It warmed me through to hear Vale call her family because that was what they both were to me. Vale and Anna, family of the soul and heart.
Once everyone had examined the marking, Vale and I suggested getting to training.
“Yes, you’ll want to make this quick, I suppose. So you can get back to bed.” Princess Bavirra winked, and my cheeks flamed.
“Sister,” the Heir to Dergia gave a warning, and the princess rolled her eyes. Prince Thordur seemed to have expected such a reaction though, and if anything, his one eye sparked with amusement at his sister’s cheek. “Prince Vale, I had hoped to engage you in sparring today.”
My mate smirked at the dwarf prince, and there was no denying the hint of arrogance in his posturing. “You’re sure?”
Prince Thordur chuckled, all confidence and a touch of bravado that made Vale’s spine straighten. “I need a challenge for once.”
“I’ll give you a challenge you might not be able to handle.” Vale pattedSkelda’shilt, his smirk deepening as his competitive side rose to the surface.
“My roots were formed deep in this formidable earth, Warrior Bear. Trust, I can hold my own.”
“Sword against sword, it is then.” Vale rolled his neck.
“More rightly, sword against battle-axe,” Prince Thordur amended, and strode to a stand upon which two dozen weapons awaited. “The true weapon of my race.”
I gazed at the double-sided axe inlaid with etchings offire and mountains blooming above the cloud line. It was a true thing of beauty, and while I’d seen such a weapon before, even watched Luccan Riis and Sian Balik use similar axes during our training sessions at Frostveil, I had the feeling the Heir of Dergia would wield his weapon on a different level.
“This will be interesting.” Princess Bavirra stood by me as the warding dwarf placed a protection over both princes’ skin so that strikes did not maim, and the males faced off. Elsewhere in the training room, others continued practicing, though I suspected that soon, the prince-on-prince fighting would steal their attention too.
“Your brother has the advantage, having heard about Vale. Do the dwarves of Dergia have a specific fighting style?” I looked at the princess.
The faelights above gleamed against the dark skin of her high cheekbones as she mulled over my question. “From my studies, I believe we do, though never having left the mountain range, I can’t really be sure. There’s much I have not seen.”
“You’ve really never left?”
“Thordur has ventured into the nearest villages, but none of our other siblings have been allowed to leave our territory. It’s why I’m so excited to help him escort you out of our tunnels.”
We were leaving soon. Tomorrow. The royals had assured us we could stay longer, but I was anxious to get back on the road. To find information on the Ice Scepter so I could beginmy search.
“I won’t be going anywhere near the closest village,” Bavirra added, “but it will be the farthest I’ve ventured from home.”
I let out a hum, but as the princes began their session, I didn’t continue the conversation. I was too entranced in watching the warriors size one another up in real time. They circled, and I knew from his instruction to me that Vale was taking in Thordur’s every move, how he held his weapon, which foot he placed more weight on.
The other sounds in the training room fell away as other sessions ended. They were watching too. Assessing. Waiting to see who won.
Prince Thordur rushed Vale; battle-axe held high. My mate blocked the blow, but the dwarf prince came at him again with shocking speed and the curve of the axe grippedSkeldaand hurled the blade to the side of the room.
Thordur let out a whoop, and his face split into a grin. For his part, my mate seemed astonished but also oddly elated. It wasn’t often that someone got the best of him one-on-one.
“Round two?” Vale asked, retrievingSkeldaand returning to the one-eyed prince.
“If you can hack it.”
Vale swungSkeldain a wide, impressive arch, showing off if he ever had. “We’ll see, won’t we?”
Hours later, sweat poured down my face as I stretched my limits in the sparring arena.
After watching Vale and Thordur face off half a dozen times, I thought I understood how the dwarves of Dergia fought with their axes, and Princess Bavirra had offered to have a round with me.
I’d accepted gladly, needing to capitalize on every moment. I might have powerful magic that most could not fend off, but my power was not limitless. Nor did I hold perfect control over it yet. So I required other options to ensure my safety and the safety of those I loved.
That’s what I kept telling myself anyway, as Princess Bavirra’s battle-axe swung my way, and I had to dodge for the tenth time this round. We were warded across our skin, preventing serious injury to our bodies, if not our pride.
So far, the axe-wielding princess had beaten me three times, and I’d matched her—though only by a hair on the final round. This time was not looking so good for me.
