Page 48 of Pawns of Salistya

In my haste to gain some distance from Slaviya, I’d headed into the gardens. The smells and sounds helped to calm my racing heart.

I cursed quietly, gripping my shaking hands, willing them to still. Despite engaging in it frequently, I hated conflict. In the moment, impulse takes over, adrenaline fuelling my words. But after? When I no longer need to maintain the façade? I turn into a quivering mess.

‘Not really,’ I responded. There was no point in lying. My tear-streaked face gave me away. I hated the relationship I had with Slaviya. It was frustrating, how easily she got under my skin. How everything turned into a fight. Ramone hummed in acknowledgement, not probing further. Instead, he simply sat next to me, staring at the horizon. He wasn’t much of a talker, and his calm, quiet nature soothed me.

The silence was comfortable. The chirping of birds and the whispering of leaves swaying in the light breeze provided an air of serenity. It was a welcome change from the busyness of the past few weeks.

‘Do you have siblings?’ I asked.

He smiled fondly. ‘One. She passed away when we were younger. I didn’t have the opportunity to learn the trials and tribulations of sibling fights.’ His sly, knowing eyes briefly met mine.

‘I’m sorry. That must be hard,’ I said. ‘The fights aren’t anything to be jealous over.’ I laughed darkly.

‘I’ll have to take your word for it.’ He paused, considering his next words. ‘Would you like to know a secret? It might improve your mood.’

My eyes widened in surprise. I love secrets, and I would loveto shake the mood I’m in. ‘Absolutely.’

His returning smile was radiant. His darker complexion contrasted beautifully with the incredible whiteness of his teeth. ‘That book you and Xy were talking about?’

Oh. Not where I thought this was going. However, I wasn’t mad about it. I leant towards him.

Moving towards me, his lips were next to my ear when he whispered, ‘I wrote it.’

I jumped off the bench, squealing in excitement. Maybe a bit too loud, judging by the way he cupped his hands over his ears.

‘No way,’ I rushed out. ‘Wait a second. How? The name on the book is clearly female.’

Ramone blushed. ‘I’m quite partial to romantic-comedies. One day I decided to write my own. However, being Qynthia’s second, I wanted to keep my anonymity. Hence, I chose a pen name,’ he explained. As an afterthought, he added, ‘The initials of the pen name are my sister’s.’

Damn. Ramone wrotethat? And all those scenes? Whoever frequented his bed is a lucky person. The quiet ones were often dismissed yet were commonly the ones who knew how to throw it down. This put my opinion of him in a whole different light.

‘Okay, I must ask. There’s so many whispers out there saying there is going to be a novella, an update on Louisah’s and Runaile’s lives. Can you confirm this?’ I asked excitedly, bouncing on my feet in anticipation for his answer, wanting him to say yes.

A sombre expression clouded his face. Maybe I pushed the friendship with my question. ‘No. I don’t think there will be,’ he answered quietly.

My heart dropped in disappointment and I sunk down on the bench. ‘Oh, that’s a shame,’ I said. There was so much more he could do with the story.

He cleared his throat and answered, ‘With these things, we’re always hungry for more information, more context of another’s perspective, to see more of the story. But there’s an art to accepting we may not always be gifted that. Instead, we need to find our own closure so we can move on for our own sake.’

Why do I get the impression he wasn’t just talking about the book? I gave him a side-eyed look. He’d successfully distracted me up until now. ‘Let me guess, Slaviya?’

He lifted one shoulder. ‘You can make of my words what you will. I’ve been in this world for many years, young Queen,’ he said warmly. ‘You can’t always control other people’s thoughts and actions, but you can always control your response to it.’

He patted my shoulder and stood up. ‘Do me a favour and keep what I’ve told you to yourself. Few people know how I spend my time outside of being Qynthia’s Second. I’d much prefer to keep it that way,’ he said softly.

I was shocked when he leant down to press a kiss to my forehead, much like I imagined a father would.

‘It can be our little secret.’ He winked at me before strolling through the gardens, back towards the palace.

Chapter 21

Breathing hard, I stumbled to my feet and resumed my fighting stance. Wiping away the trail of sweat running down my forehead with my arm, I stared down my opponents. In a two-on-one situation, it was best to observe first, defend second, and attack last. A plus of this situation? I’d trained with these two for years. The downside? They had pinned me to the floor more times than they should have been able to. I was out of shape. Serves me right for bailing on my training sessions with Mer in the lead up to the Royal Forum.

‘Didn’t we say best of five? I think we’ve well and truly won, no?’ Rynelle taunted, before launching towards me, his fist aiming straight for my head. I ducked, swinging my leg under hisknees and he landed on the floor. Mazyr was immediately behind me, arms coming around my neck. I lifted my foot and shoved it into his groin. He staggered back, surprisingly staying on his feet, but only for a second as I hooked my fist into his jaw, sending him sprawling into the walls of the training arena.

‘We did. But I like the feeling of kicking your asses so much I decided to stop counting,’ I threw back as they got to their feet and resumed circling.

My statement wasn’t entirely true. They’d handed me my ass significantly more times than I had them in this session. But hey, I had managed to get a few knocks in there, and considering it was two-on-one with no magic allowed, it was fairly even. I had had to take magic off the table to even entice them into the ring with me. The Goddess knows I needed to let off some steam tonight.

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