Page 19 of Enchanted Shadows (The Enchanted Kingdom #6)

I had a huge barrel of cold water in the middle of the training ring.

“A bit small for a community bath, don’t you think, General?” Vivian deadpanned.

These women and their wit were killing me.

Daily. I shut my smirk down. “Best not take a bath in it, Viv. Today, for our team strategizing, you are going to lift this bucket in the air for ten minutes straight. If one drop splashes out, you run extra. Enchantments are obviously encouraged, but the only caveat is that all of you must participate in keeping it above the ground at some point.”

“Can we have a moment to game plan?” Jessina asked.

I looked to my watch. “You have one minute to form a plan. You won’t always have an abundance of time to plan things on guard duty, so I will force you to think quickly for this also.”

They ignored me as they circled up and formed a plan. Yes, there were enough Enchanted women on the team that they could just suspend it in the air for the ten minutes. But I added the participation part just to see what they came up with .

They got to work. The non-Enchanted stood under the barrel while Vivian used her magic to move the barrel into their hands. Molly’s magic was targeted around the water, making sure it wouldn’t slosh. A smart plan.

And then each of the other Enchanted added their power in, wrapping around the barrel and helping to hold it in place, lifting up on it and making it less heavy also. All that remained was Fern.

I started the clock and listened to them talk each other through it.

Emric leaned in and said quietly. “Did you specify that they all had to be touching it the entire ten minutes?”

“No.”

“Well, are you going to tell them now?”

“Also no.”

Emric snorted. “You’re brave. A couple of these women have a look about them that if looks could kill, we’d be extra crispy.”

“They need to learn to listen to all directions,” I told him. “They’ll figure it out soon enough.”

Vivian, Wren, and Pippa took turns using their magic to hold the barrel in place, to ensure they didn’t tire. None of them were even breaking a sweat. It was easy. Far too easy.

“Em.”

“Yeah?”

“Start throwing things at them.”

I hadn’t used a sound barrier, and Zara had apparently heard as she said to the team, “Get ready! I told you it wasn’t this easy.”

For the last five minutes Emric tried to use a strong breeze to knock the women over and threw rocks and various logs that Wren had to fight off.

With Wren focusing most of her power on defense, the non-Enchanted had more of the weight of the barrel to hold now, and they were starting to have to use their legs. Likewise, the Enchanted had to have laser focus to keep their magic on the barrel and not on the attacks from Emric.

With under a minute to go, just when I assumed that they were going to lose because Fern had yet to use her Enchantment, Fern moved from where she was helping hold the barrel and dipped her hand into the water. “Molly,” she called.

Molly’s power immediately dropped.

Fern had one hand in the water while the other was directing it to move, the droplets of water forming a flower in the sky.

Emric sent a huge gust of wind at Fern, trying to get her hands to falter. He sent another at the flower, trying to get it to fall.

Molly wasn’t a fan of that, and she sent one of her own at him at the same time that Wren sent a vine of magic at his feet. The result that Emric went tumbling just as all the droplets of water made it back into the barrel, Molly’s magic sealing it in.

“Time,” I told them. “You passed.”

As soon as the words were out of my mouth, a shot of water came flying at me. I ducked, so it didn’t hit my face, but it still somehow managed to hit me in the chest.

I sent Fern a glare. My magic had barely even flared. She was that quick.

“We planned that,” she said with an evil little smile, “in celebration.”

“Bold of you to assume you’d win this challenge.” I put my hands up. “Besides, I didn’t even do anything to you. It was General Whitman.”

Zara shot me a look that said she knew exactly what had prompted Emric to do it.

“Don’t worry, you look good wet!” Sam called to me.

As Molly burst out giggling, I tipped my head back to the sky. These women and their comments. “Sam.”

“I know, I know. My mouth is going to get me in trouble.”

It was difficult to stay mad at them when they were all so damn happy about me getting shot with some water. “Do it again, and your mouth will be the reason your legs get an extra workout in.”

“But we already ran it twice today,” Pippa snapped.

I turned toward her. “You don’t think I’d make you run it three times?”

“He would,” Summer whispered. “He totally would. Back down from the wet General, Pip.”

Pippa gave her a nod. “Okay.”

“I was going to let you be done for the day.” I had to stop for their groans. While I did, I dried my shirt with my Enchantment. “But rather than run, let’s practice some more self-defense for the next twenty minutes.”

Halfway through, I called Zara over.

“Yeah?”

She’d been sparring with Wren who took the opportunity to grab a drink of water while I talked with Zara.

“I’ll make you a deal. Let’s spar. You and me. You get a good hit in on me, and you can keep your secrets. You don’t, and you tell me what’s going on.”

“So you can play the part of the hero?”

I noted she didn’t say no right away. This woman was competitive.

She tried not to be. Hadn’t ever said a word about it, but from the way she always had to have more skips on the lake than me, the way she carefully avoided the top three spots on our runs but was consistently in the top five, she was competitive.

And I knew it. “No. So that I can protect this team properly. Have you ever considered that you might be putting the rest of them at risk because of all your secrets?”

That had her head dropping to her shoes for only a moment. “Fine.”

“Fine,” I repeated. “But no holding back.”

She inhaled and it sounded almost like a growl. “Believe me, I would love to kick you. ”

I beckoned with my fingers for her to come at me. “Make it count, honey.”

I took up a mostly defensive stance. My feet were barely set when I stopped her shot at my face with an arm and stepped away from her elbow that she spun around with to get my face.

She threw one more punch, which I deflected, before going for the kick. Right at my manhood.

I not only caught it in time, but held on, the result being that Zara had to hop a few times in place.

I pulled her closer so she wouldn’t have to hop.

“I meant to throw your whole body behind the kick, not kick me in a place in which it counted.” I pulled her in even closer. “You ready to talk yet?”

“What happened to telling you when I was ready?”

I finally let her foot drop. “I’m getting a little impatient. It’s been a week.”

She rolled her eyes at me and we were moving again. The others had stopped to watch us. Five minutes later when we stopped, I still hadn’t let her land any good hits on me. I felt my magic flare and assumed Zara was plotting my murder that very moment.

I turned to the others. “Who’s next?”

But before one of them could respond, my magic flared again. I had just turned to look over my shoulder but was lifted into the air and thrown. My magic burned beneath my skin as I righted myself in the air, just to be grabbed onto by some very large dragon talons.

“Your Highness!” I exclaimed from her claws. She let out an amused roar and threw me onto her back.

Fortunately, I was somewhat ready for it and used my magic to get myself seated on her back as we circled around, flying high above the training ring.

“Hell yeah!” I grinned with a fist in the air as her wings beat strongly. “Welcome home, Es. ”

I’d known Keir and Esta were arriving from Dra Skor today. They were bringing Ruelle to see Wylan. Their first trip since she was born.

Without warning, she dove, and I couldn’t help but laugh even as it felt like my stomach fell out beneath us.

She flattened out her wings as we neared the ground, and I bailed off her. She did some sort of roll and came back up in human form, never missing a step.

We were both laughing by the time we hit the ground. I ran for her and swept her into a hug. “Good to see you, Esta. Congrats on a healthy little girl.”

She hugged me back. “We’ve missed you, Owen.”

I leaned back to look at her. She looked healthy. Even for just having a child. And my mother had taught me that women liked to be told such things after birthing children. “You look great.”

“Stop flirting with my wife,” Keir’s voice called from behind us.

I shot him a grin. “You know I flirt with everything.”

Esta giggled. “It’s true. He does.”

Seeing the small bundle in Keir’s arms, I ran for him. He had his wings out. It still surprised me when I hadn’t seen him for a while. He might be able to shift dragon wings now, but to me, he’d always just be Keir.

“Welcome home,” I said as I hugged him, making sure not to jostle Ruelle too much.

“We just got in. Esta needed to stretch her wings, so we thought we’d come say hi.”

Emric took his turn greeting Esta while I made Keir pass over Ruelle. I gently cradled her head and held her to my chest, just as Keir had been. It’d been a minute since I held a baby this small, likely Arden.

“Owen?” Esta said.

I turned back around. “Yeah? ”

She dipped her head toward the team still standing there. “Weren’t you in the middle of something?”

I gestured to Ruelle, still sleeping, but now in my arms. “Esta, you had a baby!”

She grinned. “I did.”

“You wanna take over training for the day?” I asked her as if the women weren’t standing there gawking at us.

“Not this time. I need to fly.”

“If you need a passeng?—”

She was gone, back to her dragon form in the skies before I could even finish.

Grinning, I spun back to my team. “In light of a trip from the king and queen of Dra Skor?—”

“Prince consort,” Keir corrected.

“Whatever,” I snapped gently, not wanting to wake possibly the next dragon queen in my arms. “We are done for the day. But Wren has first shot tomorrow at rearranging my face since Zara did not succeed.”

Zara shot me a glare from behind Wren that only had me smiling bigger.

“Looking forward to it,” Wren told me.

Keir and Esta were home. It was going to be a good day.

I sat at a table in Krew and Jorah’s wing.

It was the two of them, Keir and Esta, Emric, John, and me.

Most of the original disloyals. And dammit if it didn’t bring me an insane amount of joy and pride to see how things were improving.

That we could gather around a table without fear of someone finding out.

That we could simply be. And I missed Keir like hell, but all it took was to spend a few hours around him and Esta to understand why he needed to be in Dra Skor .

The general feel around the table was one of joy, lighthearted jabs, and teasing.

We didn’t have to sit here talking about how to stay two steps ahead of the evil that was Theon Valanova anymore.

We did still have to consider how to stay ahead of his loyalists, as I was constantly doing for the team, but it wasn’t the same level of fear.

I knew I could handle the loyalists. The power shift was to the side of the good guys.

And like hell would I ever allow it to go back to the way it was.

“So Owen,” Keir said when Esta returned from feeding Ruelle and putting her down in the nursery room where Arden was already asleep.

Warrick was also supposed to be sleeping, but I had seen him eavesdropping around the corner not all that long ago.

“Yeah?”

“How’s the training going?”

I made sure to look him in the eyes as I took a drink of my ice-cold water. I didn’t understand people who liked water warm. I wanted it to chill me. “The maze, the final trial, is coming up quick, so we are almost done with the first round. They are annoying and infuriating. So, a typical team.”

“But not a typical team,” Esta butted in.

I looked from one to the other. They had been awfully quiet a few moments ago. Which I knew being around another soul bound couple meant that they were speaking but not out loud.

Keir confessed, “Yes, she made me wait to ask until she was back in here.”

I turned to Esta. “You mean you were also hoping that me training a group of women would be my own personal Assemblage to choose a wife from?”

“Also?” Esta asked, not even trying to deny it.

I pointed to Jorah from around my water. “I was certain she set it all up exactly for that purpose. ”

“But Wylan was misogynistic for long enough, don’t you think?” Esta defended Jorah without delay.

Who the hell was I to think I could stand up and argue with these two hardheaded women? “Well, I am here to report that I have not fallen head over heels in love as of yet.”

Emric gestured with his hand wildly, inserting himself into our side conversation. “But a few of the women are... tenebrous .”

“Em,” I groaned. “I don’t think that word means what you think it does.”

“I have found that I use it when I’m not sure what to say. As a filler. Works like a charm.”

Krew snorted. “For you maybe. What about for those like John here who actually know the meaning of the word?”

“I humor him,” John supplied. “He and his tenebrous vocabulary.”

I started laughing at the look on Emric’s face and then just couldn’t stop. We were all sitting there busting up.

So of course, a knock on the door had to ruin in.

Krew used his magic to head two rooms over and open the door for whoever it was. Only a select few people were allowed in this portion of the castle, so we both knew it was one of five people.

It was one of Krew’s personal guards. Which I’d handpicked for him.

“Sorry, Your Highness,” he said with a slight bow. “Miles Rook sent me.”

Dread traveled from my shoulders, down my spine, and plummeted to my feet.

“There’s a fire at the barracks.”