Page 95 of The Queen’s Shadow

I nodded, barely listening. I turned on my heel and slammed open the doors to the boardroom before spilling out into the night air.

The snow that Nytara had buried us in was already melting. It was thick and wet beneath my feet. The crisp, wintery scent of ice clashed with the more naturally earthy scent of the Italian summer, causing my skin to erupt in gooseflesh.

I gently allowed my warm, ocean magick to massage the snow around me as I walked, encouraging it to melt faster. The quicker we could return to the natural order of things, the better it would be for the environment. Magick folk of all kinds were raised to respect nature. An event of this kind, that so drastically disrupted the native ecosystem of the land was unsettling for everyone.

I couldn’t shake the twisting feeling of rage that was burning in my gut. Trenton’s demonstration had been absolutely vile. What disturbed me even more was the fact that The Board seemed more horrified at her unabashed show of power, than with the fact that Trenton had forced her to do it.

Their terror was so misplaced, and went against everything I had thought The Board stood for. My mind was racing, and I couldn’t stop replaying the moment when Blackwood had simply said Nytara’s name, and she had shaken her head at him, taking a small step back.

Over and over again the memory played. The way her dark eyes had widened ever so slightly, the way her throat had bobbed as she swallowed.

She had been afraid.

‘Nytara.’

Head shake.

Step back.

I made a beeline for the chalet to grab my shadowstone rapier. I needed to clear my head. When I was a boy, any time I needed space in my mind to think, I had thrown myself into training my magick.

This was no different.

The requisition had gone horribly, but I could still work towards something positive while we waited for The Board to make their decision. I could train. I could improve. I could learn how to free those who were enslaved and get stronger.

Armed and still furious, I made my way to the training ring, my feet sloshing through the melting snow on my way.

One good thing about the snow was the amount of water I had at my disposal to train. With a wave of my hand, I cleared the ancient stone ring, and summoned the slush to form the shape of an opponent.

The rippling body of water stood before me, barely visible in the dark. Only the weak light of the moon filtering in through the clouds allowed me to see the outline of the watery form.

With another complex wave of my hand, I gave the amorphous being a set of instructions, based on what I remembered of Dossidian’s lesson from earlier, and began going through the motions.

It was slow going, as I needed to both instruct the watery golem, while also trying to remember the counter moves for myself. The first couple of tries were clumsy, and I knew they were wrong. However, I pressed on. If I was that easily discouraged, I would not be where I was today. I had confidence that I would get it. I just needed to be as persistent as the tide, and continue to work until I found a flow.

“This is a terrible way to train.”

I nearly jumped out of my skin at the unexpected statement. My water dummy melted into a wet puddle before me. I whipped around to find Nytara sitting in a nearby tree. She leaned against the trunk, long elegant legs stretched out and crossed on the branch before her.

“Cho!” I exclaimed, startled.

Taking a step back from her, I reflexively called the puddle of water back to me. I moulded it into defensive loops and curls. I wasn’t foolish enough to think I could take her with a blade yet, and old habits die hard. I would likely always rely on my magick first, no matter how good I got with a blade.

Nytara rolled her eyes at me. “Relax, Obeah Man. I’m not going to attack you.”

“Yuh shouldn’t sneak up pon people like dat.” I snapped, still a little shaken up at her sudden appearance.

“I didn’t sneak up on you. I’ve been here the whole time.” Her expression was as cold as ever. She was so difficult to read. I could never tell what she was thinking. “Honestly, it’s a marvel to me that you’re even still alive. I could have killed you at any moment.”

I narrowed my eyes at her. “Yuh already tried to do dat and mi still here.” I snapped.

“This is true.” She eyed me again, before sitting up and swinging her legs off the branch, letting them dangle. “You’ll never make any progress training like that. The water golem is impressive magick, but it is still powered by you. And unfortunately, Obeah Man, you clearly have no idea what you’re doing.”

She dropped out of the tree and began to move towards me. I tensed, ready to defend if she came at me, but she paused, wincing again. She was clearly favoring what seemed to be a pain in her side. I narrowed my eyes at her.

“Yuh hurt.” It was a statement, not a question.

“Obviously.” She snapped, glaring at me. I remembered how much blood she had coughed up on the boardroom floor after I had forced Trenton to allow her to stop.