“Stop it,” I said and couldn’t help my gaze from wandering over his skin. Last night was remarkable. The taste of him, the feel. Desire stirred, and I forced my eyes to look anywhere but his body. “Where is your shirt?”
“No idea.” He replied without even looking for it. His focus remained entirely on me.I would recognize you anywhere.The words he said flooded my thoughts and my heart continued with its antics against my ribs. Like a calling card letting him know, very well, of the effect he was having on me.
“There’s no time.” I turned and walked towards the wall. He needed to take the passage to his room, so no one saw himleaving half-naked. With Erik staying in the compound, I doubted that the passage would remain hidden for long from the Lysians anyway.
I opened the false door and turned to Erik, “follow the narrow hall till it ends. That’s your room.”
“There’s a secret passage connecting our rooms?” His eyes brightened in surprise. “It did sound like some of the walls were strangely hollow.”
“Yes, now out you go.” I angled my head towards the dark opening. I usually needed a candle or light of some sort to see by, but I figured a Lysian with all their superior hearing and eyesight could make do in the dark.
I wasn’t sure what I felt at that moment. Emotions surged, still all over the place. Thoughts threatened to rip me apart and drown me in worries. For days, my mind imprisoned me in painful torment. Except for last night. Erik became an oasis, a drug to drown out the sound in my head. And in the night, in the Lysian King’s arms, I finally found rest.
He strode towards me with silent steps.
The Lysian King reached out, taking my hand in his larger one. Bringing it to his lips, he placed a fleeting kiss on my knuckle, and my heart skipped an entire heartbeat.
“I’ll see you soon,” Erik murmured, eyes bright and promising. He then left. Clearly, there was more that needed to be said, more I wanted to say, but time was not a luxury we had. At least not yet. Perhaps someday, time would slow, and we could spend days doing nothing more than enjoying each other’s company.
My focus shifted to the task at hand. I needed to train, to prepare for my departure.
Half an hour later, I was nearly running down the halls to the meeting room. I doubted anyone would be terribly upset by my few minutes of tardiness, but I couldn’t help thisoverwhelming feeling of being late. Punctuality was chiseled into me since childhood, and it was likely something I could never shake.
I entered the room, evidently the last to arrive. “Sorry everyone, I seem to have overslept this morning,” I said, making my way to my seat, trying not to let my wet hair drip on anyone as I passed.
“Beauty sleep suits you,” Erik commented with a smirk pulling at those devious lips of his. My face instantly warmed. He sat before me, looking so well put together as if he had all the time in the morning to come to the meeting while I was a mess. Next to him sat Kole, his icy gaze moving from me to Erik before narrowing.
“Kole.” I was eager to ignore Erik’s remark. “Erik told me you went to send word for Iver to join us. I take it that your trip went without trouble?” I hid the surprise of even seeing him at the meeting. He must have traveled half the day and the entire night to deliver the message to the Lysians at the border before returning.
“Yeah,” he said, still looking suspiciously between Erik and myself. Those analytical eyes showed no trace of exhaustion.
“Great. We are about to go over a training plan for me for the rest of my time here. Feel free to share any thoughts you may have on it.”
“Right,” Willis spoke, pulling attention from me. “We have set a path for you to run through the forest to a clearing. Along that path, the sparrows will be waiting and firing their arrows which you will need to block. If one hits you, then you are considered dead and will restart the entire course. Following their assault you will need to fight me to get by. Eventually, you will make it to the clearing with Erik. He will use his conjuring to a certain distance. Once you cross that threshold, both youand he are not to conjure. At that point, Erik is essentially standing in for Clause, and since your conjuring does not affect Clause, your goal is to subdue or eliminate Erik without letting him touch you.”
The obstacles created for me were going to be difficult to overcome. “Great. I am to fight a Lysian without being touched by him.”
“Not just any Lysian.” Kole chimed in. “He is one of the best fighters among us.”
“You wanted a training,” Willis said. “We are not going easy on you. I’d rather this be unnecessarily difficult than not enough to properly prepare you.”
“This is certainly not unnecessarily difficult.” Edda finally spoke up. “It may not be hard enough,” she mumbled.
“We can adjust the difficulty and reformat things as we go, but this is our starting plan.” Willis turned to Kole. “You can fight Ariana on foot with me.”
“Is she to use her conjuring against us?” Kole asked.
Willis viewed me. “You are not to touch our lungs, but you can conjure. If you progress quickly, then eventually, we will try you not conjuring at all.”
“I brought you something.” Kiora stood, picking something off the ground and placing it on the table. A long shirt made of a chain material and a helmet. “We will use flat-tipped wooden arrows, but I am afraid they will still hurt. This will ensure nothing vital gets punctured.”
I frowned. “I’ll accept the shirt, but not that helmet.”
“I insist,” Kiora pressed.
“I won’t be able to see or move well with that thing on my head blocking my peripheral vision. Plus, you and your archers should be able to avoid firing at my head. Unless you think you are incapable of it?” I raised an eyebrow in challenge.
She rose to my bait, folding her arms over her chest. “We certainly are capable of something as simple as that.”
