Chapter 13
Chapter
Thirteen
The Veil is fraying. They say they’re able to repair it.
But this hasn’t happened in the who knows how many hundreds of years the Veil has been in place.
Why now? What happened now that it’s begun to fray?
And such confidence that it can be repaired, when we have no idea how it was created in the first place?
But no one seems to share my worries. They just tell me to go off like a good little princess and do good little princess things. As if I’ve ever done that.
— From the journal of Violet Andrever
Iwas now such a common sight in the kitchen that no one paid me any special attention, which was exactly how I liked it.
Now, they included me in their chatter and gossip, and I learned another side of the culture of Valdris, one that resonated with me significantly more than anything I’d learned about the noble court.
The subject of conversation today was Ignistar, the upcoming winter solstice, the largest of the High Day celebrations.
It had been the most celebrated High Day in Fairhaven, too, but it sounded like the residents of Valdris went all out, nobility and staff alike.
There would be two parties in the castle—one for the courtiers in the Great Hall and one for the staff in a massive hall near the kitchens.
I wondered how to get out of going to the upstairs party and be invited to the downstairs one instead.
It was times like these that I missed Nana more than ever.
At home, we would have been picking out the best pine tree we could find, carting it back to our cottage, and decorating it with ribbon and pieces of lace.
I wondered how she would get the tree by herself this year.
Or maybe she wouldn’t put a tree up at all.
That thought made me inordinately sad and I turned my attention back to Cadhla and Mona, two of the kitchen maids, who were explaining the traditions to me.
“It’s beautiful!” Mona gushed. “Everything is decorated with pines and flames. If we’re lucky, it snows that night. And everyone wears red to honor Ignis.”
“Do you have a dress, my lady?” Cadhla asked.
With my mouth full of food, I hesitated. There was a wardrobe full of dresses in my room but I had no idea if any of them were appropriate.
Cadhla continued nervously, “My sister is a seamstress here, if you’d like to have her craft something—”
“Cadhla, don’t impose on the princess,” Granya said, chopping vegetables with a well-practiced hand.
“Cadhla’s sister is the best,” Mona quickly added.
I swallowed thickly. “She isn’t imposing. I’d love it if your sister made my dress.”
Cadhla beamed. “You won’t be sorry, my lady. With her body channel, she ensures everything fits to perfection. And her soul channel helps her know exactly what makes everyone feel confident.”
“Now that the dress is covered, you just need to decide who you want to dance with,” Mona said, a teasing gleam in her eye. “Maybe someone who’s tall, handsome, brooding, and joins you every morning for breakfast?”
I hid my grin as Cadhla smacked her. “You can’t tease the princess about the Champion, even if—” She cut herself off, her eyes going wide as she stammered something and hurriedly turned to the stove.
My neck prickled and I didn’t have to turn to know that the subject of their conversation had just entered. I always knew when he was near.
Since our fight a few days ago, he had appeared in the kitchen every morning like clockwork, a few minutes after I arrived.
He also showed up in the library in the afternoon while I was training with Finn, then accompanied us to dinner.
He had taken my complaints to heart, and the fact that he made himself available made butterflies flutter in my stomach whenever I thought about it.
Mona giggled and hurried to join Cadhla. Granya just rolled her eyes and placed another plate next to mine as Griff slid into a chair next to me. His shoulder brushed mine, but he didn’t move away.
Hyperaware of where we were touching, I smiled up at him. “Good morning.”
“Good morning, Princess.” His voice was gravelly, as though it was the first time he’d spoken this morning. His hair was tousled as if he’d forgotten to comb it when he’d dressed in his typical black, but he gave me that private smile that crinkled the corners of his eyes.
“You’re late,” I said, although he wasn’t. “I was starting to think you’d forgotten about me.”
“Impossible.” He reached for his coffee, his arm brushing against my chest and those butterflies in my stomach went absolutely wild.
Somehow, I finished my food, passing my plate to the maid who came to collect it.
“Thank you, your highness.” She bobbed a quick curtsy.
I swallowed my groan of frustration as I started to stand. “Please, just Lexa.” I didn’t know how many times I would have to tell them to call me by my name, but I really hoped someday it would stick.
“Princess.” Griff had stood immediately when I did and now held my chair for me.
“Not helping,” I hissed at him.
The maid looked at Griff through lowered eyes before addressing me. “The Champion calls you ‘Princess.’”
I thought I caught a glint of amusement in his face and I rolled my eyes at him. “The Champion is special.”
As I passed him and he fell in step next to me, he murmured, “Glad you finally noticed.” I shivered involuntarily as his breath whispered against my ear, that comment just for me.
“You know you can stop calling me Princess at any time, right? I don’t need you reminding me who I am.”
“Maybe it’s not to remind you. Maybe it’s to remind myself. Princess.”
I let out a groan. “I’m going to hit you.”
“You’ll only hurt yourself again.”
I exhaled sharply through my nose. I hated that he was right.
We walked along in silence, but a comfortable one, until we stepped out into the bright sunlight at the training yard.
“This is where I leave you.”
I shaded my eyes to look up at him, the sunlight glinting on his hair. “You’re not coming to training?”
“I’ll let Kaia torture you solo today. But I’ll find you later.” His voice dropped, and my skin tingled as his words swept over me, the promise clear in his eyes. With a slight incline of his head, he took his leave.
I watched him walk away, his broad form striding off into the distance before I made my way down the stone steps. I may have skipped a little as I entered the training yard, but my demeanor abruptly changed when I saw Kaia waiting for me. It appeared Griff was right—torture it was this morning.
I joined her in the sparring ring, practice sword in my hands.
“Attack.”
I stared at Kaia questioningly, my eyes darting down to her empty hands.
“Attack,” she said again.
“You don’t have a weapon.”
“I don’t?” Her voice raised in mock dismay, before hardening back to her normal tone. “Not your concern. Attack.”
I knew Kaia well enough now to know that I had better do what she said.
I brought my sword up and lunged at her with a cutting motion.
Instantly, her hands came up as if she was holding a sword, and mine was blocked before it ever got close.
I put more of my body weight behind it, but couldn’t move my sword any closer to her.
It was as if she was holding a sword made from—
“Air,” I breathed, impressed.
Still in a fighting position, the pressure on my sword released, and she launched into a flurry of attacks.
Now that I knew what she was doing, I could almost see the air sword shimmering there.
I pulled up my air channel to see if that would help.
It did, but it also distracted me enough for her to hook my sword, sending it flying out of my hands.
Undeterred, she continued her attack. I flung myself on the ground and rolled behind her. She pivoted and started attacking anew.
“Call up your own,” she instructed, giving me no time to think as she continued her advance.
Instinctively, I flung out a hand, and a sword made of pure fire appeared. I didn’t have a chance to be impressed with myself before I had to use it to block her attack.
“Interesting choice,” she remarked.
“It’s the only element I’m wielding with any regularity.”
“You should work on that.”
I gritted my teeth, both from the effort and her comments. “I am.” I met her blow, sparks crackling.
“Good girl.”
We continued the fight.
Even though I’d now been training daily with her for over two months, I was still no match for her in terms of speed and skill.
Before too long, she had her sword of air at my throat.
I could feel it hovering there. If she lost control for a single moment, it would slice through me instantly.
I had no idea how air could do that, but I knew instinctively it would.
I raised my hands, the flames of my fire sword spluttering out, until I clenched my fist and they disappeared entirely.
She released her blade with a whisper of a breeze and stood straight, looking more winded than usual—which was to say she looked slightly tired since she never broke a sweat.
I, on the other hand, was sweating profusely.
“Why do we even use real swords if we can do this?” I asked, breathless.
“Feel the exertion? It’ll tire you quick.
You only have to concentrate on one thing with the physical weapon.
A channelblade will drain you fast. But you should be able to use every weapon in your arsenal.
You never know when you may be without a physical weapon.
Go on now.” She gestured to the doorway.
“Get back to the castle before you’re dead on your feet. ”