Page 76 of Her Ivory Flame

“No sword,” he said behind her and she glanced at him confused. “You need more hand-to-hand work, if you lose your sword at this point, you will be at risk.”

“Whatever you say.” She shrugged casually and stabbed her sword into the dirt next to a tree.

“Axe too,” he added.

She gave him a playful glare as she tugged her second favorite weapon from her hip and tossed it next to her sword.

He rested his two swords against a tree near him before facing her, eyes instantly connecting with hers.

“Charge me,” he demanded.

She narrowed her eyes but nodded, her feet moving on the dirt and she tried to aim her fist at his face.

He dodged, his arm colliding with her back and she fumbled to keep herself upright. As soon as she got traction she swung around and landed a blow to his side, a grunt sounding from his but he swung back quickly.

She was able to duck her head out of the way and roll onto the ground, spinning to face him head on again.

“You need to maneuver better.” He grunted at her.

She growled and charged him again, this time sliding before he could swing and knocking his feet out from under him. She followed by pulling a dagger out of her thigh before straddling him with it at his throat.

This time, when he tried to throw her off, she was ready and shoved her leg to the ground so he couldn’t roll her and the blade pressed into his throat more. A small trickle of blood flowed onto her knife and trickled down its blade.

She tried not to flinch, the first time she had seen another fae bleed since the war, but she knew her body tensed instantly.

“You learned from last time.” He smirked.

“Well, I have you to deal with if I don’t.” She pulled the blade from his throat and rose to her feet. “I’m already failing enough with my power, I might as well try to fight better without it.”

His eyebrows raised while he stood, his hand wiping his neck and glanced at the red coloring from his throat.

“You’re not failing.” he muttered.

“We’ve been training for two months and I’ve barely been able to get a quarter of my power back. How is that not failing?”

He walked up to her and reached for her but paused for her approval. She nodded and his fingers gently gripped her chin, his eyes now dark and body tense with what seemed like anger. She didn’t know where his sudden emotion came from.

“You were tortured and beaten when you locked it up, it’s going to take something just as emotional to finally break it all the way back down.” His eyes didn’t waiver from hers and she could feel her heart start to race from the intensity of his stare. He had remembered what she said to Emris that day in the throne room, but he never asked her about it since.

He leaned closer to her, their faces only inches from each other and she found it hard to breathe knowing how close his lips were to hers.

“You are worthy of everything you desire, Alyra, don’t let your past define who you are now,” he whispered.

“Who am I then?” A tear slid down her cheek. “Because I am lost now more than ever.”

He slid his hand from her chin and caressed her face, his calloused hands surprisingly soft. She was expecting some sort of panic as a response, but instead she found herself gently leaning into his touch.

“You are the princess of Mydalsa, wielder of the Ivory Flame, and stronger than you give yourself credit for.”

His voice was haunting, but she was also distracted by his touch on her face and his thumb that had brushed the tear from her cheek.

“Kaden,” she whispered, her chest tightening with every breath.

“Hey!” Finnley’s voice cut through the air and she jolted backwards, her back slamming into a tree. “We need you back at camp.”

Kaden tensed and she could even see the look of worry on Finnley’s face. Something must have come up or maybe someone passed their camp on the road.

“Let’s go.” Kaden snapped and they all moved back to camp as fast as possible.