Erik silently moved through the area, taking in the crystals and stones strung up on strings and draped from the ceiling at the edge, which overlooked the field beyond the forest. There was a hammock weaved together by my mother’s hands still hanging on the side of the room. I used to come up to the tree house and lie in that hammock, swaying ever so softly for hours. Now and then, I got to a place where if I closed my eyes, I could imagine my mother was swaying me herself. My throat ached with the memories.
“This used to be my mother’s little escape. It’s pretty much everything I have left of her now,” I informed Erik as I walked to a small table with a couple of her books and a small jewelry box void of any jewels.
“Did she live here?” he asked, looking around the room.
“You know, I don’t actually know. We used to come here sometimes when I was little. It was our special hideout. After she was taken from me, I would come here to feel close to her. Italways felt like a safe place. I never brought anyone here before.”
“Not Edda or your two Bavadrin guards?” He turned to me.
“You mean Landin and Willis? No, none of them. I’m sure Edda knows of this place, but if she does, she has never mentioned it to me before. Landin and Willis know of it, but they too have never actually been here.”
“Then why did you bring me?” he asked, surprise coloring his features.
“I wanted to come before my leaving, but I didn’t want to come here alone tonight.” I walked around the small room, touching weathered wood and ripped fabrics, indulging in the memories. I could have brought Landin or Willis with me, though that was not who I wanted with me this night.
Erik tracked my movements with a peculiar look on his face.
“What?” I glanced at him.
He shrugged, lips curving up. “People look different when they are at home.”
“In what way?”
He had seen me in my land before, though always under his control.
“Their guard is down,” he stated simply.
“Should it not be?” I turned my full attention to him. Once upon a time I would have seen his comment as a threat. Now it was nothing more than words that fascinated me.
“You think having your guard up would protect you from me?” His eyes glinted, the air around him growing heavy. He was still very much the predator he had always been.
“I think I have proven that I have no issue protecting myself from you.” I smirked, pretending that the look in his gaze and the way the world around him responded to his presence had no influence on me.
I will be impenetrable to his effect.
“You think so?” His smile grew, exposing deadly teeth.
My heart did something strange in my chest.
I will bealmostimpenetrable to his effect.
“Is that a challenge?” I stepped to the side, slightly bending at the knees in anticipation.
He saw my physical stance as an invitation to try.
“No conjuring,” he stated, and everything around him dimed even more. As if he could control not only flame, but light itself.
“Okay.” I grinned before lunging. The Lysian King was not going to get more warning than that. It was a rare chance to get a sense of his physical abilities for myself up close. I had seen him in action when the outcast Lysians attacked, and Erik was extraordinary. Yet, there was a difference between witnessing something and experiencing it for yourself.
Erik evaded the attack with an embarrassing amount of ease. His movements were swift, and he made them seem effortless and natural, even with the hazardous and uneven flooring. It was as if he sensed the world around him without even having to look at it.
His hands touched me only to guide me away from him. I found myself pushed to the side, facing a direction not intended, with Erik behind me. Spinning around, I found him in a casual stance.
Straightening, Erik squared his shoulders and waited for me to charge again. It irritated me that he did not take a more offensive position, though I was pretty sure our little match would come to a quick end if that were to happen. Lysians really had an unfair advantage in a fight.
I took two small steps to the side. His full attention remained on me, following my movement. There was no way I stood a chance with all those superior senses of his focused so intently. I needed to distract him.
A thought crossed my mind, and I suppressed a smile.
