Chapter 10 #2
“Cillian was always a piece of filth, but did he attack you because he’s a bastard and thought he could get away with it, or for some deeper reason?
Is he working alone or are there others who will try now that he’s failed?
” He looked away from me, and when he met my gaze again, his piercing eyes were filled with determination.
“He caught me off guard.” With some distance from the attack, I was now just pissed at the way I had reacted. I’d known how to handle that and I’d completely fucked it up. “I’ve dealt with men like that before. I made the mistake of thinking he’d back off with a sneer. I should have known better.”
“You shouldn’t have to know better,” Griff growled.
“It is unacceptable for you to be attacked in your own home. It will never happen again.” He knelt in front of me, clasping my hands in his.
The warmth of his callused hands caused a tingle to flow through me.
Our eyes met, and I was startled at the ferocity that existed there.
“I will protect you by any means necessary, Princess.”
I heard the vow in his voice, and closing my eyes briefly, accepted it.
After a sleepless night spent tossing and turning, going over and over in my mind what I could have done differently, I once again spent the early morning in the kitchens, taking solace in the cheery fire crackling in the massive hearth next to me. The smell of fresh bread permeated the air.
There had been several more guards stationed about my usual paths this morning, many of them soldiers I recognized from the training yard, which I had no doubt was Griff’s doing.
He hadn’t gone so far as to assign anyone to follow me around—likely guessing correctly that I would have balked at bodyguards—but I was certain that was on his list of options.
I was toying with my breakfast, still thinking about this mysterious faction and the threat against me, wondering when Griff would make an appearance to check on me, when Finn arrived, moving toward me with purpose.
He wrapped me in a big bear hug, then stepped back as he released me. “I looked for you last night and couldn’t find you. Lexie, are you alright?”
I struggled with a smile but eventually managed it, although I was sure he saw straight through it. “Mostly just shaken. And pissed.”
He sat next to me and curved an arm around my shoulder, giving me a quick squeeze. “All of that makes perfect sense. And it would also make perfect sense if you weren’t alright.”
“I’m fine,” I said softly. “But”—my voice hardened—“it threw into stark contrast the fact that I know almost nothing about this place. About my powers. About the people here. Who to trust and who to not.”
His hazel eyes, more a warm brown than Griff’s piercing green, met mine.
“I think I can help with at least one of those things. There’s only so much I can teach you, especially for channels I don’t have.
And you’re unfortunately going to need to learn in weeks what most learn in years, so I have enlisted others for your training.
There’s a strong fire wielder who just happens to be in residence, and he has agreed to teach you today. ”
“Only today?”
The corner of his mouth twitched. “He’s an interesting individual. We’ll see what happens today. Don’t worry, I cleared it with Kaia. She won’t come search you out in dereliction of morning sword fighting.”
I managed a small chuckle at that, and his eyes warmed further. “One other thing. Your new instructor requested you dress warmly.”
“What exactly are you getting me into, Finnegan Narvene?”
Finn shrugged, a corner of his mouth tipping up. “We’ll find out together. It’ll be an adventure, Lexie.”
I started to clean up my plate, but no sooner had I stood than a kitchen maid whisked it away.
I shook my head; every morning I attempted to clean up after myself and every morning they swept in to do it for me.
As uncomfortable as it made me, I understood that they viewed me as the princess and I would be hard-pressed to change that image.
I just hoped that I never became used to it.
I excused myself to run back to my room, and had a momentary hesitation every time I passed a darkened corner, as if every shadow held someone lying in wait.
This helplessness was a new feeling, and an unwelcome one.
I was glad Finn had found others to train me in the channels he couldn’t.
I wanted to be able to protect myself in this strange land, and magic was the way to do it.
I was already dressed in my normal leathers, which kept me warm enough, cold as I always was here.
But if the people who never seemed bothered by the cooler temperatures suggested I needed to dress warmly, I really did.
Rummaging through my closet, I found a fleece-lined set of leathers and a warm coat.
Those would have to work. After dressing and throwing on fleece-lined boots, I hurried back to the main hall.
There was still no Griff, which shocked me given the events of yesterday, but I found Finn standing there with a thin man, twirling a finger around a curl in his reddish beard.
There was something off-putting about him, potentially the fact that he gave off a scent of smoke, but Finn was in his normal, affable mood.
Before the man who I assumed was my new teacher could say anything, we were interrupted.
“Ah, Azar, is that you?”
I sighed. I knew that voice. Nothing good could come of this. Finn knocked my shoulder with his, bucking me up as I turned to face him.
“Zachariah.” Azar nodded, a sneer on his face that I was sure he thought looked pleasant.
“To what do we owe the pleasure?” Zachariah asked him.
“It’s not your pleasure I’m here for. Young Master Finnegan requested my presence.”
I glared at Finn. “I thought you said he just happened to be in residence.”
“I did. I just neglected to say he is in residence because I asked him to be here.” I fumed silently, while Finn added, “Look, I know he’s abrasive and an odd individual, but there’s no stronger fire wielder around, especially one I could get on short notice.
We run the risk of you exploding if we don’t get some of these channels under control. ”
He had a point. I had felt everything bubbling under the surface, straining to be let out. For now, I had a handle on it, but who was to say what would happen in the future.
“Nice to know that she is finally getting the training she requires,” Zachariah was saying.
“I don’t know if that was an insult at me or you,” Finn joked.
“Why choose just one?”
Azar finally answered enough of Zachariah’s questions to his satisfaction, and with a glare at me, he strode on. I smiled brightly. Fuck you too, Grandfather.
“Shall we get on with it?” Azar said impatiently, as if the delay had been all my fault.
“Where are we going?”
“The Mistrael Mountains, specifically Faelmont. There’s less chance of you destroying something up there when you lose control.”
I tried to take offense at the fact that he just assumed I’d lose control, but I realized he was probably right.
“We can’t just find someplace to practice here?” Finn asked for me.
“You want to risk her burning the castle?” was Azar’s snide response.
I looked around. “It’s stone.”
Azar gave me a pitying look. “Anything can burn, dear princess, if you want it enough.”
Okay then.
He looked at Finn. “Where’s that brother of yours?”
Finn shrugged. “Out.”
The single word smacked into me with such force I was surprised I didn’t stagger.
Ire flooded through me, narrowing down to a single thought: Griff was gone?
Without telling me? Would have been nice if he’d given me a heads-up he was leaving again.
Or checked in with me, or anything, after yesterday.
What the hell was so important that he had just left without saying goodbye?
Before I could ask Finn these questions, Azar sighed heavily and pulled out a chain with a medallion on the end. “I guess we’re doing it this way. Brace yourselves.”
He grabbed both of our hands and spun us into the ether. Unlike my few times teleporting with Griff, this one hurt. We were battered and pounded back and forth, bruising forces shuttering us, almost forcing us to lose our grips on one another.
We landed hard. I fell to my knees and retched.
“I should have warned you,” Finn said ruefully, gently rubbing my back as I heaved up the contents of my stomach. “Using an essence-wrought medallion for teleporting is a significantly rougher form of travel than going with a teleporter. And Griff is one of the best.”
He handed me a waterskin. Wordlessly, I swished it around my mouth and spat, then finally took in my surroundings. We were on top of a mountain, in the middle of a mountain range. Snow crunched under our feet—or in my case, knees. Thank Erde they had provided me with fleece-lined boots and clothes.
The back of my neck prickled with the feeling of being watched. I turned around, but saw nothing except a snowy landscape. As my nausea faded, I started to feel the chill, and pulled my coat around me. Nothing said fire practice like flirting with hypothermia.
“All recovered?” Azar asked, already turning away before I could respond. “Let’s begin.”
Finn extended a hand and hauled me up. “Don’t let him fluster you,” he said, for my ears only. “Whatever he throws at you, you can handle.”
I tried to believe Finn as Azar took a few sticks from the pocket of his coat. Clearing snow from a section of ground, he placed them in the center. Hovering his hand over it, flames burst from his hand to the sticks, instantly catching. I moved toward it, drawn by the heat and the power.
“I do not expect you to be able to generate your own fire yet, so we must have something to practice with.”
“I’m glad we’re setting the bar so low this morning,” I muttered.
Finn smothered a laugh and gave me an encouraging smile.