Chapter 16
sixteen
It was near midday when they made it to a stream. Orelia cleaned the gold off her body and the residual paint off her clothes while Vade sat under a tree sharpening his knives. He’d barely spoken to her, but at least he hadn’t reprimanded her further.
The afternoon sun shone through the trees in thick rays, the day becoming increasingly hot.
Orelia tucked a damp strand of hair behind her ear before removing the last patch of gold from her arm.
Her limbs were raw and red from scrubbing using only water and a piece of her ruined skirt she’d torn on their first day in the forest.
She lifted her hand and called on the wet pile of clothes lying on the ground. With a flick of her wrist, the tunic and pants laid themselves out across a boulder to dry.
The crunch of leaves gave away the fae’s approach. “I need to see your swordsmanship. I need to know you can defend yourself if a time arises where I might not be able to help you.”
She dried her hands off on her pants. “I told you, Tommen taught me to fight. I already know how to use a sword. I just don’t like to.”
Vade drew his greatsword. “Show me.” The blade stretched, and the steel glowed.
The seidr sword was too long for her preference but featherlight. Orelia cocked a brow. “You’re going to let me use this?”
“Mhm.” Vade freed his battle axe and stepped back a few paces.
She did a few slices of the sword through the air, marveling at how easily she took to it. “How does this not snap in half when someone hits it? It weighs nothing.”
“Sorcery,” Vade said plainly. “I don’t know how it works. It just does. Now, show me your fighting stance.”
“You’re going to spar with an axe?”
“I can wield it just as well as a sword,” he said in a tone that was more confident than cocky. “Show me your stance.”
Orelia stood so her legs were slightly wider than her shoulders with her left leg set ahead of her right. She squatted down and lifted the blade with a two-handed grip to protect her face.
“Move your feet in a little closer. Your stance is too wide,” he said.
“But I don’t feel as balanced this way.”
“Just try it for a few movements.”
She did as he said, but the stance felt awkward and unstable.
Looking at the placement of her feet, Orelia realized she’d never thanked him for the boots.
“Thank you for these, by the way,” she said, nodding at her shoes.
“They’re incredibly comfortable, and the leather is superb quality. I can pay you back.”
He flicked his axe at her. “Your old ones were shit.”
Orelia sighed. “You know, you could just say ‘you’re welcome’ and not ruin it by being your grumpy self.”
He smirked. “But then I wouldn’t be me.”
She rolled her eyes, chuckling softly.
“Enough talk, witch. Show me your fighting stance, and I’ll show you mine,” Vade taunted.
The king’s executioner stood perfectly still, watching her with the focus of an apex predator. Surely no one who ever saw him like this lived to see another day. A chill washed over her at the dark intent settling into his features. “Come at me,” his deep voice commanded.
Tommen had told her to keep an eye on your opponent’s feet. Notice where their balance was, if it was on the heel or toe, and adjust accordingly. Vade stood flat-footed, so she wasn’t sure what to do.
When Orelia stepped to the side, Vade mirrored her. She walked in a slow circle with the fae matching each of her movements. When she finally got the courage to lunge at him, he effortlessly knocked her sword away.
“Your eyes gave you away,” he said. “Don’t look where you’re going to strike. Make me sweat. Make me unsure of what you’re going to do.”
“If I don’t look at where I’m going to hit you, how will I hit my mark?”
“Trust your blade to go where you need it to.”
He said the words like they made sense, which they didn’t.
Vade waited for her to move, and they continued walking in a calculated circle.
Without taking her eyes off his, Orelia envisioned the sword landing on the right side of his ribs.
She took a few more steps and prepared to strike, but he switched directions.
“Adapt, Orelia.” Vade lunged, and she barely got her sword up in time to save her shoulder.
“You’re too fast,” she said, scrambling to regain her balance.
He came at her again, and she jumped back, her grip slipping. Vade knocked her weapon to the ground, and the head of his axe was instantly under her chin. “Dead.”
She swallowed carefully.
He stepped back and flicked his weapon toward hers. “The sword should be an extension of your arm. You should be one with it, feeling its movements like it’s part of your body. It needs to become second nature.”
Orelia picked up the sword, wiped the dirt off the grip, and traced the intricate etchings in the hilt with her eyes.
She’d never seen a sorcery-made weapon up close, and a part of her was torn as she admired it for its beauty, knowing the illegality of such an object.
“I’ll need a lot more practice before I ever get to that ability. ”
“Then we’ll practice. I need to know you can hold your own in case we ever get into a situation where I can’t protect you.”
She knew he was referencing her mishap at the Pony, but she didn’t dare bring it up.
“The next two days will be in the forest until we reach Fink, and I don’t feel like dying just because you don’t know how to wield a sword properly.”
She ignored the dig at her aptitude. Orelia would never be the harbinger of death he was, and she didn’t want to be.
But learning how to protect herself properly could only benefit her, so she lifted the banned blade, squatted into position, and flashed him a taunting grin of her own. “Then teach me.”
They practiced until sweat dripped down her temples and hair clung to her neck.
Vade went slow, teaching her different defensive moves before working on a few offensive ones.
Surprisingly, he didn’t mock or degrade her when he knocked the sword out of her hands, which happened frequently.
He simply waited for her to pick it up, then began again.
Despite the light weight of the blade, her arms ached after less than an hour. She dropped the sword and panted with her hands on her knees. “I need a break.”
Vade wiped the sweat from his brow. “You’ve done well, so I guess I’ll allow it.”
She huffed a tired laugh. “I think that might be the first nice thing you’ve said to me.”
He grabbed both of their waterskins and handed Orelia hers. “I’m sure I’ve said something before.”
She took a long drink, nearly moaning at how cool the water was as the sun baked her skin.
“I could get you to where you’d be as good as me with a sword.”
She choked on her water at the ridiculousness of such a statement. “I would never be as good as you, fae.”
Vade picked up his greatsword and handed it to her. “Tell you what, keep this one on you. We’ll practice so you get used to it. Besides, your weapons belt is too sparse anyway.”
She paused. “I don’t think I want to keep a seidr blade on me. It feels . . .wrong.”
He cocked his head. “You still have my dagger. Does that feel wrong? And did it feel wrong when you were practicing with the sword?”
“Well . . .no.”
“Don’t think of it as illegal. Just think of it as a tool, like anything else.”
Hesitantly, Orelia slid the sword into her belt, marveling at how it adjusted to the size of the sheath.
“How does the blade know to shorten?” she asked.
Vade shrugged. “The ingenuity of sorcery.”
Orelia withdrew the blade and watched it elongate just so she could put it back in and watch the blade somehow fit.
“You would be impressed with something like this,” she teased.
Vade’s lips quirked. “You like it, too. Don’t lie. I see how much you enjoy my sword.”
There was a strange sultriness in his tone that made her skin heat. Without a tight-lipped expression, deep lines on his forehead, or furrowed brows, he looked kind and open, and it made him all the more handsome.
It won’t last long, she told herself. You’ll screw up again, and he’ll be right back to yelling at you. But Orelia didn’t want to waste an opportunity where he seemed to be in a good mood.
He had paid an obscene amount of money to keep other men from buying time with her at The White Pony, and she hadn’t exactly shown much gratitude the night they’d fled Ricaboro.
She reached out and placed a hand on his bicep, ignoring the way the muscle flexed beneath her touch.
“I’m really sorry about Ricaboro. It’s just that there was a girl in my home brothel who was separated from her sister who works at the Pony.
I thought I could sneak in and tell her how Millie was doing, maybe even heal a few girls while I was at it, then come right back. ”
She should have let go of his arm, but Orelia didn’t want to, and the look on Vade’s face said he didn’t want her to either. He stepped closer, bringing his delicious masculine scent with him. Something so distinctly him that she’d recognized it at the Pony.
Orelia absentmindedly swiped her thumb across his muscle.
“I like having the gift of healing, and I just wanted to share it with others who might have needed it. I want to use what I was born with for good. It makes me feel . . .useful.” Her eyes dipped to the ties dangling on his tunic, and the truth came out quietly.
“I’m not sure I’d be worth much without my healing ability. ”
She swallowed, realizing the internal thought had slipped out for the first time. She’d never even shared it with Teegan. Feeling far too vulnerable, Orelia released his arm and took a step back. “But I know what I did was wrong. I shouldn’t have left the inn.”
Vade’s eyes focused on hers. “I shouldn’t have left you alone, especially knowing how excited you were to see the city. But I had no idea where you were, and anything could have happened to you.”