The Mafia Boss and His Lost Princess ***Completed and Free**

Chapter 8: Training *

Alannah was released the following morning. How Alannah had not drowned, she would never know. She said nothing as Maya led her to the shower room to clean up.

“I know you hate Tao right now, but he doing this for your best interest!” Maya said and Alannah said nothing. Maya continued, “It is rare for a woman to be put in for the selection process, I was the last one. You kicked that idiots arse yesterday - Tao and I were impressed!"

“You let it happen, didn’t you?” Alannah accused.

Maya smiled and said “Tao was right you are smart! We needed to see the ability of the candidates, it’s all part of the selection process.”

“No one is telling me what this selection process is all about! I was expecting to be taken to a brothel!" Alannah admitted.

“Yes, that’s where most of us do end up. For the lucky few, we are given another option - one normally only open to men,” Maya said.

“Which is?” Alannah asked.

“The Warrior! If you are selected to represent the Triads and you will battle against other gang warriors to bring on Honour to your Master.” Maya explained.

“Honour?” Alannah said frustrated when putting on clean clothes. 

“That’s a nice locket!” Maya commented as she saw the locket that Alannah had been hiding in her bra all this time. 

“Thanks,” Alannah mumbled as she hid it again.

Maya smiled and said “Don’t worry, we all have secrets. What was I saying? Ah yes, honour! If you are selected, you can also earn rewards and even your freedom once your debt is paid off!”

“My freedom?” Alannah said suddenly interested.

“Oh, yes! Once you paid off your debt of course!” Maya said.

“I don’t even know how much I owe,” Alannah said sadly.

“How come?” Maya asked surprised. Most Zǔzhòu knew their debt down to the last penny.

Alannah shrugged and said, "It was my brother’s debt and he sold me off!”

“c**k!” Maya said and Alannah chuckled.

“That is one word for him. Why are you helping me?” Alannah suddenly asked.

“As I said, it is rare for a woman to be selected, the last one was me. I am fed up with all the stinky boys around!” Maya complained and Alannah chuckled again.

“But heed my words, learn what you can and learn fast. The assessment is in 3 months, 95 per cent don’t make it!” Maya said and Alannah nodded.

Over the next three months, Alannah did heed Maya’s words. She tried to become the perfect student, even when the tasks were purposely tedious. One of the tasks included having to separate the fine strands in a rope. This was soul-destroying work and Alannah did not see the point of it. A man made the mistake of complaining under his breath. 

Unfortunately, Tao heard and the man was ordered to complete double that everyone else did.

The routine was harsh, to say the least. They would be up before sunrise and do stretching work, they will then do fitness which often included tasks like running miles with a rucksack filled with weights on their back.  Sometimes, they were allowed to swim in the cold lake, but this was rare. 

The training schedule included core strength muscles and weights. Alannah was quite lucky as she had been doing gymnastics so her balance was not too bad. But after doing 200 situps and press-ups, Alannah suffered Along with everyone else. 

There was also the torturous assault course, nicknamed the "Bone Crusher". The course contained a torturous half-mile run whilst carrying a large log. There was then a variety of climbing and balancing challenges, before the last task. The last task was a 30-foot rope climb, with a bell that had to be rung at the top. No one had completed it yet, not even the fittest men in the group.

In the afternoon, it was combat skill. This was mostly concentrated on martial art fighting. However, there were occasional lessons on streetfighting and weapons training. The group were never allowed to use real weapons, but Alannah still enjoyed learning how to use the different types of swords and knives. 

In the evenings, the group could do what they want. The guys in the group either got drunk or gambled. But, Alannah used the time wisely and ask Maya to teach her Mandarin and to do extra conditioning sessions. Tao even gave her a copy of the Art of Warfare, which Alannah devoured. This is after he caught her practising the "The Bone Crusher" course early morning before the normal sessions.

Alannah's extra work was starting to pay off. From going near the bottom of the class, Alannah was now near the top! This satisfied Alannah greatly as they had ostracised her from the word go. They had never quite forgiven her for beating on the black-haired man called Ben. This did not bother Alannah, she was used to being a Cuckoo. 

The group quickly learnt if they bothered her they end up with a bloody nose or broken bone.This didn’t mean that she didn’t get punished, she often did, and Tao seemed to be able to find new ways of torturing her.Punishments included standing one-legged on a post for hours, squatting, again for hours, and even standing on their hands. Alannah did not moan, she took it on the chin and saw it as a way to grow. That did not mean she did not curse under her breath in private.

Maya and Tao were thrilled with her progress, though they would never publicly admit it.

“Alannah certainly has come on in leaps and bounds. She is agile, quick-footed and smart!” Maya said one evening in private to Tao.

“But skill is only part of it, she also has to show the warrior spirit to fit into the Nine-Tails!” Tao said pointed out.

“What do you mean?” Maya said pouring out some tea for Tao.

“To be part of a fighting family, you have to be able to work together and look out for each other. You know if this does not happen, they are all dead!” Tao said with a sigh.

“True, she only works alone,” Maya said. “I think I have an idea!”

A week later Maya and Tao stood in front of the group.

“Well my lambs, this is your last day of training before the assessment tomorrow. With that in mind, I would like to introduce you to your new group member!” Tao said and motioned for a man to step forward.

“This is Bruce, he is going to be your teammate from now on,” Tao said.

“Hi everyone!” Bruce said with a smile in a thick Australian accent. He stood at 6 foot 3 and was very tanned. Alannah had a quick look round and saw the furious look on the men’s faces. 

Alannah did not blame them, they had been three months of hell and this man just walks in with a smile.

The situation did not get any better throughout the day, it was clear that Bruce was unskilled and not that fit. He lagged way behind in all the exercises and this made the other men in the group angry. They shunned Bruce at their final dinner, so he sat at Alannah’s table. She was busy rereading the Art of Warfare to notice.

“Amid the chaos, there is also an opportunity!" Bruce said quoting the Art of Warfare. 

Alannah looked up. “You know it?” she said surprised, the rest of the group could barely read or were not interested.

“Yes, I found it very interesting! Thank you for helping me today, I get the feeling the other guys don’t like me.” Bruce said honestly.

“Well, welcome to the club and I am sure they will warm up to you. You have a better chance of fitting in than me!” Alannah said ruefully and Bruce chuckled.

“You worried about the assessment tomorrow?” Bruce said suddenly serious.

“Hmm well, it's hard to worry about something you don’t know much about! I am not sure what I can do about it now anyway!” Alannah said simply.

“Very wise!” Bruce said stroking his chin.

Alannah and Bruce chatted for most of the evening. It was good to have someone that was interested in the same things she was. When she went to bed that night, she smiled as she finally had made a new friend.