Realizing that maybe this wassupposedto happen, I forced myself to sit back down and watch the fire, albeit cautiously. I still wasn’t convinced that the fire wouldn’t engulf everything around it at any moment. Suddenly, the white flames extinguished, making my head spin. We were left staring at a darkened, perfect representation of the symbol in Noah’s book on the scorched wood.
“What just happened?” I asked softly, never having experienced anything like that before. Honestly, I found it slightly unnerving that Noah hadn’t said anything yet.
I was so far out of my element it wasn’t funny. I wasn’t sure whether to be happy or freaked out about what had just happened. I was floating in the land of unknowns and needed Noah to clarify things. Quickly.
“That was the final test,” he admitted, pulling the wooden plank from the table after shutting the book. “You did very well, Kieran.”
I knew that Ishouldbe happy, but he still hadn’t answered my main question.
“But test for what?” I questioned as he put the book and the piece of wood back where they belonged. “Can’t you tell me now that I’ve finished?”
There was no way he was going to keep me in the dark, right? Since meeting him, he had seemed like he was on my side.
“All in good time,” he promised with a nod before gesturing for the door. “Now, if I had to assume, it's nearly time for combat training.”
He really wasn’t going to give me answers—fundamental answers that pertained to who, nowhat,I was. The urge to grab the book from the shelf and find answers for myself was overwhelming.
Bewilderment crept into my tone as I argued, “How am I not supposed to overthink this? You told me I likely have a dead affinity, and a powerful one at that!”
I couldn’t be an Elementalist, having failed every test in Alfemir for that. There was no way this was related to the fire itself. I was going to drive myself crazy trying to put the few pieces of this puzzle that I had together.
Before Noah could offer me a response, our attention was pulled to the sound of the front door opening to find that Steele had returned, right on cue. His gaze shifted over me to Noah before he arched an eyebrow. I watched curiously as the two of them seemed to have a silent conversation before Steele nodded stiffly, a flash ofsomethinggoing through his gaze. I wanted to call it disappointment, but I really didn’t know how to read him anymore.
“Eager to start training today, young man?” Noah asked, leading me from the office as we walked toward the door, his grip firm despite me dragging my feet and wanting to stay in his office until I had the answers I needed. “You weren’t even gone a full hour.”
“He probably wanted to watch me fail my tests,” I murmured absentmindedly as my mood soured.
Steele’s gaze narrowed, and his signature scowl deepened at my words. I didn’t spare him a second glance, focusing my eyes on the ground as I dropped the dagger to the bench and worked to put my shoes back on.
“She did well,” Noah announced loudly, pride seeming to fill his tone, but it only annoyed me now. He got his answers, but I wanted mine. My displeasure was likely all over my faceas I straightened. With a smile, he said, “Kieran, I promise I will be in touch with you soon so we can start formal training. Don’t worry about this little test until then, okay? Just focus on adjusting to living here. I know this is very different from Alfemir.”
If only it was that simple.Don’t worry about the magic we finally found within you. I know you’ve only waited twenty-three years to find your affinity, but yeah, no biggie.
“Okay,” I said with a nod when I was done mocking the situation in my head. I had to believe he was on my side. He’d shown me kindness and support, and somehow I needed to find a way to have patience and trust for him. “Thanks for making this a test I can leave with my head held high for once.”
“That was all you,” Noah reminded me before offering both of us another smile and turning on his heel, walking back to the office.
I shook my head and let out a heavy sigh as I watched his back, struggling to not just sit in his office and demand answers until I got them.
“So you passed,” Steele pointed out, startling me from my thoughts as he held open the door for me.
“I guess,” I offered, walking past him and to the porch out front. I was attempting to temper my joy at the prospect of finding my affinity so I didn’t feel let down when I finally got answers. The secrecy left me feeling on edge. “I’m not sure what came from that, but everything he had me do worked in the way he wanted, even though I almost set his desk on fire.”
Steele came to an abrupt stop and offered me a surprised look. “You didwhat?”
“It's not my fault!” I exclaimed, frustration in my voice at the accusation in his expression as his eyebrows slammed together. “He wanted me to carve a rune onto some wood and it caught on fire. He acted like it was normal!”
Steele stared down at me for a long moment before shaking his head. “Well don’t get too happy about how today has gone, Princess. We’re heading straight to combat training, and I have a feeling that won’t come with nearly as much ease.”
Andunfortunately,he was right about that.
Despite my bring-it-on attitude heading toward the training center and my confidence being bolstered by passing the test with Noah, it was two hours later that I realized I had never truly been put through the ringer when it came to physical training. I thought Ronan was rough during school, but Steele made those days a fond memory I wished to go back to.
Not just in the combat training sessions either, but during all of the warm-up that he insisted we do beforehand too. The man had the casual expectation that I could run a damn mile like it was nothingandfor me to stretch and bend in ways my body would never be capable of. All of that wasbeforemoving to hand-to-hand combat. Andtheneventually to weaponry with sparring swords. We finished with a cool-down run. I considered it the shave-a-year-off-my-life run, but Steele said it should have felt good for my body somehow since the light jogging pace was slower than our warm-up.
Steele lording over me after he knocked me to the mats during pretty much every combat exercise was going to replay in his mind in an endless loop of joy at night. I just knew it. The knowledge that I was going to feel every single bit of the training tomorrow when I woke up in pain was probably going to be what he jacked off to.
Supposedly, the whole day was just to find where I was at with my training. According to Steele, I was found supremely lacking, which was not surprising in the least. He didn’t even break a sweat after the entire day, but he practically had to peel me off the floor where I laid gasping at the end of our cool-down run. My chest burned like liquid fire was passing throughmy lungs, and my breathing was so labored I wouldn’t have been surprised if I passed out entirely.
