‘I did.’ I try to suppress my slightly hysterical laughter, but it’s impossible, and what leaves my lips is the closest thing to a giggle I’ve ever made. ‘And it gets even better.’
‘How?’ she says. Her look of disbelief borders on comical.
‘The other person? It was Holden.’
Llinos bursts into laughter. When she gets a hold of herself, her face is an expression of pure elation. ‘You know, if I wasn’t spoken for, I’d kiss you right now.’
‘I think that would draw a little unwanted attention. But thanks.’ I grin back, helping myself to a large pastry from the plate in front of me. ‘Now all we have to do is wait.’
After watchingZara and her Rettlings fill and drink their glasses, I go straight to the battle yard. Zelle is already waiting, and judging by therivulets of sweat rolling down his forehead, Holden isn’t the only person Kyor was sparring with this morning. For now though, he and I are the only people here.
‘Morning, Kultavaris,’ he says as he strides over to me. ‘Sleep well?’
I wonder briefly if that’s a dig at my purported lie-in, but his face is open, genuine. He really does hope I’ve slept well.
‘Not bad, thank you.’
‘Excellent …’ He picks up a sword from the rack beside him. ‘What do you say we have a bit of practice?’
‘Now that you’ve been thoroughly tired out by a proper warrior, you mean?’ I sass. I expect him to laugh, but instead, his cheeks pull in slightly.
‘He’s not had it easy.’ The solemn air has returned to his voice tenfold. ‘The prince. He doesn’t have many good people around him. Never has. And I know that doesn’t excuse what he did to your family. The lie he told.’ Zelle drops his voice low. ‘But whatever the prince said, I fear the outcome would have been the same. Kyor was a boy – a child, as I’ve said before. His word wasn’t the deciding factor in your punishment. The king was. And I think you know that.’
Some part of me did, but right now I can’t verbalise that, can’t speak it aloud and make it real. I’ve clung to my hatred of Kyor for over a decade, and without it I’m not quite sure who I am anymore.
‘He’s been helping you, too. Training you with me. He didn’t have to do that.’
‘Other than your bet, you mean?’ I fire back.
A curl of amusement twists the commander’s lips. ‘Is that what he told you? That we have a bet going?’ He shakes his head. ‘Sorry to disappoint, but as I already told you, he’s helping you purely because he wants to atone.’
I stare at him, eyes wide in disbelief.No bet?
Zelle isn’t done yet. ‘Your father would be so proud of you, Rose.’ His voice is almost a whisper. ‘He was the most formidable fighter I’d ever encountered. Should have had my job – would have if it wasn’t for politics.’
Politics. I scoff at the word. He means how my father was a bastard.
In my shell-shocked silence, Zelle continues, ‘He was one of the best men I knew. Loved with his whole heart. You remind me a lot of him. A lot of your mother, too.’
I don’t know when the tears started falling, but when I lift my fingers to my cheeks, I find them soaked. Hastily I scrub the tears away.
‘That’s enough gassing.’ Zelle pushes back his shoulders with a smile, as though we’ve been happily chatting away about the weather this whole time. He reaches over to the weapons bench, selects a sword, and throws it to me. I catch it without a second’s thought. ‘Let’s put those reflexes to use in a fight.’
An hour later, I’ve had the best spar of my life. That’s not an exaggeration. It’s the first time I can remember being truly pushed to fight, and I’ve actually risen to the challenge. My training with Kyor and Zelle has really started to sharpen me into the fighter I should always have been. Every strike Zelle aimed at me, I blocked. And I even got in a few of my own.
When we stop, we are both dripping in sweat.
‘You’re not the weakest here, Lady Kultavaris,’ he says with an approving nod. ‘Not by a wide margin. Don’t let your lack of magic make you believe otherwise.’
‘Thank you,’ I say, my chest burning with unexpected pride.
Not the weakest. Not by a wide margin.
The way he looks at me … it’s like Zelle actually believes I can survive this. Survive it and maybe even win.
‘Loch also thinksit’s going to be soon,’ Benny says as we sit in the dorm that night. ‘He keeps saying they’re whispering. All whispering.’
‘They are.’ Loch whips his head up from where he was staring blankly at his lap. ‘They think no one can hear them. But I can. I can hear them all.’ He starts to rock.
