"Where are they going?" I asked, tearing my eyes from the two to glance at Rena.
"To train. Kai hasn't been able to alleviate the blessed fire that burns within him for a while, and he needs to get it out of his system before we travel again. Plus Roan won't have access to much water once we fully enter the desert, so I'm sure he wants to expend some of his magic too."
Bran raised a brow. “Can we watch? I've heard of their legendary matches around the barracks before, but never witnessed one myself."
I could have hugged him for asking that question, my own curiosity alighting at the thought of watching the two spar.
I settled comfortably into a spot in the warm sand, a safe distance from the two men who were already in the throes of their match. My eyes jumping between them with disbelief.
They had both removed their shirts, their golden tattoos gleaming upon sweat slicked skin. Their shoes too were removed, I assumed for better purchase in the shifting sand.
I watched with fascination at the water that writhed and whirled around Roan like extensions of his own limbs, whip-quick as they shot out for Kairen. There was an explosion of steam as they connected with the burst of raging fire that shot from Kai's palm. Two opposing elements shifting in a dance of power, a tug and pull of which would come out victorious.
I leaned back with a flinch at the sight of that Goddess-blessed flame. Even years later I couldn't hide the fear that coursed through me whenever I witnessed it, my mind inevitably sending me back to that dark little alleyway.
I felt Bran lay a comforting hand over my knee, a reassuring squeeze that had me letting out a little breath, though his eyes never left the match.
They moved quickly, practically in sync in the way they fought one another, clearly familiar with each other's styles of fighting. Had they trained together as boys? Would the king have allowed that?
I gasped, heart stuttering, rising halfway out of my seated position as a powerful, raging rupture of fire shot from Kairen. The blast was so hot I could feel the heat from where I sat and for a moment, I was terrified that it would consume Roan, that I would see him too die at the hands of a Goddess-blessed flame.
A wave of ocean water rushed to meet it, a small tsunami of sea and foam andpower.My eyes squinted against the smoke that rapidly filled the space after the collision. Breaths wheezing as I tried to make out their forms. The wave had been so large that the water washed high upon the shore, so close I could reach out and touch it.
Perhaps I would have, if it wasn’t sizzling across the sand, boiling from the fire it had come into contact with.
"By the Goddess," Bran spoke, reverence in his voice.
Rena nodded, a proud smile on her lips. "They've been blessed with extraordinary power. Our Masters have always said they've been the best to come through the Institute for generations."
They moved with a fluidity that was reminiscent of the dancers in the Old Quarter, a grace to every step they took, a purpose to every wave of their hands. Their magic was truly an extension of themselves, a skill they had clearly been mastering for all their lives and I was impressed.
They moved closer to one another, and instead of the large bursts they'd been expending before, their magic now swirled around their hands as they instead engaged in close combat. A fist wreathed in water as it shot towards Kairen's face, a foot encased in flame as Kairen whirled a kick at his opponent, the flame shooting outward.
Back and forth it went, a shout stuck in my throat when fire singed Roan's arm, but they moved so quickly I could hardly keep up. Whatever pain he felt, it did not show. Not even a moment of hesitation in his strikes.
It wasn’t long after that Kairen was on the ground, tendrils of water wrapping around his neck, tightening until he turned blue. It was over when his fist pounded three times and the water released him in a rush, running in rivulets down his neck and soaking into the sand.
Rena nudged me, standing and wiping her pants, Bran and I following suit.
We approached the two men and Bran immediately pulled Kairen to the side, asking about the blessed fire with enthusiastic awe. Merle had been blessed with fire too, but not nearly as powerful as Kairen's. In all the time I had spent with the woman I had only ever seen it used to light a fire beneath a cauldron or to reheat a little cup of tea. Rena joined them, her palms stretching out to display her own golden light to Bran.
I hesitantly approached Roan, my eyes drifting to the raw burn on his forearm. "That looks like it hurts."
His eyes lifted to mine, a smile playing on his lips. “A little pain never killed anyone."
My eyes rolled at my own words being thrown back at me before the events of the night prior had my face heating to a blush.
"I'm sorry for last night, I was…" I hesitated, picking at my palm.
"Fiendishly drunk?" He finished for me and I nodded with a sigh before his shrug had me once more meeting his gaze. “Happens to the best of us. It isn't your fault Rena kicked you out for the night."
Laughing, I glanced back, fondness fluttering to life. “She deserved to have some fun after how horrible being on the ship was for her."
"And you," he asked, taking a step closer, "did you have fun last night,grey-eyed beauty?”
The name was said mockingly, the tone mimicking Gianni's cadence. I fought the smile that threatened to slip over my lips.
Jealous indeed.
