Spycraft Academy by B. Miles (little readers .txt) 📕

He wondered what she would do if he pushed her a bit more.

"I'm sure I'll think of something productive for you to do. When I win, that is." His fingers pressed into her lower back, circling the flesh beneath her tight tunic. He wasn't so sure it was the right thing to do, and there was some deliberation on whether she would turn around and slap him for taking such liberties.

Instead, she exhaled a little more heavily than a normal breath and took a step forward. Then another, then another until she was strutting away, her chin held high.

"Good thing you won't win, then. I hate being productive!" She called back.

It didn't escape his notice that she didn't so much as look at him as she sashayed toward Mattie, nor did he miss the exaggerated swing of her hips.

He grinned to himself, a little prouder than he should’ve been that he managed to trip her up just as badly as she did him. Game on, Drina.

Sam made himself comfortable against one of the walls, content to just watch the girls get a feel for each other as they sparred. Mattie wasn't holding back, which meant that Drina wasn't either, which meant that he was able to get a good gauge on their new crew member.

While Mattie was a mid-range fighter when she was forced into confrontation, Drina was short range. The two of them made a good match for Sam and his long-range abilities. He'd never held an actual weapon outside of a dulled knife before, so he was better off with using his shadow talents than something like a sword and shield.

Mattie, though, was good with sticks. Maybe the nobles would laugh at that, but Mattie was a dangerous foe because she didn't care to use whatever was close to bash somebody over the head. Usually, sticks and planks were widely available, and so she'd gotten quite good at swinging them to the point that she'd carved her own staff a few years ago to practice with. The staff was still back at home with their crew, just in case they needed it, she'd said.

Drina fought dirty, though, and she was giving Mattie a run for her money with the two long daggers she was slashing about. The two of them, lunatics that they were, kept bursting into mad giggles whenever one of them got a new cut or a bruise from the other.

The giggling stopped when a swell of voices floated through the entrance hall. Quickly, the girls shelved their weapons and made their way to Sam, both of them leaning against the wall like him, pretending that they weren't playing with school property like toys.

One by one, the other students filtered into the arena. Sam didn't know how long his crew had been fooling around for, but the sun was completely up now and the rest of the students looked completely awake.

"Good morning, heathens!" A woman's robust voice boomed from behind Sam and he whirled around. It was one of the teachers that Mode introduced yesterday, though her name slipped his mind. She was standing in the highest row of the amphitheater, and he had no idea how long she'd been there, nor did he know how she'd so thoroughly kept herself hidden with how very imposing she was.

She was taller than Sam by a fair amount, her broad shoulders and hips packed with solid muscle. Her hair was black, streaked with silver and as long and wild as a barbarian's. Her face was deceptively young, her features attractive and her expression thunderous.

As she descended the rows of seating, Sam had to try and not stare at her bare thighs as she moved. Women, at least the ones in the capital, did not walk around with their legs bared for all to see. Outside of that, the muscles flexing in her thighs were cut and impressive. She could probably pop his head off his shoulders with those.

When she got to the final level, she grabbed the railing right over Sam's head.

"I am Hildralitum lo bek Morgat!" Even though she was within speaking distance, her voice was loud enough to be considered a dull roar, and her foreign accent punctuated everything she said with a lilt that might have been pretty had she not been shouting. "But, since you lowlanders can't handle my true name, you have my permission to call me Hilda."

Sam ducked when she suddenly swung her body over the railing, as quick and agile as any rogue he'd ever known. She landed in front of him and sprayed sand beneath her feet.

"As you've probably guessed, I'll be teaching you pups how to not die in battle. As great a challenge as this may be, I, Hildralitum lo bek Morgat, pledge to do exactly as I have been charged."

She held her arms to the sky, and Sam didn't know whether she was being dramatic for comedy's sake or if she was actually mad, because the next thing he knew, she tilted her head to the round sky hatch as if praying.

Somebody whispered and she roared, "Quiet!"

All was silent for a few moments. She lowered her arms and her face and then whirled on her heel, her eyes burning into Sam. His skin prickled and his muscles tensed on reflex. He knew in his bones when he was being sized up by a killer.

"You three will join the rest of your people," she said.

It wasn't a question. Sam silently moved away from the wall and made the short trek to the other end of the circular sand floor, joining the untested ranks of his fellow would-be spies with the girls following close behind.

Hilda waited until the three of them settled into the group before she nodded to herself and clapped her hands once. "Excellent! Now that we're all together, take a moment to look around at the rest of the group."

Sam's eyes darted to the left