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Instead of his sword coming down to seal her fate, Zain reached out a hand to pull Alex back to her feet.

“Um, thanks,” she said, pressing a hand to her throbbing head. Yeah, the mat was definitely not as spongy as she would have liked.

“You’re welcome, little human,” Zain said with an amused smirk.

Alex didn’t know why he’d stopped trying to kill her, but she wasn’t willing to question the matter—not without a sword in her hands. She would even let his ‘little human’ comment go, so long as he was no longer threatening her life.

Zain reached down to grab the sword she’d dropped and he indicated for her to lead the way back to their companions. She wasn’t overly comfortable having him behind her withtwoblades, so she hurried over to the others as Zain went on to speak with the other Meyarins.

“Are you all right?” D.C. asked, looking pale.

“Yeah,” Alex answered, rotating her neck and feeling something pop back into place.

“That. Was.Awesome,” Jordan said, staring at her in awe. “Seriously—I’ve never seen anything like it!”

Alex turned to him. “What are you talking about? That was definitelynotawesome.”

“From our point of view it was pretty amazing, Alex,” Bear said. “We had no idea you could fight like that.”

Alex searched for the right words and settled on, “I still have a lot to learn.”

“That you do, little human,” Zain said, interrupting their conversation. Apparently the Meyarins were done speaking privately. “But you’re well on your way.”

Alex wasn’t sure how to respond to his unexpected compliment, so she ended up saying a quiet, “Uh, thank you.”

She had no idea what the big deal was. She’d barely lasted a few minutes in their fight before Zain had won. That wasn’t exactly something to brag about.

“As ‘enjoyable’ as that was, I’m hoping there was a point to that exercise,” Alex told the Meyarins. “Did you find out what you needed to know?”

“We were testing whether or not you’re under Aven’s control,” Kyia said, her emerald eyes gazing thoughtfully at Alex.

“And the verdict is?”

“You fight unexpectedly well for one of your kind,” Zain answered. “You show great promise, but your strength and skills are your own. You’re not under the influence of the Rebel Prince.”

Alex had to resist rolling her eyes. She’d told them that, but they hadn’t believed her. But despite the inconvenience—and the danger—to her, she understood that they’d had to check. Even if she wasn’t thrilled by the way they’d done so.

“Well, that’s a relief,” Jordan piped up cheerfully. “It would’ve sucked to have a best friend who was possessed by an evil tyrant. Great anecdote, but definitely not ideal.”

“Jordan, seriously. Stop talking,” D.C. muttered, shaking her head at him.

“You’re such a royal buzz-kill,” he huffed. But then his expression brightened and he asked, “What happens next? Can we see more of Meya before we leave?”

While her friends were speaking, Alex was acutely aware of the unknown Meyarin’s eyes upon her, almost as if he was searching for something.

“I’d like to try something, if you don’t mind?” he said, turning to wait for the king’s nod of permission before looking back at Alex questioningly.

“Um, sure,” she said, wondering why he’d sought her consent when the king had already agreed.

The Meyarin led her away from the others and back onto the mat. Her heartbeat sped up and her companion chuckled as if he could hear the erratic thumping. Maybe he could, Alex realised. She had no idea just how good Meyarin hearing was.

“Don’t worry, Alex,” he said, maintaining his earlier informality and putting her at ease. “It’s just a little experiment.”

“What kind of experiment?” she asked when she noticed him pull a long piece of material from his clothing. While he wasn’t wearing head-to-toe armour like Zain, his dark outfit was still like something straight out of a fantasy movie. All that was missing was the cape.

“I spent most of my youth with Aven Dalmarta,” he said. “I’m well acquainted with the scent of his blood, and that’s why I’m one of the few who can tell it lingers within you, dormant or not. I have no concerns about him holding any control over you—it’s clear your mind is too strong for his Claiming to still be active—but I’m curious whether the blood tainting your veins has any other effect. I’d like to test my hypothesis.”

“And whatisyour hypothesis?” Alex asked, wondering how much further they would be walking and whether she should ask him to take her back to her friends.