“Reverie Asherdoe,” Lex called out, making Reverie nearly fall to the sand at the rate she stood to her feet.
“Second Sun.” She brushed the sand off her backside. “What—“
Lex didn’t give her a chance to speak. She tossed a spear in the Dreamer’s hands. “My Princess is injured,” Lex said. “I find myself in need of a sparring partner, and I’m told you’re quite formidable.”
Nyssa watched as Reverie’s eyes dilated with smugness and delight, and she tossed the stick from one hand to the other. “I can handle myself in a fight.” And Nyssa could hear the confident toy in her voice.
“I’m also told you put my cohort on his back when you first met,” Lex added at Corbin’s expense.
“I will murder him,” Corbin said under his breath.
Nyssa snorted, and Corbin shot her a playful glare. She clapped her hand over her lips as though she could hide it. She hadn’t laughed so much in months, and her face was starting to hurt with it.
“Actually, Bin is pretty easy to get on his back,” Reverie bantered, winking at Corbin.
Corbin’s hand brushed over his face, obvious he was concealing his smile, and perhaps a blush, and Nyssa grinned at the sight of seeing Corbin finally relaxed.
As Reverie and Lex made off down the sand, Nyssa reached for another piece of bread from the stash they’d brought out that morning. She watched Dorian and Nadir combat each other on the rocks, both jumping and blocking the other, careful not to twist their ankles on the jagged jetty.
“Thank you again, Bin,” Nyssa said after a few minutes. “I know how rocky your relationship with him once was. Honestly, I thought you would have left him by now.”
Corbin pulled his knees into his chest, the strong silence of his figure making Nyssa look over to him. “He’s hard to walk away from,” he finally said.
Nyssa noted the softness in Corbin’s eyes as he watched Dorian battle, and she sat up a little straighter. “You know… I feel, as his sister, that there’s something I should say to you.”
Corbin looked at her this time, lips lifting at the left corner. “Go on,” he said as if he knew where she was going.
“I have a book of torture techniques on Nadir’s porch waiting to get translated.” She popped a piece of bread in her mouth and met his eyes. “If either of you hurt him or break his heart, I’ll go through it page by page—“ Her smile spread to her lips, and she lifted her chin as she chewed on her last piece. “You’ll beg for death, and I’ll laugh in your face while I tie weights to your balls and you crawl for me.”
Corbin’s grin widened. “You say it so sweetly, too,” he bantered.
Nyssa shrugged innocently, lashes batting. “Haven’t lost my touch.”
The pair sat back on the sand and watched the others spar with one another for a few hours. Nyssa listened to Corbin tell her more about Dorian’s trials and about the mountains. She loved the way it sounded. Boisterous and friendly. After a while, Dorian came sinking into the sank in front of them, begging for water, and then he fell against Corbin’s lap. Despite Corbin nearly rolling his eyes at the Prince, he didn’t move him when Dorian settled his head against Corbin’s abs, facing Nyssa as he rested from the morning fight.
Corbin told him what he’d noticed Dorian had done wrong while fighting, but Nyssa didn’t hear them. Nadir hadn’t joined them. He’d caught her eye in the surf, given her a small smile, and then almost forced himself to go down the beach. Her heart had faltered, but she knew why he’d done it.
He was attempting to give her space, and she hated it. She glanced down at her hand, allowing that ash to rise on her fingertips a moment, and she pushed it back down.
Fucking Arbina.
Nyssa averted her gaze down to Reverie and Lex. Every strike from Reverie was fueled with rage and passion. Different from Lex’s, whose moves were carefully calculated and with proper form. But Reverie… she battled as though every swipe meant life or death. Every somersault and leap meant keeping her next breath. She was a wildling in a beautiful disguise, and Nyssa didn’t bother guarding her stare.
“Damn, Dorian,” she muttered after a few minutes. "Didn’t realize your girl was an assassin."
Dorian moved his head so that he could see down the beach where she was looking. A grin spread on his lips, and he finally sat up.
"You should have her hold a knife to your throat,” he uttered.
"I bet you come apart the moment the iron touches your skin,” Nyssa teased.
“I really do,” Dorian admitted with a rattled sigh.
Nyssa noted the smirk on Corbin’s lips. “I’m sure you do too, Bin,” she said. “Don’t try to deny it.”
Corbin sat up, his shoulder brushing with Dorian’s. The three watched Reverie lunge at Lex over and over, a couple of times making even Lex back up with her aggression, until she jumped clear over Lex’s head and swiped her legs out from under her.
“Fuck me,” Nyssa muttered.
