The Arrival

by Nicole MacDonald

  Right now with everything finally right, he felt like he could fly. She lunged at him and he deflected the blow and 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, and 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 while 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 and 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 and she had to focus hard to follow and try and keep one step ahead of him. 'A breather,' she gasped and stepped back quickly.

  Daron lowered his sword and 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 and Loi thought she spotted see the tip of Cat’s tongue between her teeth. The aura of gloom she’d carried had vanished and 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 had promised to send Nnelg in to wake us before lunch. It felt like I had 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 and 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, then I stumbled around and pulled 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 and nodded. 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 and 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 had 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 had 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 and 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 and 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 and to how our teachers had taught us proved challenging but we managed. After we had 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.

  At the end of the day, back on the stage, Sian took questions. A man raised his arm.

  'Yes?'

  'Would you mind giving us a demonstration? Of a decent fight. I can see how the throws would be helpful, but I’d really like to see what else you can do.' The crowd made loud murmurs of agreement.

  Iggy stepped forward. 'I’d be happy to assist.'

  The four of us exchanged glances. I gave a slight nod to Kassie, whose eyebrows shot up before she gave a tiny shrug, lips curving with a hint of a smile. Rumal and the other men, Yakov included, gave Iggy heated looks. This should make them smile. I winked at Sian and Loi.

  Kassie stepped forward and gave the traditional bow to Iggy. The room went silent. Iggy bowed and the rest of us stepped back, out of the way. There was an awkward moment where the two fighters just stared at one another.

  KASSIE BIT HER lip to stop from giggling. 'You’ll need to attack me.'

  Iggy made a short grunt of acknowledgement then lunged at her. Not fast enough mate, she thought, dodging him. He lunged again and this time tackled her to the ground. A shocked murmur echoed through the room. She lifted her hips sharply and used the momentum to flick his hands forward, throwing him off balance. Then she jerked one knee up and grasping his wrist and collar, used his body weight to heft him over. Now on top of him, Kassie turned to the crowd. 'This is where I would have punched him hard in the throat,' and she motioned her intent. Iggy, to his credit, didn’t flinch. 'Again?' She glanced at the stone-faced man beneath her thighs. He gave her a curt nod and she gracefully lifted off him. They stood and faced each other again.

  Iggy studied her for a moment and then lunged, throwing a punch. Kassie used the momentum like she had done back on Earth, at that party before the spell, and threw him over her shoulder. Applause echoed through the room with most audience members smiling. They started again, this time Iggy attempted a hard high kick. She threw her arms up, crossing her wrists and caught his ankle, then shoved him backward so he fell. There were a few snickers from the audience, then silence while everyone waited to see what he would do next. He staggered to his feet, his face an amusing mix of confusion and annoyance. Iggy charged forward and attempted to catch Kassie in a bear hug. She jumped, pushed off his thigh and caught his right arm with her legs, twisting and pulled herself backward. It wrenched Iggy off his feet and threw him hard to the floor. All those watching gasped in astonishment.

  SIAN STEPPED FORWARD, and God only knows how, managed to keep her face straight when she said, 'Now this is when knowing how to fall correctly is absolutely necessary. The Lieutenant fell a lot harder than we’d prefer.'

  Kassie and Iggy both stood and bowed politely to each other, then Yakov stepped forward. 'May we have some appreciation for our teachers and volunteers,' his lips twitched as he spoke. The room erupted into noisy applause and loud exclamations. Everyone seemed far more excited about the new techniques now.

  That evening at dinner Kassie was the center of attention with Rumal seated close to her, smiling proudly. After dinner we gathered in the library where Elena congratulated us on our success, a broad smile on her face when she turned to Kassie. 'I hear your training session was quite a success. I’m sorry to have missed it.' Everyone chuckled.

  Yakov, who had joined us in the library, winked at Elena. 'It was fantastic, Ellie. I’ll show you some time.' She gave him a warm smile. Again I wondered if they were a couple. They seemed so natural together. How would that work? Elena would be at least, oh I don’t know, a couple of millennia older? That’d put a new spin on cradle snatcher. Alek squeezed my hand, distracting me.

  LOI RELAXED AGAINST Sabyn while they listened to Elena’s debriefing and new outline for the weeks leading up to the ball.

  'We will continue to alternate days. Yakov and I feel you’ll be able to focus better if one day is devoted to physical activity and the other to mental. The last day of each week will be your free day. So try to get to bed early and I will see you at the Griffon quarters tomorrow, straight after breakfast.' With the debriefing finished, they all headed off.

  Kassie and Rumal wandered to their favorite turret in the inner gate and Sian and Daron disappeared to visit Nesha.

  Sabyn turned to Loi. 'Would you like to walk in the courtyard?'

  Loi flashed him a smile and nodded; they did it each evening and she’d looked forward to it all day. Cat and Alek seemed happy to stay put. Both still wore an aura of absolute contentment and Audi snored in front of the fireplace.

  When they settled into their favorite spot beneath a huge tree, Loi leaned back into Sabyn’s arms. 'What’s with Iggy, why does he have such a problem with us?'

  'I don’t think it’s you girls personally, Iggy just seems to be of the opinion that women are to be seen and not heard.'

  'What?' She twisted to stare into his face. 'Are you serious? Where did he come up with such a deluded idea? No one else here appears to be of that opinion.'

  SABYN SMILED AT the indignant look on her face. 'No, but from what I understand Iggy’s mother was submissive to his father, and his sisters were brought up in the same manner. Even Iggy’s wife is very dutiful. If that’s what you’ve been surrounded by for most of your life you’ll begin to consider it normal. There are some villages were men are considered subservient. As long as they don’t force their ideas on others and people choose to go there of their own free will, then it’s not considered an issue.'

  LOI GRUDGINGLY CONCEDED the sense in that. Still, she hated that some wouldn’t consider her their equal, even if she could beat them. Maybe once I master this whole Elemental thing people will take me seriously. Some creative ideas along those lines ran through her mind and she resisted the urge to giggle. Watch out Iggy, cross me and you’ll be sorry.

  SABYN WATCHED IN a
musement while ideas flickered across her face. I wonder how different their world is if this seems strange to her, he thought. Iggy had better watch himself around the four women, I suspect they’d enjoy shaking him up. He played with a strand of her ebony hair and twisted it out, admiring the silky length. It was a source of envy for more than one woman in the castle. She turned then, looking up at him and his breath hitched in his throat.

  Those luminous eyes.

  Slipping a hand to the nape of her neck he pulled her close, trailing kisses down her cheekbone and pressed his forehead gently to hers. Her eyes darkened and he felt her flush, the skin under his fingers growing warm. Smiling into her topaz gaze, he wrapped his arms around her and caught her mouth with his.

  Chapter Twenty Seven

  WHEN WE ARRIVED at the training circle the next day Elena explained her intentions for the session. 'Today I want to teach you all to create physical manifestations of your gifts.'

  That surprised me, 'Won’t we use the energy the way it is?'

  Elena shook her head. 'No. You’ll find it more useful in its physical state. The energy itself you can throw out in a wave, but I still feel you will find learning this just as useful.'

  We listened as she explained. Over the next few hours Elena coaxed us into creating our physical elements.

  ELENA WATCHED SIAN, delighted with her success. At first she’d used water from the nearby stream but once she had a feel for it and how her body responded, she’d figured out how to create the element from her energy. Elena watched as water gushed from Sian’s extended palm. It wasn’t strong yet and she knew the girls would be exhausted by tonight. More practice, she thought to herself, they’re going to be incredible.