The shadows hissed.
Show them how they would crumble beneath your vengeance.
His hand gripped my own, tugging the blade closer, piercing the soft skin just beneath his jaw. His grin still feral, his eyes still searching as a small trail of blood slid down his neck and disappeared beneath the seam of his cloak. “Knives aren’t normally my thing, little menace, but for you I could make an exception. Would you like to be the judge of just how much I amlacking?
A groan had me pulling back, wiping the tip of my blade clean as Kai tossed the man an irritated glance. “Can you please stop antagonizing her?” A frown pulled at his lips. “I’m sorry, he enjoys getting a rise out of people, says it tests,” his own voice shifting into a poor imitation of the Kinslayer’s low timber, “a person's character.”
I picked at my nails, brows raising. I wasn’t generally the mostpatient person, but being a Potions Apprentice, caring for the people that I did, I liked to think I had grown accustomed to those trying to get beneath my skin. Yet, every time I looked into that silver and green gaze and saw my own rage reflected back at me, my patience snapped like a string pulled far too taut.
“And what exactly have you gleanedof my character, Kinslayer?”
He shrugged, an infuriating smirk upon his lips as he brought his firemead to his mouth, my eyes drifting to his throat as he drank deeply.
“You’re easily annoyed and far less tolerant than I’d assume a woman who works within the Old Quarter to be.”
My lips pursed, a retort upon my tongue, when a new mug was placed upon the table beside me. My eyes flitted up, catching a familiar shade of hazel.
“Was that a knife I saw a moment ago, Syra Sommers?”
My fingers played with the handle of the new tankard as Rosie Donnchadh, her wild red hair piled atop her head, stared down upon me.
“Well—”
“If I see it again I’m tossing you out and calling that cousin of yours down from the barracks to walk your sorry ass home.”
My jaw dropped, my finger an accusation as I stabbed it towards the cloaked man across from me. “But he—”
She tutted, pale skin flushed with the heat of the tavern as she warned, “Start another brawl within my tavern walls and I’ll ban you for life, ya hear?”
“Rosie—“
But she was already walking away, other patrons calling out to her.
“A brawl?” The Kinslayer’s question was drawn out, amusement lingering in its depths.
Rubbing at my temples, a sigh of frustration escaped me. “Can we get to the point of why I’m here, please?”
Goddess, I was tired. My body and mind ached, my heart lay in tattered ruins within my chest. I was always exhausted after rounding, always grouchy and unbearably irritated. My compassion and patience were depleted on the people I tried to heal, to comfort. Not to mention the training in the early morning hours with Bran. Physically and mentally, I was spent. I just wanted to crawl beneath the covers of my bed and sleep for the next two days.
Being chastised by Rosie was just the cherry on top. The woman could make a grown man cower beneath her ire.
I took a long pull from the firemead she had brought, relishing in the burn that trailed down my throat as it soothed my aching muscles.
“Your trials begin in a few days, correct?” Kai questioned. How in the Nine Hells did he know when my trials started? He shrugged sheepishly at my bewildered expression, a ringed finger tracing the rim of his tankard. “I may have looked into your records, after we visited the shop you work in.”
He continued, “Syra Sommers, niece and apprentice to Merle Sommers, you’ve been in training since you began living with your Aunt at the age of seven. Your twenty-first birthday was a handful of weeks ago and you will begin your trials in two days time, yes?”
Shifting, apprehension had my chest tightening. “I’m beginning to think you two runningintome in the Old Quarter wasn’t simply a coincidence.”
Had they beenfollowingme? My eyes darted to the entrance of the tavern, to where Rosie moved throughout the room. If I ran, would they catch me? Certainly I was faster, but…
It was the predatory way with which the Kinslayer eyed me from beneath the cowl of his cloak that had me planted within my chair. As if he were daring me to. He’d certainly enjoy the chase and I wasn’t entirely certain I’d be the victor in that game.
Kai ran a hand over the hood of his cloak as he lowly said, “My name isn’t actually Kai, or, it is, but only kind of?”
“That sounds like a personal identity crisis that I really can’t help with, so maybe I should just…”
I was halfway up, gesturing to the exit, when Roan Delmar growled, “Sitdown.”
