Page 10 of Flame and Starlight

I swung the cloak around my shoulders and buttoned it under my chin. I was cold, and the food in my stomach felt like cement. For the first time in a long time, my heart panged at the absence of my mother. And then a small seed of anger blossomed. She should’ve told me. She should’ve prepared me for this far better than she had. All those stories…they were just stories.

My slippered feet padded on the cold floor as I followed Emric through the halls. He mercifully left me to my thoughts. I had so many questions, and I knew Asher would be the only person that would give me answers, but I could barely look at him, let alone have a civilized conversation with him.

I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to blindly start trusting the people here, especially the one that stole me from my perfectly normal life back home. How was I supposed to start training, start learning to fight? I had never trained in my life. I was pitifully weak compared to these Fae I found myself surrounded by. If I was going to start fighting, I hoped Asher was right in one aspect: that my Fae blood would start to take over and make me stronger. I didn’t know who my father was, and I wasn’t sure if I was ready to know just yet. But if his blood was going to give me a chance at not dying at the hands of the Fae who supposedly wanted me dead, I had to be thankful for that.

“We won’t be fighting immediately,” Emric said, bringing me back to the hallway we were walking through. “First, we will get your strength up. I would never expect you to just jump into a duel.”

“I would hope not.” I gave him a small smile. “I’ve never done any kind of training in my life, so I’m sure I will be a much weaker subject than you are used to.”

He shrugged. “Everyone starts somewhere.” We rounded a corner, and I vaguely remembered where we were. My room was just up on the right. “Mav will make sure you are up and ready on time. I believe Ash has made sure you have plenty of clothes. It will be cold in the morning, but you’ll have plenty of layers. Try to get a good night’s sleep and eat a big breakfast—you’ll need the energy.”

My stomach became a pit of dread and anxiety. And it must’ve been written all over my face because he took one look at me and laughed.

“Sounds fun,” I said and plastered a very fake smile on my face. He opened the door to my room and looked around quickly before stepping back out.

“I’ll be here just after dawn. We start with a run.” He smiled and went to close the door. I blanched.

“I can’t run,” I stated matter-of-factly.

“Everyone can run,” he said as an answer. “I’ll be out here for a couple more minutes until the other guard gets here. Get some sleep.” With that, the door clicked shut.

I exhaled and tried to steady my heartbeat that flared at the anxiety I felt about tomorrow morning. I was going to look like an absolute idiot. I had never been able to run long distances without stitches in my side, my legs burning like they were going to fall off, or my lungs giving up. And he expected me to go on a run with him? A freaking guard? I took my cloak off and hung it on the wall and took a look at myself in the mirror, cringing at the bruise on my forehead. It did look like it was healing much more quickly with what the healer gave me than it would have if I had been back home.

I unzipped the dress, and it fell to the floor around my ankles. I took a deep breath and went searching in the bathing chamber for something more comfortable. I found some loose-fitting pants and a matching shirt that looked like pajamas. I slipped them on and washed my face, being very gentle around my temple. I made my way back out into the room, relaxing at the familiar crackle of the fire, and threw my dress over one of the chairs. If Asher was supplying all the clothes, I didn’t really care to be gentle with them. There was a cup of chamomile tea next to the bed, still steaming with heat, which was the only sign that Mavka had been here since I had gone to dinner.

Curling up in the bed, I drank the entire cup of tea, even though it scalded my throat the entire way down. I needed all the help I could get for sleep. I sat the cup back down and noticed the fabric hanging from the canopy of the bed on every side. I pulled on one side of it, and it skirted across to the other corner. I pulled every side shut, blocking out every inch of that room and every inch of the firelight. I sighed and fully lay back into the feather-stuffed pillows. The scent of lavender and the warmth in my belly from the tea had me falling hard into sleep.

I dreamed of my mom telling me stories. And of a tall figure covered in shadows, hovering over me as I slept.

CHAPTER FIVE

Cold was an understatement. It was absolutely frigid outside. Mavka had me bundled up in about five different layers of fighting leathers and wool to keep me warm. I had durable but lightweight boots on, laced all the way up over thick socks, and gloves to keep my fingers from falling off. I had my hair collected in a heavy ponytail at the top of my head and a thick headband around my ears. Each step through the snow was muffled. Beside me, Emric was much less bundled up than I was. He turned and caught me looking.

“I’m partially used to the cold, and my Fae blood also keeps me warmer than your human blood does. I’m hoping the Fae side of you kicks in sooner rather than later.” Yeah, me too, if it’ll keep me warm, I thought.

“Is there nowhere in that massive castle that we could’ve trained instead?” I asked through gritted teeth.

“We will go back inside after the run, I promise.” He smiled and led the way down over a small hill towards a massive lake. It was surrounded on most sides by trees blanketed in snow. The lake itself hadn’t completely frozen over yet, only patches of ice and snow here and there. Otherwise, it was a beautiful deep teal and stretched for miles.

“We—we aren’t running around that, are we?”

“Stretch, please,” he said through a smile. He began moving this way and that, stretching his legs and arms.

“I can’t run around that, Emric.” I was still standing there, stiff as a board.

“Stretch, Alys. We don’t have to run the entire time, but we need to get your stamina up. Ash also thinks the harder I push you, the quicker your Fae blood will take over. And trust me, you need that to happen.”

I started mimicking his stretches, if only to just get my mind off this daunting task in front of me. I knew I was being dramatic, but I was never a runner, and my anxiety didn’t really let me be nonchalant about something new.

“Do you measure in miles here? How many miles is that?”

“We aren’t cavemen, Alys,” he laughed. “It’s about five miles all the way around it.”

“And how fast could you run it if I weren’t around to slow you down?”

He thought about it for a moment, the dark strands of his hair blowing around his face. “Twenty minutes, maybe? If I had to get to the other side, though, running wouldn’t be my first choice.” I made a face.

“What would be?”

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