Chapter 44
Forty-Four
SENAN
The metallic clash of swords rings through the air, punctuated by grunts and curses. Guards and soldiers fill the balcony, some with their wings out, some with them glamoured. All of them bare-chested. Bell fights off three at once, swinging his broadsword as if it weighs no more than a dagger. Behind him, Bilson and another man spar with fire and wind. Even my bones are weary as I swipe sweat from my eyes.
Kyff kneels down to tie his loose laces, but something behind me catches his eye. “The women are looking.”
I glance around to find a horde of women watching the display. My betrothed stands at the front of the swarm, leaning heavily on the balustrade, her dress the same color as the champagne in the flute dangling between her fingers.
Audience or not, we need to focus. I knock Kyff’s back arm where his elbow has dropped nearly to his waist. “Then you’d better get that elbow up, huh?”
Scowling, he lifts his hands in line with his eyes, separates his feet, and lowers into a fighting stance. I match his position, but instead of fists, my wrapped hands remain flat.
Kyff swings a right hook, the thwack against my palm ringing in time with the swords. He is getting better every time we practice. One day, he’ll give our own guards a run for their money.
“Good strike. Now the left.”
Like most fighters who favor their right hand, his left hook isn’t nearly as powerful. “You’re not twisting your body enough. Watch.” I show him the way his torso should move while extending my arm. “Remember, the power comes from here.” I pat my stomach. “Try again.”
He twists the way I showed him, his small fist colliding with my palm. “Better. Give me ten more.”
By the time he finishes, his right hand has dropped again, leaving him open for a smack on the head. “Arms up, Kyff.”
His face flushes and eyes narrow. He shifts his stance, swinging as hard as he can with his right hand. When I sidestep the blow, he lets out a growl and launches himself at me, his fists flying with no form whatsoever.
I twist, catching a graze on my hip before hauling him into my arms. He may squeal like a piglet, but the lad bites like a feral cat.
“Put me down! C’mon, Senan. You’re getting me all sweaty!”
“Good. Maybe it’ll teach you to keep your head instead of throwing a tantrum.”
A flailing heel slams against my shin. My grip loosens, and he manages to wriggle free. Wily little git. He throws himself down on the marble and rips a water flask from the pile with a curse.
Biting back a smile, I fall beside him and give his ear a flick. “You shouldn’t use that sort of language.” It may be inevitable with all the time he spends training with the foul-mouthed guards, but still.
He side-eyes me. “You curse all the time.”
“Yes, but you’re far better than me.” I lock his head beneath my arm, dragging him in for a sweaty hug.
“Ew! Let me go!”
“Make me.”
The little heathen needles his bony finger right into my side. “That hurts, you little shit.” I let him go with a hard shove.
He jabs his finger at me, a victorious smirk on his lips. “Language, Senan!”
“Oh, fuck off.”
He laughs so hard, he falls onto his back. I lay down beside him, my skin baking under the sun’s unforgiving rays. My magic stores swell like my lungs as I inhale a deep breath. After healing Allette, heaven knows I need it.
Every time I think of those wounds ravaging her skin, a fresh swell of rage rises like a fiery tide. The House Master got off far too lightly. At least this session has given me an outlet for all this pent-up anger waging war within me.
I can’t wait for training to end so I can return to my room and spend what little time I can with Allette before being forced to leave once more.
What if I can’t convince Leeri to call off the wedding? Am I really going to marry her? If I had that antidote in hand, I’d steal away into the night and escape to some far-off kingdom. But since that can’t happen yet, I must bide my time. Play my role. Hope that I can convince Leeri that she’d be better off without me.
Rhainn stretches his legs where he leans against the armory wall, surrounded by swords, maces, and axes, with a book in his hands. When the king ordered him to attend training, I doubt this is what he meant. I cup my hands around my mouth and shout, “You’re next, Rhainn!” Maybe the princess will see him training and fall desperately in love with him instead.
The thought makes me chuckle. Rhainn is about as coordinated as a fish out of water.
He doesn’t spare me so much as a glance. “Pass.”
Kyff sips from his flask, his eyes trained on my torso. “I’ve been thinking of getting a tattoo,” he says, bringing my attention back to him.
I hook a second flask in my fingers and twist the lid free. “Oh yeah? What do you want?”
“A pink lily. For Mum.”
I should discourage him. I really should. But the idea of him wanting our mother’s favorite flower somewhere on his skin makes my heart swell.
He scrubs his wrapped hands against his trousers. “What do you think?”
“That depends.”
“On?”
“Whether or not you’ll let me get the same thing.”
Kyff’s eyes light up like I told him I’d buy the puppy he has always wanted. “When? Tomorrow?”
“Gods, Kyff. Are you trying to get me killed? You can get a tattoo when you turn eighteen.” Maybe I’ll give him one as an eighteenth birthday present.
Except…if things go to plan, I won’t be around to see him turn eighteen.
If things don’t go to plan, I may not be around at all.
Something loud thumps at my back. Kyff’s eyes widen. Before I can turn to see who has arrived, a hand wraps around my throat.
Kyff’s warning shout echoes through my skull. I roll, using my attacker’s own weight to flip him over my head, onto his back.
A feral growl erupts as my brother Aeron scrambles to his feet and drops down into a fighting stance. His black hair has been trimmed since the wedding, and he looks fitter, broader across the chest. Good for him. So many men let their stomachs go round when they find a wife.
I mirror his position, unable to hide my smirk. “I take it you found my gift?”
Aeron lunges like a snarling beast. I sidestep and stick out my foot at the last second, sending him headfirst onto the marble. Gods, I love beating him.
“Remember what I said about letting your emotions get the better of you?” I throw over my shoulder toward Kyff. Aeron always was the hot-headed one, and I used it to my advantage every time we sparred.
Aeron’s fist slams into my gut, putting an end to my gloating. “My bed is fucking ruined!”
Oh please, it’s not ruined. All I did was leave a few leaves of Toxicodendron under his sheets. He’ll be itching himself, bathing in oats, and walking around covered in pink healing ointment for days.
Aeron tackles me to the ground. His fist smashes my jaw. Fuck, that hurts. “You’ll be drinking dinner tonight, little brother.”
I spit blood onto the ground. It feels like I’ve been kicked by a fucking Pegasus. “Worth it.”
Aeron rolls off me and flops onto the marble, a reluctant grin tugging his lips as he stares up at the cerulean sky. “Gods, I’ve missed all of you.” He gives Kyff a brotherly knock on the knee, and the little boy beams. “Stratiss is so fucking dull.”
At the mention of his new kingdom, my frustration at this whole situation returns tenfold. How easy it is to fall back into routine and forget his betrayal. I catch the end of my hand straps and tug, unraveling the black material. “Then maybe you shouldn’t have gotten married.”
Aeron’s smile falters.
He promised we’d refuse our marriages together. He promised, and he’d failed me. I toss the wrap onto the ground between us and unravel the second one. Together, we could’ve talked sense into Boris. Alone, I have no chance. Aeron let me down, and now I’m in a bigger mess than ever.
I toss my second wrap next to the first and have to help Kyff find the ends of his so he can do the same. A shadow stretches over us, stealing my sunlight. I blink against the brightness until Princess Leeri’s face slowly comes into view. Rhainn launches to his feet, his book falling away, tumbling onto the marble.
“You must be Prince Aeron.” Leeri holds out a hand to my older brother. “I’m Princess Leeri. Senan’s betrothed.”
Aeron stands and takes her proffered hand. “It’s a pleasure, princess.” He gives me a wide-eyed, startled look. Fucking brilliant. Yet another brother smitten with the woman.
Leeri turns to me and props her hands on her slim hips, her friendly smile slipping into something harsher. “If you boys are done playing, I would like to borrow my fiancé.”
“For what?” Anything she has to discuss can be said in front of my brothers.
She gestures to the guards who’ve stopped to gawk at her—and there are quite a few. Why can’t she fall in love with one of them instead? Run off, get married, and leave me the hell alone.
“Come with me, and I’ll tell you.”
I roll to my feet and follow her like a good little dog. It’s hard not to notice the way her eyes flick down my bare torso or the way her cheeks flush as she tucks a strand of glossy hair behind her ear. “Do you… um… Do you train often?” she asks, her skirts swaying with each step toward the castle doors.
“Often enough.” Training keeps the darkness at bay and gives me a foe I can actually defeat. Plus, it gets Boris off my back about “hiding” in my room.
She stops suddenly, right in the middle of the balcony. “I’m sorry. I just…” She reaches a tentative hand toward me, tracing the line of my bicep to my elbow.
Bile inches up my throat as she draws her fingertip along the vines creeping up my shoulder interlaced with silver-white blooms. As much as I don’t want her to touch me, embarrassing her in front of so many people isn’t an option. “These are stunning,” she says, her eyes flicking up to meet mine. “Why moonflowers?”
Because they’re my girl’s favorite. “No reason.”
“You must like them to have them inked on your skin.”
“They’re the same as any other flower.”
She touches the bars on the birdcage that stretches from my ribs to my spine. “And this?”
“It’s a cage.” Clearly.
“I can see that. But what does it mean?”
It means I’m dying inside this castle and no one seems to notice. “Why does it have to mean anything? Why can’t it just be a cage?”
Leeri stares up at me for the longest time before sighing. “What has happened, Senan? You were beginning to open up to me, but now you’re more closed off than ever. Have I done something to anger you?”
“No.”
Her lips flatten as she pushes her hands through her hair. “I wish you would tell me what I did so that I may fix it. I don’t wish to enter into this marriage as enemies.”
This “marriage”—if one would even call it that—isn’t about growing close. It’s about a political alliance. Why can’t she see that?
Her finger trails along my collarbone, dipping into the hollow at my throat and continuing to my chest. Leeri taps the name tattooed across my heart. “Was Allette your mother?”
I want to reach into her mouth and rip the precious name from her tongue. “No.”
Her eyes sparkle when she peers up at me through the curtain of her lashes. “Was she your lover?”
“That is none of your business. I’m not… I’m not discussing this with you.” I’m finished with this conversation and finished with her. I drop my glamour; my wings spring from my back.
“Where are you going?”
As far from her as possible. I figure she’ll get the hint when I fly away.