19
She’s gone in an instant and I realise just how difficult this might actually be, although I’ll never let her know that.
Giving Maeve the satisfaction and fueling her ego is not something I’d like to do.
I close my eyes and allow my other senses to take over, sound and smell is going to be my only advantage here.
What I didn’t tell Maeve is that I’m really doing this for myself. I need to learn to sense her when she’s invisible, to know where she is and what she’s doing at all times.
With my eyes closed, I can hear her quiet but efficient footsteps. She’s rounding me, getting ready to attack me from behind.
I don’t look, not wanting her to catch on to what I’m trying to do. Instead, I steady myself, planting my feet on the ground and bracing for impact.
She pounces on me in an instant, hanging onto my back with her elbow around my throat, threatening to restrict my airways.
I throw myself back onto the mat, hurting my tailbone as I do but no doubt hurting her more.
I wince as I hear the wind has been knocked out of her, she’s wheezing, each of her breaths sounding like they hurt.
I turn over, keeping one hand on her, so I know exactly where she is and straddle her to keep her down.
Maeve then punches my face so hard it whips to the side.
Pain radiates through my jaw and I move it slightly to try and shake it off.
I’ll admit, I wasn’t able to sense that one coming.
The punches keep being thrown at me as she’s wriggling beneath me but that’s her mistake. Through all her frantic movements, I can feel the wind rush past my face and I’m able to detect where her hands are and grab them.
“How?” I hear Maeve whisper.
I learn down towards where I hope her ear is and whisper.
“I always know where you are, love.”
Maybe it’s too cocky, especially when I certainly haven’t mastered this yet. But I enjoy seeing her squirm.
Until she aims for the place no man wants to be hit and I roll over with a groan.
“That’s not playing fair.” I grunt out at her.
I hear her soft laughter as she moves around the room, away from me.
Closing my eyes, I try to sense her again as I get to my feet.
“No one said anything about playing fair.” She mocks.
A smile comes to my lips. “And yet I feel like we’re both holding back.”
I open my eyes and hear her laugh through the empty space in front of me.
“Not for long.” Maeve says and kicks my stomach so hard I almost buckle over. I do my best to ignore the dull ache pulsing through my torso. I refocus and hear her quick footsteps, knowing she must be about to do it again.
The hairs on my arms stand up, the wind rushing past them as she kicks. I manage to reach out and grab her ankle midair.
I flip her and she slams to the ground, hard.
I hear Maeve’s sharp inhale of breath and feel her as she kicks her leg out of my grasp and swings to kick my legs out from under me.
I slam on my back with a loud thud against the mat.
Maeve climbs on top of me in an instant, straddling me.
With her fae powers she’s almost strong enough to keep me here. But I have years on Maeve.
I let her hold me there anyway, wanting to see what she’ll do.
“What games are you playing?” she asks as she pins my hands above me.
I ignore her and look over at Cole. “Gods this must look so weird to you.” I say and smirk.
“You don’t know the half of it.” He says as he crosses his arms. Not looking as amused as I am.
He’s warned me a few times about taunting the assassin, I just remind him that he’s guilty of it too. But I know the real reason he’s upset, he doesn’t trust her yet. I hope my commander is wrong about her, if only so I don’t have to hear him say the opposite.
I turn back to where Maeve’s face would be just as she moves her forearm to my throat and applies pressure. My breathing takes a hit and I struggle to inhale but it’s not enough to suffocate me, she’s still holding back.
“Yield.” She says sternly, power lacing her voice.
I reach up in an attempt to grip her throat. Our height difference means I can still reach it, even in this position. Maeve bats my hand away but that’s what I wanted. I grab her hand mid air and grip her throat with my other. Tight enough to restrict her but not enough to strangle her.
I bring her face close. “Never.”
We’re stuck like that for what feels like an eternity before I use my hips and strength to flip us over. Now I’m on top, again.
I get off her and flip her over as she’s fighting me.
I put her face down on the mat.
Maeve’s groaning and desperately trying to free herself but it’s no use from this position. I find her arm and twist it awkwardly around her back.
I cringe at the popping sound it makes but I know I haven’t dislocated it.
Maeve’s shoulder resists as I push further and I know I have her in the perfect spot.
“Yield.” I command.
She doesn’t reply, so I apply a little more pressure.
“Yield.” I repeat again.
She still doesn’t, she’s too damned stubborn. Just as I’m about to twist her arm even more, Cole interrupts.
“Enough.”
I turn and look at him, furrowing my brows.
He offers nothing in return, no emotions in his face. “You’re getting distracted, we need to get back to what we came here to do.”
At this, Maeve becomes visible again and my stomach twists at the sight of the position I had her in. Somehow worse now that I can see, not just feel. I drop her arm immediately and retreat.
I know better than to insult her by trying to help her up.
Maeve just looks at me and I can’t tell if it’s disgust, surprise or concern on her features, maybe all three.
My guess is, she’s never had someone able to keep up with her while she’s invisible. But considering my power is all mental, I’ve had decades on her to perfect my combat skills and senses.
“Right.” I say, clearing my throat, keeping my eyes pinned on Maeve’s. “We have a few drills for you and Cole to go through, you’ll be training to work together and utilise each other's powers.”
I gesture to Maeve. “For yourself, invisibility of course and for Cole, shielding.”
She only nods and looks towards Cole.
“Maeve?” I say, partly because I’m about to ask her a question but I also selfishly want her to look at me.
She turns her green eyes to mine, brows raised, asking me to continue with what I wanted to say.
“When you’re invisible, you mask your clothes and weapons too.”
“Yes.” She replies.
“Have you tried other things?”
“Yes.” She says again, I almost smile at how stubborn she is. Always making me pry the information out of her.
“Like what?”
“People.” She says casually as she shrugs.
“And does it work?”
“Yes but not for long, I’ve been training but the most I can hold them for is twenty minutes.”
“Interesting.” I muse before nodding at Cole. “Practice with him, I want you to turn him invisible and he will shield you both, while I do some… target practice.” I say as I casually place my hands in my pockets.
She throws me a dirty look and heads towards Cole.
I tense as she grabs his hand and I see him freeze as well.
Maeve looks up at him, her eyes softening ever so slightly.
“I have to be touching you to keep you invisible, the moment you let go, my power will release.”
He nods once and looks at me for confirmation. I guess Maeve is a little bit further behind in honing her powers than we had thought. But she is still quite young, Cole hadn’t learned to shield other people until he was fifty. I shrug at Cole as he waits for an answer.
“Let us begin.” I say as I take one of my hands out of my pocket and gesture towards them.
I turn towards the weapons rack and grab some daggers as they turn invisible and Cole hopefully starts to shield.
As I close my eyes, I try to hear them or smell them but it’s the energy, her energy that I feel to my left as I fling my dagger at the wall. The blade bounces off something and falls to the ground, before it even touches the wall and I know I’ve hit my mark.
I hear Cole swear and I laugh.
We do this until Maeve can’t hold it anymore and they become visible. I can see the sweat on Maeve’s brow, I presume from the amount of energy it took her to keep them both invisible.
I look down at their hands still connected. Maeve looks at me, notes what I’m looking at, before glancing back towards Cole and quickly dropping her hand.
“That’s enough for today.” I say abruptly, giving Maeve a pointed look. “Feel free to do what you wish for the rest of the day.” I add as a goodbye.
I hear Cole follow me as I walk out the door.
“How did you find us?” He asks, his voice strained.
I shrug and look across to him, as he catches up to me.
“I could sense her.”
“What do you mean?” Cole asks, his eyes accusing me of something.
“I don’t know how but I can sense her even when she’s invisible. At first I thought it was just me being able to hear her but it’s more than that.”
“I don’t like this.” He says as he crosses his arms, “there’s something off about this.”
“Maybe.” I consider, “but it’s going to be incredibly useful if she decides to try and run away.”
“You still think she will.” It’s not a question.
“Yes, I can tell she’s warming up to this place but there’s something about her— something that’s holding her back. I don’t believe for a second that she won’t leave once she feels like she’s done here.”
“So what do we do?” Cole asks.
I look away from him. “Nothing at this stage.”
He just looks at me confused and rightfully so. The commander always needs a plan for if things go wrong and he’s great at it. Hence why he is the commander of my royal guard, not just because he’s my closest friend.
“I just want to see what she does.” I say and shrug.