Despite my injuries, I feel good. Really good. Whatever just happened, whatever I just unlocked, I want more of it.
“Something about the way she was matching me, I’ve never seen it before. It’s hard to explain,” Riall tells Tarek, his voice pinched from where he’s holding the towel to his nose. “You’ll both need to see for yourself, but if you push, she’ll show up for it. It was by the book at first, nothing but the ludere’s forms and counterattacks, but the more I pissed her off, the more she showed me hints of that raw power we all just saw.”
They all look over at me, observing me like I’m livestock that’s being considered for purchase. It’s demeaning and all too familiar, and I’m entirely done with anyone looking at me as though they’re trying to determine my worth.
“I’m right here,” I snap, offended.
“Yes, you are, Beasty,” Riall coos at me, and it’s all I can do not to try to strangle him with his bloodstained towel.
I’m vexed and begrudgingly impressed, and what’s even more annoying is that I feel relief. I loathed the idea that they were trying to sit me in a corner and dismiss what I can do for the sole sake of their pride. I also hate that it bothered me in the first place at all.
“Now that we have a true idea of what you’re capable of, we can start building on that,” Tarek states, and Riall nods his agreement as he runs his palm over his short brown hair.
Riall’s hazel eyes glaze over with thought, like he’s already formulating a plan for what comes next. I suppress the urge to discuss it with him, shoving down my interest like it was something that bit me and now needs to be punished. I wish all of this didn’t feel so exciting. The idea of building on the savagery we just unleashed makes me eager. There’s an undeniable thrum of excited anticipation buzzing under my skin right now, and I’ve never felt that before when it comes to training.
“Either of you in need of immediate healing?” Tarek asks, his icy blue gaze once again looking me over as though he can see what hurts beneath the layers of linen and skin.
Maybe he can, what do I know?
Quickly dropping my eyes from his assessing gaze, I stretch a little, checking if there’s anything to be concerned about. I shake my head in answer. Riall does the same, and I catch a twitch of pain in his face as he rolls one of his shoulders. SuddenlyI’mthe one wearing the snooty smirk. It’s good to see that I’m not the only one affected by the hours we’ve spent going head-to-head. I was trying to weaken the force of his hits at the end by targeting that shoulder and upper arm. I hit him so many times in the exact same places I’m surprised he can feel anything at all from the elbow down.
Riall catches me watching him, and instead of a gleam of retribution igniting in his eyes, heat simmers there. His ardent stare moves down my face and settles on the slowly weeping cut on my lip. His tongue sneaks out, and he licks the lower brim of his mouth as though the cut mars his lip and not mine. I look away, entirely too close to burning up in the flames of his stare than I care to be. A deep chuckle taunts me to look back over at him, but I’ve been provoked enough today.
“Eacon is stopping by later to bring some things for you, Auset. If you change your mind, she can heal whatever you might need then,” Tarek informs me, stoking my confusion.
Why would she bring me anything?
I stare at Tarek as though the answers will slip from his lips, but he doesn’t continue or offer any details about what she might be bringing.
Hopefully not more dresses.
The impression I got after first meeting Eacon was that she knew and cared for the Scorpions in some sort of maternal manner. However, Tarek’s earlier comment about her fighting prowess makes me wonder about her even more. Who is she to them? My first meeting with her was a bit strange. Then again, everything about waking up in this place has been.
Already it’s as though I’ve been here for weeks, when in truth I haven’t even been awake for a full day. At this point, someone could tell me that Riall and I have been going at it for a month in this training room, and I wouldn’t question it. So much has happened, and yet I find myself stuck and waiting for more to pile on.
It’s all entirely too much while simultaneously feeling like it’s not enough.
I take in the wooden practice weapons tacked to the walls. My gaze trails to the double doors at the back of the big training space, which lead into their impressive weapons room. Curio gave me a tour of it when I was guided here after breakfast. I’ve never seen so many stunning and deadly weapons in one place. I could probably spend forever in there and still find something new to play with every day.
The training area is on the same level as the kitchen, but on the opposite side of the castle. Compared to Tilleo’s manor, there aren’t an abundance of rooms in this one, but the quarters that do exist are colossal. On this level alone, there’s the kitchen, laundry, training facilities, the armory, and an alchemy chamber. The main floor boasts of a library, a dining hall, and a wing designated for guest rooms, which happen to be empty. The sleeping and bathing chambers of the Scorpions take up the entirety of the top floor, along with a study and what looked like a rookery tower from outside, although I didn’t hear any evidence of birds when I was sneaking down the hallways in search of food. The Scorpions haven’t offered to show me around the top floor, but Curio mentioned the layout during his cursory tour earlier.
I start to make a plan to come down here later, once the house is asleep, and relieve the Scorpions of some of their cache of blades. I need weapons when I leave here, and if I haven’t figured out how to stock up on the necessary aurems needed, I can always sell some well-crafted pieces. There was an endless array of options that would no doubt fetch a good price. I doubt these fae would even miss them.
“Alright,” Tarek claps loudly, jolting me from my thoughts. “Let’s get cleaned up, break for luncheon, and then, Auset, you’ll be with Curio this afternoon and finish the evening with me.”
Luncheon?
“What is luncheon?” I ask before I can stop myself.
Everyone looks at me for a moment too long.
“It’s our mid-day meal,” Riall supplies, all playfulness and teasing suddenly gone.
He mumbles something else, but I can’t make out the words, only the incredulous and slightly angry tone. The shift in demeanor between the three of them is unsettling. All at once, I feel self-conscious. I do my best to swallow down my shock over the fact that they’re going to feed me again so soon. I was disappointed earlier when I couldn’t manage to steal the bread like I was hoping to. I figured I’d just add it to the list of things I plan on pilfering tonight when I sneak about the castle, getting the lay of things. I eye Riall for a beat and then look at the other two males. Another question sticks in the middle of my throat as though I can’t decide if I should swallow it down or spit it out.
“How…how many meals a day do you normally have?” I question hesitantly.
A soft smile quickly replaces Riall’s scowl, and I instantly feel better and then worse because he shouldn’t be able to do that to me so easily.
