“Is it time? Like old injuries?”
“No. I’ve healed injuries that were decades old with plenty of power to spare. Yet healing a burn drains the living shit outof me. And the scarring tends to remain, especially if caused by Elemental Fire.”
“Oh, I see. And the other limitation?”
“Missing body parts. Those, I can’t regrow. If I could, Alarik would speak.”
My eyes widened. Guess I wasn’t the only one with missing pieces. So for today, I had to simply be grateful for what I had. She was healed, and that was all that mattered.
Oh! And my end of the bargain.
I extended my arm, cup in hand. “Ready when you are.” Bits of ice formed, crunching at the water’s surface. I drank the whole thing.
“We bargained for one sip, you know.”
“I’d drink all the water in the world for this.”
“There’s a whole lot of water in this world.”
My smile slowly faded. “Not in my world, there isn’t.”
“For now,” he mumbled, and I tried to search for his eyes. But when he finally lifted his head, a sly grin painted his face. “Feels good to be finally forgiven.”
“Half forgiven,” I murmured.
He raised a brow and repeated, “Halfforgiven?”
“If memory serves me well, I believe you also owed me one piece of silver coin.”
Aegir let out a sharp exhale through smiling lips. “Fair enough.” He fished through his bag, then held out his hand, a silver coin between his thumb and forefinger. I took it carefully.
I wasn’t done with Cinnamon. I wasn’t even close to being done. I moved to her side. “I would like to take her for a slow walk.”
Aegir nodded and gestured for me to mount. “I’ll see you to the paddock.” Grabbing Cinnamon’s reins, he guided us out. “You can stay with her for the rest of the day. I was challenged to a spear-throwing contest by Joel and Darius. I, of course,couldn’t refuse an opportunity to bring those two to shame. But have dinner with us tonight,” he said, handing me the reins. Our fingers softly interlocked, causing my heart to rush. He was about to let go of my hand, but I tightened my grip, forcing him to halt, to look at me.
“Aegir.” I paused, and before loosening my grip, I told him, “I had already forgiven you.”
Before he could reply, Cinnamon and I were already in a full gallop.
Then I knew fun time was over the moment I glimpsed a white eagle circling into a descent.
Looks like he’s going to keep his promise.
CHAPTER 27
It felt strange, training without Eldric today. The lack of his shouts surely made the early morning seem peaceful and quiet. Aegir still made me work, though.
By the end of a full-on physical session, followed by a self-defence lesson in an outdoor furnace, my legs turned weak and wobbly. I forced them to make it to the stable.
He was not cutting me any slack—no cooling relief, which I was sure I had become addicted to. I collapsed in the middle of the floor, panting heavily. Aegir lay next to me, shirtless, also panting. After catching our breath, Aegir propped himself up on his elbows, then sat down and made to reach for his crumpled shirt. He must not have realised that I, too, now sat behind him. And he must not have noticed that I was about to touch the inked skin of his back. His muscles stiffened beneath my fingertips as I slowly traced his marked spinal column. I had never seen anything quite like that.
He did not look my way when I asked, “Did it hurt?”
“Not as much as it should have.” His reply was quiet and I wasn’t sure what he meant by that.
“How many dots do you think it has?” I asked.
“One hundred twenty-six thousand, five hundred ten.”
