ONE AFTERNOON, Seris wandered through the mansion. Though she had been in the mansion for more than a month now, there was still some place she hadn’t explored yet. She was looking for solitude, somewhere to breathe, to think without eyes on her, but the faint sound of grunts and rhythmic thuds pulled her curiosity outside.
The training ground.
The sound grew louder as she approached an open archway, and when she peeked out, she saw warriors on the training ground. The wide training ground sprawled under the afternoon sun, its expanse of sand and ground stretching out before it. Warriors—men and women—moved in sharp and practiced motions, sparring with lethal precision.
And at the center of it all was him.
Cassian.
He was bare-chested, with his skin glistening with sweat, and mus
