by K. Lyn Hill
Siel realized what he said and smirked. "I tend to avoid giving those girls a weapon before I say it."
Smiling, Aerity did as she was told and copied Siel’s stance. "Like this?"
"Yes, now pull your shoulders back, loosen your grip. You look like you’re trying to ride a horse."
She scowled. "You told me to spread my legs!"
"Not that wide, woman!" He exclaimed.
Dropping her head back in exasperation, she did as he instructed.
"Now, when I swing, block my parry."
"Really? I had planned on letting you stab me." Her sarcastic quip made his grin deepen as he lunged, catching her off guard. She threw her sword up to block his blow, the metals clashing against each other. Vibration jolted up her arm, as she tried to hold it steady. She jumped back and he tried to hit her again. Ducking out of the way, she spun around to find him face to face with her again.
Block, par, step, block.
Their dance proceeded over and over until Aerity was hunched over gripping the cramp in her side. Slapping the flat side of the sword against her back side, she peeked up through her lashes to glare at him.
“If you really want to improve, you need to start a training regimen. Running in the morning, weightlifting. It’s up to you though.”
"Oooh goody. Can't wait." She said as her chest heaved with exertion even though it was clear the prospect excited her. Her body craved physical activity. He knew she would eventually go stir crazy if she remained stagnant in the castle.
He smirked and grabbed her sword from her hand, placing it back on the rack. "Not bad. You need more practice, but we can make it work. You try to hold your sword and stab like a dagger. That won't help you in a fight."
Straightening her back, she blew out a breath. "Great Yoda, please teach me your ways." He gave her an inquisitive look as she shook her head. "Never mind. That was a poor reference."
Giving her a once over, Siel crossed his arms. “We need to get back to the dinner before Damien sends out a search party. Her subtle whine brought another smirk to his face, but she obeyed. Even if she did walk back to the dinner like she was attending an execution.
∞∞∞
Damien
A nagging in his head continued spreading as he searched for Aerity. He needed to apologize after his word vomit, but he couldn’t seem to locate her after her dance with Siel. At first, all he could do was just stand there and stare at them while they moved and laughed together on the dance floor. She looked so comfortable, leaning into his arms. It sent a pang of longing straight through his chest. He wanted that with her. If only she knew just how much he was trying.
As his eyes scanned the room, a sinking feeling dropped in his stomach. Siel was missing too. He tried to ignore the jealousy clenching his gut and threw on a smile to get through the normal pleasantries of court. That and avoid unwanted attention. With Aerity nowhere in sight, Maria was swirling around him like a damn vulture, waiting for him to drop dead so she could strike. He wished Aerity were by his side to tell Maria off with her snarky remarks and passionate words. But she was still nowhere to be found.
Elias caught his eye, or more appropriately the solemn look on his face did as his general made his way across the room. Damien knew that look and he also knew he wouldn’t like what his friend was about to tell him.
As soon as Elias got close enough Damien asked, “Why is that expression on your face?”
Elias sucked in a deep breath and lifted his chin. “If I’m not mistaken, you are searching for your future wife. Would I be correct in that assumption?”
Waiting for him to get to the point, Damien replied, “You would be correct.”
“Some of the guests saw her leave.”
Was he that terrible of a person that she felt like she just had to get away? Or did she leave with someone? That sinking feeling returned. He decided to ask his friend and hoped with everything in him that he would tell him no but when Elias’ lips thinned, he knew he wasn’t going to get the answer he was looking for.
“They noticed Siel left a few minutes after her, headed in the same direction.” Elias told him sympathetically. It was odd to see that instead of his usual anger. It made Damien feel weak. He was pathetic to still have faith in this girl. Over and over again she proved to be untrustworthy and he was a fool for thinking she was anything more or that they could actually have a good relationship. While he had been desperately wanting to start fresh, she was just looking for another excuse to race into his brother’s arms. Is that what would happen after they married? Each disagreement or argument would have her racing off to find another without even trying to work through the problem?
“I see.” He made the motion of flicking lint off his jacket impassively even though he felt anything but. “Well, when they return, please let her know that I have retired early. I have training early tomorrow morning so I must get some rest.” Refusing to let anyone know how affected he was by her actions, he waited until Elias acknowledged his request and then he left to his rooms.
A fool he was indeed.
It was then and there that he came to his own realization. All this time he had tried to play nice with her, tried to work things out. But there was no reasoning with someone who didn’t want to be reasoned with. There would be no more kid gloves with her. She needed to be taught a lesson of just what was expected of her as his future wife and he would be the one to do it.
As soon as he entered his office, he got to work on penning out his first plan of attack. Elias might be his army general but that didn’t mean Damien wasn’t just as good at plotting for a war.
And he had no other option but to win.
Chapter Twenty-two
Aerity
“Ok so I know he’s an ass...but seriously...look at that ass...” The next morning Carly and her had snuck out to the training yard to watch the guys fight. It took all her self-control not to join their training. Damien would never allow it, which only made her desire to do it grow. If he knew of her training with Siel, he would put a stop to it. Which meant he could never know.
She had arrived back to the dinner the night prior with her hair a mess and a glaze of sweat on her body. No one said a word. The only hint that anyone noticed was the fact that Elias’ eyes glared disappointingly at her when he informed her Damien retired to his room early. She didn’t care what Elias thought of her though. His opinion was already askew, and she was thrilled Damien went to bed. It meant she could leave the stuffy dinner early and wouldn’t hear a lecture. But she wasn’t stupid enough to know Elias wouldn’t blab so she told Carly what had happened that morning. That led to them seeking Damien out. It was an added bonus that he happened to be training and they happened to get an eyeful of his one redeeming attribute…his body.
Aerity laughed as Carly’s appreciated their view. Carly continued to pick up expressions from her world the more time they spent together. She was partial to curse words, of course. If Aerity witnessed her calling someone a giant steaming pile of horse shit again, she was going to pee herself from laughing so hard.
As much as Aerity wanted to deny her attraction to Damien, she couldn’t. The man was simply sex on a stick, even after the disaster of the evening. Still, the jolt of excitement suddenly zipping through her was uncontrollable as she watched him train. Glistening skin, metal sword in hand, hair tousled from sweat and movement. His foot work was trained, controlled, and utterly ruthless, swiping and blocking his partner’s blows. Hard cut abs glowed with moisture; biceps rippling from the strenuous battle.
“Your mother would whip you with a cowbell if she heard that come out of your mouth.” Aerity mused.
Carly snorted. “How dare you bring my mother into this while I’m busy examining a perfectly good male specimen. Besides, she wouldn’t know what I was even saying.” The combined effect of her wicked grin and conspiring face was menacing.
Aerity playfully bumped her shoulder. “Watch yourself. That’s my fiancé you’re t
alking about here.”
Carly shot her an incredulous look. “Oh, I see. You’re one of those girls.”
“What girls?”
“The ones who don’t want the guy but don’t want anyone else to look either.” Carly whined.
Aerity picked up her friend’s playful tone and teased back. “Of course, don’t you know how that works. Siel is mine too.”
Carly pouted. “That’s so not fair. You need to pick one.”
“Nope, they are both mine.”
She scowled. “Is there anyone you don’t claim?”
Trying her best to keep a straight face, Aerity bit her lip. “There’s always Daniel.”
Carly shot her a glare. “So generous of you. How about someone not still potty training?”
A thought popped into her head making her eyes light with excitement. “Oh my God! Elias!” As soon as the name was out of her mouth, a bolt of homesickness jolted through her. Eli wasn’t here. The thought made her eyes water.
“You better not be referring to the General. Not even his good looks make up for that personality.”
“No, the Eli from my world. He’s completely different. My best friend.”
Taking in the change of mood, Carly cocked her head. “You miss him.”
It wasn’t a question, but Aerity answered it anyway. “Yeah.”
They stood in silence for a moment before Carly broke it up and shattered it into little pieces. “Ok Daniel it is.” That was all it took to shake the somber moment; their laughter echoed through the training yard.
“Do I even want to know what you two are up to?” Siel now stood in front of them, matching his brothers’ level of sweatiness and appeal. A second later, said brother joined in next to Siel, crossing his arms over his chest. Damien stared her down with that expression that could melt off panties. She straightened her back and glared.
“Aerity, I distinctly remember telling you to join Maria for embroidery today.”
“And I distinctly remember ignoring you.” Aerity smiled sweetly despite the distain dripping from her words. She had woken up to a note from her dear old fiancé telling her how she was to spend her day. At first, she would have agreed and then she saw what he wanted her to do and who it was with and she blatantly refused, crumbling the note in her hand. He hadn’t been involved in how she spent her days since she got here. Ignoring her half of the time only to command her the rest. She wasn’t having it. He couldn’t control her life no matter who he was and that was just how it was going to be. He needed to get that through his thick skull before they got married or all hell would break loose.
A low growl caught in his throat. “I wouldn’t test me Princess. We can do this the effortless way, or we can do it the hard way. So far, you’ve chosen the wrong way.”
Aerity matched his stance, refusing to back down. “But the hard way is so much more fun.”
His lips twitched briefly but he kept his face mostly neutral. Taking a step closer to her, he leaned over into her ear, “Yes, hard is definitely better.” Grabbing her waist, he yanked her body, so it was flush with his. She gasped at the contact. Her heart sped up. They stood frozen, both breathing heavily, neither daring to move.
“My my, can we wait until the wedding night brother?” Siel snapped dragging Aerity out of her daze.
With a growl, she pushed Damien away as he let out a low wicked chuckle. Arrogant piece of.... “Do let me know if you decide on the hard way next time, Princess.” The challenge was back, twinkling in his eyes. Aerity shot daggers at him. He turned back to his fight, his laughter following her tail. Aerity grabbed hold of Carly’s hand, practically dragging her to the castle.
∞∞∞
Her body froze as she took in Maria’s form standing at the entrance, her arms crossed over her ample chest. “Took you long enough.” She grunted.
Carly sped down the corridor like a bat out of hell, leaving her to face the devil herself. It took all her restraint not to hiss at her friend’s traitorous exit. Taking a deep breath in, she threw Maria her best fake smile.
“I’m sorry? Were you waiting for me?” The best course of action was to play dumb. That was a language Maria could understand.
She huffed, uncrossing her arms and planted her hands on her hips. Ooooo so intimidating. “Damien wanted us to embroider together so I was waiting for you to come and you never did. We are late now.”
Aerity couldn’t help but laugh. Oh what the cute submissive little ninny. Maybe Damien should marry Maria seeing as how she had no backbone or self-respect. It was perfect for his picturesque little stay-at-home wife.
“I don’t do embroidery.” Aerity emphasized slowly making sure her words penetrated Maria’s brainwashed mind.
Clearly, the girl was only submissive when it came to Damien because her face grew red and puffy with aggravation. “I don’t care what you do. Damien is expecting us to embroider together and we will!”
Ahh, so she did have a backbone with girls but not with guys. That's what people back home called desperate. Got it.
Maria yanked on her arm practically dragging her towards the card room. Memories of her first card game came to mind and she smiled momentarily distracted by the evil look-alike pulling her down the hallway. As soon as the door to the room yanked open Aerity sighed. It was all the stuck-up brats that had been at the hunt with them. Wonderful.
“What up ya’ll?” Aerity smirked, throwing up a peace sign. All the girl’s faces turned to scowls as she took a seat. A woman in uniform tried handing her a needle and thread and Aerity stared at it like it was the bubonic plague. “No thank you.” The servant looked at her confused for a moment as all the other girls continued to glare. She shrugged without a care in the world, leaning back, slouching in the chair. The disgust on their faces grew. She didn’t care what they thought of her. They could shove that needle up their perky little asses.
“You won’t offer any contribution to the world if you have no skills.” A snotty brunette shoved her nose in the air as she spoke. Ahh this day was going to be great.
“Thank you for your input. I appreciate your concern.” Aerity retorted with a sugary sweet smile as she imagined yanking the girl’s ugly scarf over her head and smothering her. Such happy thoughts. She needed to get out of here. She had more of the urge to chew on a pile of dirty rocks than join in on the cougars’ ‘eat children for breakfast’ embroidery club.
The oxygen around her thinned and seemed to teeter out. After living the life around crime, there wasn't much that made her squeamish, but sitting in a room full of noble women felt like being buried alive six feet under in a confining coffin. The corset seemed to constrict her breathing even more so than normal as she took in everyone's waiting snarls.
“Well this was fun, but…” She began but was suddenly saved by the bell. Literally. A loud blaring sound rang through the room as panicked gasps erupted and chaos ensued. "What's going on?" Aerity tried to yell over all the screaming girls.
Wide frozen eyes met hers. "The castle is under attack."
Just as quickly Maria snapped out of it and squealed, "the castle is under attack!"
They all began crawling and tripping over each other in quite an undignified manner. And they were supposed to be nobles? Pffft. All the women headed in the same general direction, so she decided to go the opposite way. Hands grabbed her arms as Lauren, the brunette, hissed, "What are you doing? The safe room is that way." She pointed to where everyone was scrambling like pigs being gathered for bacon.
"Exactly." Was all Aerity said as she bolted for the door. This was soon to be her castle, her people. One more person facing the attackers could make a world of difference. It could save someone she had grown to care for. She wouldn't wait safely in a bunker while her people died.
Shoving her way through the crowd of people in the hallway, she caught site of Baldwin and yelled. "Give me a sword!"
Shock registered in his eyes for only a moment before shaking his head. "Get to the n
earest safe room!" He yelled.
"There's no way in hell you are shoving me in a tiny box. Give me a bloody sword!" She screamed back.
The chaos seemed to happen all at once as it erupted amongst the hallway. She snarled at his delay. These men thinking girls were useless would be what got her killed, not her own inability. Noise and groaning bodies began littering the floor around them, both on their side and their enemy's.
Dancing quickly on the balls of her feet she dashed to one of the men lying on the ground and yanked the sword out of his chest. Choking back on the bile rising in her throat at the sound of tearing skin and muscle, she shook her head and turned towards the fight. The closest she had gotten to a fight or dead body had been case files she viewed in her father’s drawer when he wasn’t looking. This wasn’t a picture on a page. This was the here and now. And right now, it was life or death. Kill or be killed.
That's all she saw as people were slain around her. There were no cops or detectives. Justice fell to those who took it into their own hands.
The corner of her eye caught a hint of metal as a dirty villager came at her holding the point of a sword out. Lunging at her, she rolled out of the way as his sword slammed into the wall behind her. Taking the opportunity, she slammed the hilt of her sword against his head and he slumped to the floor in an unconscious heap. If she could avoid more death she would as she attempted to stab in places that would only mar, not do permanent damage.
A familiar voice called from her right. She spun to face Siel as he stabbed a path to reach her. "What are you doing here?" He growled as he swiped at the man nearest to him.
"Helping." She ground out as she met steel on steel with another man reeking of body odor and fecal matter. Where in heavens name did these men come from? Why were they attacking? Jabbing her elbow in his stomach, the man bent at the waist and heaved enough for her to spin and slice both his legs at the knees. He went down with a grunt. Twirling back to find Siel, she was met with a large bear claw reaching to grab her, pinning her hands to her side. She wanted to head butt him but was afraid she would catch a disease from the blood oozing from his face. Using her pinned arms as leverage, she swung both her legs up and slammed back down on his shins. His grip wavered for a moment but then tightened as he righted himself.