Sie must have noticed too. “Are these people only from Lux?”
“No,” Tezya answered. “Advenians from both kingdoms live here.”
Peter, only having a plate filled with bread, dropped the roll he was holding. “They live together?”
Tezya nodded. “This is a refuge foreveryrebel. It doesn’t matter what kingdom they’re from. Most of the time, the rebellions happen in Lux, so there are more Luxians, but Advenians from Tennebris live here too.”
“Rebel,” Sie repeated, his gaze whipping around the room at the same time Peter asked, “And do they like… sleep with each other?” His voice was obnoxiously loud, to the point of practically screaming it. Every table surrounding ours turned to glare at us.
The lavender-hair girl choked on her food and couldn’t stop smiling.
“They usually keep to their own families,” Tezya answered. “But what people do in private is their own business. There’re no rules like that here.”
“Other than the training rings and the dining hall, the two kingdoms don’t really mix,” Kallon said in between bites of food. I looked around, guessing the people in the camp had no idea that Tezya was living proof a child from both kingdoms could exist. Theycouldmix. I wondered if that was why there wasn’t a rule against it. Did he wish more people were like him?
“Where is everyone else?” Savannah asked, steering the conversation away. “Father said you were staying for good, so I thought Dove, Brock, and Rainer would be here.”
Tezya’s jaw clicked at the sound of his sister’s and friends’ names. I only noticed because I realized I had been staring at himagain.I quickly pulled my gaze away and focused on my food.
“They’re still in Lux. I’m due to fetch them in an hour,”Kallon answered for him, leaving out the information that they might not come back.
“Once Dovelyn returns you should train with her,” Tezya’s voice sounded. I looked up when no one answered him and realized he was staring at me.
“Me?” I choked on my first bite of burger, which was a shame because it was so good it melted in my mouth. “She hates me. She’ll probably kill me before she actually agrees to train me.”
“I’ll make sure she doesn’t.”
“Well, I don’t particularly care for her either,” I spat. “I don’t understand why I would need to train with her. Why can’t I train with Kallon?” I didn’t add ‘or you’even though I missed him teaching me. Besides hating the Luxian castle and being a prisoner there, I missed training together in the private gym.
“Because I want you to be ready. We willallstart training,” Tezya announced to the table. “There’s going to be a war sooner or later.”
Savannah was the only person who looked thrilled by the idea, and I wondered if he meant to include her.
“War?” Sie repeated, and I forgot he knew nothing about what was happening.
“You didn’t think rescuing you from the prison would come without any consequences, did you?” Kallon arched a thin brow under her bangs.
“Who are all these people?” he asked, ignoring Kallon. “You called them rebels, but the rebellion is dead. You killed them.” He was looking right at Tezya now and the fire in his glare was menacing.
“Clearly I didn’t,” Tezya ground out, not really giving him an answer, before turning back to look at me. “If you can master your enhancement, Rumor, it’ll be a huge asset to us,” Tezya added. “You need to make sure you aren’t subconsciously usingit on anyone around you anymore.” He didn’t need to explain why that was a priority.
“Practicing with an air user will be the best way to see your progress,” he continued. “You can enhance Dovelyn’s shields and expand her invisibility. See how much you can add to her powers and for how long.”
Sie’s hands fell against the table with an echoing thud. “You figured out your powers?” His voice was breathless and it brought me back to the lake when he tried to train me.
“Yes,” I admitted softly. I didn’t say anything else at first. It took me swallowing six times before I got the courage to add, “I have enhancement.”
No one spoke after that, and I wondered if he made the same connection Tezya had. That my enhancement was what he felt all those times I wasn’t wearing my Alluse necklace. That we never had a blood bond.
Sie didn’t say anything, but I noticed his jaw tightening, and his fists remained clenched on top of the table.
He didn’t eat for the rest of dinner.
TWELVE
SCOTLIND
Kallon portaledDovelyn and Rainer back yesterday, and apparently Tezya thought it was still a good idea for her to train me.
