His wrist met mine, and the dull pain of its impact caused my fingers to spasm. I dropped the dagger. Sitri plucked it from the air with supernatural ease. I winced, shaking my hand to rid it of its ache, cursing his name under my breath. Rage, lust, and pride swirled madly, muddying my mind. I wanted to murder him nearly as much as I wanted to be in his bed.
“Now, return to your stance, darling. We shall train until you’ve got this down.”
We reset. I moved to disarm him and found myself on the ground before I’d even swung my weapon.
“Again,” Sitri instructed as I collected myself.
My next charge ended with a predictable feint, which saw my weapon stolen and a blade to my back.
“Again!”
Sitri ran me through drill after drill. Maneuver after maneuver. He demonstrated a hundred different ways to dismantle my defenses. Each time I fell, he ordered me to my feet, only to knock them out from under me.
Hours flew by. My stomach growled, my muscles ached, and my mouth went dry. Despite it all, Sitri never slowed down. His energy seemed limitless compared to my own. As he again adopted a fighting stance, I found the weight of the morning star too oppressive to bear. With a sigh, I allowed it to sag until its barbs hit the dirt below.
“How much longer do you plan to keep going?” I asked between pants. “I think my arms might fall off if I have to swing this thing around any more.”
He eyed me for a long moment. Then, he abandoned his stance and returned his daggers to their sheaths.
“I had wondered just how far I could push you. You have a knack for ignoring your limits, don’t you, darling?” Sitri chuckled as he swept by me, unfazed by hours of rigorous training. “Your stamina will increase as you learn to forgo the luxuries of life. For today, we may leave this where it lies.”
Though I planned to deny the claim, the more I thought about it, the more I recognized its truth. Since my death, things had been happening so quickly that I’d hardly kept up. Time and time again, I’d pushed myself past my limits.
“I never really learned to check myself,” I admitted. “I always wanted more, fought harder. Vapula tried to control me… but I shut him out. If I’d been able to manage myself without him, I wouldn’t be here.”
“Recklessness did you in?” he asked.
I hesitated. Sitri didn’t seem put off in the slightest. I cast my eyes to the ground.
“It was an overdose. I used drugs to numb the loneliness and pain, to keep Vapula from reaching me in dreams, but I went too far that night.”
“And there was no one there to catch you?” Sitri sauntered up to my side, and his hand on my shoulder grounded me to his presence.
I leaned into his gentle touch. “Someone tried. He was too late. I was so used to being alone, the only child with no friends, and I had a nasty reputation. Most people only tolerated me if I stayed at arm’s length.”
“Arm’s length is a fine place to be if the company isn’t worth keeping.”
Sitri wiped the sweat from my brow and planted a tender kiss on my forehead. I blinked, still unsure what to make of his kindness. The Prince now offered gentle affection that required nothing in return, a stark contrast to the transactional sex of my college years and the manipulation that defined our early relations.
Despite myself, I couldn’t stop my eyes from misting. Images of the violence I’d seen flashed through my mind, seeding me with doubt and fear. These tender moments were the calm before the storm; as fragile as glass, as fleeting as peace.
“You can’t beat him, can you?” I asked.
Sitri drew a sharp breath. “Not alone,” he admitted. “But this war isn’t fought alone. You know of Haagenti and Zaleos? Tenuous allies though they are, their support is the reason Lantyca still stands. A third Duchess remains undecided. Gremory is her name. I do not count on her, but if this battle goes well, she may come to the table with a price for her aid.”
I bit my lip. “How much of your territory has he taken?”
The Prince paused, silver eyes searching my face. Through his magic, I could sense his desire to conceal. Sitri didn’t want to tell me, didn’t want to worry me. With the strange sensation came something new—anearly imperceptible, bitter undertone on his breath. A pull on his gift confirmed its identity.
A secret.
The scent faded, and Sitri’s gaze relented. “Most of it. I once controlled miles of land beyond the gorge and all the settlements that operated there. I shared a border with Zaleos, whose territory sweeps along the gorge’s northwestern bank, and trade flowed freely between our kingdoms. Not a third of what I inherited remains. My legates have been slain, my cities destroyed or occupied, and my remaining legions cornered.”
“Even if you can hold him off for now, you won’t win a war if all you do is defend,” I pressed. “He’ll be back. What happens then?”
The tears building in my eyes grew too heavy, rolling down my cheeks in fat, wet drops. Sitri caressed my face, wiping them away.
“We fight,” he said, “and we give it everything we have. You will be okay, darling.”
