Britta waited while everyone gathered around, ready to begin training. Then, they were lead to their training area at a swift jog. Britta disdainfully swiped the sweat from her brow; she hoped she'd become fitter soon.

The Fox surveyed them all coldly. "Now, let's see who's been practicing and who hasn't." He smiled at some of the faces of men who had obviously not expected this.

Britta completed the pattern dance again and made sure she knew what she was doing before stopping and watching the others. She stood stiffly in the middle, not the only one to have finished. She took in the Fox's criticism and applied it to herself as the Fox paced around the area. When he stood back up at the front, he wore a nasty sneer.

"It looks like you haven't practiced, so we are going to add this onto you pattern dance. It will keep getting longer until you can practice them daily."

Despite Britta's eagerness to learn, she didn't want to have to put herself through an hour-long dance every morning, but, judging by the furtive glances people were giving each other, she felt she might have to. The Fox paced up and down the line.

"This morning, we will practice tracking. This afternoon, some more dagger skills. As I said yesterday, we are renowned for our quick learning, I intend to keep it this way." He then turned and jogged down the track.

It took everyone a few moments but everyone clamoured to follow. Britta paced herself, and was glad her muscles were getting used to the fast movement. By the time the group got to the edge of the training area, the Fox was nowhere to be seen. Mutters broke out across the group.

"He wanted us to learn tracking," Britta pointed out, calmer than she felt. She barely knew the first thing about tracking people, but she surveyed the area where the track left off any way, like she had that morning around the stream.

A man knelt down beside her. "Good point," He said gruffly, then pointed at a faint indent on the ground.

"That's his footprint." He said.

"It might be one of the men here." Suggested Britta.

"I was a hunter when I came here. I fight now. But if there's one thing I'll never forget it's tracking. The ground around the print has begun to lose its shape." Beside he pressed a foot into the ground, Britta could see the outline was crisper, "It's fresh but not that fresh, and see the branch there? I think he broke it on purpose to give us some help, but it's about the height of the Fox's head."

Britta nodded admiringly. "You're good at this. Should we follow the trail?"

"Of course, it's what he wanted to teach us."

"And do we take them all with us?"

"They won't notice when we're gone?"

Britta nodded and headed into the forest behind him, they were moving towards the same direction as the cliff where Britta had run. Every once and a while the man stopped and surveyed the area. Britta got up the courage to ask him his name. He was not as strong as she had once thought, barely taller than her, with chestnut hair, cropped so it framed his face.

"What's your name ?" She asked.

"Edmond, but I'm mostly called Ed." He answered gruffly, "You?"

"Bren."

He nodded and came to a halt soon after. They were at the base of one of the surrounding cliff's.

"I can't see any more clues, where could he have gone from here?"

Britta surveyed the area. "Maybe we should climb." She suggested, "You can see everything from up there." She inclined her head to the top of the cliff.

"How do you know?" He asked.

"I've climbed this cliff before; when you're up there, you can see everything."

He nodded reluctantly and Britta began the ascent. She was quick, having done it that morning, and when she got to the top she had to stop and wait for Ed to catch up.

"You're quick at this." He said reluctantly. Britta surveyed the area, her sharp eyes caught onto a piece of brown fabric in the trees.

"There!" She pointed.

"How do we get there?"

Britta bent her knees and jumped, not giving herself time to think. She caught onto one of the uppermost branches and gestured for him to follow.

"You've got nerve." Ed praised.

Britta shrugged. "Come on."

When Ed was in the trees behind her she reached up and pulled the fabric down. It had clearly been cut from The Fox's training clothing. She steadied herself on the wavering tree branch and then looked for any other clues. They followed the trail from tree to tree until they reached another clearing, in the middle sat the Fox, crossed legged and calm.

"Glad to see you made it, where are the rest?" He asked.

"We left them behind." Said Britta hesitantly.

"You will need to learn to work together although this is not usually our strong point. So, names?"

"Bren." Said Britta, at the same time as Ed introduced himself, using his full name.

The Fox nodded. "Good tracking on your part Edmond, Bren, your idea to get to the high ground to look for clues was a good one, I'm glad neither of you are put off by heights."

Ed smiled ruefully, "Only reason I didn't hide was because I couldn't let the little guy show me up."

Britta scrunched up her face, "One day Ed, this little guy is gonna beat you by so much you're gonna be running home crying." She said, trying to match his casual way of speaking.

Ed slapped her on the back with a laugh. The Fox nodded.

"Size and strength doesn't matter. It is the way you apply the strength and use your size."

Britta understood him at once but couldn't help wondering if gender mattered also. They returned to the clearing and Britta listened while he gave the rest of the lessons, tasks, and demonstrations before lunch.

"We will be coming back to this. I expect you to keep working at it so when you do I don't have to give you punishment work. This afternoon we'll be learning more basic blocking and attack techniques and building on the ones I taught you yesterday. If you haven't practiced them, I suggest you do so during lunch. You have half an hour to eat but come back at noon to begin the next part."

As everyone was walking away Britta met up with Ed.

"What are you going to do after you've eaten?" He asked.

"Oh, I'm going to go and clean out Thunders stable and help the stable hand move the horses to the outside paddock."

He nodded. "Which horse is Thunder?" He asked.

"The big grey one. He's not in the same stalls as the others."

"What are you doing after training?"

"I'm seeing the Fox so I can learn another pattern dance." She said lightly.

"In the morning?"

"I get up pre-dawn and go for a run and a ride and a climb."

"So do you have any free time you'd like to come and meet my friends at all?"

"Not yet." She said lightly, although she was a little dissapointed because she did want to spend time with Ed.

"When the Fox said train every spare moment I don't think he meant that literally."

"I'm not strong, I'm not fast and I'm not yet a good rider and I need be." She pointed out. "But I can eat with you during lunch and dinner, usually I just go back to my cabin with my brother."

He grinned and nodded, "You'll need to find more time I think. What weapon is your brother learning?"

"Bow. What are your friends training in?"

"Most of them are in sword training - they think that a sword is the best weapon, a few do archery."

"I guess that makes sense."

They walked in silence back to the camp. Britta used the opportunity to talk to Diana.

Hey, how'd it go?

Fine, you?

I meet someone we can be friends with.

Who?

A guy called Ed. He's a good tracker but I was the only one who kept up with him. He said he also had friends in archery training, we're going to eat lunch with them but after that I need to clean Thunders stable.

Ok, where should we meet, do we change out of our armour?

I guess I will so I don't get it dirty. You know what yarrow looks like? And comfrey?

Yeah?

I'm going to put some herbs on Thunders back to try get rid of the infection.

Ok, I'll go get some.

And if you see any wild carrots get enough for Hoshi and Thunder and Fawn. We'll feed them when we get them to the paddock. And oregano, I'll try making tea for me to drink.

Is your breathing okay?

It's fine. Said Britta shortly. It had been better than it was at the Abbey, but the tightness in her chest was always there.

Where will I meet you?

In the line to the food.

Ok, see you soon.

"Can my brother also eat with us?" Asked Britta when they were right outside the building.

"Sure." Said Ed, "if he's much like you my friends should take a liking to 'im." His compliment was casual without much weight, but Britta appreciated it all the same.

They walked across to the hall, the clearing around it trampled into hard-packed mud and dust. Britta waved Diana over and they were led outside to where Ed's group of friends were sitting. There were three others, whose names she soon learned were Neal, Thom, and Clyde. They looked at home in the training camp, and in their armour which they hadn't taken off.

"It's for training," Clyde explained, adjusting his armour. "Gotta get used to the weight of it."

Clyde was burly, with flaming red hair and pale, freckled skin. His eyes seemed to be alight with amusement no matter what, which was more than could be said for Thom, though he was friendly enough. Neal had a wicked sense of humour. Britta watched him carefully as he put beetles in Thom's drink. She wondered if she should warn him, but it was a childish prank – one she might now do to Bella or Fee.

He caught her staring as he cleaned his hands on his shirt and grinned playfully. "Not a word." He said. "We wouldn't want to... Bug... anyone." Eyes dancing wickedly at his own bad pun Britta couldn't help but smile with him.

"Of course not." She said, looking the other way as Thom spat out a mouthful of bug to avoid laughing.

Though everyone was incredibly noisy, Britta enjoyed the chatter and joke and found it difficult not to smile. Soon, however, she got up and made her way to the stables.

She helped the stable-hand and several others move the horses out, but it soon became apparent that she would have to be the one to get Thunder to the paddock. He was beginning to endanger the people tasked with getting him out and Britta could see they would soon turn to the whip. As she hurried to the stall she heard his panicked whinny and the crack of a whip. She let out a loud whinny in return, calling Thunder to her. Thunder bolted through the door, his tail swishing wildly and the whites around his eyes showing. She gently scrubbed around his nose until his breathing slowed and he stood still. She straightened up to find people staring at her and a blush rose to her cheeks before she turned to get onto his back, upset that they had so quickly turned to hurting him. Thunder knelt down, feeling the urge to ride away just as strongly. Thunders hooves were heard throughout the courtyard as Thunder pounded into the forest.

They slowed down after they were in the forest and Hoshi caught up. Britta jumped off Thunder and began searching for herbs.

"What happened in there?" She asked both of them. They seemed to be able to understand her if she talked normally, and now she had communicated with them mind-to-mind, she could hear their words.

"Whip much hurt. When come in I think of whip."

Britta nodded. "Let's take you back to camp and see if we can heal you." She got back up and this time rode Hoshi.

When she got back she ignored the curious eyes and resisted the urge to walk right into the Big House with Thunder. Instead, she led him over to his stable.

"Stay there. I just need to go inside and make some medicine for your back." She left the latch open so he could escape and then hurried to the building where she grabbed herbs off shelves and put them in a pot together. She didn't know a lot about herbs, but ones that tasted nice also had other benefits. When they were mixed into a paste she walked back outside and whistled for Thunder. She continued to ignore the eyes, though they were beginning to lose focus on her. Britta was quick to wash the cuts, both new and old, before putting the paste on them. She was glad Thunder was kneeling so she could reach to smooth it over. Then she sat back on her heels, keeping a hand on his withers.

How does that feel? She asked him

Better now clean. He answered and then made to stand up.

Break's nearly over, you can get to the paddock, can't you?

Of course.

Promise me you won't run unless they start hurting you. If they do come find me.

Britta stood up as Thunder trotted away and calmly walked over to the rest of the men and sat down.

"You didn't tell me you had a massive horse up your sleeve." Said Ed glancing in the direction Thunder had run.

"I did – Thunder – Remember?" She asked. "They were whipping him. I'm not letting anyone get away with that. Also, he defiantly can't fit up my sleeve."

"It looked almost like you called him over before." Said Ed suspiciously.

Britta groaned. "You too. I'm not hiding anything; I swear I'm not a horse whisperer or anything." Mentally she excused her lie. She was hiding her identity and her magic. Her eyes met Dianas and on cue they both got up.

"I'm going back to training, by the time I get there we will be ready to begin again."

Britta could have just left it. Or she could have gone in and stopped them. But no, she had to go and make a spectacle. She couldn't let them hurt Thunder, she would do the same for any animal.