Flashback ( PDFDrive )

She stalked deeper into the pastures, and Sophie and Keefe shared a
look before they turned to follow her. And the rest of the afternoon
was filled with learning where all of the ogres’ pressure points were.
They weren’t always where Sophie would’ve expected—they were in
the back of the elbow, and the underside of their nose, and between
their pointer and middle fingers.
“You really won’t get in trouble for teaching us this stuff?” Sophie
had to ask when Ro showed them an opening in the way the ogres
swung their swords, which left a moment where their elbow was
particularly vulnerable.
“Please, if an elf with a few hours of training can take us down, we
deserve to die,” Ro countered. “But Cadfael won’t expect you to know
it. And I want to see the look on his face when that costs him a few of
his grunts.”
So she made them practice the punches and stabs and thrusts that
would inflict the most pain over and over and over, until Sophie and
Keefe were both sweaty and out of breath and dead on their feet.
“You should probably take a break,” Keefe said as he watched
Sophie study her right hand. She’d trained mostly with her left, but her
knuckles were still swollen from the day before.
“Yeah, I need to check on Silveny anyway.” She turned to head
toward the alicorns’ pasture. But she’d only made it a few steps before
Keefe ran to catch up with her.
“Hey, Foster?” he said, stepping in front of her to block the path.
“I’m . . . really sorry about earlier. I never should’ve said the stuff I
said. What I meant to say is . . . I’m really happy for you—and Fitz.
You guys are perfect for each other.”