Chapter 17
Days had come and gone in a blur as she practiced conjuring. Every time she made a cut, she grew increasingly used to the sharp sting. More used to feeling her power come into its own. The heartbeats in the tavern more familiar.
One morning, she’d even gone downstairs where the children were playing and seated herself at one of the tables in the corner.
Their chatter and laughter pulling her concentration the first time she attempted it, but eventually she managed to reduce their lively voices to mere distant chimes.
It was only when Luca came to poke her side that she lost focus and sent him an annoyed side glance that made him quickly scamper off.
That sparked an idea in her.
Rather than leave the common room, Anelize chose to stay while the children seemed to create a game of disrupting her every chance they got.
They had tested her patience at times, although by the end of the night, she’d managed to listen and follow Luca’s heartbeat—a quick pitter-pat rhythm—wherever he went.
So long as he stayed within a close enough range, she was able to track him down, the limit evidently being the corridor that led to the orphans’ rooms on the third floor.
It was far more than she’d been able to do days ago.
When Idris and Adan finally returned to the tavern one night, they were welcomed by a relieved Zara and Henry, whisking them away to get dinner. She couldn’t help but notice that Aeric hadn’t come with them and her hope of hearing if he’d seen Enid again wilted.
“Well, look who it is, my favorite protégé,” Idris drawled when he pushed past the door to the kitchen, holding a roll of bread and a tankard in one hand.
Behind him, the door opened once more to reveal Adan.
There were dark circles under his eyes again, making his face appear more severe than usual.
His eyes narrowed in on her bandaged hand almost instantly.
Anelize resisted the urge to tuck it behind her back.
She hadn’t had the chance to ask Zara to heal her yet.
And with her curse taking a toll on her after she tended to the rebels who were brought to her throughout the week, Anelize hadn’t wanted to disturb her with such a trivial matter.
“Are you ready for your life-altering lesson?”
“More than anything,” Anelize responded.
“Great. Give me a moment and we’ll get started.
” Idris turned to join the other Vedrans at the bar, earning claps on the back as they spotted him.
It was easy to like Idris. He carried a calm to himself that was reassuring, his easy manner of speaking wasn’t full of snide remarks and insults making his company much preferable compared to his brother who kept glaring at her.
Instead of looking at him, she glanced to the door that had yet to open.
“He will be here,” Adan said, snapping her attention to him. “That is what you are wondering, is it not? Where Aeric is.”
“I wasn’t.” That was a lie, and they both knew it.
Raising her head, she made to stride right past him, but she was abruptly yanked by the back of the collar of her dress.
Out of instinct, she closed her hand into a fist and spun.
Adan’s hand easily caught it before it could connect with the side of his face, eyeing her flatly before looking to the bandage covering the cuts she’d made earlier today.
“I see you learned something from our lesson.” He released her when she pulled her hand away, and then, with an irritated sigh, said, “Come on.”
“Where?”
“Where—to train. Why else do you think I’m here?” Adan scoffed, making his way toward the back door across the common room that led into the stables.
“I assumed it was because you enjoyed my company so much the last time. Don’t tell me you actually missed tormenting me?
” Anelize crossed her arms, refusing to do as he ordered.
If he thought, he could command her however he wished he was sorely mistaken.
“Idris is going to train me. We’ve come to an agreement already, therefore your services are no longer required. ”
“As much as I love my brother dearly…” He chuckled darkly as he turned to face her, resting his forearm on the doorframe.
“Teaching is not his strong suit. He’d much sooner find ways to drink you under the table than discuss conjuring with you.
Besides, it’s as you said—I missed tormenting you.
Now if you’re done sulking, let’s get your next lesson started. ”
Anelize casted a solemn look over toward Idris, who was perfectly content to drink and converse away with the other men gathered around.
Sighing in resignation, she reluctantly followed Adan. “All right then, what are you going to teach me today?”
The smirk he threw over his shoulder at her was purely wicked. “Target practice.”
When the words “target practice” came to mind, one would not immediately assume that they would be proclaimed the target.
Standing in the center of the makeshift circle of the stables, Adan had her do the same as last time. Closing her eyes and conjuring her power, she found his heart amongst the surrounding sounds of life throughout the tavern.
“Your task should be simple enough if you’ve been practicing like a good little pupil.” She heard Adan’s voice somewhere in the room and gritted her teeth. “Don’t break concentration. Find me in the dark before I’ve managed to strike you.”
When he pressed two fingers against her spine, she startled, once again not having sensed his presence.
The anticipation of his moves only served to give her more apprehension.
Her concentration lasted all of a handful of minutes before he struck out and gave her a none too gentle clap on the back of her head.
“Where am I?” he asked tauntingly, his voice an echo in the darkness where she struggled to keep pace with the bright flurry of his heart. Drifting before disappearing and reappearing paces away to her right.
A shiver ran down her spine when he suddenly whispered into her ear, “Find me. I know you’re dying to prove me wrong. Isn’t that why you’ve been practicing?”
This time, a foot hooked around her ankle and sent her sprawling forward. “You are a slithering, venomous snake of a man,” she hissed as her palms hit the ground, stopping her fall.
“At least I can strike. You can hardly move fast enough through the grass before being caught in the act.” Adan remarked, looking down his nose at her.
If he weren’t always scowling, she would have thought him somewhat handsome.
That is, if she didn’t find him utterly detestable.
His smugness only made her want to beat that face into the ground.
“I hope one day someone doesn’t decide to cut out that tongue because then how would you survive without hearing the sound of your own voice?
” she said begrudgingly as he reached out a hand and pulled her to her feet in one quick tug.
The only act of kindness she would be receiving from him, she was sure.
“Shows what you know, there are plenty of people who love the sound of my voice,” he goaded, a suggestive glint in his eye.
“If someone were to ever grant you the time of tormenting them, do let me know. I should like to commend them for their martyrdom.”
His mouth pressed into a thin, unamused line.
A couple of deep chuckles behind her carried through the stables and she looked to find Idris had come to join them.
Along with Aeric, who had somehow entered the room unnoticed by her and was leaning against the door of one of the stalls, a black horse nuzzling his shoulder for attention until his hand landed on its muzzle to appease it.
“Looks like you’ve definitely made Anya here have her work cut out for her. No wonder she practically implored me to teach her, brother. Your methods are unsurprisingly…tyrannical.”
Adan’s annoyed grunt was his only answer.
“She can hardly sense a heartbeat to save her life, let alone know when to anticipate when one is nearby. If she goes into the tunnels, there will be nothing save for tools she has at her disposal. I’m ensuring she can survive down there without one of us coming to save her ass.”
Rolling her eyes, she made to turn away while he and Idris discussed her as though she weren’t in the room when her eyes met Aeric’s.
An assessing look passing over his face.
Like Adan, he also looked tired, as if he hadn’t slept for days.
Awakening that infuriating curiosity within her to ask him what he was doing to return in such a state.
“Let’s say she doesn’t practice conjuring now,” Aeric began. “There are other ways in anticipating an opponent’s attack.”
Anelize frowned at him while Adan seemed to take in his words carefully.
“Isn’t this the whole point of training?” she asked.
“The point,” Aeric began, “is for you to learn how to defend yourself in any way you can. It’s true we rely on our power, but conjuring can only do so much for us.
While you will come to have a rather effective, potent way of dispatching your enemies, it takes a significant amount of energy you will need.
Your concentration, for example. That, and if you don’t have time to draw blood before a Watchman comes in close range of you, conjuring then will prove more as an inconvenience than as an advantage. ”
Based on the way Adan hadn’t scoffed, he seemed to agree with Aeric.
“As exciting as this all is…I think my skillset is needed elsewhere. Don’t let these two get away with tormenting you, Anya.” Idris blew out a breath, a knowing look passed over his gaze as he sent her an apologetic glance before heading out of the stables. So much for being his favorite protégé…
“If you thought I was a nightmare, wait till you see how he is,” Adan murmured with sick satisfaction before he waved a hand over his shoulder. “Good luck, boss. You’re going to need it.”