Page 13 of The Sorrow of Shadows

“Yield,” I demand.

“Never,” he manages to get out. He immediately goes limp and falls backward onto the dirt. We both hit the ground hard, but I hit harder with his weight coming down on top of mine. I gasp for air, struggling to breathe deeply. I finally manage to get out one word.

“Ass.”

Before I know what’s happening, he’s on top of me, restraining both of my hands with just one of his. “Do you yield?” he asks, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

“Never,” I say, repeating his words back to him. It seems like that’s what he wanted to hear, because he then uses his free hand to start tickling my bare sides.

Squirming beneath him, I make a sound that’s somewhere between a laugh and a snort. “Not. Fair,” I manage to get out. Elijah starts laughing at the embarrassing noises, and I take the opportunity to wrap my shadows around his torso and flip him onto his back next to me.

We laugh as we stare at the sky for several minutes until we’re both out of breath. “You fight dirty. Those moves were downright unfair,” I complain.

“Well, you know what they say about fair.”

“And what’s that?” I turn to my side and stare at him.

“Nothing in this world is fair, Breyla. It’s impartial at best.”

I let that answer roll around in my brain before asking, “What do you know of Lady Ophelia?”

“Not nearly as much as I’d like. Why do you ask?”

I quirk an eyebrow at his odd response but let it slide. “She came to me and asked to be one of my ladies. Said I seemed like I needed a friend.”

He lets out a mock gasp. “Are you replacing me?!”

I elbow him in the side. “Of course not, you ass. I could never. You’re like a bad smell that won’t go away.”

“Don’t lie; you love my smell,” he says with a grin before reaching over to pull me into a hug and shoving my head into his sweaty chest. Even with the sweat, I could still smell the cinnamon and chocolate scent that was uniquely Elijah.

“Okay, okay,” I mumble into him, squirming to get free. “I love you, but you stink. What I meant was—do you think I can trust her?”

Elijah sighs. “I’m not sure. Lord Seamus, definitely not. She is his daughter, and if you had asked me this even two days ago, I would have said no.”

“But?”

“But...I may have accidentally read her most recent memories when I bumped into her yesterday.”

“Care to elaborate?”

“I didn’t mean to, but I had left my gloves in your room, and when I saw her, I literally ran into her. I reached out to steady her, and because her arms were bare, I was able to see glimpses of her memory from right before she came to you. I saw her caring for Lyla. It wasn’t clear what had happened to her, but it didn’t seem like it was the first time. It was also a result of something Lord Seamus had done. I know we can’t trust him, but someone who cares that much about the lowest of us has some good in them. I don’t know her intentions, but I’d be more inclined to trust her.”

I had known Eli long enough to know when he was hiding something from me. He wasn’t telling me everything, but that’s his prerogative. He would never keep something from me that could hurt me.

“You’re probably right.” I pause before asking my next question. “Does Lord Seamus seem overly interested in the line of succession and my mother’s personal affairs?”

Elijah tears out some of the grass surrounding the training rings, which are really just dirt circles where the grass no longer grows. Technically, my mother could use her Kaminari Gift to make the grass cease its growth, but we had been training in these exact spots for so many years that there was no need. My father and Commander Nolan preferred the training rooms at the castle's bottom level, but I had always been partial to the open sky. Since my father’s death, I have no desire to visit the spaces where his memory is the strongest for me.

“He’s always been nosey, but yes, he does seem ratherinvested in the matter. You saw him at the last council meeting, but that was just a glimpse of how he’s been.” Asking Elijah to be my eyes and ears at court rather than be by my side as I led the army was one of the hardest but most necessary things I had ever done. He’s an exceptional warrior, and despite his flirtatious façade, he is brilliant.

“I can imagine. I plan to see what he’s like at the next council meeting. I need to know what he’s up to.”

“I’ll keep a closer eye on him for you in the meantime.”

“What would I ever do without you?” I ask in the fakest swoony voice I can muster.

“Probably die of boredom,” he responds like he’s considered this answer.

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