Chapter Fifteen War and Walls #2
After a quiet dinner alone in her room, she still could not let the nagging feeling go.
Perhaps she was just looking for a reason to blame her abysmal failure on.
She was a great fighter, one of the best in the realm, and Nox had beat her in a couple of moves.
She might have pinned him in the end, but that didn't count--not to Adan.
She couldn't let go of the dragging feeling that he had help—somehow.
Like the deck was stacked in his favour.
Her pride refused to let her think of any other option.
The thought that he might be the better fighter never crossed her mind.
Even if he was one of the best fighters she had ever seen.
She woke up early again that morning, having barely slept. Her mind refused to shut down, so she pushed the covered off in a furry of frustration and made her way downstairs.
Adan stood outside in the morning air in only a small white shirt that left her mid-drift and arms bare. Her tight leathers the only thing keeping her warm as she wrapped her knuckles. She kicked her boots hard against the small stones around her.
--
Nox woke to an odd repetitive banging. He rubbed his eyes and followed the sound that woke him. It came from the back of the house, and he brushed his curtain out of the way.
There she was, pounding her fist into a wooden post in the fence.
He could see from here the blood soaking through her wraps.
Every hit on contact made her wounds worse, but she did not stop.
Sweat beaded down her temples, and down her long neck.
Her curled hair pulled up high on top of her head.
She was all toned muscle and lean power, mixed with rage and pure graceful elegance, that is until she opened her mouth.
Nox dragged his large hand over his face.
He grabbed his closest pair of pants and headed for the door.
Adan's head was silent, her body numb. She couldn't feel the pain radiating up her knuckles into her wrist and down her arm each time her fist connected with the wood. She didn't hear when Nox called her name, and again when he was right behind her.
He made the mistake of touching her shoulder, she moved so quickly that he didn't see it coming.
Her bloody fist connected perfectly with his jaw.
He felt it instantly dislocate, and would have smiled if he could.
He snapped it back into place with a click, and he rubbed at it while it healed quickly back together.
Standing to his full height to stare down at the small creature that had just surprised him—him!
Something that had not happened in a very long time.
"OH SHIT!" She gapped, covering her mouth, her beautiful mix-matched eyes widened in horror.
"Are you okay?" Her hands reached for his face.
He broke out in a deep laugh, tipping his head back and howled.
Adan stood in shock and her arms dropped to her side.
Not only had she surprised him, but she made him laugh-- not a chuckle, but a full body, eyes squeezing, stomach clutching laugh.
He noticed as she swallowed the hard lump in her throat.
"Either I hit you so hard that I knocked some of your brains loose, or..." she angled her head, waiting.
"It has been a long time since I have been surprised, love." He still rubbed at his jaw. "that's all." He dismissed the pounding in his chest.
"You startled me." She rubbed at her arms, she could again feel the morning wing on her cooling skin.
That was when she noticed that he was standing in front of her in nothing but grey cotton slacks, not even shoes on his feet as they dug into the sand and small rocks.
It took everything in her to drag her eyes back up to meet his face. "Do you not own a shirt?"
"Apologies." He chuckled, reaching for her hand, his own engulfing it easily.
"We can't spare now," he clicked his tongue at her as if he were scolding a child.
"You've ruined your hands. You need to let your fingers heal."
She could feel his scorching touch through her wraps.
He let her hand drop slowly, but he made no move to step back as he towered over her.
She turned back to her now bloody post, about to continue, but his hand wrapped around her wrist, stilling her motion. "Which means you are also done."
Adan clenched her jaw, "I don't take orders from you," she bit out.
She tried to yank her arm free, but his grip was unyielding—not painful, just final.
He expected her to start pummelling him, but she turned to face him.
Somehow, she made an art of looking down at him, even if she was a foot and a half shorter.
"Tell me how you were so fast yesterday. Tell me how come I wasn't able to hit you."
Her blood hands hanging limp at her side.
"You had no problem with it today." Nox arched a brow.
She opened her mouth, but then closed it. Maybe she did overreact. Perhaps he was just that good, and she had to learn to accept it. The thought was beyond irritating, and she had a very hard time believing it. "I surprised you, you said it yourself."
"Maybe you just needed a clear head." He smirked like he had told a joke. She rolled her eyes and began pulling at her wraps. Her skin had healed to the fabric, and she ripped it away quickly, unable to hid her wince. His brow lifted at the movement.
She noticed it. "What?"
"You'll grimace at that but stay silent while that prick Darius tortures you?"
His green eyes burned with pure ire, but not at her, she realized.
Her shoulders bunched, she moved to turn her head away, but it was stalled by Noxs fingers.
His thumb and forefingers held her chin steady, and she did not pull away.
"I just... bury it." Technically, she built walls around her mind, keeping the pain out, and everything else.
It was one of the ways that she survived her life.
A gift from her great-grandmother. She was never as strong as Agnisus, she couldn't shield other people.
Adan could only shield herself, but it takes a tole, pulling away from your soul will do that.
That's what it felt like, locking down her feelings--going numb.
It was a ripping of the soul-- Nox knew the feeling well enough.
Nox's fingers tightened slightly, his eyes scanning her face like he could see the walls she had built. Like he was looking for cracks.
"Burying it doesn't mean it's gone." His voice was softer than she expected.
Adan swallowed hard, the weight of his gaze pressing against the parts of herself she kept locked away. "It works well enough," she murmured.
"For how long?"
The question landed like a blade between her ribs.
Too long. Not long enough.
She yanked her chin from his grasp, stepping back. "We're not talking about this."
Nox let her go, but his gaze remained steady, knowing. He didn't push. Instead, he crossed his arms over his bare chest. "You want to know how I was so fast yesterday?"
She exhaled sharply, grateful for the shift. "Yes."
A slow smirk curled his lips. "Because I knew what you were going to do before you did it."
She narrowed her eyes. "That's not an answer."
Nox tilted his head. "Isn't it?"
Before Adan could snap, three things happened rapidly: an unnatural amount of wind untucked Adan's hair from behind her ears. The ground shook with extraordinary strength as a weight landed near them and Nox moved in front of Adan as if he were—
"I do not need your protection, you big oaf." She knocked Nox out of the way, "besides, it is only Thammas." She waved to the male, who was as tall as Nash, with shoulder-length white hair and bat like wings.
"Only Thammas?!" He looked outraged.
"Where is Asha?" Nox furrowed his brows at the arrival of his second.
"Worry not, Asha's fine. She sent me." He waved off his head of house like he was a bug.
Until Thammas took a step back, and surveyed the two of them standing side by side.
Nox shoeless and shirtless, the blood dripping from Adan's fingertips.
"I half expected one of you to be missing an eye, or something of more importance."
He winked at Nox, dropping his dark eyes between his legs. "Sire." He inclined his head.
"Why are you here?" Nox crossed his large tattooed arms over his chest. But by the dread on their faces, they knew what Thammas was about to say.
"The King has summoned you."