Page 31

I landed next to Riven on the faebed. He was smirking at me with a boyish glint in his eye. I shoved his shoulder, a little harder than I meant to. “You attackmebefore you attackher?”

His grin was devilish as he lowered his head and nipped my finger. My entire body flooded with waves of heat at the touch. “I take my chances where I can.” One of Riven’s shadows trailed down the open part of my collar, leaving no doubt about what other chances he’d be willing to take.

Gerarda shook her head in disgust. “You lasted longer than I thought.” She gave a hard, pointed look at Riven. “Both of you.”

Riven’s grin fell. “Was that a compliment,Arda?”

“Don’t call me that.” Her nose wrinkled like an angry cat.

I pulled myself to the edge of the faebed and wobbled. Breaking the seal had made me stronger, but I was still not in a soldier’s form. Being scared to sleep didn’t help.

Gerarda picked up my fallen sword and tossed it to me. Riven caught it in a straight arm directly over my face when I didn’t move to catch it. “We’ve trained enough.”

“It’s not even noon.” Gerarda raised a brow at him.

Riven wrapped his arm around me. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I’m going to vomit,” I admitted.

Gerarda crossed her arms. “So vomit.” There wasn’t an ounce of sympathy in her voice.

Riven’s neck flexed. His shadows turned sharp like blades of his own. I put a hand on his chest. “It’s okay,” I whispered. His violet gaze shifted to me and immediately softened.

I pulled my body up on the soft ball of light, suddenly aware of how depleted I truly was. But Gerarda was staring at me with a smug look that set my blood to boil.

I grabbed my sword and stood as tall as I could on the grass.

And then I vomited on the ground.

Riven covered the field in his shadows, shielding us from everyone else as he pulled me into his lap. I wretched again and a thin blade of shadow pulled a waterskin beside us. Riven uncorked it and held it to my mouth. When I was done, he wiped the water from my lips with his thumb. “You have done more than enough today,” he whispered so quietly only I could hear him.

My body jerked again, forcing me to agree. I leaned against his shoulder and felt the sunlight on my cheek once more.

“We are done for today,” Riven said in a voice as hard and as cold as the tops of the Burning Mountains.

Syrra nodded and Vrail skipped toward the training room in search of her own waterskin. Something shiny peered through the laces in Gerarda’s tunic. A small bead along a chain. Gerarda caught me looking and scowled, tightening the laces to hide the necklace.“You’re coddling her again.” She threw her arms out in exasperation at Vrail and Syrra too. “You all are.”

Riven’s lip tightened against his teeth. “There is a difference between coddling and caring,Arda.” There was no jest in how he said the nickname now. It was pure threat.

Gerarda raised a brow. “Keera has trained hundreds of initiates and led countless Shades. She did not excuse them when they vomited during training. That’s when she pushed the hardest.”

My stomach hardened, knowing it was true.

Riven’s shadows curled around my leg that wasn’t shaking and all I wanted was for them to carry me into my bed and let me sleep. “We are not pushing today.”

“How can we expand our limits if we do not cross them?” Gerarda tilted her head at Syrra. The Elf swallowed thickly but did not correct her.

“Keera is not a weapon that must keep striking for the kingdom any longer.” Riven towered over Gerarda, placing himself between her and me. “Out of everyoneyoushould understand that.”

Gerarda took a single step forward, lifting herself up on the tips of her toes until she was inches from Riven’s fangs. His shadows spurled out in every direction and I was amazed that Gerarda could stay so calm in the face of a Fae so close to losing control.

“I’m treating Keera like asoldierbecause that’s what she is. Leaving the Order doesn’t change that and it never will.” She sheathed her sword and shoved past Riven. “And, one day, she will thank me for it.”

Gerarda’s dark eyes fell on me, and I knew she wanted me to say something. To grab her arm and pull her out into the training field until even she couldn’t stand. But I couldn’t.

Gerarda swallowed her disappointment and headed for the beach. “I’ll ready the ship and hope that Damien’s soldiers are just asundisciplinedwith their training.”

“How do you know she will thank you for it?” Riven shouted after her, there was a hard edge to his voice, not anger but something more like worry. It pulled at my chest until it hurt to breathe.