Chapter 16
Over an hour later Kaden came walking into the room while she sat on the couch already dressed and waiting. It was unusual for her, and she figured Kaden would be thinking the same thing but she didn’t care as she watched the fire flicker in front of her.
“Where is Silas?” He asked bluntly.
“He left over an hour ago,” she mumbled.
“He left you unguarded?”
“Seems that way.” She sighed and stood grabbing her sword that was leaning against the couch next to her, axe already on her hip.
She turned to see him standing near the door with his arms crossed, his eyes judging her as she walked closer to him.
“You look like shit,” he barked.
“Oh, so I look just like you,” she snapped back and walked past him towards the door without looking at him.
“Someone had a rough night.”
“Not like you care,” she snapped again and started towards the training area, keeping herself a few steps ahead of him.
To her luck, he didn’t keep pressing her and she didn’t offer any more information as they made it to their normal training area. Oddly, they were the only ones there, typically there were a few dozen soldiers training as well.
“Something going on?” she asked over her shoulder.
“Emris is sending troops to the border of Mavros’s territory. They have had too many soldiers go missing and it's leaving holes for the new Trenchers to get through.” Kaden said flatly and pulled his sword from his back ready for the day to start.
She pulled her sword from its sheath, her body wanting to do anything but train today and she knew her mind was distracted. He swung his sword towards her and she barely blocked it in time before he spun and struck out at her again.
He knew she wasn’t in the right headspace and took advantage of it, his sword swinging at her multiple times with hard blows.
She blocked most of his last one, his blade grazing her shoulder and sliced her skin open deep enough to hurt.
“Damn it!” she yelled and stepped back, looking at her arm. “Take it easy.”
“No,” he snarled. “You need to get whatever is going on with you under control, you can’t be distracted.”
She examined her arm before placing her hand over the cut and summoned a small trickle of her power to heal it before it bled all over.
“I am allowed to have feelings,” she snarled back. “I’m not some mindless thing you get to play with.”
“Play with you?” he barked. “Trust me, you would know if I was playing with you princess.”
“Queen.” She corrected with a venomous voice, her eyes glaring up at him as he stood towering over her.
“You had a fight with Silas didn’t you?” he grumbled and raised an eyebrow towards her.
“Why would you care if I did?”
“It’s distracting you and keeping me from doing my job,” he snapped.
“Again, I’m allowed to have feelings.” She sighed and saw him narrow his eyes on her waiting for an explanation. “Fine, I tried to tell him I wanted to take it slow and get to know him and he got upset.”
Kaden put the tip of his sword into the ground and leaned on it slightly while keeping his eyes on her with a suspicious look.
“He got mad about that?”
“More than mad but defensive and tried to make me feel guilty for asking.” She ran her hand over her face and took a deep breath.
“You had sex with him again?” he growled, his body going tense in front of her.
“What? How-”
“I can smell it,” he snarled. “As soon as I walked into the room it hit me in the face.”
She felt her cheeks go red but didn’t try to hide it. Fae and their damn sense of smell, she wished she had gotten that from her father.
“Why didn’t you say anything then?” she glared at him.
“I was waiting to see how it was going to affect you, and it apparently did a lot.” He took in an annoyed deep breath. “Let’s go.”
He sheathed his sword on his back and started to leave the training area before she could say anything. She put her sword away and jogged a few steps to catch up to him.
“What are we doing?” she asked hesitantly.
“Going for a ride.” He muttered gruffly and continued to walk out of the training area towards the stables a few yards away.
She could feel a shift in him, his tone not as harsh and the sudden interest in her feelings made her weary. It took her a few seconds before she started after him, many scenarios going through her head but something about the way he glanced over his shoulder to her made her feel…safe.
- - - - - - - -
After saddling her grey mare that she demanded to be her main mount, she walked out of the stable and mounted up starting towards the outer wall of the castle.
She didn’t know what his plan was or why they were going for a ride, but Kaden just kept his face molded into his normal stone expression as he rode his bay gelding alongside her.
People stared at her as they rode by, the public now knowing who she was made it a lot harder to go anywhere without being noticed.
Her white hair was also tucked into a braided crown on her head and made it easy to spot from a distance in the sunlight going through town.
No one came up to her though, Kaden’s presence making it known not to come close without consequences.
It didn’t take long before they were out of the main gates and a field of grass surrounded them, the same field she had rode through coming there just over a week ago.
She looked at Kaden again for some kind of hint of what they were doing, but he just kept staring forward without a change in pace or facial expression.
Being out in the fresh air did make her feel better, being cooped up in the castle had made it hard for her to focus.
She had been so used to living in nature that being in the castle was harder than she expected to get used to again.
It seemed she hadn’t realized how much she missed being outside of the castle till she was physically venturing out of it.
“Follow me,” he said over his shoulder, her horse falling back a few steps with her staring at the field around them.
He turned his horse towards some woods on the edge of the field and she obeyed without argument. She loved the woods, and curiosity was getting the best of her with whatever Kaden was planning.
Soon trees were surrounding her and they rode a few miles in before stopping in a small meadow hidden in the forest.
“Dismount,” he barked and she did as she was told, tying the horse to a nearby tree before following him into the middle of the sunpatch meadow.
“Sit.” he pointed to the grass covered ground and she gave him a questioning look. When he just glared at her more she decided to just keep following his directions.
She removed her sword and set it on the ground before sitting next to it, the sun beaming down on her making her training suit warm. Kaden sat across from her, both folding their legs like pretzels and he finally met her stare for the first time all day.
“The Ivory Flame feeds off of nature and it seems you haven’t been able to try and connect with it again,” he spoke quietly.
“How do you know about the Ivory Flame?” she asked, her eyebrow raised.
“I like to know what I’m working with.” He snapped. “It’s my job to get your power back and I need to know everything about it.”
“Who knew you could read?” she teased faintly.
She swore she saw a slight tug of his lips, but was gone before she could record it to memory.
“So if you read about my power, did you read about the Ebony Fire as well?” she asked casually.
“Testing my reading skills?”
“Maybe.” she smirked.
“Odin granted the Ivory flame, which fed off life, to his Valkyrie in order to help win the long drawn-out war. When Odin gave it to his warriors, Loki took an opportunity to grant his own power to the rebels and gave them the Ebony Fire that feeds off death.” He took in a long breath and she watched him shift.
“Odin got angry and placed a curse on the Ebony Fire’s magic that made it unusable unless someone innocent in his eyes died who wielded it, passing it to the next of kin.
Since he thought none of the rebels were innocent, it lay dormant in the lineage for centuries now. ”
“Impressive.” She nodded. “My mother had told me stories of it but we all think the line died out and there was no kin left to pass it to.”
He just stared at her for a long moment, the maroon in his eyes changing slightly to a lighter color before he cleared his throat and broke eye contact.
“Time to quit stalling,” he nodded “Put your hands on the ground and concentrate.”
She did as she was told and felt a pulse from the ground as soon as her palms touched the dirt, another small crack chipping at the wall built around the rest of her magic. A jolt of hope pulsed through her and she let a smile form on her face.
“Concentrate.” Kaden mumbled.
She let her body relax and took in a long deep breath to try and quiet her mind. She could hear the slight breeze moving the tree branches around them, small birds chirping and even a small deer nibbling on the grass at the edge of the meadow.
Her mind cleared quickly and she focused on the energy she could feel from the earth itself, the trickle of power flowing from the dirt and up her fingertips.
“Af óeins nafni, kalla ek á móeur til ae naerea logann ljóssins og vernda saklausa heimsins. (By Odin's name, I call upon mother to nurture the flame of light and protect the innocents of the world),” she whispered, the chant she was taught to use to call her power.
She had never thought of doing this when she was in hiding, but then again she wasn’t sure she wanted her power when she was alone. If she had her powers, she would be easier to find.
She could feel the pull of power from one arm to the other, a warm feeling spreading down her body and all the way to her toes. It wasn’t enough to break her entire wall down, but she could feel a small recharge of the small amount she had gotten back, and it felt refreshing.
She snapped her eyes open, Kaden staring at her with a curious look and she lifted one hand from the ground, a small white flame flickering in her palm. It was a speck of what she would normally be able to do with her full power, but seeing still gave her hope she would get it all back.
“Good,” he said plainly and started to stand.
“That was it?” she said, staring up at him.
“You needed to get your head straight, I figured this would help. We don’t have time to frolic in the field all day.”
She stood and crossed her arms while staring at him with an annoyed look. He just stared back, unbothered by her glare and it made her feel even more irritated..
“Have you ever taken a day off?” she asked sarcastically.
“No.” He scoffed.
“Well, maybe you need to get your head straight and take a day to unwind,” she chuckled. “Or get laid, whatever works for you.”
She heard him grunt and start towards the horses, a clear indication she had struck a nerve with her last part.
“Ah, so it's been a while, I take it?” She chuckled again while following him back to the horses.
“I don’t talk about my personal life, unlike you.” he snapped.
“Well maybe you should, it can be therapeutic.”
He just glared at her over his shoulder and grabbed the reins of his bay horse, his eyes glancing around the clearing before mounting. She just sighed and mounted up on her grey mare, giving her a soft pat on the neck.
No words were exchanged while making their way back to the castle grounds, their trip very short but extremely useful.
She knew she looked like an idiot with a childish smile plastered on her face watching the flame dance on her palm.
She noticed Kaden glance her way but didn’t say anything until they got inside the outer gate.
They went straight back to the castle in silence, her eyes trying to study him as they rode.
He was not the friendliest guy around, but she was able to see a few glimpses of humanity in him. He was nothing like Silas, and she supposed that was a good thing.
He glanced back at her as if he could feel her eyes on him and she looked away quickly, her stomach feeling a tug as they continued.
Everything was changing, and she wasn’t sure if she was ready for the consequences.