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Nik finished brushing the back of his head with the towel in his hand. His hair now looked disheveled instead of slicked back, but it still managed to look good somehow.
“I think that when the magic started to fade, some fae started using their magic less or stopped using it altogether, like they thought they could save it up. But I don’t think it works that way. I never stopped using my magic. I use it just the same as I always did. And I’ve been impacted, princess, don’t doubt that. I…” He gritted his teeth in frustration. “You’re right that my powers have not diminished to the extent of many others. But everyone’s magic is different. I can’t claim to know what makes everyone’s magic work. I just know how mine works,” he explained.
His thoughtful and direct answer surprised me.
“And my magic? What are you doing here? With this?” I said, gesturing at our bizarre situation.
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out, princess,” he replied.
“And why areyouthe one who is tasked with figuring out what makes my magic tick?” I asked. This was another question that had been on my mind.
He looked at me like he was weighing his options. “Enough questions, princess. We aren’t done with today’s training,” he said. He peeled off his soaked shirt, wrung it out, then laid it across his shoulders and began to trudge up toward the M.
26
Luke
“Look at that muscle!” I exclaimed, wrapping my hand around Al’s thigh and squeezing it. She lay along the chaise with her legs crossed at her ankles and thrown over my lap.
“She’s almost as ripped as you, mate,” Rhett teased.
Clearly, Rhett was exaggerating, but after training with the Prince, Al’s body did look different. Although her training had seemed to be initially focused on her magic, it sounded like her time with the Prince had turned into little more than gym sessions most days. As a result, some of her feminine softness was now replaced by toned muscle.
“I think I can officially say that I can push around more weight with my muscles than I can magically,” Al said, sounding proud and exasperated at the same time. “Of course, my ‘magic’ isn’t much more than a puff of wind these days,” she elaborated.
Obviously, I saw the appeal of unearthing Al’s magical abilities. She had all but healed my own magical powers. And Rhett’s too. But, so far, Al reported that they had had little success in advancing her magical abilities. She didn’t share very many details with me about her training sessions with the Prince these days. Not since she told me about the stunt Nik pulled with leaving her stranded in the middle of an ocean and I had reacted less than favorably to such tactics.
Some of my thoughts of displeasure must have shown through on my face because Al asked,“Luke, why don’t you like the Prince? I mean, I know you don’t love the idea of my training sessions, but you didn’t like him before all of that,” she said.
“You mean other than the fact that he lines up every woman in the Kingdom, decides whether he wants to marry them or not, and has deemed every woman in Valencia thus far unworthy? And this year that will include my—” I caught myself. “Well, it will include you and Karina.”
“Is there something other than that?” she asked earnestly.
“Yes,” I replied quietly. We sat in silence for a moment. “You know about my little brother, Jacob?” I asked.
She nodded her head. My youngest brother, Jacob, who had died in the last war.
“We were all under Nik’s command at the time. Nik was”—I clenched my teeth like it caused me pain to say these next words— “a good commander, overall. He fought on the front lines next to his soldiers, and he fought well. But the day that Jacob died, Nik had separated us. He wanted me in the battalion along the northeastern lines, where we thought we were going to get hit hardest, so I could protect and heal our guys and make them last longer along that front. And he put Jacob’s battalion, which had some of our less experienced lads, farthest away from the action,” I said.
“It made sense, Al. It was a solid battle plan. But I was so far away from Jacob, and I’d promised my mother that I’d protect him. And when…” I paused, my nostrils flaring. I took a deep breath. “When Jacob was injured, I was too far away from him. No one came to get me. When I finally got to him, it was too late. Nik and I had words. More than words… We came to blows. He was mad that I’d left my battalion before the battle was over. I was mad that he hadn’t let me go to Jacob sooner. I won’t tell you which of us was right. Nik and I weren’t friends before, but after…” I trailed off, pursing my lips and tilting my head to the side in dissatisfaction.
“He’s nearly as ruthless as Vandros, Al. Everyone is just a resource to him,” Rhett added.
Al leaned up from her position of leisure and grabbed my hand in hers. I could tell that she wanted to launch into some kind of sympathetic tirade regarding the Prince. But I never liked to dwell on the past, especially not on what happened with Jacob.
“When do you leave?” I asked, changing the subject.
“Tomorrow,” Al responded, letting the topic of Jacob drop.
“What about you?” she asked.
“Same,” I replied.
I was heading to Port City for the Winter Gala at the Silver Court. Al was going to the inaugural Winter Gala at the Golden Court with Cass.
“You and James still planning to stay here?” I asked Rhett.
“Yes. James’s mother and father are coming into town, and I am going to charm their pants right off,” he replied.
