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“I believe I was told you’ve already met Captain Coltrain,” Prince Noah said, calling my attention away from the girl with his direct tone.
The captain approached with a broad grin and bowed his head. “Ms. Fray.”
“Hello, Captain,” I replied.
“This is a training, Your Majesty,” Captain Coltrain said. “There is work to do.” The captain bumped into Noah and a smile brushed over the prince’s lips. A real smile, one that reached his eyes.
“Yes, yes.” He chuckled as he brought his sword up from its resting position next to him. “So eager to be defeated,” he chided.
Lord Gabriel stood watching the two banter. “Well, here we go.” He looked to Nicole when he spoke, like there was some sort of inside joke here. “I’ll leave you to get acquainted with Ms. Fray while I watch these two dance around like monkeys.”
He moved to the other side of the room while Prince Noah and Captain Coltrain resumed their training.
Nicole’s shoulder brushed against mine. I turned my head to face her. Perhaps my assumption on her accent had been right. “Brooklyn?” I asked.
Nicole grinned. “That obvious?”
I laughed and nodded. Finally, someone from my world. “How long have you been here?” I asked.
She shrugged. “A long time.”
I flinched as the swords across the room connected. “Ah. Have you always been a…ummm…”
“Feeder?” she finished. “It’s not that bad, girl.” Her gaze rested on me and not the training room around us. “I’ve been with vapid Mr. Fae over there for the past few years. He’s harmless enough toward me and it’s really not that bad. As opposed to the alternative of being tossed out somewhere with no food, having to fend for myself.”
Our thinking was the same as far as being tossed out. I looked over toward Lord Gabriel, who was cleaning his sword while watching the training play out before him. Vapid isn’t what I would have used to describe him. Nicole seemed quite flippant toward someone who treated her well here.
“At least he seems nice,” I commented.
Nicole touched my arm and nodded quickly. “Oh yeah, totally. But I think the fae are stupid. Look how far behind they are. It’s like the Middle Ages here, girl.”
I slowly nodded. I couldn’t disagree with her. It was a strange place, this Faerie.
I took stock of Nicole for a moment while she eyed the training session. Her clothing was similar to mine. Her black hair was curly and tied up in a neat ponytail. Her chiding earlier almost seemed endearing now, knowing that she was a connection to the human world. How quickly a perception can change.
“Sorry about being rude earlier,” I said. I hated apologizing, but it seemed like the right thing to do. I could use a friend.
Nicole brought her attention back to me and shrugged. “Good thing I don’t care much what others think of me.” She winked and then nudged my arm. “Besides, whether you like me or not, you’ll be seeing me a lot. The jest was a warning. We train as well, and you’ll have to get used to the warrior culture here. Without looking like a wimp. You’re with the prince after all.”
I raised my eyebrows at her, waiting for her to complete the thought.
She smirked. “Training is every day.”
“Every day?” I lowered my head as I whispered. “That’s…a lot.”
Nicole fiddled with her ponytail before shaking her head and fluffing it up. I watched her curiously. If she thought the fae were so stupid, I didn’t know who she was trying to impress.
Nicole stopped messing with her hair and escorted me to the side of the room.
“The Unseelie are always on the brink of war with the Seelie. It never ends,” she said, plumping a few curls as she spoke. “Hence training.”
I frowned. “War? There weren’t any signs of a war coming in,” I said. Not that I’d been paying much attention.
As we sat, Captain Coltrain’s blade whizzed faster, and a few back-to-back clangs echoed the farther away we got. Noah looked exhausted already, but he was keeping up.
The training seemed extremely intense, especially for having to do it every single day. Though I supposed if a war was going on, or going to start…
“It’s just their way of life now. Prince Noah only returned two days ago from patrolling the borders.” Nicole shrugged as she spoke of danger so loosely.
