Page 50 of Her Ivory Flame

“You’re still lagging on your left side!” Kaden yelled as he tried to land a hard strike to her left.

She blocked it and kicked out at him, her foot landing on his hip making him stumble backwards. She groaned in frustration and charged at him, her sword slashing through the air just before it collided with his.

He tried to kick her feet out from under her but she was faster, jumping off the ground and jarring his sword out of his hand. He tried to swing at her with his bare fist and she ducted quickly before swinging her own leg around towards him.

His body slammed to the ground with a thud, and before he could react she pulled a dagger from her leg holster while charging for him. He barely got his breath when she had the knife pressedagainst his throat, her body straddling his massive build and her breath heaved from exhaustion.

“Maybe,” she growled, “but I make up for it everywhere else.”

She barely saw the pull of his lip before he moved under her, his hand grabbing the blade of the knife and she froze in surprise. Her back landed on the ground with a thud, his body twisting to flip her sideways and he was now pinning her to the ground.

Her legs were still wrapped around his middle, her blade now turned on herself and her eyes wide with shock.

“Someone is getting full of herself,” he whispered. “Never let your guard down.”

She glared up at him, his maroon eyes emotionless as they stared back at her and she wondered if he saw the same thing.

They had both been that way for over a month now, the same amount of time since Silas has left and all they did was train.

In that time, she had gotten used to contact with him but they never touched other than training. Even practice with the volunteer guards was getting easier to do hand to hand combat with, but outside of the ring she had her issues.

It was easy for her to walk around and avoid contact with most of the people in the castle. The only person she tried to have a real conversation with was Raine, but even then they didn’t talk on a consistent basis.

Since Silas left, they decided she didn’t need anyone in her room at night and just posted more guards in the hall for patrols. Kaden would come get her every morning and leave her every evening.

Sometimes he would stick around for a silent dinner, or sit by the fire if they decided to end their training a little early. No matter what though, they didn’t have anything to say to each other besides comments on training.

There was no need to pry with him, her emotions so locked down she tried not to notice anything that he did. He was her trainer and she was the trainee, simple and not distracting.

Silas had sent her many letters and none of them she had read. She was sure it was full of an empty apology and whatever new excuse he could conjure up. It didn’t matter any more, she was so numb to it these days there was no point reading them and she didn’t care.

She had lost her light and wasn’t sure if she wanted it back.

He rolled off her finally making sure to keep minimal contact and she grabbed the dagger from his outstretched hand. Frustration was overtaking her and she knew that meant she was done for the day. If she kept going, she would just get sloppy and it would do more harm than good.

“I’m going back to my room.” she snapped.

“You’ve been on edge lately, you need to clear your head.” He voiced harshly.

She just glared at him from over her shoulder and grabbed her sword off the ground with a groan. Her muscles ached, a warm bath sounding like the best option for her right now and she sheathed her sword while walking towards the castle.

“Wait.” he yelled at her and she paused in surprise. “It’s early and I’m hungry, let's go get some food.”

She whirled around slowly, her eyebrow raised in a confused look at his sudden interest in doing something other than training.

“I’m guessing you want to go to the slutty tavern?” she scoffed.

“Best food in town,” he said bluntly and started to head towards the stables.

“And if I say no?” she barked.

“Then I’ll drag you there myself. You will learn quickly not to keep me from food.”

She just rolled her eyes and started to follow him, having to break into a jog to catch up with his long strides. She was hungry too, but she didn’t really want to go back to the place that imploded her life only a few weeks ago.

They saddled their horses in silence, his eyes lingering towards her every so often and she just glared back at him. She didn’t trust anyone, not even him at this point, or at least not enough to admit what she really felt.

She cared about him.