“Did something happen with your father?”
Silence was her response.
“Cullen—”
“It’s been a long night.” He sighed and faced her once more. “You should get some rest.”
“No.” Eira crossed to him, grabbing his hand as though he had been about to run away. “I told you everything. Now it’s your turn.”
Cullen gave a tired, gentle smile, tucking some hair behind her ear. “I will, I promise. But not tonight. We’ve been through enough today. Let’s talk about it in the morning.”
“But—”
“It’s nothing we need to worry about now. It’ll keep,” he reassured her. As though sealing his words with a promise, he leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. “Go to sleep, Eira.”
“And we’ll talk in the morning?”
“First chance we get.”
“All right.” Eira released him and Cullen walked her to her door, bidding her a good night. It took every bit of control not to demand he stay with her. But for every bit of her that wanted him to stay, there was a counterweight that wanted to be alone. She felt like a wounded animal that needed space to lick her wounds.
So Eira went to bed alone. At first light, she woke to the muffled sounds of Yemir and Cullen speaking. Their conversation ended right as Eira regained awareness.
By the time she roused enough to get out of bed and dress, Cullen was already gone for the day.
* * *
The days became a strange kind of monotony. Yemir utterly monopolized Cullen’s time. If it wasn’t discussions over breakfast, it was dignitary dinners or “important matters.” The only time she could manage to see him was on the training fields. But that was not the place to have a heart-to-heart about whatever was going on between Cullen and his father. Eira knew that by Cullen’s increasingly distant, haunted eyes.
The other man in her orbit was Ducot. He didn’t seem to pay much attention to her. But Eira could feel his attention when he thought she was distracted.
When they weren’t at the training grounds, Eira spent most of her time in the common area. She tried to get to know the draconi, but they’d have none of it. Ducot must’ve said something to the morphi, because they cast wary glances her way. For all Eira knew, every one of them was in the Court of Shadows. The elfin would speak with her from time to time. But it seemed all the competitors were growing ever more aware that the ball was only a week away, and that meant the competition began in earnest in just eight days.
Noelle didn’t have the same poor luck that she did. Surprisingly—or perhaps not for the daughter of nobles—Noelle flowed easily from group to group. The morphi seemed to enjoy her presence and the elfin invited her regularly for dinner. She seemed closer by the day with Lavette, the daughter of one of the dignitaries from Qwint.
All this made Eira’s primary company Alyss.
The two women sat in the terraced gardens on a bench down by the river. Alyss fiddled with a bit of wood, her magic bending, shaping, and smoothing it into the figure of an eagle. Eira poked at her arm, still sweat-slicked from their hours at the training grounds this afternoon. Her body had begun to change, muscle emerging in places it hadn’t ever before.
“Is your arm all right?” Alyss asked without looking up.
“Huh?Oh yeah, fine… It’s just…never looked like this before.”
Alyss’s eyes darted over and then returned to her work. “I believe that’s called biceps.”
“I know what it’s called.” Eira folded her arms and sank back onto the bench. The position only made her more aware of the new muscle that was there. “I’m not used to having one is all.”
“You’ve always had one, that’s how you move your arm,” Alyss said dryly.
“You’re in rare form today.”
Her friend smirked. “Only because you’re making it too easy.”
“You get what I mean though.”
“I get that you’re discovering the wonders of a regular exercise regimen.”
“Don’t say that as though you’re some kind of training-ground frequent.” Eira stuck her tongue out at her friend. Alyss giggled.
