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“Calm down child,” Flint says. He raises a hand to get his son to sit down.
“No, I won’t calm down. We should all have the same chance of being able to take a mate. Not just him because he’s the biggest brute of the three of us,” he sneers, looking at his bigger brother across the table.
He throws the pastry across the table and Bella raises a hand as the shadows catch the cream puff mid-flight and stops it. Her eyes are glowing a brilliant emerald as she stares at it. A slow shake of her head and the pastry falls to ash in the empty space in the center of the table. She lowers her hand and places it back in her lap, resuming the regal stance she had earlier.
Egon and Flint both stare at the pile of ash for a moment and Egon laughs hysterically. “Wow, the world is really fucked now, isn’t it?” That sinister smile of his sends a chill down my spine. I can almost understand why he was sent to go work with the pools of magma. He’s literally not safe to be around others.
Bella laughs harder, and she throws one of the crescent rolls down the table at Egon and then uses her gift to propel it the rest of the way. “Show me,” she says. The commanding tone that she uses makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
With a grin, Egon stands up, taking the crescent roll and walking halfway down the table to be closer to her, but not within touching distance. He lays the crescent roll flat on the palm of his large hand and it turns to ash before her eyes. The radiant smile that crosses Bella’s lips eclipses the sun, and she gazes up at him. “That was awesome,” she says as she picks up a crescent roll herself, puts it in her palm, and it too falls away to ash.
She closes her hand and places the ash on a paper towel next to her and then looks up at him. “Our enemies will not know what hit them, will they?” Her smile never falters and his emanates hers.
“They won’t.” With that, he turns his broad back to her and walks back to his seat. We watch him adjust himself before reseating himself. Flint is still grinning like an idiot, staring at the three piles of ash now on the table. This may have been the greatest and worst trip in all of existence. Can you imagine what it would have been like if she had gone there first? I honestly don’t believe she would have made it to the other three kingdoms. Strategically, once finding her perfect mate, there would be no need or drive to go through the other kingdoms. Even though we would have all been waiting forever for her or resorted to taking compatible mates.
We conducted the rest of breakfast in silence. No one speaking any further about what was witnessed. I can see the concern edged on Flint’s face as he reaches out and grips his mate’s hand. I think they’re concerned about Egon taking Bella as a mate. Both of them having a similar power of mass destruction that will only amplify once they exchange their bites.
The younger brother seems to be very sour on the whole idea, and he’s angry. Angrier than I’ve seen from any of the siblings of the mates that have been taken. I’m not sure who he’s texting, but whatever’s going on right now, his fingers are flying furiously over the keyboard even though his mother and father yell at him to put the phone away. I almost have a suspicion he might be the reason for the attack just outside the kingdom. He might work for one of the other kings and set us up. He just didn’t expect that we would run through the forest to get here. I’m hoping that my suspicions aren’t correct. But something just isn’t sitting right with how he’s acting. I’ll have to keep a closer eye on him or at least tell the others to while I’m away with Egon learning how to forge a sword. Hopefully, the rest of Bella’s day goes easier than the start of this morning.
Chapter41
Kaedyn
Bella’s swordfighting mastery is impressive. The entire evening and the night before that, she had spent sparring with the Queen, and her eldest son has done wonders for Bella’s ability to fight. Not only is she holding her own, but she is also reigning supreme in the arena. I can watch every strike, every block of hers that she makes. Poor Egon is stressing and straining against his father, wanting to go out and protect her. His wolf’s drive to be at her side, no matter what’s going on, is just as impressive as the rest of us. I’m quite happy that she has actually found somebody in the Fire Kingdom that would be worthy of her as a mate. I was worried this entire time we would end up with some fool that wouldn’t treat her properly. That wouldn’t be the mate that she needed them to be, but Egon has surpassed all of our expectations. Currently, he is fighting his own father to get to his mate to protect her. Bella wins her fourth match in a row and doesn’t seem to be fazed at all by the strain.
She stops briefly and smiles at me and then motions for me to approach. I get to her side to offer her the cold beverage I have in my hand, and she smiles. She wipes the rag that I brought her around her neck and down into her cleavage, then up into her hairline again. She gives the rag a good sniff and then offers it to me. “Bring this to Egon. It might settle his wolf. I don’t need him having me disqualified because he can’t handle watching me fight.” Thoughtful as ever, Bella is always thinking of her mate and their needs, including the unbonded mate and the emotions he’s dealing with.
I lightly dip my head to her and plant a kiss to her lips before heading off to do her bidding. Approaching the royal box is no small feat. Thankfully, my rank as a mate to the Queen of the Shadow Court grants certain privileges and I’m allowed up into the royal box with ease. I approach Egon, who looks like his skin’s ready to rip wide open and let his wolf loose upon the world. I hand him the towel that Bella handed me, and he inhales her scent deeply and settles. “Bella said for you to calm down. She doesn’t wish to be disqualified because your wolf wants nothing more than to protect her,” I say to him, calmly enunciating the words in the same way Bella did.
Hopefully, he would see the truth of it in my words. He looks down at the rag and then over at me. “She’s quite thoughtful.” Egon gives me a smile and a word of thanks silently.
I more than likely saved the entire competition by bringing him that scrap of material. The towel itself was nothing major. It was more the calming scent of our mate on it that settles his animal. He relaxes almost immediately until the next round begins again. Every time he stresses and strain, I watch him bring material up to his nose and breathe deeply. He closes his eyes, and I can almost mentally hear him counting, trying to soothe his beast for the moment. It’s kind of funny because I am not stressing about Bella in battle. But then again, I’ve seen her in action, and I’ve seen the full magnitude of the damage that she can cause. But if there’s any more attacks like we believe that there will be, sooner than later, he will see her in battle, and he will watch her decimate the competition, leaving nothing standing and nothing living if she can help it.
The next three fights go off without a hitch and Bella comes back to sit in the shade and relax, watching some of the other females fight. She shakes her head and laughs at some of them. While others she studies them more closely. She knows who may or may not be competition for her, and those are the matches that she keeps a close eye on. It amazes me how she has almost this sixth sense to know who may or may not be an issue for her. I’ve got to laugh, though. There are not very many females that she deems a problem. Just two upstarts that seem to be built heavier than the other females present. Toward the end of the battles, the clear winner has been decided. Flint takes Bella’s hand, raising it high, announcing her as the winner of the sword fights.
Shortly after this round ends, we’re allowed to bring Bella lunch and sit with her under the big oak tree that she’s chosen to be her spot. She eats everything that’s provided to her and sits back and closes her eyes, listening to the sounds all around her. Hollis takes her hand and drags her attention back to him over the next forty-five minutes. He explains in great detail everything that he’s learned about sword crafting. Rolling her eyes, Bella looks bored already, and this really will not bode well for any of us. She needs to take this section seriously, otherwise we may have additional problems going forward.
She may not realize it now, but they granted her a boon being able to send Hollis with Egon last night to learn how to forge a sword. He spent till almost ‘til 1:00 a.m. with Egon learning the tricks of the trade. Not being a Fire Wolf is gonna add a whole new level of difficulty for Bella. Her skin is not impervious to fire, nor are there going to be any shadows available for her to use them to help with the forging. Thankfully for her and the other contestants, they don’t have to forge a whole sword, they just have to forge a blade, preferably a small knife. Bella rolls her eyes at the thought of the parameters that have been given to her. She doesn’t like restrictions in any way, shape or form, so the idea of trying to put constraints on her is almost nauseating.
I know she’s gonna do something right in the middle. A short sword, right within the parameters. She smirks, knowing full well I know what she’s up to. Who am I to tell her no when it comes to something that she wants to do? They gather the ladies up to go over everything available to them at the magma pits. Bella has already got herself dressed in something more appropriate for this challenge. She found the leather smock and gloves that fit up to her elbows. I don’t know where she got these items, but somehow she has them and they fit her correctly. The king goes over the parameters for the crafting. They’ve changed. Now it’s open, be it a short sword, a long sword, a hatchet and axe, a dagger, a dirk anything with a blade, as long as it’s sturdy. Laughing to herself, Bella rolls her eyes several times as she watches several of the females panicking over the changes that have been made. I don’t know if she thinks that this is gonna be easier. But at least it gives her a bit more freedom to craft her weapon. I personally would rather see her do something more within the parameters versus the outside edge. Each female has been given a pit, and they’ve been given several selections of types of metal that they can use to create their masterpiece.
Bella stares at what they have given to her and then laughs. She goes over to the chopper to cut the pieces of metal down to the smallest pieces that she can handle, making them approximately three inches long by about two inches wide. She gets all the pieces together and then, by some miracle, forge welds them together. I didn’t even know that Bella was aware of that process. I thought she’d only learned what Hollis had told her. Shaking his head, Hollis holds her phone up and shows me Bella’s search history. Bella apparently had searched how to forge weld and how to make Damascus steel. The Damascus steel is probably the strongest, most intricate metal that can be welded and forged. My mate getting ready to do this for her first ever project. To say that I’m amazed is an understatement.
Bella puts the pieces together one by one. Layer upon layer folding them repeatedly using the hammer and anvil that’s provided. I know my mate’s strong. She’s stronger than the average female from what I’ve seen. Except for the one named Helga. That female is massive. She’s easily in the two to two hundred and fifty pound range and most of it’s muscle. I mean, I seriously think that she’s stronger than half the guys here. I’m watching the expression not only on Hollis’s his face, but Egon’s as well. She’s apparently somebody that he’s concerned about in these competitions. I wish I would have known that sooner I would have kept a closer eye on her and what she was doing to alert Bella to what her strengths and weaknesses are. But again, that was information withheld. I don’t know if they did it on purpose, but that they did it is mildly concerning.
Bella’s got her piece drawn out and flattened. She’s now curving the blade slightly. It almost appears that she’s making a scimitar. Something that is not native to this area. And then Hollis shows me another video of the ornate swords that she was watching last night. I can’t believe that she’s trying this on her first go. I don’t know if it’s more insanity or just the drive to prove something. Bella is going all out and she’s taking no prisoners. Three-quarters of the way through the competition and almost four hours later. Bella is finally sinking her blade into the oil to quench it. Flames run the length of the sword as she brings it out of the oil. Within moments, the flames are gone, and she’s looking over the sword’s edge carefully. Running the file along the metal itself, you can hear it slide over easily; the steel is perfectly hardened.
Bella moves quickly over to the whetstone and starts sharpening the edge and then polishing the blade, so it shines like a diamond. Thirty minutes later, the blade is buffed and polished and as sharp as a razor. She digs through the handle pieces and finds two pieces of the elhorn. The elhorn is a horse relative to the unicorn. Unlike the unicorn, the elhorn sheds its horn every year and every year it gains new spirals, grows longer and curves.
I see exactly what Bella is doing. The hand guard that’s required will be part of the horn itself. She takes the horn and files it down, cuts it to the length she needs, and then epoxies it to the end of the handle. Once it’s fitted in place, she looks it over several times and then wraps the brass around the handle itself. Making sure that everything is secure, she drives the one piece into the fire yet again and makes it molten hot before pressing it to the brass in several places, making sure that it’s completely secure. Once she’s happy with how it fits, making sure the brass is burned into place in the handle and it will not come loose, she walks over and hands it to the judges. She then goes to rest back under her favorite tree, awaiting judgment.
Chapter42
Egon
I ama huge growling mess pacing back and forth across the balcony that myself, my parents and my brothers are all stuck standing on while we watch this farce of a tradition. I remember, according to the history books that they forced me to read as part of my princely education, that once upon a time it was only the males that competed and not the females. Whatever changed several hundred years ago in the population that more males were being born than females. I think it’s because of all the wars that we had gotten into. That the she-wolves subconsciously started producing more male heirs than females to help carry on the bloodlines. Seems like a miscarriage of justice to me. We should be the ones proving our worth to our females, not the other way around. But I was able to assist my perfect mate, the one meant for and destined for me. I taught her other mate Hollis everything that he needs to know to help her be able to get through this section of the trials.
I watch as Bella sets up her area, and she studies all the different metals that are available to her. There are hard steels and mild steels and steels that end up falling in the middle. She ends up taking lengths of hard steel and one of the mid-grade and walking back over to her section. I’m quite curious about how she has everything set up. She’s got a chop saw which cuts metal and she’s got everything else set up to do what we’re supposed to be doing today. It’s very curious the way she’s looking everything over. Before forge time is called, she’s already measuring out the lengths of metal, which is permitted. She’s just not allowed to start anything. Once she’s got everything measured and the whistle’s blown, she goes immediately over to the saw and starts cutting lengths of steel. She’s alternating the pattern between hard steel and mid-steel, back and forth repeatedly. It’s now that I realize that she’s creating Damascus steel. It’s one of the more difficult ones to produce, and yet this is what she’s chosen to make.
