momentum into it. Again!”
    I jabbed as best I could.
    “Well done!”
    Drayk’s praise ignited a tiny flame inside me. Over the years, it grew into a raging furnace.

Chapter three
    I had climbed the wall around the arena to watch Drayk the immortal training new recruits for the Queen’s Guard. I was nine and my knees were scratched. I had dirt under my nails. The boys’ faces were hollow, their arms so thin they shook from the weight of their weapons. Each carried a Tibutan spear, a long, thin piece of reinforced wood painted black and gold, with a fierce iron tip. One of the boys was more nervous than the others. His hair fell in front of his eyes and he had to keep stopping to wipe it away. He kept looking to Drayk for approval, as so many of us do.
    “Again,” Drayk said and the boys began a routine of thrusting forwards with an underhand grip, parrying, retreating and attacking once more. “Good. Your footwork should keep you balanced. No, Antoine, the butt of the spear should not be braced against your back hand. Grip it like this. Again!”
    I coughed and Drayk turned. “Little miss.” Then to the boys, “Keep going.” He walked through the gate and waited while I jumped down from the wall. I followed him into the shade of the cloister that ran along the outside of the Barracks. The boys continued to fight, grunting as their feet shuffled and danced. They broke into pairs, the tips of their spears aiming for the centre of the whalebone chest plates. The tap-tap of iron against ivory provided accompaniment to our conversation.
    “Your Highness?” Drayk said patiently. It was not the first time I had come to watch him train. When I was not using cutlery and writing thank-yous with Arkantha, or examining shifting maps with Galen, I was at the arena studying various battle moves.
    “Who are these men?” I asked.
    Drayk glanced over his shoulder. “These men are the best hoplites in Tibuta.”
    “Yes but where do they come from? And why are they scarred like that?”
    “They are destined to be members of the Queen’s Guard if they pass their final trial.”
    “Be frank with me, Drayk.” I stamped my foot. Thankfully I grew out of that habit.
    He stood looking down at me, a smile barely hidden. “I suppose you will learn soon enough. These are the few who survived. They were taken from their homes when they were boys. They have been training ever since.”
    “Survived?”
    “A boy must go through a number of tests to join Tibuta’s army. To prove he is as steadfast as any woman. He must slaughter a baby seal with only his hands to prove his loyalty. And he must endure months of solitude on the islands, where he has to steal to survive. If he is caught he is flogged—not because he was stealing but because he was sloppy enough to be caught. A man must learn a woman’s discipline and stealth. Anyone who fails leaves in shame. Those who do particularly well are chosen for the Queen’s Guard though none of the boys you see here will rise above hoplite. That privilege is, of course, reserved for the women of Tibuta.” He looked back at his men. “These ones arrived half-starved. It will be weeks before they are in any condition to fight. Some of them have been outside the Seawall for over a year. But they are good. That one”—he nodded at the nervous boy called Antoine—“killed a man with his bare hands rather than be caught stealing.”
    “And you had to do these things?”
    It was like a cloud descended over his eyes. He looked away. “Yes. I did. I have had to do many things in service of the queen.”
    “But how did you endure it? It seems so…unfair.”
    “The way I have endured twenty-five lives. By reminding myself that it is for the common good, and that I was put on this earth to serve.”
    I wanted to ask him more, to enquire about the fear, about how his hands must have trembled as he held the seal. Had