Page 8 of Court of Bone and Amethyst

He shrugs. “Okay, well good. Can you evade a punch just as well?”

Without waiting for a reply, he throws his own punch. I can tell he’s holding back, just in case I’m not ready, but I easily duck out from under his blow, pivoting to the side so his arm meets nothing but empty air.

“Good. Let’s do kicks next.”

We spend the next hour going through a variety of combat techniques. After a sweep through the basics for Zyren to test out my skills, he begins to critique and pick up the pace. I’d never thought all those hours with Lilette and Dain would be useful for anything but a fun distraction. I’d certainly never known then,in those long-past days that seem years ago, eons ago, that I was destined to be queen of another realm and would someday wield magic that caused earthquakes. Sweat dews along my spine and my brow before too long, but Zyren seems like he’s just getting warmed up.

“Let’s work on how to get out of holds,” he says.

He takes my shoulders and pivots me away from him, then wraps his arms around me from behind like iron bands. I can feel his heartbeat against my back, and his breath is warm in my ear. I struggle against him, but he’s got me locked in tight, arms pinned to my sides.

“You’re not strong enough,” he growls. “What else can you do?”

I stomp down hard on his foot, but that only causes a momentary shift in weight.

“What else can you do with your foot?”

My cheeks flush as I realize what he means. “A groin kick.”

“Yes. What else? What other part of your body can move?”

I think on it a moment, then roll my head back into his jawbone in slow motion, a backward head butt.

“Exactly.”

For a half moment, Zyren keeps me wrapped tightly in his arms, and then he lets go. We turn to face each other.

“So, is this really going to help me control my magic?” I ask, a little breathless. I tell myself it’s not because of his close proximity to me. He’d made it clear there is never going to be anything romantic between us, so I can’t be getting distracted every time Zyen is near me. It’s better this way anyway. He’d lied to me, and I don’t know that I can trust him not to do it again.

“It diverts your energy to a physical expression,” he responds. “If you feel yourself getting angry, move through the exercises I showed you, placing all your focus on your body, and not your mind or your emotions.”

“I will certainly try,” I say dubiously.

“It works for me. I can only hope it works for you.” His expression is deadly serious as he watches me. “But you’re much more powerful than I am, so it remains to be seen.”

“You think I’m more powerful than you are?”

“Your magic is. I can feel it.” He wipes a barely existent beading of sweat from his brow with his forearm.

I fall silent for several moments. My voice is soft, tenuous, when I speak. “Why do you think the two of us have nightmare blood?”

Zyren is silent for even longer before he answers. “I do not know,” he finally says. He turns away from me, the lesson seemingly done, but after taking a couple strides, he turns back around. “I thought, for many years, that I was the only one. And then I met Riya. And now…you.”

“We’re the only ones?” I ask, a tremble running along my skin.

“That I have met, yes.”

Our eyes meet for several moments, and then he looks away. “The important thing to remember is that the darkness within wants to be set free. And you must not give in to that urge.”

I nod, slowly.

“Let’s go get cleaned up,” Zyren says. “At nightfall, we ride north.”

Chapter Six

Zyren

Naryo procures twohorses for us, and I have them saddled and waiting in the courtyard before dinner. My friend has also provisioned us with saddlebags full of bread, fruit, and cheese, which should last a week.

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