Chapter 21
The next few days were uneventful. I never mentioned my nightmare to Dion, and the more time passed, the easier it was to let go of the unease I felt toward him.
After all, it hadn’t been his fault what his nightmare alter ego had done.
It would be unfair if I allowed my horrible dreams to influence the view I had of him and just avoided triggering his murderous side even more than usual.
The first lesson in self-defense after the nightmare had been a challenge. Seeing and holding the midnight dagger had cost me some nerves, but I’d shoved everything away from me, hopefully forever. After all, it’d only been a dream.
Sadly, I wasn’t a natural at fighting.
In my most secret fantasies, I would pick up a weapon and surprise everyone with how fast I’d master it.
Unfortunately, reality grounded me fast, and I had to begrudgingly admit to myself I wasn’t a prodigy and would never become a master fighter.
So I took my hopes and morphed them into more realistic expectations.
Dion would train with me every day, if possible, until I at least could defend myself. Sometimes, I hated reality.
Then there were the other lessons. Alongside Dion’s sensitivity, other problems added to the challenges of training with Thain.
What made it difficult for me was that every time Thain took from my Potential, I felt dizzy and highly uncomfortable, and there had been two other occasions where I’d fainted.
Luckily, the others kept Dion away from magic training and distracted him as much as possible, or he would undoubtedly have gone on a murder spree.
Thain found it easier, at least according to him. He mentioned how sometimes he had to push through ‘something’ to reach my Potential, but in general, he assured me that it wasn’t hard for him to do so.
Antas, who acted as our constant supervisor, was thoughtful and said he’d never heard that the Wielder had to push through ‘something’ to reach for Potential.
He’d wondered if I actually was able to put up some sort of defense and had pondered about how to find out for sure.
But it never felt as if I struggled or resisted.
After all, I needed this to work because only then I could be of use.
In the end, Antas dropped the topic because, sadly, no one had secure knowledge about how using an Amplifier’s Potential was supposed to feel.
So I endured all the discomfort in hopes of fast improvement and stopped talking about my suffering.
A few more days blended together in that manner. We didn’t meet a single soul, and when Thain and Ireas rode out for provision trips twice, no one seemed to notice or recognize them.
One evening after we set up camp, roughly ten days after we’d entered Marsia, Fig beckoned us around the campfire.
Dion stalked after me as usual, and Antas was already sitting on a log, eating some bread with cheese. He’d been absent for the last two days, and to see him unharmed was a relief.
Yes, Dion had told me his uncle had been scouting farther ahead than usual and that my worries were unfounded, but it was good to see him safe and sound.
With a bright smile, I sat down next to Antas on the natural bench, which was large enough for the two of us.
Dion, however, had one of his unpredictable days, and he softly growled as he squeezed in between Antas and me. I squealed and almost toppled off the log, but Dion caught me, huffed, and pulled me onto his lap without further comment.
Antas glanced over at us with an amused chuckle, but I tensed at Dion’s shenanigans. That he was so close had become familiar to me, but there was more than enough space around the campfire that we could both have our own sitting spot.
We’d shared a horse for weeks, and I’d given up trying to maintain a certain physical distance from him on horseback because it was simply impossible.
I didn’t even blush anymore when he hardened against me, which was an irregular occurrence.
I was educated enough to know that this was a biological reaction happening to men beyond their control.
It meant nothing, and I definitely hadn’t been affected by it apart from the one time I’d been napping and had woken up with a nasty flashback to that fateful encounter in Credenta’s stable.
Luckily, I’d pushed the memory aside before Dion could have noticed that something was wrong.
But sitting on Dion’s lap when there was plenty of free space around? It felt too close—too intimate—not to mention that we were on full display. I was uncomfortable, so I tried to wriggle out of his hold.
Dion chuckled and wrapped his arms around my waist as I attempted to escape. He’d been in a playful mood all day, and—as usual—I was his favorite victim to annoy.
His voice was a mere whispered purr against the shell of my ear, a sound that had sent shivers down my spine more than once. “If you don’t sit still, I might get the idea that you’re intending to provoke me, Jama. But feel free to continue. I enjoy it a lot.”
I fought against blushing, but my cheeks betrayed me, and blood and heat rushed to my face. Instantly, I stopped moving and remained as still as a statue while Dion just laughed softly in my ear. Of course, he was amused, the godsdamned bastard.
Ireas approached and sat down on the ground, but I ignored him in my embarrassment, and I hoped he’d give me the same courtesy.
“But if you really want to get up, you’re free to do so, of course.” Dion’s arms loosened a bit.
Thankful for his change of mind, I freed myself from my living chair, quickly lowered myself down to the ground next to the log, and pleaded with my face that it should stop glowing in various shades of red.
But my attempts to get a grip on myself were in vain, again thanks to Dion. “Well, admittedly, it also has its certain appeal when you sit at my feet, Jama.”
“What’s wrong with you today? If you feel any special urges, I bet you can find a tree with a suitable knothole somewhere in this forest. Preferably far away from me!”
“Of what special urges are you talking about, Jama? I can’t think of anything that would require a knothole.
” Dion’s dimples were on full display, and I hated my stupid self for reacting with weak knees every single time they were visible.
One thing was clear, the bastard was enjoying my embarrassment way too much.
I huffed and refused to acknowledge him any further. I didn’t have to see his smug grin to know he thought he’d won this interaction. And sadly, I knew he was the winner too.
Finally, Fig and Thain arrived at the fire and saved me from further awkwardness. I chuckled as I deliberately studied the redhead longer than usual in Dion’s presence, and he instantly flashed me his most charming smile in return. Did I play with fire? Most certainly, but I didn’t care.
Just seconds later, I got a reminder of why it was a bad idea to provoke Dion and his temper when he growled and pulled me back onto his lap without warning.
“Come on, Dion. Really?”
“What did you think was going to happen, Jama?” Dion snaked his arms around my middle in a massive territorial display, and his eyes sparkled in unison with his grin.
“Bastard.”
Fig cleared his throat to interrupt our dispute while tapping his foot.
“Tomorrow around noon, we’ll reach Kalcas.
As you all know, Antas scouted ahead and found out that there are no city guards monitoring who enters the city, and he didn’t encounter posters of Nayana or us.
Since it’ll be easier to visit the library if we stay at an inn for the duration of our search for the seer’s whereabouts, we’ll do just that and rent some rooms. Of course, it’s a risk to show ourselves, but if we’re spotted going in and out of Kalcas every day, it would raise suspicion for sure. Therefore, we’ll take—”
“Damn, yes, finally. I’ll take a single room.
Or do you want to share, Ireas?” Thain started to vibrate with excitement as soon as Fig mentioned the possibility of staying at an inn, and he pressed his lips together as he tapped his foot on the ground.
He ultimately failed to keep his mouth shut soon after this behavior had started, and he interrupted Fig—who wasn’t happy about it at all.
Ireas, on the other side of the clearing, turned scarlet and averted his gaze. Huh. Suspicious.
Dion failed to suppress an annoyed groan, which soon turned into something more sinister when Thain disregarded every warning sign and babbled on. “Hmm, I guess that’s a no then? Well, do you want to share a room then, Nayana?”
My eyes widened as they flickered from Thain to Dion and back. For sure, I wasn’t the only one with deep concern written all over their features.
But Dion only tensed up and latched onto me tighter, glowering at Thain. My concern gave way to confusion, but then I caught Antas nodding at him affirmatively, and a small suspicion rose inside my mind.
Ignoring the two troublemakers completely, Fig went on.
“After taking care of our horses and the luggage, we’ll head to our rooms and stay there,” he shot a narrow-eyed look at Thain, “so we can head straight to the Royal Marsian Library in the noble’s district early the next morning.
Getting in normally wouldn’t be a problem, but we’ll need to gain access to the restricted section.
Only the ruling families of Ivreia and scholars with a special permit can get inside. ”
“I’ll start forging the papers immediately.”
My gaze lingered on Thain before darting from one man to the other. I doubted they could fool anyone into thinking they were scholars, no matter how talented the redhead was. Dion shifted slightly underneath me, and a yelp of surprise from me elicited an amused chuckle from my captor.
“No. We’ll have to infiltrate the section unseen.” Fig looked at Antas, who pulled some papers out of his bag.
I craned my neck and was surprised to see floor plans. “Did you steal blueprints of the library?”