11. Taldesa
Taldesa
Tala didn’t understand magic.
When she had just been the only daughter of the Valay family, they had hoped she would take up arcane studies.
As long as your family had the gold and the right connections, it was easy enough to send a child to an academy.
When Tala presented with zero talent for magic, it had just been one of the many ways she had continued to disappoint her family.
It was almost ironic that when she had been sent off to the Moon Maidens, part of their training involved magic.
Less on how to cast it and more on how to dismantle it.
Balance had always been stressed—both with the Moon Maidens and the Valiant Circle.
Clerics were meant to heal, paladins were meant to protect, scholars were meant to learn, but monks were meant to fight.
Tala knew she was meant to act as a foil to the arcane if push came to shove.
But fuck, if magic isn’t weird!
Tala’s finger—while… wet—was in fact healed as Face had said.
Her finger was perfectly smooth and tingled with the familiar air of newly cast magic.
It was a subtle sensation—one she had learned to sense where others couldn’t.
Similar to the charge of lightening about to strike, it made the fine hairs on the back of her arms stand on end.
“What, no thank you?” Face questioned, hovering way too close to her side.
Heat flooded Tala’s face, the scowl on her face aimed directly at his smug expression.
It wasn’t fair that he looked like that—exactly like something out of one of Avie’s romance novels.
Gray eyes dancing with mirth, his wide, full lips wet from where he licked them.
Tala’s breath caught in her throat as he inclined his head toward her, almost like—
“Thanks for slobbering all over me like a dog,” Tala snapped as she shoved her palm against his face and pushed him back. “Was that fucking necessary?”
Fuck, she was so warm! If she got any hotter, Tala was certain she would explode from what was definitely not embarrassment! No fucking way was she embarrassed because her finger was in that asshole’s mouth!
“My arcane talents are connected to my throat and song,” Face hummed against her palm as his hands encircled her wrist. “That’s what makes me a bard as opposed to a sorcerer.”
Tala knew that. The Moon Maidens had made the clear distinction between all casters in the world.
Clerics and Paladins wielded magic gifted to them by the divine and conviction.
Sorcerers and druids inherited their arcane talents from their ancestors—though the latter was heavily mixed with nature more than bloodlines.
And similar to arcanists, bards learned their magic through scrolls and formal education.
“I know that, you—” Tala tried not to tremble as his fingers delicately traced her wrist. “Are you seriously telling me you couldn’t have just sang a song and healed me?”
Face looked thoughtful for a moment. “Possibly?”
Tala’s free hand instinctively moved toward her baton, but a voice that sounded a lot like Cercel warned her against it in her head. She was supposed to protect this dick, not beat his gorgeous face in and—
STOP. THINKING. THAT!
“Shut up,” she murmured.
Despite his best efforts to keep it, Tala snatched her hand back and trained her eyes on the roses.
The thing she was actually supposed to be focusing on.
From what little she had been able to go on, the roses weren’t enchanted—at least not recently, but that didn’t mean someone hadn’t tried.
A lot of the guesswork involved being aware of her body as she examined the flowers.
Given the diversity of magic, there could be a lot wrong with the roses, but most of the time there was an impact on the body.
“You’re darling when you frown like that,” Face said over her shoulder.
Tala’s fist tightened at her side, her frame tense with irritation.
She knew bards were flirtatious by profession, but holy shit, was this pushing it.
Tala could practically feel him against her back, despite knowing he wasn’t actually pressed against her.
It was his presence, his warmth that was distracting her from the task at hand.
“You can lay off the princely act, dude,” Tala grumbled. “I’m not buying it.”
“Luckily, I’m not selling anything at the moment,” Face murmured as he hovered over her shoulder. “Just curious.”
Tala gritted her teeth and wondered how many demerits she’d receive if she were to just punch the shit out of him. Punching famous people had to cost a lot—more than Tala could afford to lose most likely.
If you fuck this up, you don’t get to see Avie again. As long as he doesn’t cross a line, it’s fine, right?
What was the line?
Tala had knocked people out for less, but the situation she was in wasn’t normal. Her job was to knock other people out, not him or his buddy. That didn’t mean Tala had to put up with disrespect either, but was this disrespect or just… fuck, Tala didn’t even know what.
Courting as a disciple for the Moon Maiden had never been a huge priority for Tala.
She understood from a young age that her harsh edges made her less likable than the others.
The Moon Maiden’s prioritized romantic things—things that Tala had never really allowed herself to have.
There had always been something that had just felt…
off about the encounters she had with people who had shown any interest in her.
Flirting was something Tala utilized as a skill to garner information for the Moon Maidens, not for sincere connections.
Honestly, the only person Tala ever enjoyed flirting with had been Avie, but that had always been friendly.
Harmless affection, really, that never really blossomed into sexual tension.
So, why was Casimine’s breath along her neck igniting something hot in her belly?
Why was she having trouble concentrating on examining the thorns of the flowers when his hand came to rest on her hip? Why wasn’t she pushing him away?
This is different. Why is this different?
Because you want it, Avie’s voice whispered in the back of her mind. He’s sexy and interested and did I mention sexy?! You like the attention!
“Do you do this with all your bodyguards?” Tala asked quietly, willing herself not to tremble with every hot breath against her skin.
A chuckle vibrated against her ear. “Would it upset you if I did?”
Tala bit her lip, eyes still trained on the flowers but she was no longer focusing on them.
She was a former Moon Maiden, an active member of the Valiant Circle.
She had trained for years to strengthen her will to it’s highest potential and yet she was melting over someone she had only known for three days?
Aelidon would make me meditate for hours…but she’s not here, is she?
Tala placed her hand on the back of Casimine’s, her fingers delving between his against her hip. His fingers flexed, rubbing a thumb against hers. All she had to do was turn her head just right and—
Quicker than Face could react, Tala had pulled her baton from her waist with her free hand.
She hooked it between her back and Casimine’s face, pushing the wood against his throat and creating the space she desperately needed.
It wasn’t enough of a push to injure, but enough to send a quick message as his body disentangled from hers.
“Okay, that’s enough of that,” Tala said as she spun on her heel, baton aimed at Casimine’s face.
“I mean no offense,” he said, hands raised, but his eyes said something different.
He reeked of self satisfaction because he knew the intimacy had gotten to her.
Tala scowled, readying to flick her weapon against his perfect, clean-shaven chin—
“Hmm, did I miss out on the foreplay?”
Shuffling from the bedroom door, Crop Top was topless.
Because of course he was.
It didn’t help that his pants were hanging dangerously low around his waist, clinging desperately to his hips as he wiped the sleep from his eyes. The material barely held it together as he shuffled to Face’s side.
“Not at all,” Casimine smiled, eyes still trained on hers. “I believe we’re still in the process of it.”
“Cool,” No-top said, slinging an arm around his shoulders.
“No, no, not cool!” Tala exploded. “I am your bodyguard—”
“You can guard my body—”
“Bodyguard,” Tala hissed as she aimed the end of her weapon at Ameriden’s face. “Which means I’m supposed to keep you safe. I’m not here to entertain you! How many times do I have to say it before you two get it?”
The pair shared a glance.
“Well—”
“Shut the fuck up!” Tala barked, eyes alight with fury. “You’re two of the most irritating men I have ever met. Let me do my fucking job before I beat the shit out of both of you.”
“I love it when she teases like that,” Ameriden mock-whispered.
“I know,” Casimine replied. “It’s so cute.”
CUTE?!
Tala was hot enough to boil water. Her wrists were already turning, preparing to take both her batons out so she could slam them against the side of their necks.
If she struck true enough, it would knock their thick skulls together, and maybe she would know peace and fucking quiet for once!
She was about to follow through, fingers touching her second baton when a shot of clarity rang through her head.
Or rather, a memory from the High Priestess.
‘We are all our own worse enemies. Some fight insecurity, others bitterness or doubt. Your enemy is your anger, Taldesa. It’s unique compared to the students who share this enemy, for your anger appears to have no origin.
There is no singular wound that is responsible for this anger, which is what makes it so dangerous.
We have tried our best to focus that anger toward the fight, but it only appears to hinder you.
I worry you’ll lash out at the ones who could grow to love you—’
Tala twisted her wrist and slid her baton back into her belt and mumbled, “Whatever.”
She turned back to the rose thorns. Poison was out of the question, as Tala was sure the effects would have hit her by then, healing magic or not. There wasn’t any powdery substance on the rose petals either, which meant—
“Don’t even think about touching the basket,” she said.
Somehow focusing on the flowers had brought her senses back from the brink of anger and by doing so, her ears had picked up on their movement. The basket was slowly lowered back down.
“Room service should be here soon,” Face said. “You can wait until then.”
“But I really wanted to share,” No-top replied.
You can share my knees on your throats if you don’t stop being so gods damn annoying!
“You can share with me.”
“I love sharing with you, Casi.”
Tala frowned.
Was it her imagination or were they flirting?
Or were they talking about something else?
No, that was ridiculous. They were just being their usual rich asshole selves.
Preening and posturing was their whole bardic thing.
If there was one thing Tala had learned about them in the short three days she had been subjected to their company, it was that they were always talking.
It was a trait Tala was beginning to think was required when going to bard college.
I swear, the stingray is better behaved than these two jackasses.
“I wonder what else we could share.”
Tala was about to whirl around and tackle the pair to the ground when her eye caught something.
Tucked deep inside one of the fuller roses, something glinted.
Frowning, Tala reached across the table for a discarded quill.
Pulling the rose back, Tala hooked the object onto the end of the quill point and pulled it free.
Dangling from the end was a silver ring with the tiniest crystal placement at the center.
“You’re gonna need a second ring if you’re proposing marriage,” No-top said.