5.5 - Under the Ice Blades Read Free Page B

her running the course didn’t mean he got to avoid dealing with the “Cofah berserker.” Aware that Zirkander and the king might be watching, she taught him a few things as they sparred instead of pummeling him straight into the ground, then sent him to the end of the line.
    “Captain Kaika,” Zirkander called and waved her over. He still stood at the base of the stairs alongside Angulus, looking out over the field, with two bodyguards framing them and another two on the walkway above.
    Kaika jogged over, nerves plucking at her stomach. They were calling her over. Had Zirkander said something to the king? Either way, this was her chance to ask for a reassignment. She wouldn’t even have to be presumptuous, not overly so, anyway.
    Since she was in uniform, she saluted the king. That was a perk of military service. Civilian women traditionally genuflected, and she’d never had a stomach for bending a knee to anyone.
    “Captain Kaika,” Angulus said, regarding her with his dark eyes. His face did not give any of his thoughts away. “I understand you wish to speak with me.”
    “Yes, Sire.” She opened her mouth to ask her question, but he kept speaking.
    “I have several inspections and must continue on to them now.” He nodded toward the walkway. “But if you report to the castle after your shift, I will see you then.”
    “I. Oh. Thank you, Sire.”
    She hadn’t intended to ask him anything that would take long, and she wouldn’t have minded having Zirkander nearby, if only because he might back her up, but he was already uttering a “Carry on” and heading up the stairs. He almost bumped into one of his bodyguards who didn’t scurry out of the way fast enough. He growled something at the man before striding out of view.
    He seemed more tense than usual, at least from the times Kaika had seen him before, and she hoped that didn’t bode poorly for her meeting.
    “After shift,” Zirkander said. “That sounds like a dinner date. Make sure you wipe the mud off your womanly bits before you go. Angulus would be a better prize than Therrik.”
    Kaika almost choked on the idea of the king as a prize. She didn’t consider herself shy or easily intimidated, but she would definitely feel discombobulated if she tried to woo royalty, especially royalty whose wife had been dead for less than a month.
    “I’m sure neither dinner, dates, nor womanly bits are on his mind, sir.”
    “No? Hm.” Zirkander’s face had a speculative look that Kaika did not know how to interpret. “Well, I’ll wish you luck with your request, and I shall leave you to your fulfilling work.” He waved in parting, then headed back toward headquarters, but not before giving another long look toward the airborne fliers.
    “Thank you, sir.”
    Kaika walked back toward the cadets, telling the nerves in her stomach that they could calm down because she wasn’t going to see the king for hours. Her nerves failed to listen. They knew she would have all day to worry about what she would say to Angulus in a private audience, one that would take place in the very castle she had blown her way into three weeks earlier.
     

Chapter 2

    A ngulus ducked his chin as he knocked away the jab toward his face, not trusting himself to fully stop the quick, powerful punches of his security chief. The man’s fists were wrapped with padded gloves, but they still left bruises when they connected.
    Angulus succeeded with the block, but two more straight punches flew toward his face, followed by an uppercut toward his abdomen. He danced back on the balls of his feet, but not as far as he would have liked. The ropes of the boxing square created a barrier at his back.
    When Sarkon did not press his attack immediately, Angulus took advantage of the pause to launch an offense of his own and sent several quick jabs toward his opponent’s face. He hoped to bring up Sarkon’s arms, so he could slip a punch in from below, but as usual, the chief’s defenses were