Alek scowled while Daron and Sabyn howled again with laughter. Daron, bent over in his seat, elbows on knees, said, 'Suave, Alek, really suave.' He gave up saying anything else, falling back in his seat with laughter.
Alek glared at them again unintentionally rubbing the bruise on his chest. He winced when his hand touched it. Ouch! Cat sure has a good arm.
My feet dragged as we headed to the library. The guys and the Lieutenants of the General Guard would meet us there. 'It’ll be okay, Cat,' Sian gave my hand a squeeze. 'At least it’s out in the open now.'
Kassie sniggered. 'Very out.'
'Humph.' The butterflies in my stomach appeared to have permanent residence at the moment. Ugh, it’d be so nice to have everything back to normal, whatever that is. We reached the library and paused at the doors. My hands trembled so I jammed them into my pockets. I hope I haven’t ruined everything.
The pause at the door got longer.
Yakov cleared his throat behind us. 'C’mon then, let’s get this over with.' He pushed past us to open the doors, bowing low to Elena when she passed. I blinked in surprise. It almost looked like she’d traced her fingers against him.
The three Lieutenants sat on the couch opposite the guys. Elena took a seat at the head of the couches, Yakov pulled up another chair beside her. Alek sat next to them. I gulped. There was a space on the couch beside each of the men.
Oh no, I’m so not up to that yet. I perched on the couch arm beside Loi and Sabyn. Loi gave my leg a squeeze then Elena introduced us again. It wasn’t necessary, we’d become quite friendly with the Lieutenants Rashid and Patel. Lieutenant Ignatius, however, appeared to regard us in a permanently suspicious light. Waves of disapproval flowed off him whenever the four of us were close by. He wasn’t discreet about it. Loi and I exchanged a glance. Seriously what is his problem? Lieutenant Ignatius cleared his throat, giving us a thinly veiled look of disgust. 'Yakov, what’s the plan for today?'
Yakov smiled politely at him. 'The women will be training with the Griffon Guard until lunchtime then begin instructing the General Guard.'
'Humph.' Lieutenant Ignatius stood. The other Lieutenants exchanged a brief look of annoyance and stood with him, but smiled at us. 'We will see you this afternoon then. I look forward to seeing your alleged skills.' He marched out. All the men stiffened at the slight. I, however, sat shock still. We were training with the Griffon Guard.
Oh shit.
Deciding to break the tension, Kassie spoke up. 'Where are we practicing?'
'The training room, it’s not far from the Armory,' Daron said, his eyes still dark from Ignatius' insult. The men stood. Rumal offered a hand to Kassie, his molten eyes slanting with pleasure when she flushed and beamed at him. They headed toward the training room.
They gave us each a wooden sword. Because there were four hours until lunch, the men decided we would train for an hour with each of them. 'This way,' explained Sabyn. 'You’ll get to learn a slightly different technique from each of us. It’ll be a good overview.'
So we paired up with a guy. Ten guesses who I now stood opposite.
Cat kept her eyes fixed on the floor while Alek stared hard at her, neither appeared to notice that everyone in the room watched them. Sian could hear the sound of Cat’s energy rising and she began to glow a dark red. Hmmm it might be a good idea to leave them alone for a bit. She caught Daron’s eye and jerked her head at the door. He gave her a smile then spoke while eyeballing Rumal and Sabyn. 'I believe we’ll practice in the corridor.'
'Good idea.'
'I’ll grab the swords.'
They all filed out the room.
'Cat.'
I didn’t want to meet his eyes. Since we arrived on Gar'nyse I’d been able to keep the whole soul mate thing out of my mind. Yet here and now, I knew it. I knew the answer, I understood. And it scared the crap out of me. What if I’m wrong? What if it doesn’t work out? It seemed so much simpler the way it was. But it wasn’t—anything but in fact. Every time I drew near him I knew it. It almost felt like someone rang a bell above our heads whenever we stood close. Even during our screaming match I could feel it. Now that I understood my energy, I could feel it respond to his presence.
My rational voice sounded cynical; since when are you a coward? I gulped, pressing my trembling hands hard against my thighs. Then lifted my head and met his gaze.
Her green eyes met his and he felt his body jolt in shock. With their eyes locked, in that instant it seemed like he could see all the thoughts in her mind. Words screamed through his head as he stared into the green abyss of her gaze. She began to glow a brighter red, then blinked, breaking the intense hold between them.
'Alek.' A tear spilled from each eye while she gazed at him.
He stepped toward me and my energy flared out enveloping us. I snatched it back in and looked up into his eyes. Finally he did what I’d ached for him to do for the past week. He pulled me into his arms and hugged me. I wrapped my arms around his neck, not wanting to ever let go.
Alek tucked her head under his chin and tightened his hold. He didn’t want to let go, it felt so good. She drew in a deep breath then let it out in a shuddering sigh. He felt her tears against his throat. 'I’m so sorry, Cat,' he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. 'So, so sorry.'
She nodded and mumbled into his neck. He chuckled at the sensation and pulled back a little. 'What was that?'
'I’m sorry I threw you.'
Her guilty expression had him laughing. 'What about the punch?'
'Oh you totally deserved that.'
I loved the sound of his laughter. He didn’t let up his tight grip while he laughed at my response. I didn’t either, relishing the feel of him. Snuggling down in his arms I twisted my head up and watched him laugh. His wide smile revealed the dimple in either cheek, making his eyes seem a brighter blue than normal. He looked down at me when he’d finished and I saw his expression change.
Uh-oh.
I pulled out of his arms quickly. 'No. We go slowly,' I frowned, wanting him understand what I meant. 'Too much is at stake here to leap back in head first, Alek. Please.' The hurt in his eyes faded.
A fair enough point; Alek nodded to her and her frown disappeared. 'But hugs are okay?' She nodded. He reached for one of her hands and drew it to his mouth, pressing a long kiss to it while letting his eyes say the rest. Her energy flushed out around her again, he grinned. 'And this?'
My stomach felt like a whirlpool as I tried to reign in my body’s response. I wrinkled my nose at him twisting my lips before he could see the smile.
'Hmmm. I think you’re pushing it,' I attempted a glare and failed which made his smile grow wider.
'Only a little,' he winked.
Out in the corridor everyone listened intently, the girls testing their ability to sense each other’s energy.
'I think it’s good now,' announced Kassie. She glanced at Loi and Sian who agreed.
'Okay, I’ll lead the way.' Yakov stepped to the door, giving it a light rap with his knuckles then after a pause, opened it. They followed him in.
Alek and Cat stood close while he instructed her on her hold using a wooden practice sword. The atmosphere in the room felt free and easy. Cat looked back to them with a bright, delighted smile. Kassie exchanged happy glances with the others; it worked! They all settled into practice while Yakov, acting as the time keeper, watched.
She’d demanded he not hold back and he didn’t. Within a quarter hour Alek smashed the first of Cat’s swords. Her eyes belied the fear she felt but she fought back hard, when she broke his sword near the end of their session she let loose a shriek of delight. He laughed at her, she was on to her fourth sword now and sweating hard but wouldn’t give up. Cat hadn’t stopped smiling the whole lesson and neither had he. Right now with everything finally right, he felt like he could fly. She lunged at him, he deflected the blow then stopped her so he could instruct her on how to do the move.
A loud whistle snapped them out of their fighting
positions.
Chapter Twenty Six
Yakov smiled at everyone and pointed to the clock. 'The first hour is up, please move to the next opponent on your right.' He swept an arm in the direction. I couldn’t believe an hour had passed though my arms ached and I dripped with sweat. But I don’t want to move on, wailed the silly voice in my mind as I stared at Alek. It’s all good now, my rational voice thought in amusement, you’ll have time with him later. I thought the expression in his eyes said the same thing. He reached out to grab my hand then gave it another one of those long and seriously inappropriate kisses, making me blush. Not that you could tell with how red and sticky I was from the lesson. With reluctance, I headed off to Rumal for instruction.
Loi reeled from her hour with Sabyn. She’d felt a little smug at the beginning due to her kenjutsu training but this? This was a different ball game. It had been a proper fight and they’d both broken several swords. She hoped Daron might go easy on her, or at the very least spend a decent amount of time explaining stuff. She mentally crossed her fingers as she walked over.
Daron smiled at Laura who looked hot and flustered after her hour with Sabyn. Of the four girls he knew she was the best swordswoman, he wanted to have a closer look at her style. It appeared quite different to anything he’d seen before. He began with his stance and explained how and why he preferred it then asked her to show him her preferred stance, before they set into it.
Loi winced at the vibrations that echoed down the wooden sword and up her arm. Daron preferred what she would consider a German style of sword fighting, a lot of flicking. It was very quick she had to focus hard to follow, to try and keep one step ahead of him. 'A breather,' she gasped, stepping back quickly.
Daron lowered his sword. They spent a few moments catching their breath before setting back into it. She took the opportunity to observe how the others did. Sian battled Alek with a determined expression. Quick and lithe, she darted out of his reach then lunged back in. It appeared to give Alek a good workout. Loi grinned. He’s lucky the fight between him and Cat is over, she thought; otherwise this practice could be dangerous to his health. Sabyn led Kassie through some steps. Cat and Rumal almost danced their sword styles suited one another so well, but Cat looked stressed. She fought with a constant frown, Loi thought she spotted see the tip of Cat’s tongue between her teeth. The aura of gloom she’d carried had vanished. Loi smiled, thrilled for her friend.
When Yakov called out finish time I was ready to drop. The thought of training in the afternoon felt most unpleasant. 'Lunch is in two hours time. We’ve made it later so you have time to clean up and have a short siesta if you like,' Yakov called. Relief ran through me, though I felt comforted to see that the men looked almost as tired as we did. Alek stopped me before I left with a blinding smile and another kiss to the hand. I flushed hot when Sian and Loi let loose loud wolf-whistles while everyone else laughed. We headed off to our room when a thought that had occurred to me before popped back in my head.
'How did he know the word siesta?' The others stared blankly at me. 'Yakov, how did he know the word siesta? He suggested we take one remember?'
Sian shook her head with one of those half smirks that suggested she’d figured this out ages ago. I exchanged a glance with Kassie. Sian, much as I loved her, could be a right know-it-all at times. I waited for her explanation, head cocked and an eyebrow raised. She paused at my expression, her face assuming a look of passive innocence. 'I don’t think Yakov said the word siesta. I think we understood it as siesta. Think about it, Cat; you didn’t really believe we were speaking English did you?' I didn’t respond, just waited for her to continue. The silence grew before Sian gave an impatient sigh at my not playing along. 'Well, I believe the spell provided us with the ability to understand the people here and be understood. Like Loi said, we asked for all the necessary things to be in place.'
'It makes sense,' Loi pointed out. 'There’s been more than one thing that we probably should have had different terms for but they seemed the same here.'
I nodded to Loi, still refusing to be baited by Sian. 'It did occur to me when we arrived in Lothost. I just didn’t want to over think it, in case it somehow stopped working.' I couldn’t help but shudder as I said that. The very idea of not being able to communicate scared the heck out of me.
Kassie listened with interest to Sian’s explanation. It fitted what had occurred to her. But Cat’s comment caused a sudden bubble of anxiety. What if now that they knew it wouldn’t work? The guard at the throne room greeted them as they passed. 'Good day, ladies, you look like you could all do with a good rest.'
A couple of corridors down Loi suddenly spoke up. 'I was so relieved we could understand him! I had this sudden thought that I wouldn’t be able to!'
Kassie and Cat started laughing. 'Me too,' they chorused.
Sian shook her head in disbelief at the three of them. 'Honestly you lot, you have no clue.'
I snorted then stuck my tongue out at Sian before winking at the others. Like she had known for sure, no spell she’d ever cast had done this before. After showering we all climbed into bed. Yakov promised to send Nnelg in to wake us before lunch. It felt like I just closed my eyes when I opened them again, groggily wondering what had disturbed me.
A jet of fire burst across the room. I shrieked and dove out of bed, the others doing the same. 'NNELG!' roared Loi, her face red as she sighted the little blue dragon. We heard a chuckle then the little cretin blinked out of the room. I staggered to my feet. The room spun so I sat back on the bed for a moment before stumbling around, pulling on fresh work-out gear. The others moaned about their arms aching but I didn’t even notice mine. I was too busy floating in my own cloud of happiness. Alek would be at lunch.
And. He. Wants. Me. My heart sang with joy.
Kassie glanced over at Cat to see how she was. She had an enormous smile on her face. Kassie rolled her eyes and chuckled. 'We’re going to have to put up with a super sappy Cat now aren’t we?' Loi and Sian laughed when Cat blushed then laughed, nodding. She felt a rush of joy for her friend; I’m so glad they’ve sorted it out.
We headed toward the Great Hall, all the while discussing creative ways to get back at Nnelg. Well, I swung between those ideas and some others in my mind, but I wasn’t sharing those. When we reached the Great Hall laughter and applause greeted us. Nnelg sat center table, preening his wings, looking very proud. Yakov and Elena attempted disapproving looks at the little blue cretin, but failed. 'Gee I wonder who gave Nnelg the clever idea,' Loi said sarcastically.
The guys and others teased us through most of lunch but I didn’t care. My appetite had returned in a rush, it was so good to enjoy food again. Alek pulled my chair close to his, so we leaned against each other while we ate. Everyone promptly switched from teasing us girls about Nnelg, to teasing Alek and me. I smiled smugly and continued eating.
After lunch we followed Yakov and the Lieutenants to the training room. We could hear a loud murmur of voices as we approached. Yakov glanced back and gave us a warm smile. 'The General Guard are looking forward to learning new skills from you.' We all ignored the humph noise that Iggy made—the men told us his nickname during weapons training. We entered the door that Yakov held for us and walked to where the Lieutenants waited. The room was crowded and I started in surprise at the few female faces I noticed in the crowd. I hadn’t expected that, but there they were. I’d counted at least ten women already and there looked to be around a thousand people in the room.
I turned to Lieutenant Rashid. 'How many in total are there in the General Guard?' I knew a thousand wouldn’t be near enough.
'We currently have one hundred thousand spread over Elion. These are the Majors of each area. They will learn what they can here and take it back to train those in their area.'
We discussed it prior and came to the decision that Sian would talk and the rest of us would demonstrate. If Sian found she wasn’t being heard then we’d split up. Kassie and I would head to the back
of the room to teach them where I would do the talking then demonstrate with Kass. Looking at this crowd we knew we’d have to do that. We let the Lieutenants know of our plans and Yakov, listening in, pulled a vial out of his pocket. 'Here, Sian and Cat, if you each take a sip of this it will make your voice louder without any strain on you.' We both stared at the dark liquid for a moment.
'Good idea, Yakov,' Alek smiled at us reassuringly. 'I use verlin for speeches to big audiences. It’s never let me down yet.'
Daron frowned at something and Sian questioned him.
'We should set up a stage. That way everyone can see you and the four of you can demonstrate together.' The men all approved of this idea. They quickly erected a sturdy stage at one end of the room. A short while later and other than our voices, the room was silent while our audience watched in utter fascination. Thinking back to our first lessons, to how our teachers taught us proved challenging but we managed. After we explained the basics we divided the room into four and had everyone pair up, so we could instruct them through some throws and how to fall properly. When Sian brought this up there were quite a few titters amongst the crowd. People always thought it funny that you needed to be taught how to fall. After a few demonstrations between Loi and I, on the right way and the wrong way, you could see the idea click in their minds.
We’d each had a sip of the verlin and it worked well when I begun to instruct my group through the first throw. As I wandered around the pairs I gave pointers and tips, or showed them the correct way if they had it wrong. It was satisfying work and apart from Iggy, who kept his haughty look, all the others we’d met were open and friendly. More than one person teased me for throwing Alek. They all wanted to be taught the royal throw as they’d named it.
The Arrival: An Epic Fantasy Romance Page 27