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“Are you going to give up?” he demanded. His dark eyes bored into her.
She lifted her chin. “No.”
“Good. The world isn’t fair. We have four days to break your bad habits. I can’t guarantee that you won’t go up against someone with powers. Whether it’s a legal move or not. Everyone wants to win. Everyone will cheat to get there.” He raised his eyebrows. “Do you understand me?”
She saw the logic in it even if it was infuriating. “Fine. I’m still going to win.”
Finally, he grinned. “We’ll see.”
23
The Weakness
Kerrigan ducked under Cordon’s blow. But just barely.
There was a reason that he hadn’t wanted to fight her. She was still better than him. With a sword in hand, she would have beaten him, but he kept her on her toes. He moved with a fluidity that she hadn’t seen since the air Fae moving through their steps. If humans were respected in Alandria, Cordon could have gone far.
She wanted to throw air at him and finish their little bout, but that was why she was here. She needed to control her movements and make every moment count. Ignoring her base instinct to pull from magic she no longer had, she made a circuit around Cordon and jabbed him in the kidney. He grunted but dodged her next move. He used whatever his magic was to sidestep her with ease and came with more magic against her defenses. But Kerrigan was already moving away from that thrust, and she bent down, kicking his feet out from under him.
He fell hard onto his back, all the air rushing from his lungs. He coughed as he rolled to his side and waved her off.
“That was better,” he said as he rose to his feet. He shot her an easy smile.
He had a lot of those.
He was perhaps the nicest yet sternest teacher she had ever had. He doled out heaps of compliments anytime she came close to the correct steps. He was so nice that she wondered if he was being honest with her. No one had ever complimented her work like this. She had to be good to survive, but it was another thing to be praised for it.
“Am I really getting better?” she asked, reaching for the water jug. “Or are you just being nice?”
“I’m not nice.”
Kerrigan arched an eyebrow. “You’re basically the nicest teacher I’ve ever had.”
“Well, don’t give me a reputation for it.” He grinned. “Anyway, yes, you are getting a lot better. You still show that weakness for magic use.” She deflated at the words. “But you’re more aware of it. You’ll be able to call upon it when needed.”
“And do you think I’ll beat Constantine today?”
Because she hadn’t.
Not in a single match.
She’d beaten Evander, even with his magic. He was good, but he wasn’t as good as Constantine. And she had to assume she was going to match with someone that good. Why else would he want her to train against him if he didn’t think her competition would be equally as daunting?
She was embarrassed that he kept laying her on her ass. With no gumption about it, by the way. For someone who refused to train women, he didn’t seem to care how rough he was with her when they were training. As if when he put that sword in his hand and used his magic in this way, he went back to the war, and there was no stopping him.
She understood that sentiment. Could feel the Battle of Lethbridge guiding her hand, reminding her that every moment was life-and-death. That the Red Masks were coming. That Bastian had betrayed her. That her magic was gone.
Perhaps it was why Constantine pushed her so hard. Or maybe he just didn’t want to lose his investment.
“We’ll see,” Cordon finally said.
Which meant no. She still wasn’t good enough to take on a king of Andine. Well, she’d better be good enough for her first match because it was tomorrow.
They broke for lunch, tucking into the dining area out of the beating hot sun. Danae flitted at the outskirts, uncertain if she should come in or not.
Kerrigan waved her in. “Come on over.”
Danae took a seat next to her. “You’re getting better.”
“Have you been watching?”
“Everyone has.”
Kerrigan’s gaze roamed the gladiators, who were mostly avoiding her gaze, discussing their tournament wins and defeats among themselves. Theo wasn’t there, so she hadn’t heard how he’d done that morning in his bout. It was only Myron who was staring at her with open disgust. He sawed through his meat with a knife and glared at her. He’d won three meets in the staff fighting circuit and was heading into the finals next week. He had nothing to be upset about. The money was going to set him up. But it had nothing to do with that and everything to do with her taking his spot. He’d been glaring at her ever since.
