Dorian snorted, and Bala eyed her. “Something tells me you began training ten years ago,” she muttered.
“Who? Me?” Nyssa threaded another arrow through and let it fly. “I… I really have no idea what I’m doing,” she said, sarcasm dripping from her lips. “This damn thing just aims properly every time. It must be the sun coming out. Dorian likes to say I’m favored.”
She’d drawn three more arrows as she was talking, and by the time she finished her sentence and shrugged again at Bala, Dorian looked like the proudest being in Haerland.
“There’s my sister,” he muttered with a wink.
“You get away with everything, don’t you?” Bala asked her.
“I have no idea what you mean,” and the smile she gave Bala made the Venari shake her head.
“Let’s see it, Second,” Dorian teased.
“I’m not even sure I want to embarrass myself after that,” Bala said. “But I need to see this. What else are you hiding, Princess?”
And for the first time in her life, Nyssa wanted to show off.
The sun baked on them the remainder of the afternoon as they trained in the sand. After a while, they retrieved their horses and raced past the cliffside strongholds north of Magnice. Nyssa took her bow, and they took turns firing at the targets she and Dorian had set up in the air off the walls. And by the time darkness settled around them, the three were spent from the trials.
“Willow is going to be so upset,” Nyssa laughed as they made their way into the castle, sand trickling behind them.
Dorian pulled his boot off and dumped the sand from it into a suit of armor. “Wouldn’t be a successful day if we didn’t piss her off at least once,” he replied.
“Why do I get the feeling you two are the worst children of Promise this woman has ever seen?” Bala teased.
“Because we are,” Dorian agreed. He paused for a moment, looking up as though he were reconsidering the statement, but then shook his head. “No, we definitely are.”
“You meanyouare,” Nyssa argued. “I would never.”
A laugh choked out of Bala, and Dorian grinned.
“Somehow, I’m sure that’s what every person in this castle thinks,” Bala said.
“Tricks,” Dorian said, eyeing his sister slyly. “Speaking of tricks,Bala… Have you decided yet which of us you’d like to stay with tonight?” he teased, draping his arm over her shoulder.
Bala shoved him off her, sending him tripping sideways. Still, Nyssa didn’t miss the dilation in Bala’s eyes, and Nyssa nearly burst out laughing at the fact that perhaps her brother’s ridiculous charms and wit had made an impression on the future Venari King.
She swore he could wear down anyone, or so it seemed.
Nyssa opened her mouth to tease them, but someone shouting her name made the three halt in their steps as though the ground had suddenly dropped from beneath them.
“Nyssari.”
Rhaif.
They’d not seen him all day, not even since the meeting the day before. He’d not called to talk to her after it, so she was not surprised he was calling upon her then, but the sternness in his voice caught her off guard.
Dorian stiffened at her side as Nyssa turned.
Rhaif’s long strides captured the rug, taking his time and making sure to look between the three, stature—though now a mere inch shorter than Dorian’s—seeming to tower over them. He paused just in front, arms behind his back, and he looked down to Nyssa.
“Brother,” Nyssa acknowledged him with a short nod.
His gaze trickled between them one last time as he said, “I have been looking for you,” in a manner that made her feel like she was in trouble. “I have some things to discuss,” he added.
Nyssa nodded again. “Should Dorian join us?”
It was a gamble even mentioning it, but she did anyway.
