Chapter 23 #2
Daegan looks around. “You don’t need to prepare anything for us. We’re simply here to train. Perhaps learn a thing or two. You’re the most superior army in the land, after all.” I don’t think his sarcasm is lost on anyone.
I risk a glance at Daegan again, whose intense glare is focused on Adrian as he stands slightly ahead of his group with his arms crossed.
Adrian glances at them, then nods. “Of course. Let me show you around.”
Daegan nods, his mouth pressed together tightly.
Adrian turns to me again. “Another day, okay, Elle?”
“Fine—”
“You’re not staying?” Daegan suddenly interjects.
“What the princess does is none of your concern. Dayvan, is it?”
“If we can train, why can’t she?” Daegan replies, not standing down even a little bit. And not caring to correct him.
Adrian narrows his eyes at him. “How do you know she’s here to train?”
Daegan shrugs, not breaking eye contact with him.
“I don’t have time today. Not that this matter is any of your concern, as I said.”
“Then I’ll train her,” Daegan finally looks at me fully, his eyes asking me for confirmation. I haven’t seen him since I stormed out on him in the dungeons. For a moment I forgot how mad I was at him.
“You will do no such thing. She’s remaining under my watch. I’m a captain of the King’s guard.”
A muscle in Daegan’s jaw twitches. “Okay. Then you teach her. But she should have a chance like anyone else. You don’t want your princess vulnerable, do you?”
Adrian looks like he’s fuming for a moment, but he shakes it off quickly, releases a sigh, then leans toward me, avoiding eye contact. “Stay here for a moment. I’ll be back.”
“Okay.” I can’t help but smile a little at my victory. I’ll ignore the fact that it’s only thanks to Daegan. Who I’m mad at.
“I didn’t need your help there,” I manage to whisper aggressively at Daegan before he follows Adrian.
“You’re welcome, princess.”
“I didn’t thank you, dick.”
Adrian glances back and sees some of the interaction, and though he can’t hear it, he still frowns as he walks off.
I sit on a bench as I watch them fade into the distance, Adrian leading the way on the tour. Now that I think about it, I probably should have gone on that tour. I haven’t been up here since I was young.
My stomach starts to feel jittery as I sit around with nothing to do, and it dawns on me that I should be doing something.
Do people stretch or something before they train for battle?
Should I be jogging around? I don’t know what to do with myself, so I stand, my feet spread apart, and bend down, touching my toes.
“If I had known we were going to be practicing sex positions, I would have come sooner.”
I whip my head up and spin to face my best friend. “How is that a sex position?”
“Your perky ass out in the air like that? Any man would be lucky to take you from behind.”
I stare at her.
She rolls her eyes, her whole head rolling with the movement. “Never mind.”
“You came,” I say with a smile, changing the subject.
“Yeah. Mostly just to keep an eye on you. You’ve been so weird and impulsive lately, I need to make sure you don’t make any stupid decisions.
” She eyes me, twisting her mouth to the side.
“I mean… any more stupid decisions. Let’s not pretend that little jaunt to the inn wasn’t completely ridiculous. Whatever you were really doing.”
“I’ll take it.” If she only knew half of it. She doesn’t even know that I was fighting venomous spiders in a dark forest a few days ago.
“So what are you doing though, really?”
“I have no idea, honestly. Adrian is taking the dragons on a tour of the grounds, and I felt silly sitting around waiting. I think you’re supposed to warm up or something first.”
She scowls. “How are those pests always around?”
I laugh. “Pests? The castle grounds aren’t that large… I guess your afternoon with Raef went well yesterday, then?”
She laughs. “Oh yeah, that… I stuck with the story the entire time. Even found an old shed with some old broken carriages down by the stables. I think he actually started to believe me by the end. I really went into detail about last year’s show. The idiot.”
I laugh as she recalls more of the story, and then we watch random soldiers on the grounds, trying to figure out what they’re doing. Then we laugh more.
“We’re hopeless,” she says.
“No, we’re not.”
“Well, I am. I don’t have a lot of motivation for anything. Plus, you’d beat me in a battle all day.”
“What?” I look at her, perplexed. She can’t possibly think I’m tougher than her. I mean, muscle-wise, we’re both on the pathetic end, but she seems like she’d be scrappier.
“Yeah. I’m fire, you’re water. You’ll just douse my power every time. You’ll win ten out of ten times.”
I cock my head to the side. “True. But what about in hand-to-hand combat?”
“Maybe. But why do that when you can use your magic?”
“Maybe you can get a jump on me before I drown you?”
“Maybe…” She looks off into the distance, pondering.
“Why are we talking about me versus you anyway? We’re allies, not enemies.”
“Yes. I just meant for practice, we’ll probably have to go up against each other.”
“Right,” I sigh. “Well, good luck to you!” I say cheerfully.
“You wench.”
She smiles as she conjures a small fire in her hands, and I douse it immediately. Then she creates another, and I douse it again. We laugh and continue doing it. Her fire gets bigger and bigger, but I put it out every time.
“Fuck,” she says.
“You could really hurt me with one of those fireballs if you actually wanted to though. You know that, right?”
“Yeah,” she sighs.
“Meela? You showed.”
Adrian returns, not hiding the surprise in his voice.
“Yep,” she replies, eyeing me.
Daegan, Raef and the rest of their crew stayed behind at a nearby station that’s lined with various weapons. Swords, daggers, bows, staffs, and a lot more that I don’t know the names of.
Adrian stands in front of us, arms crossed, looking like he’s about to babysit two children. “Okay. What kind of experience do either of you have?”
“When we were ten, we had to take that elemental magic defense class…” I say.
“Uh huh?” Adrian says slowly.
“That’s it,” I say.
“Yeah, same,” Meela adds.
Adrian rubs his hand from his forehead all the way down to his chin. Slowly.
“They really should require us to take more combat classes in school. Elemental and hand-to-hand.”
“Why?” Adrian asks, genuinely curious. “You don’t even need this. Anyone who wants to join our forces has the option to do so, and they get all the proper training.”
“You don’t think regular citizens should learn to defend themselves too? At least a little?” I ask.
“Why?”
“A female was almost raped the other day. In our castle,” Meela adds. I love her.
The air shifts around me. Everyone stiffens.
“Okay.” He shrugs, looking around, unsure what to say. “Maybe we need to take a look at the school curriculum. I’ll bring it up to the king one of these days.” Great. Another reason for my father to get annoyed with me. But still, it’s worth it.
“Thanks.”
“Okay,” Adrian claps his hands together, moving closer to us. “I saw you guys messing around with your elements. We’re not doing that today.”
“Do we get to play with weapons?” Meela asks.
“No.” Adrian shakes his head. Vehemently. “You’re not going anywhere near weapons. Today you’re going to work on balance.”
“Balance?” Meela repeats.
“Yes.”
Adrian approaches me and grabs my shoulders with his large hands. I get a whiff of his cool pine scent. “Spread your legs,” he says.
Meela snorts. “Hot.”
We both shoot her a look. When I have to face him again, my cheeks feel hot. Memories wash over me from that night, and suddenly I’m all too aware of his muscles. Particularly his chest that’s directly in my line of sight.
I widen my stance and look up at him. “Like that?”
“Perfect. Now practice bending your knees just slightly.”
I bend my knees and he nods. “Good. Now keep doing that. Hold it as long as you can, then come up and rest. And repeat.”
“That’s it?” Meela complains.
“That’s it.” Adrian confirms.
Meela rolls her eyes and copies me.
“Head up,” he tells her. “Be ready for an attack.”
She tries it again, and he pushes her shoulder. Her foot falls back, catching her weight, then she recovers.
He nods. “Good. Keep practicing.”
He strides off toward where the dragons are, and my eyes fall on Daegan.
He’s not fighting. The other dragons are in heated sword fights with each other, but he’s just observing.
And before I have time to look away, his head turns my way, and we lock eyes.
Even from this far out, I can see his moody eyes like he’s right in front of me.
He gives one curt nod, and I look away, my eyes falling on Adrian, who’s also watching me.
Shit. I can’t catch a break. I hope he didn’t see me locking eyes with Daegan from across the training grounds. I don’t know what he’d think of that.
He cannot suspect that we’re some sort of allies.
I shift my attention back to Meela, who’s grunting in frustration next to me. “This is so stupid,” she complains.
“Yeah. It’s not quite as exciting as I hoped,” I agree with a sigh. “Maybe if we do good at this for a bit, we can move on to something more fun.”
“How long were you planning on staying here?” she asks with disapproval in her voice.
I shrug, looking away again as I balance on my partially bent knees. My eyes keep drifting back to the weapons area like I have no control over them. I curse myself and look away before anyone catches me looking.
I turn around so my back faces it.
Meela laughs beside me.
“What?”
“Is it Adrian you can’t keep your eyes off of, or is it Daegan?”
“Neither.”
“Or both?”
I sigh. “Can I tell you something?”
“Yes,” she says, sounding way too anxious. As if she’s been waiting for me to open up to her, and the moment has finally come.
“That night I saw the… murder.”
“Uh huh?”
“Adrian came to check on me after. I was feeling really… bad. Shook up. I’ve never seen anything like that before.”
She waits in silence. She’s not bending her knees anymore.
“We did some things…”
“You hooked up?” she gasps.