Page 90 of Of Shadows and Blood

Our eyes lock and we take some turns about the room. “Trust me,” he says before releasing my left hand and spinning me around a few times. I laugh as I come barrelling back in, colliding with his chest. We stay like this, slowing down with the song and swaying loosely. My wine-filled head gently rests on his chest and I make a mental check to calm my breathing down.

And my thoughts. He might be able to hear them. I can surely hear the speed of his heart and breathing.

I am not the only one who’s seemingly lost control of their composure.

“Liv.”

“Hi,” I manage, barely making a noise. We hold in this stance and I realize we’ve stopped moving. Cedric brings our clasped hands into his chest and rests his chin on my head.

“Cedric?”

“Hmm?”

“You’ve stepped on my toes.”

“Oh.” He lifts his foot and smiles down at me. “My apologies, my lady.”

“Hmm.” I rest again back on his chest and sway. The song has changed to a very solemn sequence at a higher pitch. The hairs on my arm raise because it feels like love and heartbreak at once.

“Thank you,” I barely whisper. He should know how important this is to me. Tears flow softly down my face, taking remnants of the kohl with it.

“Is everything okay?”

“Perfect, really. Everything is just perfect,” I exhale into a soft grin. Is it wrong to feel that we have grown closer? He’s proving to not be the monster, the enemy, I once thought.

And it would be remiss to ignore that in this moment, he could act on many things. But for now, in better judgement, he leans forward to plant a soft kiss on my forehead. He holds me there, delicately, for a minute before releasing and spinning me out once more.

It is perfect.

Chapter 23

My past is fleeting, like a wisp of hair carried by an errant wind. Where has the time gone?

The snowcapped mountains come into view as we head north of Lux, crossing past the border guards for Gruyere. My fur-lined coat provides ample comfort inside the carriage. Cedric explained that vampyr abilities are not as luxurious in some situations. One being apparating long distance through the snow.

“Tell me about your childhood.”

Cedric, who slightly dozed off an hour ago, awakes softly to my voice. “Our childhood, you mean.”

“No, I mean, tell me about your training. Surely I was not there for it all.”

“Ah –” he sits up straighter – “well you had your own cess training. We spent a few years apart from time to time.”

I try to imagine myself running around fighting grounds or brawling in rings. It is still hard to grasp my ability to wield fully developed magic.

“Garreth, Sawyer and I, along with other noble boys from the kingdom, were sent to the Rhydian Range to learn all things military. How to fight, how to command, how to heal on the battlefield. Some teachers were less systematic about their teachings, though.”

“How do you mean?” I ask curiously, tucking my legs under me.

Cedric starts to speak but withdraws, smiling to himself before continuing. “Garreth and I spent one month in a cave system.”

“On purpose?” I ask incredulously.

“Oh, it was purposeful on our instructor’s part. General Combe was certainly a hard-ass but he dropped us off at the mouth of a cave one morning after we’d failed to secure a guard post. Duresden soldiers pilfered our stores. And what were we doing? Sleeping after a night with a bottle of wine. Lightweights and useless in Combe’s eyes. So, it was a lesson more than a punishment.

“Combe said to find our way to the other side of the mountain through the caves. When we argued that we could end up in Duresden’s territory, he simply told us ‘Well, don’t’ and left us to fend for ourselves equipped with a couple of swords of poor quality and packs of chilled blood.”

“That’s…”