“Would you rather face Xaedren?”
“What the fuck does that mean?” Xae crossed his arms and glared at Rath. “Are you saying my eyes aren't pretty?”
“Your eyes are beautiful, Xae,” I said. “This isn't a competition.”
“No, it's training.” Rath set a stern stare on me. “And we need to get back to it. Raise your weapon, Ember.”
“Aw, do I have to?” I whined. “Why don't we work on training Xae instead?”
I had shared my magic with my lovers through our mystical bond. A bond that, by the way, I had no idea how I set into place. Anyway, I empowered them, but the magic didn't come with instructions. Xae had gotten lucky the first time he used it. The magic had taken over and blasted out of him to protect him. That's what I assume at least, since it was the same with me. When I was in danger and didn't act fast enough, the magic would act without direction from me.
Xae did all right with using Earth to open the ground, but he wasn't so great at the other elements. The first time the three of us had tried to magically train together, Xae had failed to accomplish most of the basic elemental spells. That's when we learned that he needed to be taught, just as I had. So we added his training to our schedule.
Of course, we couldn't teach Xae in the training yard. That area was reserved for combat training. Plus, magical training could get dangerous, mainly to people and items nearby. So, we had to train Xae in the nearby forest. Which was only a bonus in my opinion. I was getting a little better at swordwork, but mainly, I blundered about. This served as entertainment for the other Wraith Lords. It would be nice to miss my daily dose of humiliation.
Before Rath could answer, a commotion came from my left. I turned to see a crowd gathering. I hate to admit this, but my instant thought was,Thank the Goddess my men aren't in the middle of that crowd.The last time I'd seen such a gathering in the training yard, it had been for their big fistfight over me. Yes, it had been sexy, in a way, but also scary, and really annoying. But they were standing beside me, so I only felt curiosity when I went to join the group of spectators. Xae went with me.
“Damn it all,” Rath cursed and followed us.
Xae tapped a few shoulders to get me to the front since I was shorter than everyone else. The Lords were more than happy to usher me forward, but they quickly closed ranks behind me, separating me from my lovers. Xae protested, but they only shot quick grins his way. Getting me away from my men had become the Wraith Lords' new favorite game.
“Ember!” Lord Keltyr, a Dhon and a longtime fan of yours truly, snagged me away from Lord Jusso and slung an arm around my shoulders while his tail curled around my waist. “Check out the new guy. Or old guy, rather. You've met Lord Jathalion, right?”
My eyes widened. There, in the center of the circle of warriors, was Jath and four other Wraith Lords. I didn't register the other faces. All I saw was Jath, his body twisting and rolling in magnificent movements that were both graceful and powerful. Magic was never used in the training yard, with one exception—the Makhan were allowed to fly. It wasn't technically a magical attack, and they needed to be free to fly if they were going to properly train. That being said, Lord Jathalion never left the ground. Unless you count the times when he leapt a few feet to come down on an opponent from a greater height.
“Holy shit,” I whispered.
“Yeah, there's a reason why the Emperor asked him to train the recruits,” Keltyr said. “He's the deadliest fighter we have.”
Deadliest. No shit. With those wings, it was as if Jath had four, or maybe even six, arms. I had no idea wings were so powerful, but it made sense. They had to carry his body weight after all. But damn. He folded one wing while extending the other and spun, sending a Wraith Lord to the ground. Hold on, that was Lord Elrian, a fucking Tytra! Jath just took down a dragon-shifter with one wing-smack!
Lord Elrian popped back to his feet, grinning as if Jath had performed a new trick. Then he hunched his great shoulders and barreled forward. The other opponents dashed out of the way, but Jath ran to meet the Tytra battering ram. His wings drew in, flattening along his back, and at the last second, he left the ground—still not flying, but leaping over Elrian. As he skimmed the top of the other Wraith Lord, Jath wrapped an arm around his neck and flipped Elrian. Fucking flipped him!
Elrian landed flat on his back and stayed there for a few seconds, gaping at the sky as if he'd never seen it from that perspective before. Everyone else started to applaud, even Jath's other opponents. Then Elrian's booming laugh joined the cacophony, and he accepted the hand Jath held down to him.
Pulled to his feet by Jath, Elrian kept laughing and then smacked Jath's shoulder while shaking his hand. “Well done, Jathalion. I haven't been knocked on my ass since I was a boy.”
“It's all about momentum and leverage,” Jath said, then shifted his gaze over the crowd, grinning at the praise hurled his way. Until his stare landed on me. His grin shivered, his eyes twitched, and he dropped Elrian's hand.
My face fell, and I shrunk back, folding myself deeper into Kel's side without meaning to. Keltyr frowned as he looked down at me, but I only saw that out of the corner of my eye. I couldn't look away from Jath, even under that faltering stare. Then his eyes slid over a few inches and his expression hardened. I followed that stare to Keltyr, who was bending his horned head toward me.
“You all right?” Kel asked.
“Yeah. Uh, I gotta go.” I did a sort of duck and bend out of Kel's grip, then stepped backward, right into a solid chest.
“Hey! Ember, watch it,” Lord Pavis said.
“Sorry.” I cringed back and knocked into Lord Darsen.
The Varraen Lord steadied me. “You all right, Ember?”
“I'm fine,” I said and ducked again.
Bouncing off Wraith Lords like a ball tossed between children, I spasmodically made my way out of the crowd. At last, I was free, and Xae grabbed my arm to steady me.
“What the fuck was that?” Xae narrowed his stare at me.
“Nothing. I just . . .” I glanced back, and through the jagged path I'd made, saw Jath staring at me. Great, first I whine to him about my lovers, then he witnesses me fucking Xae in a corridor, and now, I make an utter fool out of myself in front of him. “I'm done for the day.”
