Page 19 of Her Ivory Flame

He swung at her again, this time she dodged it easier, one arm blocking while the other landing a blow to his ribs. He took one step back in movement before swinging his leg at her again, but she blocked it and this time she knocked him to the ground. He landed hard but surprised her with a quick attack and she went to the ground next to him.

He kept the attack up, pulling her leg to him as she moved to maneuver away. She tried to kick him away, his fast reflexes dodging it and continued to wrestle with her. She found herself under him, his hands pinning her arms next to her head.

His dark hair fell down the side of his face and panic instantly rose in her chest. She tried to fight it, her skin prickling and ghostly feelings of Mavros’s knife slicing through her caused her breath to suck in.

“Get off me,” she tried to bark at him, her tone faltering and she tried to pull at her hands.

“Make me,” he snapped back. “Fight.”

Fear overtook her and she could feel stomach bile rising in her throat as she struggled against his hold. It was too much too fast and her body started to shake under him.

“Get. Off.” Her voice broke as a sob erupted from her chest.

Their eyes met and she could see a faint flash of shock form in his eyes before he released her. She instantly jumped up and scrambled to her feet, making it to the edge of the ring before she threw up what little vial was in her stomach over the side of the bench.

She could hear the people around her go silent but she just tried to focus on her breathing.

‘1, 2, 3….’

Counting to herself helped calm her down, the only thing that made her focus on something other than the nightmares of the dungeon. It had been a while since she needed to, but she knew this wasn’t going to be the last now that she was out of hiding.

She could sense Kaden walking up behind her but she stayed kneeling over the bench, willing herself to stop shaking and get herself put back together.

“What was that?” he asked behind her, his tone laced with frustration.

“I told you I don’t do well with people touching me.” she snarled, her body finally calm enough for her to stand.

“What are you not telling me?” he barked again.

“Nothing that concerns you.”

Their eyes met again when she turned to face him, schooling her face into a blank expression to hide her anxiety still smoldering inside her. His nostrils flared again, his stare going to the scar on the side of her face and saw a flicker of curiosity in his eyes.

“Well, this is going to be almost impossible now,” he growled and walked back towards the middle of the ring. “Pull yourself together and get back out here, we have work to do.”

She closed her eyes and took in a few deep breaths before following him, her footsteps stopping inches from him.

“Again,” he said as if nothing had happened and they continued sparing for a few more hours.

He never tackled her again and she could tell he was being careful how he touched her, a surprise to her considering how much of an ass he was being.

- - - - - - - -

Her body ached worse than she could remember in recent history several hours later, ending her first day of training and Kaden giving her a disapproving look.

Kaden walked her back to her room and was currently sitting on the couch staring at the fire warming the cold spring chill. He had said nothing to her since his last instruction at the training ring and she was too exhausted to care.

She was trying to undress herself, the sweat and dirt mixture making it hard to peel her leather pants off her legs. She heard the door open and peaked around the corner of her tall armoirefiguring she knew who it was. Silas came strutting in, hair a mess and clothes just as dirty as hers.

“How did it go?” he asked Kaden as he got closer to the couch, not seeing her peeking out at them.

“She needs a lot of work,” Kaden muttered back. “It’s gonna take a miracle at this rate to get her in shape.”

“It was her first day, got to give her some slack,” Silas responded, setting his sword against the couch.

“You need to quit babying her,” Kaden snapped. “It won’t do us or her any good.”

“I’m not babying her.” Silas’s voice was riddled with irritation.