The men of the Black Guard bathed together only once a week. She avoided it, claiming her religion prevented her from baring her body in front of the other men. Leo coached her ahead of time on this, knowing it would be an issue. Leo. Another innocent lost. So much death. So much grief. Thinking of him always threatened to bring tears to her eyes. But she couldn’t allow herself to cry in front of the other men. Not even for a moment. She was one of the elite now. The only other one who remained behind from the weekly soak was the boy. The one they protected during the battle. He won a spot without drawing blood. Not his, nor another’s. The boy slept all the time. At first Tressa thought he was only avoiding her. That was until his unbearable snoring began. She tossed a pillow over her head, but it didn’t muffle the grinding noise. Instead of listening to him, she ventured outside. Tressa followed the shouts of the men bathing in the pond. Leo had told her to learn as much as she could about each of them.
