Chapter 23 Alfrie #2
I quietly follow the males around a corner, hiding in the shadowy alcoves along the hall and forcing my ears to block all other sounds but their voices echoing down the corridor.
“My mate’s sister says she wants to locate it after the attack on the princess yesterday. I don’t blame her. I certainly don’t want to be here when the Unseelie Court returns to finish the job.” He cackles, “Not that I believe a village is actually out there.”
The other male simply nods his head, and they continue rolling their barrel into the kitchens at the end of the hallway, disappearing behind two swinging wooden doors.
It’s just a rumor. There can’t possibly be any truth behind it. Townfolk love to make up stories to get them through the day. That’s all it is.
My shoulders slump with an unexpected heavy sadness that simultaneously weighs on my mind. I stand straighter, walking back in the direction I came from, stuffing my hands into the pockets of my black trousers. I laugh at myself for even considering such a rumor could be true.
But then—what if it is?
The thought plagues me as I hurry down the last set of stone stairs toward the courtyard. Alix and Zara are in the middle of a fencing match when I cross the courtyard to join them.
“Yes. That’s it. Okay, maybe not quite like that—” Alix blocks a hit from Zara just above his elbow and easily disarms her. The sword tumbles from her hand and lands tip down in the dirt directly in front of me.
“Sorry.” Zara bites her bottom lip and rushes to grab the weapon. I pull the sword from the ground by the hilt and hand it over. Her fingertips brush against mine and she flashes a half-smile at me as she takes the weapon. “Thanks.”
Her thick dark lashes make the gold in her eyes shine brighter, and my gaze lingers a moment too long.
“Um—welcome.” My mouth curves up slightly.
She already has a couple of cuts on her arms, one over her knee, and a small gash just under her eye.
They couldn’t have been at it for more than twenty minutes and she’s already scarred.
“I just want to show her a few more methods of attack before you two work on shifting.” Alix waves the princess over to stand in front of him again.
“Take your time. I can see you have a lot to cover.” I take a seat on a pile of grain sacks near the brick barracks. I stare out past the stables and the horses grazing in the pasture, down to the tree line of the forest. What if what I heard in the hall is true?
What if they are still out there?
Alix raises his eyebrows. “Indeed, we do,” he says, bringing me back to the present.
I laugh then cover it by coughing into my hand when Zara glares at me.
“Hey! I’m not that bad!” She pouts, looking ever the spoiled princess she is, then her face ignites with sheer determination as she charges for Alix. She holds her sword at waist level, and his eyes widen as he throws his hands up.
“Whoa whoa! Zara, no, stop!” He pivots swiftly to the side, narrowly avoiding being impaled by her blade.
She stops short and plants the sword hard into the ground in front of her feet. She leans on the pommel staring confidently at Alix. “See?” A mocking smile spreads over her lips.
“That was. Not bad.” Alix tentatively reaches for the weapon and sheathes it. “Let’s pick this up later.” He pushes a hand through his hair and glances at me. “She’s all yours.” He nods to Zara and edges away from her as if she’s a wild animal he doesn’t want to turn his back on.
Great. I brush off imaginary dirt from my pants as I stand. “Are you ready?”
Zara studies me, her arms crossed over her chest. “You’re not human today.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Were you not present for your training just now? I need to be in my strongest form in case you try to kill me.” I stare back at her with absolutely no emotion, but my traitorous mouth lifts slightly when her lips twitch.
She sneers. “Funny. Let’s just get this over with.”
“Fine. Okay, what kind of shifting have you practiced before?”
“What do you mean?”
I take a sharp inhale. Gods it’s going to be a long morning. “Methods? Have you practiced with different shapes? Have you been able to master the process of image conjuring?”
She stares blankly at me and shrugs her shoulders casually. “Maybe?”
“Maybe.”
She shrugs again.
I suck my teeth. “You know, most of us learn how to focus and hold onto images when we’re faelings.”
“After my mother died, my father didn’t let me do much, especially in the way of magic wielding.
Byron always said it was unnecessary for a princess.
” Sunlight pours over us illuminating a splatter of tiny freckles over her nose and cheeks.
A feature I hadn’t noticed before. Her hazel eyes shine like pure gold in a complete juxtaposition to her ivory skin and white-blonde hair.
It’s insanely distracting.
I lose my train of thought. I drag my gaze away and speak to the ground. “I see. Okay, new tactic. Let’s start from the beginning.” I dare to look at her face again. “It’s easy to pull the image of what you want to change into. Close your eyes.”
She obeys and I can finally focus on my teaching instead of the golden intensity of her irises.
“We’ll start with something simple. Picture a hummingbird and block any other thoughts from your mind. Now, you have to—”
Her eyes shoot open. “Hang on. I thought this was supposed to be automatic. Like, I blink or whatever and my body chooses my form.”
“Sort of. The exercise I’m showing you is the building block to that. You have to be able to mentally hold onto your shape once you shift.”
She huffs, “Listen, we don’t have years to learn this thing. Can’t we skip to the transforming part?”
I pinch the bridge of my nose. “That’s not how it works. I can help you, but you need to be patient and go through the steps.”
“Fine.” She throws her arms in the air, and her eyes roll skyward. She shuts them tight and heaves a dramatic sigh. “Hummingbird. Got it.”
I swallow the expletive on my lips and remind myself that she’s a princess, and this is the task I’ve been assigned.
I take a calming breath. “Great. Now, begin to deconstruct the bird in your mind. Mentally strip it apart, feather by feather, remove the bone and muscle and focus on the beating heart beneath.”
The creases between her eyebrows deepen. “Weird, but okay. I’ve removed everything but the heart.”
I soften my voice to help her keep her imagery intact. “Brilliant. Start rebuilding the animal in reverse order, but this time, think about your own beating heart. Your own bones and muscles and limbs. Blend them together in your mind and—”
“Ugh! This is so stupid.” Zara scowls at me. “This sounds like a load of crap. Do you even know what you’re doing?” She shakes her head. “Just forget it.”
“Are you serious? Do you think I want to be out here teaching a spoiled princess how to shift? Something that we’re supposed to learn pretty much when we enter this world?” Screw my assignment. I hope I get the shit beat out of me. I’ll tell them it was worth it.
Her jaw drops to the ground. “Spoiled? I’m spoiled? Do you not remember who you are speaking to like that? I’m a princess, for gods sake! How dare you.” Her arms cross tightly in front of her chest, a pose she’s presented more times than I can count in the short time that I’ve been at Masseda.
“How dare I? How dare you. You don’t know me. I might not be a self-absorbed royal or courtier but there must be some reason why it’s me your father and Hardin chose to teach you this skill. So, clearly, I ‘know what I’m doing’.” I step toward her and cross my arms over my chest too.
We both scowl at each other.
She steps toward me and cocks her head to the side, an eyebrow rising high on her forehead. “Prove it.”
Her body is inches from mine, and I can’t breathe, wholly disarmed. I step back. “What?”
“Prove it. Prove you know what you’re talking about. You say you can shift into several different animals. Prove it.” Her eyes narrow and a smirk plays at her lips, challenging me.
If I wasn’t so irritated with her behavior, I would have to admit that she looks rather adorable right now.
I mask a smirk of my own and shake out my shoulders.
“Fine. You want me to show you how it’s done?
I’ll show you. But don’t think I didn’t have to learn the basics before I was able to do this. ”
“Yeah, okay, whatever. Get on with it.”
“With pleasure, Your Highness.” I lower into a mock bow.
I close my eyes and empty my mind save for an image of a wolf.
It’s a little cliché, but I’m trying to prove a point.
I’ve mastered the deconstruction and blending of bodies and I’m instantly elongating my limbs, my fingers shrinking and fattening into paws.
My back arches uncomfortably, and I’m on all fours.
My nose juts out and my teeth extend into sharp enamel canines that can gnaw through bone.
My vision sharpens but I can no longer differentiate colors, and I watch Zara, waiting for a response.
She isn’t amused, her lips pursed. “Cute. Now do something else.”
I growl at her. But fine. I mentally pull back on my front limbs and my paws flutter to long feathers while my hind legs straighten and shorten. Suddenly, I’m airborne, wings beating rapidly as I swoop low around Zara, her long hair lifting with the breeze I’m creating.
I hover in front of her, a red-tailed hawk. She shrugs.
I vacate all thoughts from my brain once more. Except the image of a man. I latch onto the feeling of wanting to forget everything, wanting to feel nothing at all. I deconstruct the man and focus on the blackness, loneliness, and complete emptiness of my human form.
When I open my eyes, Zara is studying me, finally seemingly impressed. I plop down on the grain bags near the building where I’d watched her sword fighting. I’m utterly exhausted. I lean forward and rest my forearms on my knees. “There. Are you satisfied?”
“Can you teach me how to shift into a human?”