The Arrival (Birthright Trilogy #1)

by Nicole MacDonald

  'Must have been a serendipitous act of fate,' she announced with a grand gesture of her arm.

  I’m pretty sure half the room snickered at that. A heavy flush made its way up my neck, and I refocused on my place mat with a sigh.

  Poor Cat kept her eyes fixed on the table for all of breakfast while it seemed nearly everyone in the room had a comment, or three. It kept up a jovial atmosphere, and Sian soon discovered that all the additions to the room were members of the General Guard.

  'They’re not just here to tease Cat?' she whispered to Rumal.

  The man choked on his food. Kassie pounded helpfully on his back. Laughter was evident in his voice as he replied in now hoarse tones, 'Just to laugh at Cat? No, they’re here to receive training from the four of you. Though I’m sure they all have heard about this morning’s incident.'

  Kassie looked nervously at Sian.

  'We’re to train them?'

  Elena leaned over.

  'Yes. Today’s training is all physical. I think a break will help with your Elemental training.'

  Loud laughter rang from the Solar.

  Chortling, Sabyn managed to get out, 'Gee I wish I was a Prince so I could have such a way with the ladies.'

  Alek scowled as Daron and Sabyn howled again with laughter. Daron was bent over in his seat, elbows on knees.

  'Sauvé, Alek, really suave.'

  He gave up saying anything else, falling back in his seat as he continued laughing.

  Alek glared at them both again, while unconsciously 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 were meeting 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 and bowed low to Elena as she passed. I blinked in surprise. It almost looked like she had traced her fingers against him as she entered the room.

  The three Lieutenants sat on the couch opposite the guys. Elena took a seat at the head of the couches and Yakov pulled up another chair beside her. Alek was seated next to them. I gulped. There was a space on the couch beside each of the men.

  Oh no, 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 really 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 discrete about it. Loi and I exchanged a glance.

  Seriously what is his problem?

  Lieutenant Ignatius cleared his throat and gave us a thinly veiled look of disgust. 'Yakov what’s the plan for today?'

  Yakov gave the man a polite smile.

  'The women will be training with the Griffon Guard until lunchtime and 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 apparent 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 Iggy’s insult. The men stood, and Rumal offered a hand to Kassie, his molten eyes slanted with pleasure when she flushed and beamed at him. They headed toward the training room.

  We were each given a wooden sword and because there was four hours before lunch, the men had 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 had her eyes fixed at 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 had 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 seems so much simpler to stay the way it is. But it wasn’t. Simple that is. It was anything but. Every time I was near him I was so aware of it. It nearly felt as though someone rung a bell above our heads whenever we were 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 was cynical, since when are you a coward?

  I gulped and pressed 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 it was as though, in that instant, 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 as 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 been aching 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, and he felt her tears against his throat.

  'I’m so sorry, Cat,' he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. 'I’m 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 as 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. The wide smile revealed the dimple in either cheek and made 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.

  Fair enough point. Alek nodded to her and her frown disappeared.

  'But hugs a
re 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 and 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, and the girls tested their ability to ‘feel’ each others 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 and gave it a light rap with his knuckles, then, after a pause, opened it.

  They followed him in.

  Alek and Cat stood close as Alek instructed her on her hold with a wooden practice sword. The atmosphere in the room felt free and easy. Cat looked back to them and gave a bright, delighted smile. Kassie exchanged a happy smile 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 had smashed the first of Cat’s swords. Her eyes belied the fear she felt, but she fought back hard, and when she broke his sword near the end of their session she let loose a shriek of delight. He laughed at her, she was up to her fourth sword now and sweating hard, but she wouldn’t give up. Cat hadn’t stopped smiling the whole lesson and neither had he.

  Right at the moment, now everything was right, and 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.

  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 were killing me 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 was amused, and you’ll have time with him later.

  I was pretty sure the expression in his eyes said the same thing. He reached out and grabbed my hand then gave it another of those long and seriously inappropriate kisses, making me blush. Not that you’d be able to tell, I was so red from the lesson. I was very glad that Alek had seen me all icky and sweaty before. 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 swords-woman, and he was curious about her style. It was quite different to anything he’d seen before. He began with his stance and explained why and how it was preferable to him, and asked her to show him her preferred stance. Then 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. She was quick and lithe, darting out of his reach then lunging back in. It appeared to be giving Alek a good workout. Loi grinned, it was a good thing the fight between him and Cat was over. Otherwise this practice could have been dangerous to his health.

  Sabyn led Kassie through some steps. Cat and Rumal almost danced, their sword styles suited one another so well, but the stress on Cat’s face was visible. She fought with a constant frown, and Loi was pretty sure she could see the tip of her tongue between her teeth. It was wonderful to see her happy again, the aura of gloom she’d carried had vanished.

  When Yakov called out that it was time to finish I was ready to drop. The thought of training in the afternoon was not pleasant. Yakov must have read the thought in our expressions as he announced.

  '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.'

  Relief ran through me. It was a comfort to see that the men looked 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?'

  'I’m assuming that’s to do with the spell,' Sian said. 'We asked for all the necessary things to be in place, and I believe our understanding of their language is one of them. Think about it, Cat, you didn’t really think we were speaking English, did you?' she asked skeptically.

  I stuttered, 'I honestly hadn’t thought about it.'

  '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. Like shower, for example.'

  Kassie was silent as she listened. She hadn’t thought about it either, but now quite a few terms and words came to mind that, really, they shouldn’t have recognized. She hoped this wouldn’t affect her speaking skills. It would suck, if now that realized they were speaking the other language, they then couldn’t. That happened in some stories with magic spells.

  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 now we’d realized, we wouldn’t be able to do it.'

  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 shrugged and stuck my tongue out at Sian as I winked at the others.

  Like she had known for sure, it was the first time a spell she’d ever cast had worked in such a literal sense. After showering, we all climbed into bed. Yakov had promised to send Nnelg in to wake us when it was nearly time for lunch. It felt like I had just closed my eyes when I opened them again, groggily, wondering what had woken me.

  A jet of fire burst across the room. I shrieked and dove out of bed, the others doing the same.

  'NNELG!' roared Laura, 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, 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 as Cat blushed, then lau
ghed 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 was too hungry to 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 as we ate. Everyone promptly switched from teasing us girls about Nnelg, to teasing Alek and I. I smiled smugly and continued eating.

  After lunch, we followed Yakov and the Lieutenants to the training room. A loud murmur of voices was audible as we approached it. 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 were 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 was no where near enough.

  'We currently have one hundred thousand. They are 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.'