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Talon huffed a laugh and advanced toward me. “I have a hard time believing you’ve never used a sword before.”
“Never said I didn’t.” I stepped toward him, and our swords clanked—the sound reverberating against the stone walls. I tried to hold my own against him, but I was no match. Talon overpowered me, causing my sword to go flying from my hands.
I thought he’d stop—or allow me to pick it up before we resumed—but he only moved faster. I should’ve known better. Mercy was for the weak on this side of the river.
“Seriously? Let me at least grab?—”
Talon’s sword came flying toward my shins, and I stopped to jump, the blade nearly nicking my skin.
“Stop!” I exclaimed. “You almost cut me!” But it was pointless.
He was relentless.
I jumped.
Rolled.
Ducked.
I did everything I could do to avoid his blade and vigorous assault. My breaths came quickly, and my lungs burned. I was ready to surrender when my back slammed against the wall.
Then the tip of Talon’s sword came to an abrupt stop at my throat.
He lifted my chin with the flat part of the blade and cocked his head. I tried slipping away from him, but he had me trapped between his arm and sword. My chest rose and fell erratically. Light notes of teakwood drifted off him, warming the air between us.
He used the blade to push a strand of hair from my face, his voice low and gruff as he spoke. “All it takes is one wrong move and your life is in someone else’s hands, firefly.”
I didn’t dare breathe as he slid the cool metal down my cheek, my neck, remaining completely still until he sheathed it behind his back.
“Your corpse will be left to bleed out without a second thought.”
I straightened the hem of my top, keeping my idle hands busy while I tried my damnedest to ignore the way Talon’s back muscles stretched his shirt thin. Or how the room grew to accommodate his presence as he strolled over to the weapons rack on a swift, windless current.
It proved to be in vain, however. His mere existence demanded attention—it made me sick.
“Please, I’m sure nothing would make you happier. What’s in this for you, anyway? Why do any of you care if we win or lose?” I’d asked him the question before but never got a straight answer.
Talon grinned, using the towel on the wall to wipe the sweat off his face. “An abundance of wealth and eternal glory, obviously. Although even that’s hardly enough to tolerate you,” he mumbled that last part.
I clenched my fists and stalked over to him, my boots slapping against the stone. “Oh, aren’t you hilarious? I didn’t realize you doubled as a comedian. Here I thought you didn’t joke around. What did you call it? A waste of time?” I snatched the towel beside his and blotted my face while we stared each other down with pointed hostility.
“You just can’t help being a righteous pain in the ass, can you?”
“What can I say? It’s a gift.”
Talon pressed his lips into a hard line, tossing the rag onto his shoulder. “And what a pleasant one it is.”
I sank deeper into the clawfoot tub, submerging everything—except my nose—underwater. It’d been almost a week since my failed escape, and I’d been nursing my internal wounds ever since. It would’ve been nice to know about the wards before I made an ass of myself. I’m sure King Harkin knew one of us would be desperate enough to escape; it made me wonder what I would’ve encountered should Talon not have stopped me.
A chill ran up my spine as I thought about it, kicking myself for falling right into the king’s trap. As if having to show my face around the castle after that wasn’t already punishment enough, Talon took our training up a notch.
My body throbbed, each muscle protesting in a discomfort akin to being engulfed in flames. Despite the solace sought in daily warm salt baths, the relief was only a momentary respite for my mind. Which, if I was being honest, merely slowed it down to a mile a minute instead of two.
I sucked in a breath and submerged the rest of my head underwater, savoring the deafening silence that encompassed me, focusing on the cacophonous rhythm of my heartbeat. Around me, my hair fanned out in the water like a crimson cloud.
My mother.
These trials.
