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His sigh told me he’d noted the change of subject, but he let it go. “We wouldn’t choose to be friends if we’d met each other under different circumstances. But we can tolerate each other for your sake. And for the sake of the hybrids.”
I studied him. My brother could have gone on to live a normal life. He was human. He’d received his allotment of his power back. He could have married, moved somewhere warmer.
“What are you thinking?”
I told him, and he rolled his eyes. “If you hadn’t been a hybrid, and you’d learned that I could have saved Papa’s life if Regner hadn’t stolen my power, what would you have done?”
“I would have vowed to make him pay,” I said without hesitation.
Tibris nodded. “I’m still working on forgiving our father for what he did. For the way he changed our memories. Part of me wonders if that was why he stopped fighting at the end. But his life wasn’t meaningless. None of our lives are. Regner is playing at being a god and taking what doesn’t belong to him. Even if I ignore everything I know about what he has done to your people, he has still stolen from the humans in his kingdom too.”
“He has.” Humans who might have had different lives. Easier lives.Longerlives.
Tibris elbowed me. “I know you like to take an absurd amount of responsibility for everyone in your life, but rest assured, I would have always been here.”
I sniffed. “You say absurd amount of responsibility, I say a strong level of oversight.”
He just shook his head. “Let’s go before you’re late.”
We wandered toward the arena. The weather was warmer this far south—which would make it tough to train during the middle of the day. But the mornings were still cool and crisp.
I glanced at my brother. His gaze had landed on a hybrid walking toward the arena. Blond and built, the hybrid looked back, his smile welcoming.
I smirked. “And just what is happening there?”
A hint of color touched Tibris’s cheeks. “Nothing,” he muttered.
Tibris was notoriously closed-mouthed about his romantic life. I studied the hybrid. Tibris elbowed me again. “Don’t even think about it.”
I shifted my gaze to the arena. Encircled by a thick wooden fence, the open-aired enclosure was both inviting and daunting. According to Demos, hybrids trained in the morning, while the fae trained in the afternoons. But a crowd had gathered today, leaning against the fence with an air of expectation.
I left Tibris’s side and walked into the arena. The ground was a hardened mixture of compacted soil and sand. Likely, it was designed to cushion falls, but it bore the imprints of countless boot-clad feet.
The rhythmic clashing of steel rang out as two hybrids lunged at each other, both blindingly fast. The sound melded with the dull thuds of wooden swords striking padded dummies close by, and I recognized several of the hybrids hitting the dummies from Regner’s dungeon.
On the other side of the arena, Asinia stood next to Demos, who was handing her a crossbow. From the way her mouth twisted, he’d said something to annoy her. I sighed, making my way over to Galon, who was watching the sword-wielding hybrids closely. He looked away long enough to run his gaze over me clinically once more. He was right—I’d lost the little muscle I’d managed to gain when I was traveling with him and the others. I hadn’t eaten well at the castle, my anxiety crippling my appetite. And then, of course, I’d been stuck on that ship.
“You know what I’m going to say,” he said as I approached him.
I nodded, and he turned his gaze back to the two hybrids. “I want you eating past the point of fullness while you’re training at this camp. Your stomach has become smaller. You also need to be eating much more meat and fish than usual.”
My appetite had already returned with a vengeance. “I will.”
He let out a whistle, and the hybrids both froze, instantly stepping back. Both of them turned, listening intently as Galon gave them feedback on their defenses and footwork. When he was done, one of them glanced at me, his gaze lingering on my face.
“You’re the hybrid heir,” he said, his tone somehow caught between accusatory and awestruck.
I nodded.
His friend snorted, spat on the ground, and walked away. After a long, awkward moment, the first man followed him.
Galon ignored them both. “Sword or knives?”
It felt like a trick question, and I shrugged. “I’m used to knives.”
“Because you’re used to fighting up close.”
“Well…yeah. Tibris taught me to fight with a sword, but it’s not pretty.”
