Chapter 30
The Dance
DELILAH
My morning began with a swift walk to the castle training facility, a hot cup of herbal tea in hand.
The taste was… undesirable, but so was the outcome of an unplanned pregnancy, so I forced myself to swallow every bitter drop.
Titus had a new collection of training leathers made for me in my size that were designed with practicality in mind as opposed to sex appeal, although I would admit they were flattering to the shape of a woman’s body.
Per Gleeda’s instructions, I drank one of the vials of elixir, and after training I planned on having her change the dressing on my burn.
When I opened the doors to the outdoor facility, it took my eyes a moment to adjust to the blinding morning sun. I blinked and saw two Fae dressed in leathers waiting for me—Cercies and Calpurnia. Cercies must have had leathers made for her as well.
“I hope you don’t mind, Delilah, but it’s important to me that my mate be able to defend herself.
As much as I want to be, I am unable to be by her side and protect her twenty-four seven, so I asked her to join us.
Plus, having a sparring partner near your own skill level will only benefit the both of you,” he explained.
“Not at all. I’m happy you’re here. This just got a lot more fun,” I replied while nodding at Cal.
She did a little happy dance in excitement. Training might be my new favorite activity. I could feel the stimulating effects of the training elixir start to kick in, and my heart began to beat faster.
Cercies instructed us to run down the hundreds of steps to the dragon’s keep and back up while he timed us.
Embarrassingly, we took far longer than the time allotted by the hourglass, and Cercies exaggerated his disapproval by reclining on a wooden bench with his hands behind his head as if he had fallen asleep waiting for us to return.
My thighs burned and my lungs could not get enough air. Calpurnia braced herself with her hands on her knees while she gasped. We both plopped onto the ground.
“That was pitiful… again!” he ordered. “What? Are you serious?” she asked in protest.
He stood to his full intimidating height and crossed his arms. “Shall I make it two more times?” he threatened with a raised brow.
With that, Cal and I jumped to our feet and sprinted for the stairs. It was clear that fated mates or not, when Cercies was in General mode, there would be no leniency.
Without the elixir, I doubted I could keep up with Cal.
It wasn’t that she was in excellent shape, but the Fae in general were simply stronger and more agile than humans.
I made a note to thank Gleeda for the boost later.
After sharing our mutual hatred for stairs with every curse word combination we could think of, and how stupid it was that a magic castle had no other way to move between levels, we climbed the last thirty steps and found a second wind.
Somehow, we managed to sprint to Cercies before collapsing again.
“Better. Now tell me what was different this time,” he barked.
“Fear of doing it two more times?” I suggested.
“Wrong. That only got you moving. What made you improve your time?” he asked sharply.
Cal and I looked at each other. She shrugged.
“You were prepared the second time. You knew the difficulty of the task and how much time you had to complete it. You had less energy but nearly cut your time in half because you already knew what to expect. Having the upper hand in combat is the key to survival. Know your enemy—you live. Guess—you die.”
He reached out both hands, pulled us to our feet, and handed us our flasks of water.
“I’ve been studying the female anatomy—”
I raised a brow at Calpurnia with a wry grin. She gave me a cheeky smile back.
“So I’m not going to train you like males.
I’ve already made that mistake once,” he said, looking at me with remorse before continuing.
“I’m going to train you like females. What you lack in size, you’ll make up for in speed.
What you lack in durability, you’ll make up for in mobility and flexibility.
And what you lack in upper-body strength, you’ll make up for in your lower body—where most of your lean muscle mass sits, which makes your kicks your strongest weapon.
Males are trained to fight upper-body first and treat the lower body as secondary, so they won’t expect the opposite.
They’ll be unprepared, and that gives you the upper hand,” he explained. “I know this because I trained them.”
Okay, so now I saw it—the genius side of the General. He was in his element. He had clearly put some thought into this for Calpurnia’s sake, and I was grateful to be receiving the benefits of his affection for her.
We did a series of lunges while holding heavy bags of grain, followed by sit-ups and some basics with wooden swords before
K. ROSé
stretching and calling it a day. Cal took a moment to kiss her mate goodbye before hurrying off to bathe and help with whatever duties she had been assigned. I finished my water in the shade to give them some privacy.
After a moment, Cercies approached. “Are we still on?” he asked.
“Definitely. Meet me in the grand hall in twenty,” I replied.
Twenty minutes later, I freshened up, got my bandages changed, and met Cercies in the grand hall of the castle. I set Gleeda’s harp on the fireplace ledge and asked it to play something slow.
“Are you ready for your first dance lesson, General?” I asked teasingly.
He removed his armor and an alarming number of weapons in a heap on the floor before meeting me in the center of the open space.
“I thought you were… an orphan. How is it that you know how to ballroom dance?” he asked.
“When I was young, my best friend and I were convinced we were going to marry the princes of England, so we watched hours of YouTube videos on how to ballroom dance so we would know how when we became royalty,” I explained.
He gave me a confused look and said, “you say the oddest things sometimes, Tiny Warrior.”
“I’m self-taught,” I clarified. “Let’s start by letting me lead so you know what to expect. Then we’ll go over the steps, and then I’ll let you lead, okay?”
He looked around to make sure we were alone. “This seems a little degrading, but fine,” he grumbled.
I showed him where to put his hands. I would be lying if I said the physical contact wasn’t awkward because it absolutely was.
I just kept chanting do it for Calpurnia in my mind.
It was odd how his touch now felt like a cousin’s or a brother’s would when not long ago I would have let him do vile things to me.
I cleared my throat and focused. I led him through the steps—the footwork, the posture—all to the rhythm of the music Gleeda’s magic self-playing harp provided.
To my surprise, he picked it up quickly.
“Dancing is more like fighting than I’d expected,” he commented.
“Yes, but the goal isn’t to defeat your opponent. It is to seduce them and not step on their feet,” I replied playfully.
“Noted,” he replied with a half grin.
After a few more rotations around the room, I felt confident he understood the steps. If I were honest, I had been curious whether the General’s eyes would wander or if he would be too handsy, but to my surprise he treated the lesson as if he were dancing with his mother or sister.
“Do you want to try leading now?” I asked.
“Guardians, yes—before I completely lose my balls,” he replied while showing off his dimples, making me laugh.
“The key is confidence. Pretend I’m Calpurnia and you’re trying to convince her with this dance that you’re the best suitor for me— uh… for her,” I corrected.
“I am the best suitor for her!” he retorted sharply.
“I know you are, Cercies,” I said comfortingly. “But you need to tell her that with your body, not your words… and with dancing, not sex. Any male can fuck, but a mate can dance.”
He nodded in understanding.
“Just pretend I’m her and go over the same steps we just did,” I instructed.
He looked at me and it was almost like the color in his eyes changed to a more molten version of amber. He firmly—but not over aggressively—placed one hand at the small of my back pulling me in closer, and took my other hand in his.
“Confidence is key,” I reminded him.
He nodded and his mouth half turned in a smirk.
He took the lead and guided me through the rotation one time, only missing the footwork once, so we did it again.
This time he seemed more confident. I looked into the General’s eyes and studied his striking face, the scar on his eye that only elevated his appearance, and I thought to myself, damn…
Cal was a lucky girl. There was a precision and quiet dominance in the General’s movements that could unravel even the most tightly wound female.
"Ahem, may I cut in?" a deep angry voice asked. The General and I flinched at the unexpected interruption as if we had been caught doing something we shouldn’t have. The High Lord of Flame stood a foot away, and I could feel the heat of his flames rolling off his shoulders. He was furious.
Cercies bowed slightly to Titus and took a few steps back. Titus pulled me in close, taking the position Cercies had just been in—but much closer.
“You are dismissed, General,” he barked, and Cercies exited the room.
The harp began to play a slow, somber song, and Titus took the lead with excellent form.
“I was just teaching him how to—” I began.
“I know what you were doing, but that doesn’t mean I liked it,” he interjected with disdain as he led me expertly through the motions.
I saw it now—he was jealous. I smiled because I liked it more than I should have.
“I thought you said you couldn’t dance,” I teased.
“I said I don’t dance, not that I couldn’t,” he replied.