Of Curses and Contempt (The Curses Duet Book 1) by H. L. Hamilton

Author:H. L. Hamilton [Hamilton, H. L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: H. L. Hamilton
Published: 2024-02-21T00:00:00+00:00

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By the time we walked into the arena, it was filled with the rebel army. Some were sparring with various weapons like I had seen Locke do yesterday. Some were moving too fast for my brain to process their movements. Some were practicing archery, their movements skilled, precise, and well practiced as they pummeled the targets with arrows. I noticed they seldom missed their marks.

There was a magic instruction taking place to the far right of me as well. I saw fae create weapons of ice, conjure massive torrents of water at one another, or blow hot steam. There was the occasional shout of pain, but nobody ever seemed to get injured. There had to be hundreds of fae in this massive facility, and it was still nowhere near capacity, still so much space for additional activities.

Aspen led me to an open area near the weights, which I eyed suspiciously. I wasn’t sure what Aspen was going to put me through, but I was certain it was going to suck. The fae in question turned and began going over our new routine. Upon my arrival every morning, I would start with two laps around the room, one in each direction. I would come back to this area and begin mobility stretching, stretching through movement rather than remaining static, to prevent injury. I would then perform light body weight exercises: glute kicks, lunges, sit ups, planks, stair steps, and the list kept going, boggling my mind with all these new terms. Then he would meet me here for our workouts. My mind went blank for a moment, my jaw falling slack. That wasn’t the workout? Aspen met my eye with a thoroughly amused grin as he continued his speech, seeming to savor my discomfort.

Failure to do so would result in me being forced to run stairs. I asked what he meant. He gestured at the rows and rows of stadium seating above us. There had to be hundreds of stairs. If not thousands. Running stairs meant you went until you were done and couldn’t move any longer. Or you finished going up and down each row once. Which ever came first. I gulped to negate the tight feeling in my throat and chest.

Aspen guided me through my warmup, doing it with me. It was a little insulting, him not breaking a sweat while I was trying to suck in all the oxygen in the room just a few minutes in and trying to ignore the horrid cramping and tension building in my muscles. Before this moment, I’d fancied myself to be in somewhat decent shape. Going through Aspen’s routine I knew that maybe that wasn’t case. And we were only just getting started.

By the time I’d finished my warmup, I was drenched in sweat and my limbs were a little shaky. I sipped a lot of water, trying to not guzzle it down like I’d wanted to. Aspen had the audacity to look as fresh as when we’d arrived. Aspen went over with me various punches I already knew: uppercuts, hooks, jabs.

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