Tris Prior

Athos has been good to his word, teaching me to fight with the sword. He has also been equally true in his promise to be a stern taskmaster. More often than not, I go home with arms that feel leaden, stiff from endless repetitions. I feel like a new Initiate all over again, my body as one big bruise. But now I get to go home and sleep in Tobias' arms. There's no looking over my shoulder for enemies who want to topple me for doing well, just my stern, but well-intentioned mentor.

This morning finds me up with the sun in the scant hours I have before work. By now, I've gained enough muscle memory that it doesn't ache to go to the gym afterward and teach. The first day had been awful and my teaching slightly diminished because my own learning impeded me. Today will be easier because my body is becoming accustomed and Athos drives me hard but never beyond the limits of what is safe.

I wonder if that's what Dauntless training should have been like, back when they began, rather than the hard and hateful group I joined. Initiation had been deadly, burning through our bodies and minds and leaving corpses in its wake.

"Good morning," I say when I see Athos heading my way.