Page 30 of An Empress of Air & Chaos

“I know,” she responded. There was no confidence in her delivery, but Gideon gave her credit for her strong front.

“Shall we?” Gideon motioned to the mats where people had commenced warming up.

She let out a small huff. “If we must,” Cally smiled. “But do not, and I repeat, do not mess up my face. The Gods will be angry at you.”

“I won’t,” Gideon laughed.

“Okay, now lift your left arm higher. Your good arm,” Torin advised. “You need to be able to block my fist. You won’t be able to do that with your arm as low as it is now.”

“Block your fist? How can I block something the size of a giant boulder coming towards my face?” Emara shot back. There was no way she stood a chance defending herself against the size of his hands. They were weapons on their own accord.

“Let me ask you this, do you like your face?” He studied her as he awaited her answer.

“Well, I would like it to remain intact, if that’s what you mean.”

“All the more reason not to let the ‘giant boulder fist’ smash into your face.” He touched her temple with his index finger and flashed her an icy grin. Emara rolled her eyes and raised her arm, awaiting impact. They had battled back and forth on the mat for about an hour or so. Torin talking about the art of balance and core strength and Emara struggling to keep her breathing as normal as possible. Torin hadn’t even moved a hair out of place.

Unlike Gideon’s, his hair was tidy and shorter. Darker. So dark, she could see traces of glossy blue threaded through it.

“She wanted you to pick her, you know,” Emara affirmed, getting ready for the next attack from Torin. Something she had learned already— always expect an attack. Be ready.

“I know she did.” Torin didn’t let any emotion cross his face as he pretended to deliver a direct blow to Emara’s stomach. “When you are not concentrating, you can make fatal mistakes. Focus.”

Suddenly, Emara saw another fist coming towards her and this time it was her face that was about to receive the impact. She raised her arm like she had been coached to block it. His fist crashed against her arm, causing a shooting pain to travel all the way up to her shoulder joint.

But she didn’t let the pain stop her.

She was on the move, ducking under his bicep and pushing back, creating space. Like he had shown her.

Stunned, Torin struck again, moving forward at a serious pace. This time she darted to her left, ducking low as he swung.

He smiled. “Good.” He let the smile drop off quicker than it had appeared. “You are a quick learner when you don’t talk.”

“Why did you not pick her?” she asked, not caring if he had just taken a verbal dig at her ability in concentration. “If you knew she wanted you to, why not just pick her?” Emara knew already that to keep Torin talking, she would need to keep training. Moving. Torin wasn’t the kind of guy to stop mid-way through a training session for girly gossip.

So, she advanced on him this time. Not that she was supposed to, but maybe just to see if she could get herself a sneaky jab anywhere on his body.

“Be unpredictable, ponytail. Life is more fun when you live on the wild side.” For a second he allowed recklessness to rule his eyes. “You should try it.” He raised his eyebrows as he corrected his stance, keeping his legs wide and his knees bent.

“All I am asking is that you don’t play games with her, Torin.” She glared at him, dropping her hands that guarded her face. “I don’t care who you are, just don’t lead her on.”

When he said nothing, she just bit down on her lip, awaiting the backlash.

“That’s twice now you have said you don’t care who I am.” A slight dimple appeared in amusement.

“I am serious, don’t you dare hurt her.”

It was a warning that, somehow, had made it out through gritted teeth. She had just given a warning to someone who killed for a living and was built like an ancient deity.

Maybe madness had slipped into her mind.

“Are you threatening me?” he asked, his eyes narrowed and his thick brows furrowed in jest. A wicked smile threatened to grace his lips, but he held it together. The only noise that could be heard was the sparring of everyone in the room.

And the pulse in her ears from her heartbeat, as it quickened.

A siren—different from the one before—rang through the room and Torin stretched his arms.

“Lunch time.” He smiled a real smile. One that she suspected he didn’t use very often. “Follow me, ponytail.”

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