It was another hot day and after sword training, Fiona had eagerly retreated inside to practice her handwriting. Fenrin took his sweat soaked shirt off and continued hacking at the log. He'd flattened two sides and carefully marked the middle and edge using a charcoal covered twine. Now he was finishing up flattening the short ends, ensuring a straight board.

He leaned on the axe eyeing his work. Now came the hard part. To split the board, he needed to use his axe head as a wedge but he couldn’t just swing haphazardly. The axe had to be carefully placed on the line, meaning the force had to come from his heavy mallet, like striking a nail. It was a two man job. If he tried on his own he might make a mistake and have to start all over.

Fenrin fetched his mallet and called out, "Vai, come here!"

Vai emerged at the door and Fenrin shouted again, "I need your help with this, it'll probably take about an hour."

The man nodded, leaning back to give his student some instruction before walking over. Fenrin handed him the mallet. "Here."

Vai took it and Fenrin almost laughed at the sight. Vai was wearing a spotless white shirt and looked like a nobleman, the large wooden mallet comical in his hand. Fenrin swallowed his chuckled and coughed.

"Uh, you probably should take that shirt off."

Vai did without question and Fenrin raised an eyebrow. The man was well built. His golden skin was flawless and every muscle showed, although a bit softened.

Fenrin placed his axe head on the line. "I know this isn't your area of expertise but it's pretty simple. I'll place the axe and I just need you to hit it with the mallet. We need this board split down the middle. Got it?"

If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

Vai nodded and raised the mallet, waiting for a signal.

"Alright, go!"

The mallet fell with an impressive amount of the force and the wood cracked as the axe dug into it.

"And again!"

As the gap widened, Fenrin shoved a wooden wedge in it and instructed Vai to hit the end. Slowly they worked their way across, widening the gap from one end and then the other until at last it split in two. Both men were sweating under the hot sun and Fenrin pulled the planks away from each other.

"That'll do. I'll take it from here."

Vai handed the axe back and nodded. Fenrin retrieved his planer and began to flatten the wood.

Retrieving his shirt, Vai headed back inside. His arms hurt and he was a bit embarrassed. He had not gotten as much physical activity this past year as he would have liked, being as locked away as his ward. He washed himself off by the water barrel and dried before carefully buttoning his shirt back up. Though it was not his physique that had been so shocking.

Fenrin's chest was a mess. Vai was no stranger to scars, his mistress bearing her own number, but he had never seen anything quite like what Fenrin had. There was more scar than chest. Even the unforgettable bear and wolf tattoo was almost hidden by the knotted flesh. Black and white marks also mottled his torso, like old burns.

It turned Vai's stomach and he was glad Fiona had been inside. The princess already had a hard time with Fenrin's occasional nightly screams. Something had happened to that man, something truly horrific. The only time Vai had ever seen such wounds was on his mistress's victims. Those were marks of torture.

But who could manage to inflict such harm on Fenrin the Wolf?

Via shuddered. It must've been someone very powerful indeed. At the same time, the pieces begin to make sense. Fenrin had a strange sense about him now, something Vai found familiar but couldn't put his finger on. Now he understood.

It was fear, the lingering fear of a man who had been broken. It was the fear Vai often saw his mistress inflict. There was a satisfaction in Fenrin having that fear. It meant his mistress had won. She held no such fear, had never been broken and never would be. The thought filled Vai with pride and his fear and respect of Fenrin lessened.