by R. C. Reigh
We continued to spar for a few hours. Some matches he won and others I did. By the time our final session was over, we were both breathing heavily.
"You're better than I expected," he managed out between labored breaths. His eyes roamed over me as if really seeing me for the first time.
"I have five older brothers. All of them are in the royal guard."
He chuckled and nodded, accepting that the joke in fact had been on him.
"I was practically raised on the training field," I shrugged.
"Well, that would definitely explain it." He ran his arm over his face, wiping the sweat from his brow.
"The first rule of combat, never underestimate your opponent," I reminded him as I thrust my sword back into its sheath.
"Yes, well, you've definitely proved that to be an accurate statement. Well done, Lady Cora,” he complimented me.
I bowed my head in thanks, and together we headed toward where his emissaries were waiting at the bench.
"So, what say you, Cora? Do you think we could make this teammate thing work?" He stared at me as he started pulling off his gloves.
I watched him as I took a deep swig from my canteen. There was something in his eyes I hadn't expected to see there before. Hope.
"I think it's worth a shot," I nodded and extended my hand toward him.
His face lit up with a brilliant smile. His big hand clasped around my wrist and I curled my fingers around his in return. It was a sign of respect among warriors. I had walked into that arena as nothing more than a pitiful mortal to him, and I would be walking out an equal warrior in his eyes. Damn, that felt good.
And who would have thought that sparring with the prince could have been fun?
Kessara
Two Fae students dropped their gear onto the arena bench a few rows below me. The smaller one shot me an anxious look before returning his attention to his friend again.
Cora looked at me from across the arena and we exchanged a nod. Our plan was to have me conceal myself out of the way somewhere in the stands across the arena to observe her first practice with Dane without the wolves noticing.
While I had agreed to be Cora’s backup without any type of contract, I had my own interests in this, as well.
First, I needed to discreetly oversee the extra part of the deal the prince had saddled me with when he had added the word ‘and’ to our agreement. Now, I was also committed to ensuring that Amelia and Dane ended up together. The wolf was going to need Cora’s help if he ever wanted to get Amelia to change her mind about him. Therefore, I needed to be here to make sure he didn’t mess up. He could never know he had committed me to much more than exposing the princess's boy toy.
With a self-satisfied smirk, I recalled the look on the princess's face when the professor discovered her in that closet. That particular task had been all too easy. I'd placed a tracking incantation on Cora with a sleeper spell which had been set to attach itself to both Amelia and Adam when she encountered them. A spell like that would have been detectable with anything more complex than tracer magic, but in this case, it had served me well.
My second reason for finding myself in the arena this afternoon had surprised me the most: Cora. Even though I hadn't intended to, I had enjoyed our little magical practice sessions. She had been an unexpected challenge, and the exchange of witty banter and laughter had been quite enjoyable. It was an entirely new experience for me altogether.
Whispers from the two Fae below me caught my attention. I listened in without looking at them.
“What do you expect? Her father murdered her mother in cold blood,” the taller one said, covering his mouth with his hand even though it had no effect on how loud he spoke.
Out of my peripheral, I saw the other Fae glance up at me before quickly looking away again. A flicker of anger ticked up inside of me.
Ah yes, that old tale.
It was an age-old rumor that my father and I had allowed to spread throughout the kingdoms. It was far better than telling them the truth. I wasn’t one to let the chatter get to me, but when someone mentioned my mother, it always rubbed me the wrong way.
If they only knew.
I forced my attention back to Cora and the wolf prince. From what I'd just witnessed, Cora had skills in hand to hand combat, as well. Fortunately, they seemed to be doing well without my intervention.
It looks like I could check yet another item off of my list of things to do.
Out of boredum, I shot a bit of magic at the two Fae sparring closest to me, forcing the laces of their boots to intertwine and unbalance them. They struggled for a bit before falling over. I observed them smugly. They would never know it was me. When I used my special magic, it was nearly invisible to the others. The Fae would just chalk it up to some sort of accidental magic they had generated, but it was still fun watching them struggle to free themselves. It’s what they deserved for speaking ill of my father.
Giving one last glance toward Cora who was making her way to the exit, I slowly descended the stands. Progress was moving in the right direction on that front.
It was nearing the end of the second month at the Bastion. The first-years would be joining us soon, giving me a whole new crop of naive and unassuming nobility to play with. Other than the wolf, I had several schemes in the works already. Thus far, it had been all too easy.
Before I reached for the door, I glanced back at the two Fae. They had been forced to cut their laces in order to get themselves upright again. With a smirk, I sent another burst of magic in their direction, effectively tripping them both into the sand again.
Yes, boredom was indeed beginning to set in. I pushed through the door to meet Cora at our arranged meeting place with a sense of restlessness fizzling through me.
Perhaps I should return home for the weekend. Father would welcome the opportunity to really challenge my magic and maybe even round up a troll or something for me to annihilate.
Amelia
Snuggled up on the patio in my favorite chair, I was pouring over my book on healing magic when Cora returned. Before heading off to the baths, she stopped and leaned against the doorway to the terrace with her arms crossed.
"So, how did it go?" I asked, quickly marking my page and closing the healing volume. I had told her that I thought the whole thing was a bad idea, but I still couldn’t wait to hear the details.
"I think," she tapped her finger on her lips in contemplation, “we’ve got a good shot at winning the challenge."
My mouth hung open in disbelief.
"There is no way you are considering saying yes to partnering with him." I shook my head as Cora frowned.
“Is that an order?” she asked with a furrowed brow.
“No, of course not. I just meant it as a statement of surprise, is all. It may have come out wrong. Sorry.” I could feel my cheeks redden as her expression softened.
"Well, that’s good because I’ve already agreed," she replied in relief.
Once again, my jaw dropped.
“Don’t look so shocked. It’s a good move for Avonlee," she said.
Her gaze turned to a basket of fruit on the table that sat beside the doorway before she selected a bright green apple.
“It’s just-- He’s so-- Well, he is such a brute,” I complained, scrunching up my nose. “I don’t want you to have to put up with his crass arrogance just to win a trophy." I chewed my lip. I didn’t like the idea one bit.
Cora absentmindedly rolled the apple between her fingers before she shrugged again.
"Other than being so cocky as to underestimate me, he was surprisingly normal.” She covered her mouth in a mock gasp. “I’d even venture so far as to say it was fun."
I curled my lip as I pouted. And here I had thought that we had vowed to loathe him forever, yet Cora seemed excited to have someone, or rather three someone’s, as her new sparring partners. The corner of her lip turned up in an amused grin before she brought the apple to her lips and took a bite.
“
Whose version of normal are we talking about, because Dane is normally an arrogant jerk,” I replied flippantly as I narrowed my brow at her.
“I know. I wouldn’t have thought he had it in him either,” she digressed before taking another bite of her apple.
"Well, if you have such a fondness for him now, are you sure you don’t want to take him off my hands, then?" I couldn’t help the sarcastic nature of my tone.
"Ha, ha,” she faked a laugh and gave me one of her signature eye rolls. “You know it doesn’t work that way. Besides, as attractive as he is, I committed the prince to the future cousin-in-law zone long ago."
She tumbled the fruit in her hand before changing the subject.
“What have you been up to?”
“Not much really, reading up on healing magic. I signed up to mentor the primus students of Avonlee when they arrive next week. I figured some might need encouragement coming to a place like this for the first time. I wish I had someone like that when I arrived.” Mentoring wasn’t usually a requirement of a royal, but I generally enjoyed helping people, and in some way it felt an appropriate penance for my failures.
Her eyes fell to a stack of books at the foot of my chair and her eyebrows shot up.
“Are those books on Carpathia and wolves I spy under your chair?” Her tone had turned playful.
I mocked her voice in jest as I repeated her words and then replied, “Yes, but don’t be silly. Father has ordered me to get to know the wolves better, hence the books. I’m just doing what I’m told.” I scowled.
“I guess frequent trips to the library and working with the primus students will keep you from wallowing in our room, at least.” She wagged her eyebrows at me sarcastically. “Well, I’m off to the baths.” She tapped her fingers against the door frame before slipping into our quarters and leaving me to my thoughts.
The following week would be full of excitement. Year primus would join us at the beginning of the week, followed by a tournament at the week's end and a fall formal to round out that weekend. It would definitely be enough to keep me distracted from my wallowing, as Cora called it.
It made me wonder if that was what I was really doing. Hiding and wallowing in my embarrassment? I had chalked it up to avoiding Dane, but perhaps that idea was a bit naïve. Maybe it was time that I started working toward putting all of it behind me.
My mind wandered to what Cora had said about her practice with the wolf prince. I didn’t know what to make of Dane. The fact that he had been kind to Cora did make him seem a bit less vile, but part of me still hoped that she wouldn’t be some sort of pawn herself.
DANE
The sound of Cora’s honest laughter filled the corridor. It was my hard-earned reward after three days of strong practices and a somewhat tacky joke. Truthfully, it was one of the best sounds I’d heard in a long time, and I couldn’t help but join in.
"Sounds as if I missed something rather amusing." Her alluring scent wafted the air as she approached. That sweet soothing voice behind me was a melody I had so longed to hear, and it could only belong to one person. An electricity vibrated along my skin the way it always did when Amelia was near.
“You did!" Cora chuckled, greeting her cousin with a cheerful smile.
"I was wondering if I might speak to Prince Dane for a moment. That is, after the two of you have finished." Amelia’s gaze volleyed between Cora and me before finally, her cousin spoke.
"Sure. We were just headed back to the Avonlee towers if you’d like to join us?" Cora smiled at her before giving me a curious glance.
Amelia nodded and accompanied us in a leisurely stroll.
In my stupor of the sudden change of events, I hadn’t been able to form words yet. I had offered to walk Cora back to the Avonlee towers under the pretense of discussing strategy, but truthfully, I had hoped we might see Amelia. And then here she was, willingly joining us and requesting a moment’s time to speak with me.
The girls exchanged in what I assumed was normal conversation, while I kept a quiet stride beside them. Secretly, I was using this opportunity to drink the sight of the one person who unknowingly stole the breath from me.
We hadn’t spoken since that day in the convocation room with her father. It wasn’t that I hadn’t wanted to speak with her, I had, but our conversations always turned so volatile and I didn’t want to fight with her or scare her off.
When we arrived at the entrance to the Avonlee towers, Cora started up the steps and then turned back to Amelia and me with a concerned look on her face.
“I’ll catch you at tomorrow's practice, Dane. See you upstairs in a bit, Amelia?" It was obvious that, as the princess’s guard, Cora wasn’t sure how far she should distance herself right now.
For a moment, I was just as afraid for her to go. I wasn’t certain if it was Cora’s presence that had created the calm between Amelia and I, but I didn’t want the peace between us to end.
"I’m on my way to the library to meet with Lady Celeste. It shouldn’t be too much of an inconvenience for Prince Dane to accompany me there since it is on his route back to his tower.” The princess’s beautiful hazel eyes fluttered to mine for confirmation, and I nodded before she returned her attention to Cora. “It will be fine. You are dismissed," Amelia reassured her.
"Good night." I bowed my head in reply to Cora’s earlier farewell, and with that, the girl who had become the life raft between Amelia and I disappeared up the steps.
I turned to find Amelia’s eyes already fixed on me.
"I know this is awkward," she sighed, "but I wanted to thank you. . ." She looked down at her hands as she twisted them together. "For not breaking the treaty after what happened, I mean."
She motioned down the hallway toward the library, and we started walking, side by side, like friendly acquaintances. This felt so surreal that I couldn’t be sure I wasn’t dreaming.
“It was very good of you to put my father’s mind at ease,” she chewed her lip as she kept focus downward on the stones of the floor, “and for not mentioning any of our previous conversations either.”
Cheeks flushed as she chanced a sheepish peek up at me.
I couldn’t find any words, so I just nodded. Maybe it was the awkwardness of our situation or perhaps the twinge of guilt that I had brought this on her, but I had never felt so nervous in all my life as I did walking along that corridor alone with Amelia. After a few quiet moments, I finally found the nerve to speak.
“I’ve been wanting to apologize, as well.” I cleared my throat. “For the way I have handled many things between us, but mostly for kissing you the other day. That was wrong of me. There is no excuse for my behavior,” I replied.
The tips of her ears had flushed red in complement to the shade of pink that blushed across her cheeks.
“I hope that someday you will be able to forgive me,” I finished.
She looked down at her hands again and I noticed that, too soon, we were approaching the library doors.
“We have both done things for which we are regretful,” she replied after a moment’s hesitation.
When we reached the entrance to the library, she again broke the silence with a forced smile.
“Cora is very happy to be partnering with you for the challenge,” she began with a gentleness in her eyes she’d never spared me before. “She says wonderful things about your practices.”
I couldn’t help the upturn at the corner of my lips. She was offering an olive branch of sorts by opening up in casual conversation.
“Well, I am the Champion of Avonlee, after all. It only makes sense to partner with Cora. Besides, it seems like Avonlee could use a championship win to lift their spirits.” I repeated what I had told her cousin, “It also opens up another slot in the Carpathian register, so it is a win for everyone.”
In truth, working with Cora had been much easier than expected. Not only was she talented, but she had a surprising level of dedication and passion in honing her skill. Not to mention that her blatant hon
esty coupled with her easy-going nature made her feel like she was one of those people you had known your whole life. Once you got to know her, it was clear that Cora was truly someone special. It had made me start to wonder if I wasn’t underestimating some of the other humans, as well. Perhaps I should be giving them more of a chance.
Amelia gave a slight bob of her head in agreement before her attention returned to the floor. The awkward silence between us had returned. I rubbed at the back of my neck, desperately trying to think of something to say, but Amelia spoke first.
“I should go in. I would hate to keep Lady Celeste waiting,” she said softly and then bowed her head in farewell. “I hope you enjoy the rest of your afternoon, Prince Daneatious.”
“Thank you, princess. I hope for the same for you, as well.” I bowed my head as I reached to open the door for her.
“Thank you,” she replied, avoiding my gaze as she slipped past me into the library.
I stood there completely bewildered for a few moments before walking away. I was now hopeful that maybe, just maybe, she would be able to stop hating me.
Roarke
Starting at a new school midway through the first semester was a drag. I tossed some armor into my duffle haphazardly with a handful of socks. I wasn’t too keen on the idea of leaving Dragonia, but father had made it clear we had no choice in the matter. The fact that almost all of the royal heirs from all of the seven kingdoms were being required to attend sounded like a disaster just waiting to happen, but I was just the third son of a dragon king. What did I know?
On the bright side, I was looking forward to seeing my brothers again. I couldn’t wait to hear the details of the Bastion from them directly. My eldest brother Dorran was causing trouble, no doubt. He always did. And I was willing to bet that he was dragging Dax along for the ride. I grinned at the thought. I guess it wouldn’t be that bad.
