Unfortunately, her unwillingness to take more meant that it wasn’t enough to take away the bone-deep soreness of her muscles.
Maybe just a little bit more.
“Was that?—”
“Time to chew and walk, walk and chew. Let’s go!”
A strawberry was shoved into Lunara’s mouth before she could finish asking whose blood she’d just taken into herself, but she didn’t even taste it. Not after the potency of that gift.
Nyriadne’s. It must be. She’s the one who brought it, after all.
Lunara eyed the young Demon beside her as she hobbled through the door. She didn’t look like she held that much power.
She’s so young, and probably still coming into it.
True. And she was part of Lyriat’s family. A royal of the Montrealm.
“Hurry up!” Nyri grunted a few minutes later, dragging Lunara’s stumbling body down the corridor. “You’ve only got a couple of minutes left and we still have two turns to make and Hedda doesn’t like it when you’re late. She’ll have you doing something humiliating like scrubbing the the floors in the main hall at the height of the luncheon service.”
“Ach, away! Lyriat’s not going to let Hedda force one of his respected guests into doing anything of the sort.” Caius appeared out of nowhere and sidled up to Lunara, grabbing her firmly around the waist and hoisting her up straighter. “Come on, then, lass. Put your arm ‘round my shoulder. That’s it, nice and easy.”
Lunara choked back a sob. She couldn’t decide whether it bubbled up out of gratitude because he was doing most of the work for her, or because everywhere he gripped and bumped against her hurt. Spectacularly.
Or maybe it was because he, of all people, was being kind.
”Weeping shite,” he grunted when Lunara tripped over her own, numb feet. “I knew she’d insisted on you learning some basics, but this seems a bit far.”
“I would say this is standard for the Hedda regimen,” Nyri chirped.
Think she’s skipping just to rub it in that she can?
Probably not, but it certainly wasn’t helping Lunara’s mood.
They finally reached the main hall, staggering in like a pair of drunken revelers. Caius’s laugh boomed when he plopped her down onto a bench at one of the long tables and, help or not, she definitely thought about kicking him in the shins.
By some cosmic blessing, only Hedda and Faldir were within. Then again, it was only just registering that the windows around them were still dark and the space was being lit by the stones, not Solyrian.
Lunara slumped back, the table’s edge digging into her spine. “Why?” she whined. “Why am I awake when it isn’t yet daytime?”
Hedda huffed as she swaggered over, a vial pinched between her fingers. “Because it’s train with us now or everyone else later. Three, or three hundred. Your choice.”
Lunara was just getting ready to saylater!when she caught a glimpse of herself in the window, the sweating, unkempt, miserable reflection in its inky surface staring back at her.
Lovely. You know…
If she went later, it would mean Brand being there. Seeing her. Like this.
Take the tonic and get the bleeding fuck out of here.
“Now!” Lunara winced when her voice echoed, piercing. Clearing her throat, she managed a far more collected, “Now is wonderful.”
Hedda smirked and uncorked the vial. “Cheers, Sorcerit. You made it through your first day of endurance training. Now, we teach you how to fight.”
Every morning,Nyri woke Lunara up, pulled her out of bed, and helped her change clothes.
Every morning, she brought a tray with that same blood, and that same single flower. She still hadn’t gotten to see the trilliatum where they lay beneath the tree in their blanket of white and yellow and green, but she didn’t quite mind.
Because every morning, Lunara felt a little bit better.
