Nerissa POV
Training became the shape of my mornings.
Every day at dawn,the lower yard. Just the two of us in the cold grey light before the rest of the fortress found its rhythm for the day.
Zayden didn't ease into sessions the way I imagined a patient teacher might. He started from where we ended the day before and pushed further.
I stopped expecting anything different after the third day.
I started looking forward to it after the fifth.
My body ached in places I hadn't known could produce ache and Zayden's standard for what constituted improvement was set at a height that most wolves would have found discouraging.
Every morning in that yard I knew exactly what was required of me.
Just movement,learning,the cold air and the stone beneath my feet and Zayden's voice telling me w
