Page 106 of The Nymph Prince

“You’re nervous?”

I met her gaze, unsure of the answer.

“The stone never gave you power, Alek. It was only a conduit for the power already inside of you.”

Her words helped. They didn’t miraculously take away the nerves clawing inside me, but they gave me a boost of confidence.

Without warning, she sent a blast of energy toward me. My reflexes took over and I waved my hand, sending the energy off to the side. It hit the fountain and water shot upward like a small explosion.

“Well done!” Eva praised, clapping her hands.

The lesson went well after that. Everything she threw at me, I blocked or diverted its path. Reif had to jump out of the way one time because a ball of fire was sent soaring toward his head. The fire had been aimed at me, of course, but I’d stopped it in midair and flicked it away from me.

My guard had dusted himself off and scowled before saying, “Wretched boy.”

Where Eva used to hold back during our training, she no longer did. The tests were dangerous and could severely wound me if I allowed even one second of distraction. I appreciated the danger. Battle was brutal, and the enemy wouldn’t take it easy on me. I wanted to train as if my life depended on it.

Because it did.

“That’s enough for today,” Eva said, panting as she tried to catch her breath. “I can hardly keep up with you now.” She walked closer and studied me, squeezing my arms before running a hand across my shoulders. “You don’t look like the same rebellious boy I first met. Your powers grow, as does your body. I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

“Who taught you magic?” I asked as it occurred to me that she’d never talked about it.

“My mother,” she answered as sadness clouded in her blue eyes. “She and my father didn’t possess the gift of magic, but she recognized the signs in me when I was but a young girl. That was the first time I ever visited the surface world. Mother carried me to a town, one with people like me. They taught her their ways and she instilled them in me, as well. Troy was born months later.”

Eva’s eyes filled with tears as she clutched her necklace. It was a thin silver chain with a black gem dangling from the center.

“They were killed when I was eight years old,” she continued. “Troy was only four at the time. He has some memories of them, but not many. All he has of Father is the ring he wears.”

The first day I’d arrived in Avalontis, during the feast for Lorcan in the Great Hall, Troy had seemed on edge as he’d walked through the crowd of people to leave. He hadn’t wanted anyone to touch him.

“Why is he so untrusting of others?” I asked. “He shies away from people’s touch, but he’s overly affectionate toward Lorcan, always holdin’ his hand or touching his arm. I know he’s wary around humans, but his own people?”

Eva gave a sad nod. “There was an incident when he was a boy. After our parents were killed. A servant…did things to him.” She averted her eyes to her shaking hands. “Loo-loo is the one who found him. Saved him. The servant was taken before the king and beheaded in front of the whole throne room. Troy refuses to speak of it, and I understand why. It continues to haunt him, though. I hear him wake sometimes, crying.”

My heart ached for Troy. His actions made more sense now; his protectiveness over Lorcan, his nervousness when he was in a crowd, and his reluctance to look some people in the eye.

“Where did you get your necklace?” I asked as a distraction. It felt wrong to discuss Troy’s personal business without him.

“It was my mother’s.” She examined the gem in the center. “She said it’s a protection stone. Before she and Father left for the surface, she’d placed it around my neck because I was afraid, not wanting them to leave. I can’t even remember why I was so worried, but I’d cried after them. Sometimes, I wonder if they’d still be here had she been wearing this.”

“What happened to them?” I asked.

Troy had said before that humans killed his parents, but he hadn’t said anything more.

“Humans.” Eva walked through the courtyard, and I followed her. She reached a bench and sat down. “The hearts of my kind are valuable to some. As you know from your Captain Flynn and his crimes against the sea. My parents were butchered and sold to the highest bidder.”

Tragic as it was, I hadn’t fully understood the horrors of it until that moment.

It’d been but a story to me before then; something Kellan had done that I’d known was awful, yet something I’d dismissed. Knowing the children of some of the fallen put things into perspective; it was not just a story anymore.

They’d been real people who’d lived and died. Murdered for wealth and power.

“King Triton took in me and Troy after that. He treated us as though we were his own children.”

“That was kind of him,” I said. I found it hard to picture the king acting with such kindness.

“He loved our father,” Eva continued. “Some say they were lovers.”