I walked into the training room and stood stiffly at my usual place, just outside the floor circle.

“You’re upset.”

Tegra-Gale sat at a small table, writing. He didn’t look up. I didn’t answer.

“Your tail is lashing,” he continued after a few lines, “and your ears are low.”

He was right of course. It aggravated me that he pointed it out.

“These are giveaways. Anyone who can read how you feel can use your emotions against you. While it is important to adopt an unaffected demeanor, it is even better to know your enemy, how to portray what they want to see, and when necessary, what they fear.”

The Badgre stood abruptly and moved with alarming speed toward me, crossing the floor in three strides. Instinctively, I backed away, aware now of how my ears flattened against my skull, the wideness of my eyes and the fact that I bared my teeth slightly at his approach. He stopped a breath away, so close I could feel his body heat radiating from his skin, we had not been this close since…