Seven

Just as Amira begins to follow her cousin's lead, Takota holds up a hand to stop her.

“When we aren’t training, please just call me Takota,” she says. “You can sit.”

Morrigan slowly moves back into a seated position. She looks between Takota and Amira, still in shock. Amira raises an eyebrow at her cousin, which makes Morrigan realize her mouth is still open, so she closes it. 

“Nice to meet you, Takota. My name is Amira,” Amira greets. She motions to the person next to her. “This is Morrigan.”

“It’s nice to meet you too, Amira and Morrigan,” Takota greets, a small smile on her face as she looks between the two girls. They don’t notice it, but her keen eyes are taking in every little detail. She takes a subtle inhale. “You are both ranked members?”

“Yes,” Amira answers, not thinking Morrigan can answer in her current state. “My parents are the Gamma’s, Idris and Jasira, and my cousin here is the daughter of our former Beta.”

“Beta and Gamma blood?” Takota questions.

Morrigan swallows harshly before nodding.

“Idris is my mother’s brother, and our current Beta is my father’s brother,” she forces out.

Takota nods.

“May I ask what happened to your parents?” she questions hesitantly.

Morrigan takes a deep breath.

“My mother became sick when she was pregnant, and she died shortly after giving birth to me. My father passed soon after,” she explains.

Takota nods, looking deeply at Morrigan’s face. Having met Idris and Oskar, she recognizes that the girl's odd eyes are a sign of her mixed lineage. Past the blue and yellow, she can see the pain, guilt, and shame when mentioning her parents' deaths. 

The three hang their heads for a moment in respect for the deceased. Amira is the one to break the silence and change the subject.

“So, Takota,” she begins, testing out using the woman's first name, “what brings you to us?”

Though Morrigan wouldn’t have asked herself, she was also wondering the same thing. Out of all the Royal Guard and other warriors, what made Takota strike up a conversation with the two of them in particular?

“I noticed you during warm ups this morning,” Takota says, looking at Morrigan specifically. “I’m excited to see what you do when we start sparring.”

With that, Takota rises to her feet. She glances over to the pack house, and Morrigan follows her gaze. She sees Nicholas, and realizes that he had been watching them the whole time. She watches as Nicholas gives a subtle nod to Takota, who returns it before turning back to the girls.

“Breakfast will be over in fifteen minutes,” Takota warns them before walking away.

Morrigan and Amira exchange glances before hurriedly finishing their plates.

They have enough spare time that Morrigan urges them to start stretching, much to Amira’s dismay. Amira quickly sees the sense in what Morrigan is saying, though, as she realizes that sitting for only half an hour had made the aching in her muscles worse.

In the middle of a stretch, Morrigan notices Ander talking with Nicholas. Her brother had been later than others for training that morning, just barely making it to the clearing before they had begun their laps. Based on the disapproving look on Nicholas’s face, Ander is attempting to explain himself, but the older man just points him away with a tilt of his head. Morrigan shakes it off and finishes her stretches. 

“Attention!” Nicholas yells, causing heads to snap in his direction. “Back to the clearing.”

There’s a chorus of groans as the warriors, aged sixteen to twenty-six, (the age range of those who hadn’t been warriors the last time the Royal Guard visited,) rise to their feet. Many drag their feet on the short walk to the clearing, their muscles stiff from sitting while they ate. They gather in a semi-circle around Nicholas.

“We will now begin hand-to-hand combat,” he announces. “We will be observing and giving pointers, but this is for us to see what you know and where you are. Everyone, find a partner.”

It’s a no-brainer for Morrigan and Amira to partner up. They’re friends, cousins, and both Gamma blood. They have a very similar build, but Morrigan has more muscle and more confidence in her movements as she prepares to spar.

“You know I won’t go easy on you, right?” Morrigan asks, her feet shoulder-width apart and her hands at the ready, raised in fists near her face

Amira is one of the few people who know of Morrigan’s plan to get recruited by the Guard and get out of the pack. Her heart sinks at the thought of losing her cousin and best friend, but she also knows better than others what Morrigan goes through. She knows that leaving the pack is what’s best for Morrigan.

“Begin!”

Before Amira can even process the word, Morrigan has advanced on her using her superhuman speed, and though she does her best to block her attacks, the fight has already been won. Amira groans as she lays on the ground, looking up at the smiling face of her cousin. Morrigan holds out a hand and helps Amira to her feet.

“You caught me off guard that time, okay?” Amira excuses.

“Yeah, yeah,” Morrigan teases. “That was just a warm up round, right?” she asks, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah,” Amira says, brushing off her back. “A warm up round.”

Morrigan looks out the corner of her eye to see Takota watching from a distance while she walks between the pairs of warriors. She occasionally stops to give some pointers, but she keeps looking back at the Beta girl.