Theo closed the book and shifted his gaze to his sister jogging toward him with flushed cheeks and beads of sweat trickling down her face. Her sword and dagger dangled from her hip.
“Thinking,” Theo answered, but hiding was more like it. Hiding from Bennet, his father, Genevieve, anyone threatening to send his head into a deeper spiral.
Adelaide drew her sword, twisting it in the moonlight. Her hand rotated the blade, twirling it like an extension of her arm. She flipped her long black ponytail off her shoulder and lunged, striking her invisible opponent. It was incredible how long her hair had grown in what felt to Theo like only a short period of time. Her resemblance to their mother was growing more prominent with her years. Especially with those eyes they’d shared with her.
She dropped the tip of her sword and leaned into the hilt. “Looks more like brooding to me. I’m surprised you’re not in bed, snuggling up with your pillow and muffling words of longing as you drool across your sheets.” Sibling mockery enveloped her laugh in a warmth Theo couldn’t reciprocate.
Gods, I missed her laughter. Before he’d left, it’d carried through the halls, and every single person within the manor had felt its contagious warmth.
“I’m not brooding.” He wished he laid in bed dreaming of a woman, or anything other than the war. A peaceful night’s rest was precisely what he needed.
Her giggles ceased. She inclined her head and raised a suspicious brow, her eyes glittering with silver specks. “I know you, Theo.” He gave her an incredulous look, but she only raised her brow further. “You are aware I can find out whatever information I desire, or have you forgotten my cunning abilities already?”
Theo moved before she could react, kicking her legs out from under her. Her sword fell several feet away, and she landed in the sand with a sharp grunt. “How can I forget your incessant need to ramble during your training?”
A spark ignited in Adelaide’s eyes as she rolled back on her hands and propelled herself up. She took her fighting stance, lifting her fists. With his headache, Theo questioned if he’d be able to beat her in a fight, but with the waves crashing against the rocks, there was no better distraction.
She swung her leg out, making to collide with his head. He rolled to the side, getting his feet under him. A blow to the head in his condition would be a short end to their sparring, and he didn’t need Adelaide asking why he wasn’t himself.
“You’ve lost weight,” she said, cocking her head as she began her circling. “You’re quicker.” She faked a jab to his face, but he caught her attempt to open his stance and blocked her as she sent her fist toward his stomach.
“I see your first move is still to fake your opponent out.”
She charged, hurtling a series of punches and kicks. Theo focused his attention on her attempts at sending her fist into his skull, but he failed to block her kick to his chest. His lungs burned for air, but he didn’t keel over. He panted through pursed lips, keeping his arms up.
“What happened in the throne room?” she asked.
Theo threw a punch, but she blocked it, dodging out of the way as hisarm sailed past her head. She gripped his arm, bending it at an odd angle as she drove her knee into his abdomen. This time, he pitched forward, grasping at his stomach as his body sucked in whatever air it could.
“Tell me!” she demanded.
Theo barely knew what happened in the throne room. One moment he’d been thinking about the issues of Duncaster, and the next his head had spun with Amaris’s story. Hiding anything from Adelaide was futile, though. She often discovered any information she wanted to know, but Theo couldn’t bring himself to tell her.
“What happened in the throne room was a mix of dehydration and lack of sustenance. What really matters is what we discovered in Duncaster.”
She released his arm but didn’t send another punch or even a kick his way. Instead, she folded her arms and prodded at the inside of her cheek. “I already heard all about it. Fights, Deavonian Accords, slavers.”
“But Freville?”
Adelaide wasn’t impressed and cocked a hip. “You think she did it?”
“No, maybe.” Theo groaned, cupping the back of his neck. “I don’t know.”
“Did she tell you who she’s married to?”
He narrowed his eyes at her. “How do—”
She raised her hand, silencing his words. “I know everything, Theo, remember that.”
He released an annoyed breath.
“Are you jealous?” Adelaide teased.
“Why would I be jealous?”
“Because she’s pretty.”
Theo rolled his eyes. Why did every person within these walls wish to discuss the mating of the sexes?
