Free Shadows: Book One of the Eligia Shala by Gaynor Deal Page B

couple of inches deeper; they’d have taken out a tendon, or muscle, effectively crippling you against me. You will all train to use both techniques: the same with the hand to hand fighting. I will train this squad to become the most efficient fighting unit in the Imperial army. I want the best men the army has; and they have sent me you. But you can only become that good if you accept right now that I can do this. If you aren’t willing to listen to me and to learn what I can teach you, then you may as well leave now.” Her voice rang and her eyes blazed with conviction. She met the gaze of each man standing in the courtyard.
    Phillip stood forward, next to his cousin. “Well, gentlemen, do I have a new Flight to add to my army? Will you follow Princess Jenevra as the new Imperial Protector?”
    Twenty two voices shouted their agreement, and the Shadow Flight was born.

    Later that afternoon, when the members of the newly formed Shadow Flight had been settled into their new barracks within the Imperial compound, and had gone back to the courtyard under Brogan’s experienced eye to work on basic drills, Jenevra stood watching them with Raik. Her eyes took in each of the men as she questioned Raik about who they were and what they knew about them. She assessed each one’s speed, flexibility and willingness to take orders from one of their own. Periodically, Brogan would march smartly over to her and ask for her opinion or for new directions. “Thanks for putting Brogan in there,” she murmured squinting at the man whose throat she had closed earlier. “He’s going to be trouble,” she nodded her head towards him. “Theiss, you said his name was?”
    “Will Theiss, from Trevannta: comes to you direct from your favorite Flight leader, Captain Pichot.” The Commander’s mouth tightened. “I think you’re right about him being trouble though. Are you sure you want to keep him? You really don’t need such a hostile character in a Flight like this one.”
    “He stays. I need every one of them.” Her tone was tense. “Letting him go would be admitting to the others that I can’t handle him. I can.” The finality of the statement left Raik in no doubt that Will Theiss was in for a very interesting education.
    As the afternoon wore on, Jenevra left Raik and went out to begin working with her new command. Much to their collective disgust, she informed them that they would be doing more than just sword and unarmed combat drills; they would also be running and climbing every day. Of course, it had to be Will Theiss who argued out loud. “We’ve never done this sort of training before.” Folding his hugely muscled arms defiantly, he looked around at the rest of the Flight for support. “Captain Pichot never had us running or climbing.”
    “You are supposed to be an elite force. Do you know what that means? It means you actually have to be better than all the other Flights.” Jenevra stalked across to Theiss, raising her hand towards him. Theiss took a step backwards. “You have to be stronger, faster, better trained with all weapons, and much, much fitter! When we go into action we will need to be fast and accurate; preferably silent too. We need to work together with total confidence in each other. If one person fails, the whole unit could die. That’s why we will be training every minute we have daylight.” With a sweet smile, she finished, “And that’s why you will be leading us on our first run tomorrow morning at daybreak.”
    Muffled groans sounded from a few of the other men. Jenevra snapped around. “That will do, gentlemen!” The tone was harsh, and got their attention. “I won’t expect you to do anything I’m not willing to do. I will be waiting for you at daybreak. You’d better all be able to keep up. Do I make myself clear?” Eyes flashing, she turned to Brogan. “You may dismiss the men, Sergeant.”
    As she strode from the courtyard, Jenevra still managed to notice that Will Theiss