CHAPTER 25
The next couple of days flew by, busy with dancing, learning, and training.
Ulric had apologized the next day for his behavior the day before, and we continued working on my dancing.
Although he did make it tougher, I think it was in retaliation for me knocking him on his ass, but I let him and didn’t complain once.
One good thing came from beating Ulric, though.
I was no longer hacking away at bales of hay and was learning the proper steps and coordination of sword fighting.
Like dancing, it had the same basics, stances, footwork, and movement.
Lessons with the Professor were always the same, learning about the kingdom’s history mixed with him rambling on about something or another.
Ares and I had started to bond... I think.
He takes mints from my hands, but he doesn’t listen to me or let me touch him.
Every night, I tried to move that damn flower, and every night it sat in Zendryk's hand, mocking me.
Tonight, though, Zendryk had to attend a meeting after dinner, so he gave me the night off.
I wandered my way to the library, hoping to find Ketra to see if she had found anything on my markings, and to ask her a question that had been bothering me, since Maya got berated by Jane at the water table during one of my training lessons in the sparring ring.
Ketra was sitting at the same table where she had been the night I first met her.
Looking up from her book, a smile spread across her face, “Hi Avyn! I was going to join you in your lesson with my dad tomorrow, but we can chat now.” Enthusiasm and excitement laced each word.
Her braids swayed back and forth with her eager movements; the small shells that were tied into her hair clattered against each other.
I sat down across from her, “What did you want to talk to me about? Find anything out?”
She closed her book; it must be something important.
“Yes! Well, kind of! I was reading a book about the kingdom's history, way before what you are learning with my dad, and it mentions weapons that have an incantation placed on them. So, there is a history of this. I am still trying to translate some of the words to fully understand what the incantation was, but it is a foot in the right direction.” She proudly smiled at me.
“That’s amazing!” I was hoping for more, but I didn’t want to discourage her, and I appreciated the effort she was putting into this. “Let me know if there is anything I can do to help.”
“I will, but unless you can translate old Drycarthian, it might be best for me to do the research.”
I laughed out loud, “Yeah, that is all you.” I twirled the end of my hair around one of my fingers, nervous to ask my next question since she was already helping me with something else. “I do have one more question to ask you, though, if you don’t think it would be too much.”
“Of course not, I love challenges! The more I can do, the better!” She leaned forward on the table, placing both hands under her chin, and her eyes glowed with curiosity.
“My friend from The Academy… she transferred here once I started my lessons. I’m hoping….”
She cut me off before I could finish. “You’re hoping to find a way to get her out of service.”
Damn, she’s good. “Yes, kind of, I want to get her out of service, but mainly I want to get her away from the one training her, Jane. She trained me, and she was HORRIBLE.” I added extra emphasis to the last word.
She didn’t say anything for a moment, thinking. Her eyes darted back and forth, looking at the table, and it was as if I could see the gears turning in her mind as she pieced her thoughts together. A moment later, she blurted out a question.
“Do you have a lady’s maid?!”
“A what?” I asked back.
“A lady’s maid! They help you dress, groom, bathe, and perform daily self-care tasks.”
“No, I don’t, but I don’t think I need one.” Obviously, not catching on to what she implied.
“It doesn’t matter if you need one, but if you wanted one, she would be able to spend every day with you, annnddd it would get her away from Jane.” Her hands motioned in a ‘come on’ kind of fashion.
“Ketra, you’re a genius!” I jumped up and ran around the table to hug her!
“I prefer intellectually gifted.” And she hugged me back.
I was going to ask Zendryk about this the next time I saw him, which just happened to be at breakfast the next day. He was deep in conversation with Ulric, and I was waiting for a lull before asking.
“I’ll be out of town the next couple of days, but I will be home in time for the ball.” He told Ulric, but then turned to me, “I'll be here today, but then Ulric will be teaching you your lessons while I'm gone .”
“Where are you going?” I asked the question already knowing the answer.
“Out of town on business.”
Right. It was always none of my business, business.
They chatted back and forth about what to focus on for training, and finally, I had my opening to ask when Ulric left to use the bathroom, or so he said. I wasn’t oblivious to the fact that the same servant girl walked by the open doors around the same time as he needed to relieve himself.
I fidgeted with my hair in between my fingers, trying to think of the words to say.
“Umm… May I ask you something?” My voice was lower and less confident than usual.
“Always.” He sat back in his chair, putting his arms up behind his head, his muscles strained against his shirt. Focus Avyn.
“Do you remember my friend Maya?” I tentatively asked.
“Of course, who wouldn’t forget that reunion, or the fact you ran out of the Professor's lesson?”
He stretched, his muscles flexing as he did. Fuck he looked good.
“Umm.. I was wondering if she could be transferred…. Ummm…” He crossed his arms. “If she could be transferred to become my lady’s maid?”
His lips curved gently, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes, and sadness loomed there.
“I don’t know if I have that kind of sway here. Staffing is more of my mother’s area of expertise.” He replied, lowering his arms while he did.
My heart dropped out of my chest, “That’s okay, I didn’t think it was a possibility, but I just had to ask.”
“I’ll see what I can do, but I don’t think it is a possibility, especially this close to the ball.”
“Honestly, don’t worry about it. You were so kind to me with Ares and helping feed the villages. I didn’t want to ask for another thing, but I had to. Seeing Jane berate Maya the last couple of days broke my heart.”
He looked at me with sad, knowing eyes, and his gaze gave me the final answer without him having to say anything else.
The rest of the day went by in a blur, and my heart ached for Maya every time I saw Jane lecturing her, which seemed to be every five minutes.
I caught Zendryk staring at me throughout the day; whenever I was lost in my thoughts about Maya, the same sad look from earlier was plastered on his face.
After dinner, we had only fifteen minutes of power training before Zendryk was called away by his parents.
He didn’t make me come with him, but a guard stood outside the willow tree.
I took the moment alone to sit down and relax, thinking back on the day.
My emotions were running wild. I felt grateful yet defeated; there must be some way to get Maya out of Jane’s clutches.
The frustration and anguish were boiling under my skin, and I looked at the flower that Zendryk had tossed to the ground moments earlier when he had to leave.
Focus on the flower. Focus all of your emotions into it.
Easy for you to say. Isn’t that what I’ve been doing? Getting more frustrated as I thought about my reply to the voice.
No. Focus.
I closed my eyes and thought of all the emotions I had been dealing with: sadness, happiness, anger, anguish, and desire.
The energy of all of them combined coursed through my body, and when I opened my eyes, the flower was floating in front of me.
I reached my hands out, palms up, to catch it. But how? I had been trying for weeks.
Again.
I closed my eyes again and did the same thing as before, pushing all of my emotions into the delicately petaled flower. It lifted from the palm of my hand, and I opened my eyes when I felt the emptiness in my palms.
Well done. Your emotions control your powers.
But how? I asked, but the voice didn’t respond.
I spent the next hour under the tree, moving flowers around and decorating the willow's branches and leaves. I had just finished placing another one when Zendryk's voice came from behind me. “Well, I’m impressed.”
The heat instantly rose to my cheeks, and I lost focus, dropping the last flower I was placing between the trees' leaves. Zendryk waved his hand and caught it mid-air. He motioned it towards me and gently tucked it into my braided hair. All without using his hands.
“I thought you’d be gone all night,” I asked, my heart fluttering alive.
His smile faded. “Disappointed I’m back?”
“No! I didn’t mean it that way… I just meant…”
He laughed, eyes sparkling with mischief, “I’m just fucking with you, Avyn.”
I’d rather be fucking him. Oh, shit, did I just think that?
Yes.
I rolled my metaphorical eyes. “How was your meeting?”
He looked up at all the flowers in the willow tree swaying with the branches as he answered, “Horrible, I didn’t even finish it.”
He left mid-meeting with his parents? The King and queen. And he’s acting like he didn’t care.
“Why did you leave?”
A sigh escaped his lips as he lowered his gaze to mine. “That’s a topic for another day.”
I guess that was the end of that conversation.
“So, what finally clicked? What house did you use?” He was trying to change the subject.
“I didn’t use a house…. And I heard… well, I just had a thought about trying my emotions instead.”
He looked at me with puzzlement. “Interesting.”
“What?” I responded, getting a little defensive.