Lory shot him a glare first, then took a close look at the rock beneath her fingers—her burning fingers. “
“Shit—”
“You could say so.” Thal grinned and panted, halfway up the wall. “At first, I thought you were molding them into more easily grabbable shapes, but then I noticed the expression on your face.”
Lory grimaced.
“Yeah, just like that.” Thal pulled himself higher while Lory forced calm into her veins, willing the fire to go out. “Just saying. You could talk to me about whatever it is.”
And Lory knew she could. About anything buthim.About anything but the rebellion, the Flames locked in the dungeons. Her guilt, her fear, her broken heart. “I’m fine. Just need to work out some frustrations. I’ll be better after I’ve run myself ragged on this parcours.” She meant it, too. But a small part of her—the tiny sensation in her chest surged up whenever she thought of how complicated things had become. So many secrets—and not nearly enough privacy to work anything out, to speak about things with the people she trusted. Then, maybe speaking wouldn’t help. Maybe this was a matter she needed to sort out on her own.
Keeping her fire under control, Lory finished the last two rounds in silence, pushing herself to her limits and ignoring thepain in her hip, where the bruise, courtesy of Khayrivven’s training methods, still bloomed, and his phantom touch lingered. Only when she stopped at the weapons rack, nearly doubling over, gasping for air, did she allow herself to glance over her shoulder at the others. Thal was only a few steps behind her, but Brycon and Eira, she’d outrun by half a lap. When they both arrived, panting and sweating, Anees shoved training weapons into their hands, pairing Eira with Thal and Lory with the knowledgist. With the heel of her boot, she drew two lines in the sand, gesturing for them to take position between them. “Whoever drives their opponent over the line first wins.”
Lory felt Anees’s eyes on her as she lowered her center of gravity, waiting for Brycon to attack.
The knowledigst merely hovered on his side, throwing Lory an inquisitive glance.
“I think you’re supposed to use that thing in your hand,” she snapped at him, earning a chuckle from Thal, who was flipping his weapon in his hand.
Brycon gave her a crooked grin. “Very funny, Vednis. Let’s hope you can back up your big mouth.”
He didn’t give her time to respond as he stepped up, hitting her blade with the flat of his. A playful blow, an invitation rather than an attack, and for a moment, Lory wondered if Brycon had truly changed. That his jealousy about herspecial treatmenthad been the only reason, and he’d seen by now that her powerful magic wasn’t the only discipline she was superior in.
With a half-honest smile, she smacked his blade back. “Let’s say I’m as good as Veiled and Steel as you’re at recitinghistory books.” It wasn’t meant to be a taunt, just a fact delivered as a convoluted peace offering. “Maybe we can learn something from each other.”
Maes had insisted Brycon was all right, that he’d been a great asset for studying, and they obviously liked each other. Perhaps, she could get used to the knowledgist not wanting to kill her.
“Maybe,” Brycon echoed.
Next to them, Thal and Eira’s blades were clashing, steel on dulled steel, the song of combat accompanied by their grunts and shouts.
Brycon gave her a small smirk. “Maybe we’d make a formidable pair if we teamed up.”
“Maybe,” Lory echoed, and this time, she felt her smile turn real. Oh, she didn’t trust Brycon Seine. Not after everything that had happened, but this was a first step. With all the open questions floating around these days, she needed all the help she could get. A fragment of her attention, she kept on Brycon’s stance, on the way he favored his right leg, the imbalance of his shoulders and hips. “How about I’ll teach you how to outsmart your opponent and use the element of surprise, and in return, next time I study for a Knowledge exam, you can help me out?” She didn’t warn him further as she attacked, getting into his guard with her sword in an instant and shoving him back with the flat of her blade, until he stumbled over the line behind him, that weaker, left leg his downfall.
With satisfaction, she watched him stumble onto his ass, but she didn’t mock him. Instead, she offered her hand tohelp him up. Brycon took it without hesitation, letting her pull him up, and brushed off the dirt from his pants and shirt, and a small smile played on his mouth as he inclined his head at Lory as if to say,Well played.
When Lory made it to dinner that day, her thoughts were clear for once, and the ache in her chest didn’t throb as horribly.
Twenty-Six
Lory
The routine remainedthe same over the next week. Outside of training, Lory didn’t see Khayrivven for more than a quick exchange of glances in the mess hall during mealtimes, but that was enough for her to know things hadn’t really gotten better—and she didn’t mean the convoluted rejection on his side, but the remaining ache in her chest that was more than a broken heart, somethingother. Because her heart wasn’t truly broken, just hardening every single day by the distance she herself had put between them.
Their encounters during training were few, too, only him checking in for a quick demonstrationof her progress every other day. Anees and Hadrian took turns overseeing her magic lessons, and while Hadrian continued her Gilded training, Anees managed her Veiled and Steel practice.
For Medica, Hand Nahrit called her in every other day, and she dreaded the descent to the Medica quarters almost as much as she dreaded spotting Lenya on the dais every morning. Ever since their encounter the night of the ashlings’ final trial, Lory had more questions than she’d entered the Medica quarters with, but one thing she was certain of: Princeton Nahrit was a rebel, and he was keeping an eye on Khayrivven. Whether that was a good thing remained to be seen.
So she did today again, ready to finally ask the Medica Hand why he hadn’t confronted Khayrivven about his friendship with the captain’s father. Whenever she got close to the subject, he shut her down, referring to ‘other priorities’ as he called it. Such as her getting her mind projection under control.
At least that worked well enough for her to feel confident Khayrivven couldn’t hear the many accusations she wanted to hurl at his pretty head—or the declarations of her own feelings that kept resting on her tongue.
It didn’t help that he looked better every time she saw him, like, with the growing distance between them, he’d developed a special allure meant to drive her crazy.
His scent lingered in the hallways, and his voice followed her through the burning sun and stark shadows that were the premises of Ashthorn Ward.
At least her friends hadn’t changed. Tabi and Thal were eager to train more Veiled and improve their magic skills,while Jarek mostly focused on Steel for now. Even Brycon had joined them for meals a few times, his expression different from his usual frown. He’d even made polite conversation with her, going entirely out of character and not rubbing all his knowledge in her face. For a change, Lory wouldn’t have minded since all she really neededwasinformation. About the history of Brestolya, or about the leonthor whose voice in her head during her mission to the palace still felt like a surreal dream. About Flame powers in general. The rebels, the king’s system of ensuring his powers—apart from both his military branches—and about that Guardians-damned prophecy. But it seemed Princeton Nahrit was the only one who’d share anything with her for now.
