“You have to cook.” There was no way this contest wasn’t going to be seriously rigged. He’d let her cut him, anything rather than suffer through any more of her cooking, but he was going to make her work bloody hard for it.
“Those are some high stakes,” she said, scrunching her lips into a tight line as she considered it. “I saw you with those thieves yesterday.”
“Now who’s got no bite?”
Aelia scowled at him, taking a few more moments to think it over before replying.
“Fine.”
Keeran opened his arms wide, exposing his broad chest. “Give it your best shot.”
Aelia lunged at him, but it was a half-hearted attempt, and he knocked her aside lazily.
“You’re going to have to try harder than that,” he teased, enjoying the frustrated frown on her face a little too much.
It took her a while to find the confidence to start trying in earnest, holding herself back in case she actually hurt him, but after a few minutes of him batting her away with smug effortlessness, her anger started to get the better of her.
On her next attack, he grabbed her arm and twisted, enough to send her spinning to face the opposite direction. He shoved her between her shoulders and sent her staggering forwards.
“Just because you’re attacking, doesn’t mean you can lower your defences,” he said as she whirled to face him again. “If you’re close enough to someone to attack them, they're close enough to attack you.”
And so they continued, him barking instructions at her, her trying and failing to hide her growing anger. He was surprised at how quickly she was learning. He was throwing way more at her than she should be able to handle at this stage, but she lapped it up, albeit through gritted teeth. If anything, the harder he pushed her, the harder she pushed right back. And he was more than happy to push, if it meant making the most of what little time they had.
The realisation hit him like a ton of bricks. Who knew how long he had before they caught up with Beserkir? A day, a week? The memory of the thieves attacking her flooded his mind, closely followed by the Astraea attack, then Shiva and his thugs. How many times would she have died if he hadn’t been there?The thought broke through the wall he’d thrown up around the tugging in his chest, unleashing a terrible, gnawing anger. He needed to make sure she was safe on the road back to Callodosis. He needed to make sure she was safe, always.
So, with a flash of movement, he disarmed her, popping the blade from her grasp. Her exasperated growl made him grin.
“You’re enjoying this far too much,” she snarled.
“I warned you I would. Like I said earlier,” he opened his hands out in front of him, twirling the dagger expertly between his fingers. “Cathartic.”
“Show me how you did that,” Aelia demanded, ignoring him. He obliged, handing her back the dagger and slowing the movement down for her to process what he was doing.
“Want me to show you again?” he offered, holding the dagger out to her.
“No, I got it,” she said, before lunging at him without warning. The manoeuvre was bang on, incredibly, but without enough power to knock it from his grasp.
“Good.” He frowned, impressed again by how quickly she picked things up. “But not enough to disarm me. Try harder, Aelia.”
She glowered at him, her green eyes narrowing as she tried again, one hand forcing his wrist down on itself whilst her other made to smack the blade out from the weakest part of his grip. She didn’t see his other fist coming.
“Your opponent has two hands,” he reminded her, waving his free hand at her with a smug grin.
Aelia rubbed her shoulder, nodding despite the deep frown lines creasing her forehead.
She came at him again, this time ready for the other hand. She was not, however, ready for the leg that swept her own out from under her.
“Two handsandtwo legs, Aelia.” He flipped the dagger cockily.
She hauled herself up, not voicing a word of protest. She didn’t have to; they were written all over her face.
“Again,” he ordered.
This time, she didn’t even make contact with his wrist before he had her on the floor again.
“Faster, Aelia.”
She was. She blocked his first swing but let the second and third make contact before she landed back on her arse.
