Chapter 14
Chapter
Fourteen
I t was still dark when Sorsha dragged me from her chambers to join the soldiers for training the next morning. I hadn’t objected when she’d begged me to come along, mostly because I was avoiding Kaden.
The male who’d greeted his sister the day before was not the same wicked prince who’d dressed me in glittering scraps and forced me to kneel between his knees before the demon court.
Then again, it had been the prince who’d lashed one of his own subjects to a wall and burned him with hellfire for touching me.
Try as I might, I could not reconcile these different versions of Kaden with what I knew him to be — a ruthless monster who’d stolen my mother’s life and used me for his own selfish gain. A male who was still stealing innocent souls to feed the demon king.
Being around him left my insides twisted with a confusing mix of hatred, curiosity, resentment, and — most infuriating — desire. It was as if my foolish body had forgotten how Kaden had used careful half-truths and the apokropos stone to deceive me and gain my trust.
It didn’t matter. Despite how my body reacted in his presence, I would not make the mistake of trusting him again.
Although Sorsha was a banished royal, the princess trained just as hard as the males who’d been wielding a blade since they could walk.
I fell in with her and the soldiers as they began their morning warm-up exercises — laps around the tower, squats, lunges, and standing jumps onto the battlements — all the while trying to ignore the curious stares of the males training around us.
Once we’d completed those drills, Siran distributed wooden staffs and led us through a sequence of poses that could be strung together in combat against an opponent.
I’d never trained with a staff, and I could feel the Drathen soldiers watching me as I fumbled through the movements. Still, it felt good to challenge myself with a new weapon. To feel strong in my body again after being at the mercy of demons.
Although the captain had been hostile upon our arrival, Siran was a fair and competent instructor. By the time he told us to swap our staffs for steel, I was sweating beneath my leathers, and my hair was soaked from the constant drizzle.
He ordered us to break into pairs, and to my relief, Sorsha turned to face me.
“Adriel says you’re lethal with a blade,” she told me as we raised our weapons. “That’s high praise coming from him.”
“I’m surprised he had anything good to say. He didn’t hold back when he was critiquing my fighting style.”
Sorsha laughed, swinging her blade. “That sounds like him. ”
I countered her strike, our blades singing. “What’s his deal, anyway?”
The princess shrugged. “He’s been following Kaden around since before I was born. He’s always had a stick up his ass.”
I grinned but kept my thoughts to myself.
It quickly became apparent that Sorsha had no trouble carrying on a conversation while wielding a blade. I could not say the same.
The demon prince’s sister was just as lethal as she was beautiful. Sorsha moved as though she was dancing, making quick, graceful slashes with her blade.
I was used to fighting men who were stronger but less nimble, so I’d come to rely on quickness and cunning to win in a fight. With Sorsha, my speed was not the advantage it usually was, and her movements were practiced and easy.
Soon I’d abandoned my leather jacket. The icy mist, though pleasant on my overheated skin, made it more difficult to grip my sword. I could feel heat building against my calluses and forming new blisters where my palm gripped the hilt.
We cut a path through the sparring pairs until my back almost reached the battlements. I threw my full strength behind my sword to block Sorsha’s next strike, shoving her off me with a grunt.
She stumbled backward, and I heard Siran yell, “Watch your stance, Highness.”
“I yield,” Sorsha huffed, chest heaving as she held up a hand.
The princess’s cheeks were flushed a pretty pink, and while I was dripping sweat, she merely looked dewy .
“Why did you yield?” I demanded, lowering my sword. “You nearly had me."
She shrugged. “It’s only a training exercise. Besides, you’re the first new friend I’ve made since I was first banished here.” She grinned. “I didn’t want to send you storming off to brood.”
“No one can brood if no one is bleeding.”
Sorsha threw her head back and laughed. It was an easy, melodic sound that instantly warmed my insides. “Have you met the males around here? Their egos bruise easily enough without drawing blood.”
I snorted, still catching my breath.
Just then, the captain came striding over, his long blond hair billowing behind him. His brows formed a deep slash across his forehead, and his eyes were like chips of ice.
“You let her get the better of you with her strength,” he accused, frowning down at Sorsha. “She drove you back on your heels because your stance was weak.”
“She surprised me,” said Sorsha brightly, looking wholly unmoved by her defeat.
“ Never allow yourself to be surprised,” the captain growled, coming up behind the princess and placing one large hand on her hip while his other maneuvered her sword arm.
“When she drives into you with her full strength, she gives you an opening.” Siran pivoted Sorsha to broaden her stance. “Use that to your advantage.”
As the captain moved the princess through a defensive combination, I felt a prickle along the back of my neck.
Glancing to my right, my gaze fell on Adriel, who was leaning against the tower wall, scowling at the captain.
In the short time I’d known the prince’s royal guard, I’d seen him fight off two powerful demons and faced him in the sparring ring. And yet I hadn’t felt the sort of menacing energy that was pouring off him now. It instantly piqued my hunter instincts that classified Adriel as a threat.
Siran finished instructing Sorsha and tossed me an unfriendly glance. I was sure he had his own thoughts on my fighting style, but he didn’t voice them. Perhaps he did not consider me worth his time — the bastard prince’s huntress, pet, or whatever he thought I was.
Brows knitted in concentration, Sorsha took up her fighting stance once more, practicing the maneuver that Siran had shown her.
“Is he always like that?” I asked, raising an eyebrow as she defended against an invisible opponent.
Sorsha gave me a small smile. “Siran’s just .
. . overprotective. When I was exiled to Cragsmuir, Kaden charged him with my welfare.
I’m certain Siran didn’t relish the prospect of commanding an unruly battalion of Drathen soldiers, given that he is the son of Euroshean nobles.
His first weeks and months here were not easy.
But, over time, he earned the soldiers’ respect. He has been my guard dog ever since.”
I opened my mouth, changed my mind, and closed it again. I’d been asking about Adriel, but apparently the princess hadn’t seen the way he’d been staring at the captain.
“I think Siran would rather be my bodyguard, but Kaden insisted that he train me to fight. I’m not sure why he entrusted that task to Siran when his people led the coup against our mother, but my brother’s judgment is surprisingly good.”
“He trained you well,” I said. And I meant it. The princess had certainly taken me by surprise .
“It does get lonely, especially when I consider that I may never get the chance to marry or have a family. But sometimes, I think being sent here was the best thing that could’ve happened to me.
” Sorsha ran through the maneuver again.
“If I’d remained in Athelby at the Quartz Palace, I would’ve just been a decoration — the well-dressed princess my uncle marched out for balls and celebrations.
I would have been a royal in name only, with no real power or authority.
” She let out a bitter laugh. “I certainly wouldn’t have been taught to fight.
Taught to do anything other than embroider little flowers on pillows and napkins. ”
“Your mother was not a warrior, I take it?”
“No,” said Sorsha sadly. “Not in the way you mean. She was everything a queen is supposed to be. Poised. Graceful. A symbol of hope for her people. She made them love her, which was her greatest weapon.”
“How do you mean?”
Sorsha laughed darkly. “Even her enemies could not despise her, and she used that to her advantage. Scholars credit my father with uniting the Drathen and Euroshean fae, but it was my mother around whom they rallied.” She sighed.
“In the end, though, it wasn’t enough that she was beloved.
After Kaden was born . . .” She grimaced and turned to me, nodding that she was ready to spar again.
I raised my weapon and circled the princess, waiting for her to make the first move.
“My uncle used him and the Ravaging to turn Anvalyn against my mother,” Sorsha explained, offering a light opening strike.
“He convinced our people that she was responsible for the death of the land and would bring the downfall of our magic. That her . . . infidelity was somehow her fault.” The princess shook her head and easily blocked my jab.
“Sometimes I think that if I had known then what I know now. . . maybe I could’ve saved her. ”
“I’m sorry for what happened to her,” I said, parrying a strike and thrusting my blade toward her chest. “But if your uncle had seen you as a threat, he would’ve killed you, not exiled you.”
“You’re probably right.” Sorsha’s bottom lip trembled slightly, but she didn’t falter. She lunged — throwing herself into her next attack as if she truly meant to do me harm.
I met her aggression with relish, grateful to have something to distract me from my strange mix of emotions.
I couldn’t imagine what it had been like for Kaden, the product of the demon king’s cruelty and ambition. Semphrys had kidnapped the faerie queen and forced her to bear his child. And although Kaden was Elowynn’s son, he’d been ostracized by his own people.