52. Chapter 48
Chapter 48
You are not a hero. You are not a warrior or a duelist. Don’t pretend to be. You’re part of the King’s army, and if your job is to hold a shield for the man behind you, then hold that shield and forget about your side sword. Do your job, soldier. Doing anything else is how you get your entire squad killed. A human can’t kill an Immortal, but a squad can and will.
~Sir Alistair Hawking, Magical Combat for Humans
Maeve
Cole moves at full speed for the first time since I woke up as we spar. His sword flashes so quickly that I can only react. If I have to think, I’m dead. My mind is focused on the stones that rise and fall under his feet and fall from the sky. Shadows whip around me like lethal blades, and his flames act as shields to them.
His body explodes in an immolation, and instead of running or hiding, I pull the stone out from under him, forcing him to leap, the wings extending from his back flapping twice as I press him harder.
The blue crystal spear in my hand lengthens to give me more reach, and I don’t slow down. He sprays me with flames, but only the faintest bit of the heat transfers through my crystal armor, slipping through the tiny cracks that let it move so easily.
I stab at him, and he pushes his blade down to block, pushing the tip away from him. The flames that radiate from his body keep him protected from shadows, but they’re worthless against Earth. My crystal armor has always covered about as much as tunic and trousers, but I extend it, the plates coming into existence all the way to the tips of my fingers. They cover everything but my face, and I rush toward Cole.
It catches him off guard. I slam my hands into his chest as he tries to swing his sword down on my shoulder. I twist, and the sword glances off the crystals, cracking some and sliding off the rest. He flies backward into the air, his flames disappearing as he rolls, and his wings become tangled up when he hits the ground.
I’m already racing toward him, and by the time that he’s back on his feet, I slice down with my spear. His sword pushes the spear just a few inches to the side as he spins toward me. I can’t pull up in time.
I drop the crystal spear, and it shatters as it hits the ground. Cole swings that black-steel sword at my head with just as much strength as I’d put into my slice. A wall of stone rises at my side as crystal daggers appear in my hands.
His sword crashes into the stone, and a deep crack runs through it, but it holds. His momentum is stalled for a half- second as I stab. My hand goes through the wall, and the crystal dagger slides out of my hand. It flies the two feet between Cole and me, and it lands a solid hit to his chest. The dulled edge doesn’t cut him, but if it’d been razor sharp like any that I’d use in a normal battle, he’d be wearing a new accessory through his lungs.
Cole laughs, and all the seriousness of our training fades as I step out from behind the wall of stone. “That’s a new one. When I saw your hand go through that wall, I knew you had me.”
I give him a grin, and I can’t help but fall in love with him all over again. I’m sure that most people would consider us doing everything we can to leave the other broken and bruised to be a terrible way to show our love for each other, but this is home for us. This is when we got to know each other.
Cole’s blue eyes were cold as ice any other time. Secrets and worries were our world, but when we stepped onto the training ground, all of that disappeared, and it was only the two of us in a dance. Over and over again, our bodies moving to a music that no one else could hear.
“I was sure I had you when I knocked you down,” I respond. “Then you blocked my slice.”
He huffs as his wings disappear into his back. “I thought you did too, but the slice was just a touch too off-center. It fell too close to my crossguard, so you gave me leverage.”
“What you’re saying is that I should have tried to hit your head, not your shoulder. I just didn’t want to walk around with a man with a giant bruise on his head. I prefer you pretty.”
He laughs and slides his sword into the sand, tip down, and he wraps his arms around me. I let the dagger in my hand fall to the sand. It shatters into a million flecks of blue as I embrace the warmth of Cole’s body against mine.
Spiced amber overwhelms my senses as I breathe him in. My fingers run over the crimson gambeson and feel the linen that I know so well. I trace the quilted pattern of stitching, and I sigh into him.
“You’re back to your old speed and strength,” he whispers.
I know what that means. “I know,” I whisper back, but I don’t move. “I’m going to miss this almost as much as our time in Draenyth.”
“Valinar doesn’t have as nice of baths.”
I look up into his eyes and grin at him. My fingers move through his jet-black hair that’s damp with sweat. “When we win this, we’re going to spend weeks in the bath.”
There’s a gleam in his eyes, but he doesn’t say anything. He just pulls me tighter to him. “Sometimes, I wonder how I ever convinced you to betroth yourself to me, much less marry me.”
“Oh, the betrothal was simple, Prince Cole. You told me I’d die if I didn’t tie my soul to yours. I didn’t have a choice. Now that I think about it, there wasn’t very much that I had a choice about during that time. I thought I did, but I really didn’t. The marriage part, though…”
I stand on my tiptoes and press my lips to his for just a moment. “That was all my decision. And I think it’s the best decision I’ve ever made. Other than telling you that daggers were stupid, of course.”
Before he can respond, someone clears their throat just outside the training circle, and I turn to see who it is. Darian stands there, looking more than a little nervous.
“What’s going on?” Cole asks, knowing the look on Darian’s face. “What’s wrong?”
Darian doesn’t say anything for a few moments, and then he crosses the space between us, a hard expression on his face. “You told us not to hide anything from you. When everything went to shit the first time, you told us that if anyone hid anything from you, you’d kill us, and I believed you. I think everyone did.”
He swallows hard and looks me squarely in the eye. “I’m asking, as your friend, not to do that.”
I cock my head. “What are you talking about?”
I try to be calm, but my heart is racing already. “I’m asking you to be the Maeve that you are now, not the Queen of Earth who fought the Nothing.”
Cole’s thinking about something, but he’s not letting me know through the bond. He’s respecting the fact that whatever is happening is my decision, not his. “I was a broken woman during that time, Darian. I trust you. What have you been hiding?”
Even when I say it, I know that it’s not right. He wouldn’t come to me like this about himself. That’s when I understand. “Or rather, what’s Lee hiding?” I say as he takes a deep breath.
His eyes open wide, and for the first time since I’ve known him, true fear crosses his face. “How’d you know?” I don’t respond, my eyes staying focused on him as I wait for the answer. “I…” He lets out a deep sigh, and his body slumps. “I don’t know what she’s hiding, but she’s hiding something. Something… big. I don’t know what it is, but Maeve, please don’t kill her.”
I nod to him. Without another word, I take his hand in mine. “Lee is one of my friends, too. I won’t kill her because she’s keeping secrets. She… she probably has a very good reason for it.”
Darian wraps his arms around me with abandon. “Thank you. Thank you, Maeve. I… If she died, I don’t know what I’d do.”
I hug him back. “I know,” I say soothingly.
When he steps back, there are tears in his eyes. “I’ll let you get back to what you were talking about. I just…”
He shrugs, and without another word, he walks away. I look up at Cole, and his eyes are hard as he watches Darian walk away. “She is hiding something. Darian’s right.”
“Why do you say that? I haven’t noticed anything different. My Earth senses aren’t telling me she’s lying about anything.”
Cole shakes his head. “She’s not lying. She’s just… different. Where is she, Maeve? Why isn’t she near us? Darian’s been spending time with Hazel, but where’s Lee been? She’s just been wandering off into the forest. She’s been quiet at the fire. She’s… she’s acting like me, not like her. She should be exploding with words, and she’s just… quiet.”
Now that he says it, I nod. “What could it be?” I ask.
Cole shakes his head slowly. “I don’t know. Darian’s right, though. We need to watch her. I don’t know what happened, but there’s no question. She’s different.”
I feel like this is the worst thing that could happen. Lee’s been there with me from nearly the beginning. She and Darian have been the happy when Cole was… Cole. She’s been my friend even when friends were hard to come by.
“Fine. We’ll watch her, but Cole, I will not kill Lee. Even if she’s done something terrible. I don’t think I have that in me.”
He shakes his head without looking at me. “I don’t think I could either. Maybe it doesn’t have to come down to that, though. Maybe it’s something stupid. She’s been away from me and Darian for the first time in our lives, and that might be all there is to it. Maybe she’s just finally learned to enjoy her own company.”
I shrug. “Maybe. You’re right, though. Let’s not get too carried away. I’m glad we know to watch her, but she’s one of us. She’s earned the benefit of the doubt.”
He nods emphatically. “She has.” Then he looks down at me and grins. “Now that that’s done, do you want more training? Or do you want to spend a little more time relaxing all alone in our cottage?”
I grin and run my hand over his cheek, my thumb brushing his lips. “Training and then relaxing. I like you all sweaty. You taste better that way…”