Page 68 of Crown of the Dunes

Either way, I wasn’t going to say no to a chance to have a sword in hand once more. Out in the training yards, the weight of responsibility was sure to be lighter on my shoulders. And knocking Aderyn into the dirt—or at least attempting to—was sure to leave a less bitter taste in my mouth than trying to please the surviving archons, who had only grown pricklier since Dravis’s death.

“How about now?” I asked.

“Impatient, are we?” Aderyn asked.

I cocked my head at her. “Do you know me?”

She chuckled and stood. “I expected as much. One of the training yards by the stables has already been reserved for us.”

I stood too, but before I stepped away from the table, I grabbed the pieces of fruit still left on my plate. I tucked them into the pockets of my vest, unwilling to let them be taken away, even though my stomach was already pleasantly full. The memory of a time when it was always empty still echoed in my mind with far too much frequency, especially given how often the archons brought up Kelvadan’s dwindling food stores.

Aderyn and I climbed down the stairs and strode out into the sun before turning to the right, where all the stables and training yards lay. She led me to a familiar one, where we had often sparred together after training sessions with the riders’ new recruits. In the months since those bouts were regular occurrences, I knew Nyra had advanced to be a full member of the Kelvadan riders—Aderyn had mentioned she fought well when the combined clans attacked.

Despite how different things seemed now, a familiar sense of calm came over me as Aderyn walked to the weapons rack and grabbed two blunted sabers before tossing one to me. The magic in my belly perked its head in interest at the whistling sound the blade made as I swung it experimentally. After wielding Kelvar’s saber recently, the shorter weapon felt abnormally light and swift by comparison.

Aderyn took up her opening guard before me, her arm over head with the tip of her sword angled down toward the ground. “It’s been a while, so I’ll go light.”

“Don’t you dare,” I challenged.

She sprang into action without further warning. My brain was slow to respond to her opening thrust, but my muscles took over. A clang split the air as I parried, and I tried to use the moment I knocked her strike aside to land my own blow.

In a matter of minutes, sweat dripped down my back and began to sting my eyes, and not just from the heat of the sun. Aderyn was a fearsome opponent, using the difference in our heights to slip under my guard. Despite the reflexes that awoke in my blood—the ones that had allowed me to advance remarkably quickly in my training—I found myself panting as I did my best to keep up.

I may be a match for Aderyn in skill, but weeks of recovering from my encounter with the lava worm had left me with residual weakness. My endurance couldn’t yet match hers. I would have to beat her soon, or the growing ache in my limbs would give her the upper hand.

I lunged to one side, tempting Aderyn with a small opening. As she slashed at it, I jumped forward, letting go of my sword with my left hand to catch her blade right where it met the cross guard. Surprised by my tactic, Aderyn didn’t have time to tighten her grip before I twisted her weapon, wrenching it out of her hands. It clattered to the ground, and I raised my own weapon for the finishing blow.

A pulse of magic suddenly roared in my gut, and I grit my teeth against it, only just managing to slow my downstroke and turn it into a gentle rap on Aderyn’s head, as opposed to a blow meant to cleave a skull in half, had my weapon been sharp.

Still, she yelped in surprise, and I was left blinking stupidly as she rubbed her scalp and the magic retreated from my blood, as if yanked away by an invisible leash.

My brow furrowed in confusion at the sudden flare and retreat of power, only for a familiar quiver in my belly to alert me to its source. Aderyn’s eyes narrowed at a point behind my shoulder just before I turned.

Erix stood at the top of the stairs that led to the training yard, situated as it was on the roof of the building in the level below. He leaned on the railing with his arms folded, head cocked appraisingly. The midday sun caught on his ruffled waves, turning the hair that seemed black in dim lights to a dark brown. My breath caught in my throat at the momentary glimpse of what he might have been if he had never donned the mask of The Viper—the handsome Prince of Kelvadan—spending his days training with the riders.

“How long have you been there?” Aderyn asked behind me, her voice sharp.

“Longer than you’d like,” he responded, pushing off the railing and taking a few steps closer.

“Bold of you to assume I’d want you there for any amount of time,” she quipped.

I sighed inwardly, biting the inside of my cheek. Aderyn’s iciness toward Erix put an unpleasant weight in the pit of my stomach. When enemies seemed to be around every corner, having two of the only people I trusted completely at each other’s throats deepened my feeling of isolation. Today, though, they were speaking, which was an improvement over the prior weeks.

I looked up at Erix’s face, finding a deep crease between his brows, and inspiration struck. I had befriended both of them while they bruised and beat me in training. Surely it was a winning strategy.

“I’m afraid I don’t have as much endurance as I used to since my injuries,” I admitted truthfully, a lick of shame working up my spine at the admission. Erix stepped toward me with a look of concern, but I held up a hand. “I’ll be fine in a few minutes. Maybe you could spar with Aderyn while I catch my breath?”

I turned so I could see both of them. Aderyn dug the tip of her practice saber into the stone before her, looking as if she was fighting an internal war against her own desire to be stubborn.

Erix tilted his head. “For old time’s sake?”

Something unspoken passed between them, and the weight in my stomach lightened infinitesimally. Aderyn nodded and jerked her chin, indicating that I should hand him my saber. I did before backing away to the edge of the yard. Even as I was relieved by the slight thawing of their enmity, excitement fizzled under my breastbone.

It would be fun to watch the two most challenging opponents I faced square off against each other.

Erix took his opening stance, feet planted just wider than his shoulders, with his saber in both hands and the tip angled toward the ground in a fool’s guard. Aderyn’s guard stood in stark comparison as she bounced lightly on the balls of her feet, the point of her saber angled up directly at Erix’s face.

For a moment, neither advanced, sizing each other up. Then Erix raised his chin in a challenge. Aderyn swung first, coming in with an overhead strike so fast that her weapon turned into a silver blur. Erix responded lightning fast, completely at odds with the utter stillness of his earlier posture—like the viper he had been named for holding perfectly motionless until it was time to lash out.