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Lorian went still, staring at me. “It’s been a long time since I heard that sound.”
I shrugged. “I haven’t had much to laugh about.”
We began to circle. “What are you up to, Prisca? Why the meetings?”
Our swords clashed, and I attempted to dodge. He was relentless, pressing me with a series of swift strikes.
I panted, blocking another blow. The impact shuddered up my arms, and I understood why he wanted me to improve my footwork. “Is that your strategy? Tire me out until I tell you what you want to know?”
His laugh was a low taunt. “If I wanted to tire you out, I wouldn’t do it in an arena.”
My thighs clenched as my mind helpfully provided me with an image of last night, tangled in his arms. “Your arrogance is astounding.”
“Pris.”
Lorian stepped back, allowing Demos to walk toward us. He nodded at Lorian, and our eyes met.
My palms went damp. It was time.
“I have something I need to do,” I muttered.
“Fine. I need to meet with Rythos,” Lorian said. His gaze found mine, his expression set in unyielding lines. “We’ll train again later.” Clearly, our little conversation wasn’t over. I’d need to find some way to distract him. My heart tripped at the thought.
I pushed strands of sweat-soaked hair off my face, pulled the leather tie from the end of my braid and began rebraiding it. Lorian studied me for one last moment and then turned, prowling out of the arena. The moment he was gone, much of the tension drained from those who were still training. Conversation picked up, someone laughed, and even the sounds of swords clashing against each other seemed to grow louder.
“I want you to fight him,” Demos said.
I frowned. “What? Who?”
“Roran.”
I froze, the end of my braid still clutched in my fist.
“That’s the worst idea I’ve ever heard. Did you not see me waving my wooden sword around?”
His lips twitched. “Hand-to-hand. Like you’re used to. One dagger each. Fight to first blood or until I call it.”
“First blood?” This was getting out of hand. “He could gut me, Demos.”
“You’re going to be using your power, remember?”
Just the thought made black dots appear at the edges of my vision.
“Demos, I don’t think I can do it. I don’t think I can use my power publicly like this.”
My brother’s eyebrows lowered, and he angled his head. Clearly, he didn’t understand.Ididn’t even fully understand. Yes, I’d used my power at the castle, but this felt wildly different. It felt as if someone had taken one of the targets from across the arena and stuck it to my back.
Silence stretched. Finally, he sighed. “All right, Prisca. You should know, though, the rumors are likely to get worse. It’s difficult to build morale like this.”
I wished Lorian hadn’t left.
Just the thought irritated me. I couldn’t rely on other people to carry the weight of my decisions. To prop me up because I was unable to deal with the reality of my life.
That was what I’d been asking Demos to do. He was doing the best he could in this camp, but now my brother was askingmefor something. Something he thought we needed.
I had to put on a good show. Because I sure as fuck wasn’t good for anything else.
I took a deep breath. “I’ll do it.”
