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I shook it off—damned if I let on how much it hurt.
“You’ve been working hard,” Lucia said, circling me.
We were supposed to be working together, but I got the feeling she was circling me the way a predator did its prey.
“I’m trying my best,” I said.
I turned with her, facing her at all times. If I gave her my back, she would catch me off guard.
She wasn’t my friend, even though she was trying to make it seem like she was. I was wary of her.
“Let’s do another one,” she said.
She threw more magic at me. This time, it was more powerful, and it was hard to block. Heat danced on my skin, and I let out a yelp that made her smirk with satisfaction. She wanted me to hurt, but I blocked it. I was stronger, healthier, and I’d found that my physical strength made a difference to how well I could focus and deflect magic.
Lucia narrowed her eyes. I wasn’t buckling the way she wanted me to.
“Do you think King Rainier let you train here because you’re a good fighter?”
“That’s what he said.”
“He let you stay because he pities you. You’re nothing but a pest, but he has a soft heart—too soft.”
“That’s how you talk of the male you’re going to marry?”
“We should understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses.”
“So far, the only weakness I can see in the King…is you.”
She glared at me. “I see what you’re doing, you know.” Her voice was crisp now, sharp on my skin when she spoke.
“What?” I asked.
“You’re trying to worm your way into a position of power.”
She threw power at me. It burned on my skin, a searing heat like I’d stood too close to the flame. I deflected again. The blow was hard enough that I staggered back, although I kept my footing.
“I don’t know what you mean,” I said. “I was offered a position as a warrior. I didn’t ask for it.”
“No, but you could have turned it down. You didn’t.”
“I wasn’t going to go back to the squalor I used to live in.”
Lucia glanced at me down her nose. “That, my dear, would have been the best thing for you to do. You don’t belong here.”
“I’m grateful for the opportunity to train here and fight in the name of the King.”
Lucia laughed, and I wanted to rub my arms to get rid of the awful sensation that came with it. It was like her laughter was laced with power. I fought the urge to spit out the bad taste it left in my mouth.
“Let me explain something to you, littlehuman,” she said, coming closer to me. She was taller than I was, and she looked down at me like I was disgusting, a scowl on her face. “I know you think you belong here, but you don’t. You’re nothing more than a slave.”
The humans were often slaves to the Fae. For centuries, the Fae had used humans, but there were those who were born free, and we were a growing breed.
“I’m a free woman.”
“Yes, you are. For now,” Lucia said. “But if you try to wriggle your way into the palace, you won’t get very far. You should know your place.”
Before I could clap back, she shoved her power at me, and this time, she wasn’t holding back. I slammed into the ground, crying out as the magic filled me, scalding. Flames engulfed me. Lucia’s hands didn’t touch me, they only hovered above my chest, but her power crushed me. Her magic filled me up like a cup of boiling water and threatened to pull me apart at the seams from the inside.
