Chapter 296: Training
She was being dragged down. Her breath was going to disappear. Everything was going down—dragging even further down.
"They are gone." A chilling voice whispered in her ears, and Bree snapped out of her daze.
The shadows that were surrounding her slowly started to dissipate, and when she lifted her head, Bree realised that the people in front of her were no longer there. Bree released a puff of air, but it got stuck in her throat when Cian reached out and touched her stomach, his fingers stroking her.
It was over her clothes, but it was like she was scratching at the surface of her skin, nearly peeling it off her flesh and bones. A burning sensation started to erupt at the pit of her belly and rushed to the rest of her limbs.
"Aww, it seems like someone is really concerned about her reputation. Don’t worry, your majesty; even if they see you, they will pretend that they have not seen a thing. After all, you are the queen. And if you do not like it, then I can silence those people for you; they will never say anything."
Bree’s head spun, mostly due to his breath caressing her ear, his hands on her stomach, and his rock-hard thighs that were pressing against hers.
Then something hit her like a wrecking ball. She turned her head and looked at the man behind her. "You...you are going to kill them all?"
He lifted a shoulder. "How else will I be able to deal with the troubles that are making you worry?"
A sort of rage started to build inside of her; this was why she hated these men. The casual way they treated lives made her want to punch the man behind her.
So...so bad.
But she did not do it because she had to control that rage of hers. Because if she lost control, then she would end up killing someone. And she did not kill. She was different from these men. There was no way she was going to become like them.
She used the last bit of energy to push against him and spring up. "You better not kill anyone. This is not a joking matter."
That glint in his eyes flashed once again, and before she could even ask what the man was planning, his aide walked inside the palace. He looked at her and then at Cian before bowing as low as he could. He then said to Cian, "Your highness, there is something that requires your attention."
Which meant that the assassin organisation had some trouble, which was not a surprise because this man had been taking all kinds of missions.
Cian’s attention was successfully distracted, and Bree did not waste her time before stepping out of the palace. She was worried that if she stayed there any longer, she would be dragged down by that man once again.
However, as soon as she stepped outside, she ran into Ahmar. The man was dressed in his usual uniform, with his hands behind his back. He looked as calm as possible, but he did raise his brow when he saw her coming out of the palace. "It seems like you are having quite a lot of fun, your majesty. To think you thought of visiting the fourth consort."
"You think that I am having fun?" Bree glared at the man as she could not believe his audacity. She was dragged there against her will, and she was being accused of having fun? What kind of fun could she even have? And that too with someone like Cian? She would rather jump into the burning fire than stay with that man!
"Maybe you were scared? You might be afraid that there was something more waiting for you, which might be the reason why you refused to work with me?"
Bree’s eyes popped out of her sockets. She glared at the man before saying to him, "You...do you think that I will not hit you?"
"I do not think that it is impossible for the queen to keep her hands away from me," Ahmar stated with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "However, I believe that you have to keep your hands to yourself for the time being. There is something waiting for you. Something that will make you stronger. Now it all depends on you, whether you want to keep on fighting or whether you want to act as a quitter."
**
"You call this a short warm-up?" said Bree, gasping as she rose from the floor of the training grounds. "You might as well have killed me. That would have been better. This is a much better way to kill my will to live." She had no idea what this man was on about. Something about shifter strength and whatnot. That was some shit that she did not understand. Ahmar simply shook his head. When he first came for training, he had the very same thought. He complained to his father that it was better for him to bury him alive than ask him to do ninety push-ups in a minute.
But he only asked Bree to do fifty as he was worried that this woman would end up falling unconscious. "Don’t worry. By the time you are done with your training, you will easily be able to do a hundred push-ups in a minute."
"Well, go to hell."
"You can always stop here if you think that it’s too much," Ahmar taunted. He knew that she did not want to show any weakness and was a stubborn woman who would go to great lengths to prove that she was not weak. "If you don’t want to do it—"
Bree’s expression turned serious as she replied, "I can do it. There is no need for you to say so many nonsensical words."
"Then get on your feet, your majesty. You need to start running."
"Running?"
"We need to do an entire round of the training ground. But I want you to do three within the span of thirty minutes."
Bree: ....? Thirty minutes?
She turned and looked around the training ground and felt as if she could not even breathe.