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“Miles, you’re always more than welcome to join us,” she said, giving him a wink.
“As much as I appreciate the offer, I’ve had a long day of training, so I think I’ll get some sleep.” Miles slid his chair out from our table and stood. “After waking up Rhia earlier, it looks like she could use some, too.”
Although Miles was training to be Captain of the Royal Guard, he didn’t always train with them. Many of his lessons included learning battle strategies and war history. Of course, being his best friend and the assassin, Pater also had us do a lot of training together, too. Miles thought it was to provide me with a sense of security due to my past, but really it was to prepare me for my assassinations. Even though I’d always been a natural when it came to using a weapon or fighting in general, a lot of my technique had come from Miles, and that technique had saved my life many times.
He placed his hand lightly on my shoulder and said, “I’ll see you later,” before strolling out of the ballroom.
Amica grabbed my hand and practically dragged me from my seat and to the fifth-floor balcony, which supposedly had the best view of the training courtyard, according to her.
When we watched from the balcony, Amica never failed to point out her favorite guards. The men trained in the courtyard every weeknight. Some nights it was strength training, while others were sparring practice. Many times, I wished to be down there with them. To show them my skill with my hands and a sword. I’d practically begged Pater to allow women to join the guard. He refused every time I asked. I assumed it had something to do with the passing of his wife, but in my heart, I knew she would have wanted women to learn how to fight, too.
“There he is!” Amica pointed to one of the guards below.
For a second, I thought she was pointing out Bennett, until I spotted a man with short white-blond hair that was a little longer in the front and short on the sides. Even with the distance I could spot gray eyes that matched the color of clouds in the sky. He was very tall and easily stood out amongst the rest of the guards with his sharp features and strong build. He almost looked godly with the moonlight shining on him. He was speaking with one of the generals, his arms crossed over his broad chest, his feet shoulder-width apart.
“Who is he?” I rested my elbows on the wooden railing, propping my chin in my hands.
“He’s Bennett’s new personal guard,” Amica said, her eyes following his every move. “Apparently, he was one of the best soldiers in Vicinus.”
I could see why, just by looking at him. He truly looked like a warrior—was sculpted for it, practically. I suddenly wanted to spar with him and see if I could beat him.
We continued to watch the men, a few of them giving us waves here and there. Amica and I were well-known in the castle and had made friends with many people here, including the guards. On weekends we would venture out into the city with some of them, visiting parlors and festivals. I’d even been forced to go on some double dates with a few of them.
Amica was a very convincing person.
“I think you should go out with him,” Amica said.
I whipped my head towards her. “Huh?”
She chuckled. “What? He’s handsome and strong. I think he would be a real catch.”
“Well, if you think that, why don’t you go out with him? You know the rules, no relationships on my end, anyway. Plus, he looks to be more your type than mine.”
She raised an eyebrow. “What exactly is your type?”
“It’s—” I had to think for a moment. “Well, I’m not really sure, but I do know I would want someone who could beat me in sparring. I would also want someone who I could trust and who would see me as their equal and friend.”
She looked at me for a moment, as if taking in what I just said. She started to laugh and some of the guards glanced in our direction. “Good luck finding that.” And then we were laughing together. Sometimes this happened between us. All it took was one of us to look at the other and the cycle of painful stomach laughter started again. It was a glorious feeling, probably my favorite of all feelings. To laugh until it hurt and to simply just forget the world around me.
After a solid ab workout, I bid Amica farewell and headed to the astronomy tower to finish studying before our lesson with High Healer Sana, tomorrow morning.
I made a quick pit stop in my room to grab my supplies, then climbed the tremendous amount of cobblestone stairs to get to the top of the tower. Hardly anyone came in here, and with the place to myself, it was another reason why I loved to come here. The silence was peaceful and there were no distractions.
I said a quick hello to the stars before laying out a wool blanket and beginning my studies.
The astronomy tower was a large circular room made of stone that had the sky for a ceiling and many openings in the walls for windows. It was the perfect place to visit at night; with the sun having set hours ago, it was cool, and the stars were closer here than practically any other place in the kingdom. The tower had different kinds of telescopes and maps scattered around the room, as well as notes with research from past astronomers who jotted down observations of their studies.
I placed everything close to the wall, so I could have my personal belongings laid out in the center of the room.
I pulled out paper after paper of healer study material, spreading it out across the blanket. Although I was naturally gifted with the ability to heal, it was also a craft that needed to be trained and perfected. If a craft went untrained, it could actually be very dangerous to use.
I had heard many stories of healing sessions gone wrong. Once, I heard of Life Crafters who tried to heal a man’s punctured lung and ended up damaging multiple organs, resulting in his death.
There were also multiple sides to Life Crafting. There was the healing of the body, of course, but also of the mind, which was what Amica and I had started to learn this year. At first, we were taught how to ease someone of a headache, and now, we were learning how to ease someone’s emotional pain, like one would experience after the loss of a loved one. It wasn’t a permanent fix, but it did help the grieving process of many. It was extremely hard to master, and only a few healers—including the High Healer—had mastered it.
When the queen died eight years ago, I had a healer come to take some of the pain away. Miles and Pater also had it done. Bennett didn’t though; he refused. He said that the healers were useless when it came to his mom and that they would be useless now, that they should have put their energy into her and not him. I didn’t know if he truly believed the healers were the reason his mom died—at least I hoped he didn’t—but he still said so to me. He never looked at me the same again. As if I was the one who poisoned her when I was twelve.
I remembered being so angry at Bennett for thinking that. I was angry that he blamed me, when all I wanted was to seek his comfort after losing the only mom I knew.
