“Why do I have to stay here?” Nina was laying on the ground beside the log where their lunch was waiting, her leg draped over it.

  “Why is she here?” Aurie said between breaths after dislodging the axe from the tree. She had only been able to get a little ways in, but her swings were getting deeper despite how tired her arms were getting. She took a step back, placed her feet, and swung again. The axe dug further in and pulled chunks of wood with it when she pulled it back.

  “What is it with you two?” Enya was on the other side of the tree. Her side was far deeper into the tree and each swing of hers sent bits of wood flying. Hers were faster. Aurie was beginning to resent that. “You’re here so you don’t end up sucking the literal life out of the King and you,” Enya leaned to where Aurie could see her, “Just mind your swings. You’re losing form.”

  “My arms hurt,” Aurie growled before swinging the axe again. Two hands, separated a bit, but not up the handle. Knees bent. Move the hips and shoulders with the swing. “And this isn’t how anyone swings an axe.”

  “Grow stronger,” Nina chuckled from where she lay.

  Aurie pointed the axe at the little redhead, “Grow some dignity and we’ll see who gets there first.” She swung again. The impact sent vibrations through her arms.

  “She does have a point, you know,” Enya lobbed another splash of wood from her blow with hers. “The poor man can’t say ‘get off me’ as easily as others.”

  “I never heard a complaint.”

  Aurie leaned to give Enya a look that spoke volumes of what she actually wanted to do with the axe in her hands. Enya wagged a finger at her. She scrunched her nose and hit the tree instead.

  “The King has enough to worry about without you making things…complicated,” Enya said.

  “When do I get to speak with him, then? He needs to know what’s happening out there,” Nina sat up but left the one leg still draped over the log. “The longer you keep me from him…”

  “The longer you don’t have to grow new teeth,” Aurie said under her breath through gritted teeth and another swing.

  “What was that you said?” Nina called to her.

  Aurie gave her a wide, yet threatening smile. “I didn’t say anything, sweetie. Do you need to drink some milk and take a nice little nap? I think you’re starting to hear things.”

  Nina glared, returning the same smile. “No, dear, I’m fine. I’m still young enough to not need those.”

  “Don’t.” Enya said before Aurie took her first step. She pointed at the tree. Aurie bit her lip and made her swing even harder this time. To Nina, Enya said with a disappointed sigh, “Stop antagonizing her. I need her to concentrate.”

  “On what? It’s not like she’s aiming,” Nina chuckled.

  Aurie hit the tree with the axe hard enough that bits of wood sprayed. The vibrations felt more like her arms stretching than pain. She stiffened her jaw and did it again. It was getting easier now that she was, in fact, aiming—at Nina’s head in place of the bared wood she had been chopping at.

  Nina lay back with a huff. Enya must have given her a look. “She’s not very pally like if you ask me.”

  “Just a finger,” Aurie begged at a whisper around the tree to Enya.

  “Before we head back, you’re going to confess your sins,” Enya jabbed a finger at her. “I better hear these and whatever twisted filth is going through that goldy-locks head of yours.”

  “Fine,” Aurie took another wood splashing swing.

  “I used to have fun with my confessions,” Nina said with a giggle, lounging. “Cardinal Olivier would be sweating by the time I was done.”

  “Remember who you’re talking to,” Enya warned her between chops. “Confession is important in maintaining closeness to the Holy Spirit. You can’t be forgiven if you don’t feel remorse. And you can’t…” Chop. “Use the Holy Spirit in a fight if you’re not pure at heart.”

  “Yup, or He revokes your power when you need it the most,” Nina said matter-of-factly. “You have mentioned that to her, haven’t you?”

  Enya let her axe rest. “Do I need to hogtie you, too? Shut up.”

  Nina folded her hands under her head like a pillow. Her draped foot began dancing to some silent tune.

  “What is she talking about?” Aurie asked.

  Enya shook her head with a long breath. “We’re not immune to everything.” Chop. “If you’re not careful, if you don’t keep up with your prayers, with confessing when you make mistakes, and the like, the Holy Spirit will pull from you.” Chop. “Your authority over the Lord’s gift is by His discretion alone. And, it never happens when you’ll have a second chance.”

  “What does that mean?” Chop.

  “Can I?” Nina raised a hand.

  Chop. “No,” Enya growled. Calmer, to Aurie, “We don’t have the luxury of waiting for judgment. It is quick and brutal.” Chop. “If the Holy Spirit is revoked, it is because you did something that broke either your sacred oath or your righteousness.”

  “Has this ever happened before?”

  “Oh, you have no idea,” Nina chimed in.

  “Yes,” Enya had to brace the tree with her foot to dislodge her axe. “There have been many Paladins who were revoked. More than there should be, in my opinion.” Then, leaning so Aurie could see her, “And they always are killed in that exact moment by whatever or whomever they are battling.”

  Aurie’s eyes widened. She balanced the axe for a moment. The look on Enya’s face wasn’t one of just informing her of a possibility, it was warning her. She nodded that she understood with a dry swallow before swinging again.

  “Tell her what you call it,” Nina had rolled onto her side, her fingers dancing in the grass with excitement. “You want me to tell her? I’d love to tell her.”

  “What do you call it?” Aurie grunted with another shockwave from her strike into the tree. She was truly digging into it now.

  “You’re unbelievable,” Enya said in a breath, shaking her head. “We call it, ‘Pink Confession.’ Happy?”

  Aurie blinked. “Pink Confession? I don’t get it.”

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  “Because bad pally gets splattered and the blood makes a pretty pink mist,” Nina grinned a little too widely.

  Aurie’s stomach churned at the thought. “That’s a terrible thing to call something that horrible.”

  “I’m not one to say the Holy Spirit is wrong in judgment,” Nina shrugged at her. “They deserve it when it happens, even if nobody knows what they did.”

  “Pretty much,” Enya shrugged it off. “In the testaments, it happens to a few of them for pretty heinous crimes. We stay careful, though. Confess frequently and honestly. And live as Jesus would in your boots.”

  “I’m still learning about that, too,” Aurie sent another blow into the tree. “Though, I can’t imagine Jesus fighting demons like we do.”

  “He’s the Son of God, of course he doesn’t,” Nina looked at her as if she were a child. “He has authority over them. You don’t.”

  “Don’t ask,” Enya stopped her before she opened her mouth. “We made this mess, so God gave us the tools to fix it, that’s why He hasn’t waved his hand and made it all go away. Like the King, sometimes we need the lessons to grow from them.”

  “What gift do you have, anyway?” Nina had turned herself so that she was resting her head and arms on the log instead of laying beside it. “All Pallies have gifts. Enya,” she pointed, “has the Gift of Discernment, if I remember correctly. And, fortitude, right?”

  Enya leaned into the tree, pressing her forehead into it. “Lord, help me.”

  “Am I right?” Nina held out a hand for Enya to answer.

  “Discernment? Fortitude?” Aurie tilted her head at Enya, letting her axe rest on the ground for a moment’s relief from swinging. She had no idea what either of those words meant.

  “I really wish you would just shut up,” Enya growled at Nina.

  “What? You’re supposed to be teaching her, too, not just making her look indecipherable from a man,” Nina fluttered her eyes playfully.

  “I don’t understand,” Aurie waited.

  “Discernment of Spirit.” Enya lifted from leaning. “I can tell the differences between the Enemy’s soldiers. What type of creature they are, their weaknesses, their strengths, their ranks and purposes in his army.”

  “I thought there was a book in the third testament that told all about that,” Aurie pursed her brows. “Wouldn’t that make it a useless gift.”

  Nina snapped her fingers with a point, “Your turn, behemoth. Take her down.”

  “Call me behemoth again and I’ll tie you to a log and make you wait in the lake until your transport arrives,” Enya growled at her. Then, to Aurie, “Let’s take a break for a moment and I’ll explain.”

  Aurie set the axe against the tree and followed her to the log, ignoring Nina’s gasp at Enya. Nina turned herself so she was sitting against it when Enya sat between them. Aurie poured water from the bucket into a cup for Enya and then one for herself. When Nina held out a hand for one, she threw the last empty cup far enough away that Nina had to get up to get it.

  “You know about creation, right?” Enya asked after nearly draining her cup.

  Aurie nodded, “Mostly.”

  “So, there was a time when mankind was being looked after by a choir of angels called Watchers,” Enya began. When Nina started to say something, Enya slapped her shoulder. Aurie was a little disappointed it wasn’t her face. “They were deceived by the Enemy into taking human wives for themselves and creating the Nephilim—half human, half angels. For this, God declared that the Holy Spirit is not meant to be mixed with human blood that way.”

  “What does this have to do with your gift?” Aurie refilled both their cups. To her surprise, Nina was silent, sitting cross-legged and thoughtful.

  Enya let out a long breath and held the cup hovering between her knees. “They taught humans how to make war. And one of the ways to be good at war is to change and adapt to your enemy and the battlefield. They taught us that. So, their Legions are never the same, especially after we defeat them. They change. I am gifted with knowing the change before it’s enacted just by looking.”

  “And that’s important, I imagine.”

  Nina looked up to her, “I don’t mean to sound insulting this time—I did the others, don’t get that mixed up—but how are you not aware of how incredibly important that Gift is? It makes me useless on the battlefield because everything that takes me weeks, sometimes months, to find out, she knows in seconds.”

  “My grandfather and father were soldiers,” Aurie sank with embarrassment. “I’m not—or I wasn’t. I was just a farmer’s wife and mother. Sorry if that doesn’t sound prestigious to you, but war wasn’t something we thought about. They don’t generally take farmers from their farms, no matter how bad the war gets.”

  “No reason to be defensive,” Enya grinned at her. “I wasn’t a soldier before I was called either. Believe it or not, I was a weaver.”

  “I definitely don’t believe that,” Nina blinked at her while sipping from her cup.

  “What were you? A street-thief?” Aurie shot Nina a challenging glare.

  “I preferred the term street-rat, myself,” Nina shrugged. “But I swore myself to God and here I am. Forgiveness truly is divine. And I forgive you.”

  Aurie thinned her lips at that.

  “Alright, that’s enough, you two,” Enya turned between them. “What has you two at each others’ throats? Did I miss something?”

  “She was fawning over him like she was his…thing!” Aurie blurted. “I don’t know who you think you are, but where I come from, that’s not how we carry ourselves.”

  “Where you come from? Where is that? Alcer, isn’t it? Not here, though,” Nina challenged her back.

  “How do you know that?” Aurie struggled to aim her glare since Enya was swaying to block her efforts.

  “I know all about you, Aurelie Beauvais,” Nina shrugged at her. “And, in case you’re wondering, he kissed me, so I have the right to ‘fawn’ over him all I like.”

  “You kissed him,” Enya shoved Aurie by her shoulder back. “I was there, remember.”

  “She WHAT?!” Aurie tried to climb over Enya only to be put back down again.

  “Even when surprised, he’s a good kisser,” Nina grinned at her with a flick of her brows.

  Aurie’s fingers became claws climbing to reach over Enya for the frizzy red hair on the other side.

  Enya held Aurie back with a finger to her face, “Pray. Now. You’re a Paladin, start acting like it.” Aurie begrudgingly slid to her knees and folded her hands over the log.

  “Yeah, so unbecoming.” Nina’s smile was only getting wider. It disappeared the instant Enya was turned on her.

  “You’re manipulating her into killing you,” Enya jabbed a finger in Nina’s face. “Stop. This is your last warning. She’s his Second in every single way the moment I’ve finished training her. Keep that in mind.”

  “She’ll outrank you?” Nina chuckled at the thought. “That must make you feel valued.”

  “I don’t hear you praying,” Enya called over her shoulder.

  Aurie hefted a long breath. “Lord God Almighty, creator of Heaven and Earth…”

  “She already outranks me,” Enya growled. “Which means you’re at the bottom of that food chain.”

  “…who raised David from humble beginnings to king,” Aurie continued, trying not to grin with pride.

  “Skip to the confessing part, the Almighty is already aware of what He’s done,” Enya barked. Then, to Nina, “And, so you know, that kind of talk is the exact reason why you’re going to stay where I can see you the entire time you’re here. In. Silence. Easy way, or my way. Decide now or forever hold your peace.”

  “Yes, Paladin Commander,” Nina sank back from her.