Res lifted his head, cawing indignantly.
I snorted. “Well, you are lazy,” I said, and he laid his head back down with a huff. “How about a rematch?” I suggested, drifting toward the sparring ring. With everything I’d learned recently, I felt alive with energy. Nerves, excitement, fear—they flashed through my veins like lightning, making me jittery.
Thunder boomed in the sky above, matching my nerves.
Ericen followed me into the ring, his lips pulled up in that one-sided smirk that never failed to irk me. “First one to tap out?”
I lifted my hands, shifting into a stance as the sky broke and warm rain fell. “I’m not holding back,” I warned him.
His smile widened, his fingers slipping under the hem of his shirt. In a fluid motion, he had it over his head and was tossing it aside into the damp dirt. “Neither am I.”
I had barely had time to feel the heat flushing my face when he struck. Cursing, I dodged him and backed to the other side of the ring.
“You did that on purpose,” I growled.
He laughed. “A soldier should use all the assets at their disposal.”
“I wouldn’t say assets,” I muttered.
Ericen raised a doubtful brow, that stupid smirk spreading once more. Lightning split the sky. I sprang forward, swiping for his jaw. He leapt away, laughing.
Back and forth we went as the rain drummed around us. Water dripped from strands of his black hair and in rivulets down his chest, and my clothes grew heavy, clinging fast to my body. Unlike last time, I didn’t shy from landing my own blows, and with each spin and step that took me out of the prince’s reach, the furrow between his brows grew.
I caught him in the ribs, then in the stomach with a kick. He stepped back, as sturdy as ever. I needed to get him unbalanced.
As Ericen struck, I knocked aside his blow, spun inside his guard, and threw my elbow into his gut. He wheezed, stumbling back.
I tackled him.
We tumbled to the wet ground, his back hitting hard. I landed atop him, one knee in his chest, the other foot braced against the earth, a fist raised to strike. He fell still, a look of surprise on his face I’d never seen before. For a moment of long, thick silence, I was all too aware of the heavy rise and fall of his chest, of the heat of his skin burning through two layers of cloth.
Then Ericen laughed and ran a hand through his rain-soaked hair, pushing it out of his eyes. It’d escaped its soldier’s cut in the last few weeks, the ends curling like beckoning fingers. “You stole my move,” he rasped, still breathless.
I smirked. “Getting slow in your old age.”
“I’m barely a year older than you are.”
“And yet you move like Res after breakfast.”
The crow let out a low caw of agreement, and we both laughed. The sound echoed through the courtyard, a reminder we were alone. The rain drummed a steady beat on the stone. Only a flurry of feathers told me Res had taken to the sky.
Ericen’s eyes searched mine. One hand cupped my face, his calloused fingers gentle against my skin.
I leaned down and kissed him.
Ericen surged up, catching me in his arms and holding me close. My legs hooked around his waist, my hands finding his feather-soft hair, his lean neck, the bare skin of his corded back. Pressed between the power of the storm and the prince’s strength, my body came alive.
I kissed him until we were both breathless and the storm fell apart around us, the rain softening to a quiet drizzle and the thunder fading. A light shone through the darkened clouds, washing the courtyard in gold.
And still, we held on.
Twenty-Seven
In the end, Kiva found us.
We practically sprang apart when her raucous laugh filled the courtyard. Whereas my cheeks flushed red as fire, Ericen glowered at Kiva with a dark menace that would have once made me nervous. Now I knew when he was all bark and no bite.
Kiva dragged Ericen away to start training the lieutenants, and I returned to the mausoleum to activate the Sella road. Estrel joined me, and we chatted to pass the time. It took almost an hour for all the soldiers to pass through, as the road was narrow and only allowed for one through at a time. Estrel organized them with their captains and sent them toward Elaris.
