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“So eager?” He smirked, taking my change of focus and rolling with it. He fastened his chin strap and stepped back, lifting his own weapon while dropping into the posture.

“To get it over with? Yes. I need to prove myself, so I don’t have to train with you anymore.” I feigned a left attack and spun right, catching him off guard.

He caught the blow with the flat of his weapon, deflecting it at the last second. “I’m sensing a theme.”

I wouldn’t catch him by surprise again. He moved directly into an attack, driving me back, and I fended off his blows with ease, giving it back with full voracity. I wasn’t worried about conserving my energy; I had more now than I’d ever had in my life. And even if Nyx trained regularly, my life had been carrying water a dozen times a day, even when it took me three times as long as anyone else because I could only carry half as much, cleaning, cleaning, and more cleaning, all before having to spend hours in the kitchen every day. I was no stranger to endurance, even as weak as I was.

“You are good.” He did nothing to mask his surprise.

“Did you doubt Hazel?” I blocked a blow right before it hit my face mask, pushing with all the strength I possessed while he used his height to force the practice blade closer to my face.

He laughed, falling back.“Learning to converse while sparring is imperative.”

I scowled, hacking forward. I knew my footwork wasn’t the best, but my anger got the better of me. He deflected them with ease, and my back hit the floor, knocking the wind out of me, and I couldn’t figure out how I’d gotten there. He stood over me with the tip of his sword to my throat.

“I yield.” I shoved the blade away from me and kicked up to return to my feet.

Nyx didn’t comment, but his expression said he was impressed.

“I can converse. I did it all the time with—” I cut myself off and eyed Nyx.

His reaction was transparent. I could see it was a punch to his gut. He had his river firmly dammed, of course, but his face held all the questions: ‘Who did she just stop herself from naming? Someone who meant something to her? A male?’

I knew it was cruel, but I was happy he was concerned about those things, and I wasn’t going to offer him any context or reassurance. Instead, I continued like I had never made the slip.

“But I didn’t have endless hours to play with swords growing up. I only had whatever time I could snatch between chores when no one was wondering where I was.”

Nyx softened. “You must have really loved it to go to that effort to steal time for it.”

“I always have,” I admitted, softening myself.

We went a few more rounds with me lasting longer each time.

“Why do dragons learn this kind of combat?” I asked when we took a break to get water.

“Because we do run out of magic, and while we can shift into our dragon form with low reserves, we can’t always breathe our magic weapon since it’s a function of our reserve as much as anything else.” He downed a cup of water and then poured one over his head. It soaked into his white shirt, making it cling to his pecs.

I turned away, not wanting him to think I was staring. “Couldn’t you just eat someone if you can’t use your magic?”

“I guess I could, but I wouldn’t want to.” He burst out laughing. “But no one would taste as good as you look, so I’d be disappointed.”

I sputtered, knowing how flushed I must be. “Why wouldn’t you want to?” I asked, just ignoring the other statement.

“Because I’m fae, even when I’m in my dragon form. I wouldn’t want to begin a trend of eating other fae.”

I looked at him and knew it was a mistake. He glistened in the light filtering through the high windows, glowing from the exercise.

His mouth twisted into a smug grin. “See something you like, Sol?”

“Not a thing.” I returned my focus to my cool water. “I guess I wouldn’t want you to eat other fae, either.”

“Break’s over. Strip off the pads. Now that everyone is good and warm, let’s do some hand-to-hand work,” Hazel called.

My gaze snapped back to Nyx’s. “Please tell me I can spar with someone else?”

“Not a chance unless you’re better at hand to hand than you are with a sword, and somehow, I doubt it.”

“Goddess, save me.” The last thing I needed was to have his body pressed against mine.