Page 15

Kai explained the mechanics of throwing the curved blades and then demonstrated. I watched every little detail from the flick of his wrist to the angle at which he threw at. Even guesstimated how much force he used to send it to the other side of the room.

Unsurprisingly, Kai’s blade sank directly in the center of the target with a satisfying, sheer cut.

The rest of us stepped in front of our targets and tried. I held my hand up over my opposite shoulder as I’d seen Kai do and brought if forward a couple times to get used to the movement. Then, I let it fly. It sliced through the air and landed just below the bullseye.

A smile peeled my lips apart. The blade was well-balanced and felt like a dream to throw. I looked over at my mother, almost giddy. Forgetting all pretense, she rose to her feet and came over.

“You have to try this,” I told her.

Already dressed in an all-black tactical suit, she accepted a curved blade from Kai. The room silenced as my mom took up stance next to me. Papa Nic and I moved back to give her some room as she eyed up the target. As if she’d been doing it for a while, she went through the motions exactly like Kai had shown. She tested the weight of the blade, the forward movement, and finally, after a few practice swings, she finally let the blade go. It whistled through the air then sank into the target just above my own.

She turned to me, her eyes almost electric. “We need these.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” I beamed.

After that, Papa Nic had to try too. Kai held him out a blade as if he were a servant serving his king. Like my mother had done, Papa Nicolai tested the weight and angle of the delivery several times before letting go. His blade sank just to the right of the bullseye. When he turned, he shook Kai’s hand. “We’re going to be purchasing some of these blades from you, Kai Iona. Do you make them yourself?”

He shook his head. “No, Sir. We have a bladesmith in town. He’s been making these blades for almost a century, learning from his father before him. He can’t bring himself to cross over because he loves making blades so much.”

Papa Nic smiled at Mother. “I well know the feeling when you love something—or someone—so much you can’t bear to go.” After receiving a smile back from Mother, Papa Nic looked at me. “Or two somethings.”

The noise picked up in the room again as more blades cut through the air and landed in the targets on the other side of the room. Mom watched it all with an unwavering eye before looking up at Kai. “We’ll break for dinner soon. It will be served upstairs in this building. It’ll be less formal, more intimate, but I thought it was better than eating in the dorm cafeteria.”

Kai bowed to her. “I’ll wrap up in a few minutes, my queen.”

My mother’s mouth pinched. She had the same hang-ups I did about being called after a title. She’d never asked for the title. She’d only been brought into this world by my fathers.

It was the same for me though perhaps a little less reason to get bent out of shape at being called princess. I was actually born into the role.

“We’ll be stealing Princess Izzy right now, too. I have something to discuss with her,” Papa Nic said.

His face was gruff and serious, but it usually was. It was hard to trace down Papa Nic’s emotions until he spoke.

Papa Nic held his hand out for my mother and she accepted it while I walked beside them. Behind us, I heard Kai giving last-minute instructions, but the sound died out when we reached the hall. Once we were far enough away that we weren’t going to be overheard, Papa Nic turned his head toward me. “Alexei came to me earlier.”

“And Theo,” Mother added.

“Yes,” I said, already knowing what this was about. “The guard. I didn’t recognize him. Did you figure out who it was?”

Papa Nic’s lips thinned. “No, we haven’t.”

A dead weight fell into my stomach. “What? How—?”

“Our best guess is that a young gentleman arrived at the gate earlier in the day pretending to be from Clan Dumont and needing to get Felix a message. Because Felix came by himself, no one thought it odd he would have someone come. However, now we can’t find the guard, and with what Alexei explained happened at the pond, we’re thinking this is the same person.”

“And is he from Felix’s clan?” I asked, my hands morphing to fists. They didn’t act as if they knew one another, but Felix left the pond early. Maybe they planned to meet…

Mother shrugged. “We haven’t asked.”

“Because we’re not sure he would tell us the truth,” Papa Nic said.

I ground my teeth together. “I’ll ask him.”

“That’s not readily the cause for concern now,” Papa Nic said. “All the guards have been alerted there might be an intruder on campus. We’re telling you so you’ll be careful.”

“Of course,” I said, trying not to sound affronted. I was careful one-hundred percent of the time. “I suppose this means you’ll be sleeping outside my room tonight.”

Papa Nic gave me a sly grin. “I was hoping it meant we could persuade you to sleep at home tonight. But in either case, yes, you will be guarded. We’re not sure as to why this is happening now. It’s been quiet and the only thing we can come up with is that you’re trying to choose mates. Maybe someone doesn’t like the idea. It’s not hard to guess you’re the target since the intruder went to see you all at the pond.”