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Or rather, we hadn’t fought at all, because we’d been completely connected and on the same page. It was hard to have him wide open and present one moment and withdrawn and shut down the next.
I didn’t know what to make of it.
I left the training grounds to shower and eat so that I could make it in time for my second training session.
I preferred being trained privately, but war wouldn’t be private. I had to get to know my fellow warriors.
It would be better if I focused on that than whatever was happening between me and Ren.
21
Isat in bed, reading one of Nylah’s large history books she’d offered to me. In her library, I’d found a lot of books about the history of the country. I’d read all about Jasfin and Palgia. I’d followed Ren’s bloodline back to kings and queens that had lived eons before I did. I’d read about the Fae, their power, the Goddess Terra, and everything that was known about the deity.
But there was very little about the Uprain Mountains where the humans lived. The more I searched, the more I came up empty-handed, and that made me more and more curious.
This book was about them—about the civil wars a long time ago, and how the Fae had enslaved humans after they’d lost the war. Without magic, the humans hadn’t known which way to turn, and being slaves had been better than leaving their home altogether.
Did they still feel the same? Would they have traded their freedom if they knew what it had meant for the rest of us that had come so long after? Ren wanted me to go to the humans in the Uprain Mountains, to liaise with them and find out what they knew about Palgia. I wanted to know what they felt for the Fae. I was human, but I sided with the Fae. Well, I sided with the Fae now that I knew slavery would soon be abolished. Would the humans hate me? Would they mistrust me?
A knock on the door snapped me back to the present.
“Come in,” I called. A servant usually knocked and opened right away.
When the door opened, it was Ren. He looked confused.
“Oh,” I said and climbed out of bed. I wrapped a robe around my shoulders and gestured for Ren to join me in my small living room. I sat down in my favorite armchair, and he took a seat opposite me.
“I’m sorry to bother you this late. I didn’t want to wait until morning,” he said when he sat down.
He didn’t look comfortable. He didn’t look like he was planning on staying long.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, trying to ignore what I felt now that I knew he didn’t want me—even though he’d kissed me.
“I’m worried about the Palgian hunter that’s roaming the forest. He’s waiting for his time to strike.”
“Your advisor said he’s a Conjurite,” I said.
Ren nodded. “That’s what I’m worried about. Do you know what a Conjurite is?”
“Nylah taught me a few things when I went to her in the beginning, and I’ve been reading up about the history of dark magic.”
“Good. That’s very good. Understanding who we are will help you know what this is all about. The Conjurite magic is powerful. If my advisors could feel it without the hunter being too close…I’m worried about what that means when it comes down to an attack.”
“We’ve all been prepared for it,” I said. “We’ve been training specifically.”
Earlier, when I’d trained with the other warriors, Dex had asked Nylah to attack us with more magic so that we could work on blocking and countering as much of it as we could. It had been hard, but it hadn’t been impossible.
Nylah’s magic wasn’t dark magic, so I didn’t know what it would really feel like. She’d mentioned it wasn’t power she could—or wanted to—duplicate. Even for the sake of training.
Despite not knowing what to expect, I was sure we could handle it.
But Ren shook his head. “It’s not enough. I don’t want you going up against this assassin when he comes to the palace.”
I frowned. “What? Why not?”
“Because he’s dangerous. I’m going to send you away for a while, somewhere you’ll be safe.”
I gasped. “You’re getting rid of me?”
