Chapter 14
Non
The remainder of the day paled in comparison to the show this morning.
Jazz, Addae, and Alaw had given me a short tour of a few other areas of the castle.
None were of any particular interest. A few libraries, and an obscene number of dining rooms. After the tour, the three Wielders had left to go attend training with the Southern Coven, whatever that meant.
I wasn’t in the mood for eating lunch alone and undoubtedly being stared at the whole time, so I made my way back to our room.
At some point, I had fallen asleep and only woke when Jazz returned later in the evening carrying a silver tray with two large cloches that smelt divine. The act, although not one of grandeur, made my insides feel warm. I hadn’t felt like that in a very long time.
We sat on my bed and both stuffed our faces, taking short pauses for some brief conversation.
Jazz, who sported a shining bruise across their cheekbone, was particularly exhausted from their training session.
I stuck to light-hearted topics while we ate and Jazz told me about their grandmother, who they called Sitti.
How she’d come to Wales at eighteen from Jordan to study for a summer and ended up falling in love, making Cardiff her permanent home.
After marrying, she’d got a degree in law and became a barrister, all while raising Jazz’s mother and aunt.
She sounded like a formidable character, and the way Jazz smiled through the entire conversation gave me the impression the two were incredibly close.
My heart ached as Jazz told me how she’d knitted them a scarf in the colours of the nonbinary flag when they came out.
She was supportive of every choice Jazz made, even if it took her a little while to fully understand them.
A better person would have been happy Jazz had that kind of relationship with their grandmother, but I was not a better person.
By the end of dinner, I was practically green with jealousy.
I’d faked a bad stomach as an excuse to skip dessert and cut the evening short.
But sleep didn’t find me quickly, and I’d tossed and turned until the sky outside had turned a pale shade of pink.
I thought about what the coming weeks would look like.
What the training everyone kept referring to consisted of.
Would I be able to wield this new power?
A small part of me still didn’t fully believe this was happening.
I didn’t want to let myself in case I woke up and realised I’d dozed off behind the bar at The Pig and this had all been a dream.
Eventually, my wandering mind took me to the events of this morning. Replaying the images of that single water droplet running down the Ail of the Western Coven’s neck and over his Adam’s apple.
How would it taste on my tongue? Divine, probably.
I could almost feel his huge hands running up my arms and gripping my hair at the root.
He’d tip my head back, exposing my neck, and return the favour by lapping at the sensitive spot under my ear.
A familiar heat pooled between my legs, and I was so fucking grateful Jazz and I had separate bedrooms.
I slipped my fingers below the waistband of my pyjamas, finding my underwear shamelessly soaking.
Drawing slow circles around my clit, I had to bite my lip to stop myself from moaning.
Behind closed eyelids, I pictured his huge body thrusting above me, his muscled chest taut as I traced my fingers over the inked patterns.
Images of him sucking my fingers, covered in my own release, into his mouth came to mind. And with one final stroke, I came, arching my back off the bed. The want to scream his name as I finished was overwhelming.
Then it hit me. I still didn’t know his fucking name.
“Did you sleep well?” Jazz’s voice startled me as we walked in silence to training.
The same images that had kept me awake last night flashed in my mind, and I shook my head. Partially to answer Jazz and partially to try and rid them from my brain.
My shower this morning was arctic in an attempt to centre myself for training today. Which was pointless, really, as I’d ended up coming two more times during my shower to the thought of that stranger touching me. I could still feel the flush staining my cheeks.
“I guess. I mean…not really,” I stammered. Jazz looked at me like I’d grown another head.
“You look different today.”
“Different how?” Gods, I must have really needed that me time.
“Your hair looks darker. Did you dye it?” Jazz nodded towards my head.
Grabbing the loose strands, I pulled them in front of my face to be met with ends considerably darker than my own. Under the shade we currently stood in, it looked almost black.
Jazz gestured towards my eyes. “They look super weird today, too.”
I cocked a brow. “How much weirder could one gold and one silver eye get?”
“I dunno, they’re kind of brighter.” They shrugged.
I hadn’t even bothered to look in the mirror whilst getting ready this morning.
I didn’t want to see how terrible the loose shirt and trousers looked.
Although I appreciated how quickly Rhun had made me some things to wear that actually fit, I’d grimaced when the package had been delivered to our room and every single item was purple.
I couldn’t seem to stop fiddling with the ends of my new ebony hair as it swayed below my chin. Was the change in colour because my powers had manifested? Was that darkness that attacked Seren so dark that it was making physical changes to me?
My mind buzzed with worry, and I found myself having to change the subject; otherwise, any attempt at concentration during training would have been futile.
“What exactly can I expect during these training things?”
The colour seemed to drain from Jazz’s face, and they stopped in their tracks, scanning the path we stood on.
“Multiple times a week, each Coven runs drills together. It’s a chance to train not only with your Wielders in arms but also to exercise your power.
During the run-up to the Anoethau, Covens tend to ramp up the intensity to make sure any competitors that year are well prepared.
But the Anoethau aside, Coven training is physically demanding.
The North is renowned for being one of the more vicious Covens. It won’t be pleasant.”
“Nothing my grandmother has or ever will make me do is pleasant, Jazz. I’ll be fine.” I shrugged, but the waver in my voice said otherwise.
Jazz shook their head. “These aren’t just Witches who sit around a fire and burn herbs, Non. They are skilled soldiers who are trained with one purpose: to protect their Coven no matter the cost.”
Jazz made it sound like I was about to set foot in some kind of boot camp. And although my previous experiences with my grandmother hadn’t been enjoyable, I'd never been hurt before. At least not physically, anyway.
“What you’re saying is I’m about to get my arse kicked by a group of Witches who can fuck me up with or without their powers?”
“Precisely.”
We continued walking down the path, which started to look familiar. Rounding the corner, we eventually came to the training ring from the previous morning. It was now filled with at least seventy people, all in garish purple clothing like my own.
Jazz grabbed my upper arm and pulled me back around the corner. They leaned in close so no one could hear us, brushing their lips against my ear like they had the day before.
“I’ve prayed to every god on both sides of the Otherworld that wielding D?n’s power comes easily to you, Non. But if it doesn’t, you need to use whatever you’ve got inside you to fight back.”
My eyes widened with surprise at Jazz’s insinuation; I hadn’t expected my grandmother to divulge what had happened the last time my power broke free and swallowed my cousin whole.
Raised voices sounded from the training ring, indicating that they were starting. Jazz gripped my arm tighter. “Before you go, I need to tell you one more thing.”
Their eyes bounced between mine in what looked like panic.
“Each Coven’s leaders choose their most skilled fighter to lead the Wielders, who serve as protection.
They call them High Wielders, or High Witches in Llyr’s case.
Think of them as the generals of an army.
Your cousin is High Wielder for the Northern Coven”— because of course she fucking was— “and under no circumstances are you to mention that you are related to her or Ledr Bron, okay?”
I gave Jazz one sharp nod and pretended to zip my mouth shut, gaining a small smirk in return.
They pulled me into a tight embrace and pressed a kiss to my forehead, the whole thing filled with far too much emotion for me to unpack right now. I pulled away and gave them a tight smile before sprinting across the gravelled path towards the training ring.