Page 42 of Memory of Ashes

She wouldn’t use her ability. He was already injured. She’d fight him fairly.

They circled each other.

She attacked first, but he parried, their wooden swords clattering together. They danced around, dodging each other. His movements blurred.

He was playing with her. She knew it. That, or he was humouring her, which was even worse.

She rushed in, sword raised, but even injured, he was faster than her. In two moves, she was on the ground with his sword pointed at her chest.

She lay there panting as the men cheered for their leader.

What an ass.

He threw the sword down and offered her his hand. He pulled her to her feet, wincing again. She turned her back on him.

Danae was nearby; she’d watched from afar. Amelia wove through the men towards her.

“That was quite a show,” Danae said.

She smiled. “I beat the first guy,” she said. Her smile faded.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m tired of not knowing what’s going on, Danae. What are they going to do to me? I overheard Casyl and Tharos talking. He said he couldn’t do this to me. What can’t he do?”

Danae remained silent for a moment.

Amelia waited, silently pleading for an answer.

“He’s protecting you as much as he can.”

*

Her traitorous feet followed Casyl back to the tent. He took off his shirt. Fresh blood bloomed on the bandage around his waist.

“Did I do that?” she asked.

“You wish. I should still have been resting, but I couldn’t resist. You looked so dangerous,” he drawled.

Her blood boiled. She hadn’t planned on confronting him, but the questions tumbled from her.

“Everyone keeps telling me what I am. A danger, a weapon, a threat. But nobody will tell me why. What am I? Why am I so important to you that you’d fight a war to save me?”

The silence stretched as she stood waiting for him to answer.

“Because you are unexpected. You shouldn’t be here, but here you are. They’d kill you. They fear you. We know how valuable you are.”

Valuable. A weapon they could use. Perhaps they had already succeeded in turning her into one.

“I’ve killed someone,” she whispered. Something she never thought she’d be capable of. This world had changed her.

He grimaced and leaned against the table.

She sighed. “Sit down.”

He obeyed. He peeled the bandage away. Amelia grabbed the bowl of water and the washcloth.

“Let me.”