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“You know I’ll be there beside you, brother,” Jesh agreed.
I flashed him a grin. “We’ll burn the damn world down if we have to.”
He chuckled. “If only we had fire magic running through our veins.”
Jesh and I returned to our fight, picking up the pace. The dance of our magic and swords growing fiercer and faster. I held back—I always had to hold back, when fighting my friends. Their magic couldn’t match mine. Other than my brothers’, Diora’s was the only person’s who could. But she didn’t exactly seem keen on learning to fight.
“You need to get her training. You know it won’t be long until Laith returns with an army,” Jesh warned, as we continued to spar.
I made a noise of disagreement. “She shut the idea down before I could even bring it up. She has no desire to fight, and you know I won’t force her.”
“She’s afraid,” Jesh pointed out, bringing my words back to bite me. “The only way she’ll defeat that fear is if she learns to control it.”
“You and I know that, but she doesn’t. And I’ve barely convinced her not to hate me—I’m not risking her hatred again by trying to force her to doanythingshe doesn’t want to do.”
“That’s your call to make,” Jesh agreed. “But the longer you wait, the more you risk her life, and the lives of those in your kingdom.”
“Her freedom is worth more to her than her life,” I told him, my voice firm. “So that risk is one we’re going to have to take.”
Jesh nodded, but wore a deep grimace as we both parted for a moment, taking a short break. He grabbed a bottle of water off the side of the room, and I stretched my muscles, trying to get them back into shape after days of wandering the forest with my female.
Jesh called out from the other side of the room, “We’re going to need to double the guards and triple the patrols. When Laith finds out that you’ve found your fated mate, you know he’ll do everything in his power to destroy her before you can begin the bond with her. If he can take out Diora, he’ll take you out with her.”
I dipped my head in a nod. “I set that in motion while you were setting up her tent that first day in the forest. One of his spies is bound to get the information to him sooner rather than later—and I’m not risking her.”
He flashed me a smirk, gesturing toward my neck. “She let you into her bed; the bond should begin soon. I’m surprised it’s not already written on your flesh.”
I chuckled. “Not the way you’re thinking. We didn’t even cuddle.”
Jesh lifted an eyebrow.
“I’m not sure what she even knows about sex or reproduction,” I admitted. “I’ve been trying to find a way to bring it up, but…” I shrugged.
Jesh grimaced “Ask Lav to talk to her.”
I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t want her to think I’m trying to push her into my arms like that.”
“Aren’t you?”
“I want her, but I have no idea what’s been done to her—what if she’s been raped, or otherwise sexually abused? She either doesn’t know anything about sex, or she’s had horrible experiences with it to the point where she’s not interested in being with me that way, despite us being mates.”
“Does she even know anything about your bond?” Jesh suddenly looked skeptical. “Whatdoesshe know? She doesn’t exactly seem informed.”
I scowled at him. “Talk about her like that and I won’t hold my shadows back. You saw the scars on her wrists and ankles; the one on her abdomen is even worse. What she knows doesn’t matter; her determination to survive does. And however long it takes, whatever I have to do, I’ll prove to her that she can trust me.”
“And then you’ll fuck her.” Jesh grabbed his sword.
“And then I’llmake loveto her.” I picked my training sword up off the ground, flipping it in my hands as my shadows slid over the weapon. “Morning and night, for the rest of our fucking lives.”
Jesh chuckled. “Did we meet the same woman?”
“I warned you.” I let my shadows have their way as I stalked toward my friend. “Speak ill of my mate, and you’ll bleed for it.”
Chapter16
Diora
I spentthe majority of the day lost in the science and practice of cooking. It was surprisingly easy, with the only problem being that I couldn’t read the recipes. By the time the dinner rush came around and the fae chefs kicked me out of their kitchen politely, I’d learned what the words for measurements looked like, and was able to read the recipes with relative ease.
