She laughed and started clapping.
“So you noticed that I am left-handed. You have a good eye for details,” she complimented me, but within seconds the dagger was back in her hands and she was ready to attack again. “Let’s see how well you do, now that I am working with my strong arm.”
I smiled at her and said, “Give me your worst.”
And she truly did.
* * *
It had been hours of going back and forth on the mat, my arms were hurting from holding the dagger and I had been knocked down to the ground more times than I could count. Apparently, a lot of my former training with the dagger had been committed to muscle memory, but I still stood no chance against Lydia. Sweat was dripping down my forehead when she launched yet another attack.
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Theo on the porch of the Lodge, watching us. My focus slipped, only for a second, snagged by the way his curls blew into his annoyingly handsome face.
Lydia swore as her dagger glided along my shoulder, grazing skin before cutting deeper.
“Fates damn it, Maelis,” she snapped, following my gaze. “Where is your head?”
I barely had time to open my mouth before she went on. “Let me guess—tall, curls, looks good brooding on a porch?”
My face burned.
“Rule number one,” she continued, grabbing my shoulderand turning me toward her, “you never take your eyes off your attacker. Not for a pretty face. Not for two.” She glanced pointedly past me. “Especially not this one!”
She inspected the cut with a frown. “You’re lucky all I’m teaching you today is humility.”
I cleared my throat and fixed my eyes firmly anywhere but the porch, resisting the urge to check whether Theo had heard every mortifying word.
“I am sorry for losing focus. It won’t happen again,” I mumbled.
Lydia swore under her breath as she examined my shoulder wound.
“You’ll live, but it’s a nasty cut. You should heal it after training.”
“That’s enough for today, Lydia,” Auretheos called over, his face a stoic mask as always. Turning his eyes on me, he added, “If you are not feeling too tired after your session with Lydia, please stop by at the temple tonight.”
He turned without saying another word and went back inside.
Lydia watched his back with a puzzled look on her face. Turning to me, she said, “Let’s call it a day then, girl. Get yourself cleaned up and we will continue tomorrow. Remember to do those spells I gave you.”
With a wave of Lydia’s hand, the mats, the daggers, the crate, and the writing supplies vanished into thin air. What would it feel like to wield all this power without so much as a thought?
We had only had one quick break around midday to eat a sandwich and the tiredness in my limbs was bone deep. After taking several breaks on the stairs, I finally got back to myroom. My hair was a mess, strands of it had escaped my braid and were hanging down loosely. Somehow, I was flushed and pale at the same time and my skin looked clammy with sweat.
I let down my hair and got undressed, inspecting the bruises that had already formed across my torso and my arms. The cut on my shoulder was hurting a little, but it looked like it had only grazed the skin. Lydia had suggested I should heal myself, but using my heka for myself was out of the question. I turned on the faucet and added some rose oil to the burning hot water. Easing myself slowly into the tub, I felt my muscles relax.
I nearly fell asleep in the tub, but jolted awake when I heard a knock on my door.
“My lady, I have brought supper for you. I will place it outside your door,” a servant called out. I thanked him and started climbing out of the water.
My stomach was growling, and yet I had to force myself to eat. The anticipation of seeing Theo again tonight made my hands clammy and my heart race. The last time I had felt like this I’d been a teenager and the neighbor’s boy had promised to walk me back home from school. It was utterly ridiculous to feel this giddy, especially considering that Theo had shown absolutely no interest in me at all. And this wasn’t even taking into account that he was a God and touching him was strictly forbidden. I was still listing all the reasons why nothing would ever happen between us when Caelan led me into the library a short while later. But as soon as I spotted Theo in the middle of the room, balancing an open book on his right hand and running his other hand through his curls, all reason left my body.
He was the most beautiful man I had ever seen, and despite all logic, all better judgment, all the fear pounding in my veins, I wanted him. Hungry and reckless, wanting him was just another sin on a list too long to repent for. And maybe I was ready to stop counting.
Chapter 12
Theo
Ilooked up from my book and when I spotted Maelis and Caelan approaching and I could feel myself instantly transforming into something resembling a statue again. I evened out my features, putting on the bored look on my face I had perfected over the years and lifted my hand in a perfunctory greeting.
