Page 82 of A Sun Scorched Bloom

As ready as they could be, Erik led them to the back of the castle to face the beautiful sparkling ocean.

"Why doesn’t Noah have to train?" Janelle whined as she stifled a yawn.

"Because Noah has already had training, and will be preparing with Tanad’s army for the time being. So unless you’d like to train with them also, and I can promise you, they will be far less pleasant—not to mention significantly less handsome—then I suggest you stop asking questions and start stretching."

"Actually," Lea chimed in. "I heard my mom telling one of her patients once that it’s not good to stretch cold muscles. You need a warm up first."

Erik groaned, wiping a large, calloused hand down his face. "Fine. No stretching. The first one who touches the water gets to watch during the first round of sparring," Erik told them before he started jogging through the shimmering golden sand.

What looked effortless for him felt like agony to Lea. She couldn’t seem to catch her breath, and her legs burned as if fire was eating her alive. The sand was so fine that her bare feet slid and sunk into it, making it almost impossible to move forward. Lea had never run for fun in her life, not really. It was probable that the night she'd sprinted to fight the fenrir was the farthest she’d ever run, and the only reason that she’d even made it was because of the adrenaline pumping through her body.

Janelle didn’t seem to be having a much easier time of it, despite the look of determination in her eyes that showed that she refused to admit it. She wouldneverlet Erik know that she was struggling. Lea tried to follow her lead, putting on a brave face and focusing on slow inhales through her nose and exhales out her mouth, but after about thirteen minutes of running, she collapsed to her knees at the top of a small dune, throwing up into the sand.

Overheated and so nauseous she could hardly see straight, she continued heaving.

Erik circled back to her and crouched down to her level. "Your healing magic, Lea. Make it cool you down and slow your heart."

"Easy for you to say." She spit into the sand, wishing desperately that she had some water to wash out the taste of vomit. "You’re Fae. Freakishly strong and fast. Oh, and nothuman." Despite her agitation, Lea tried to use her magic to help cool her body, but she could barely focus as she retched again.

"Are you okay, Lea?" Janelle asked, bending over and placing her hands on her knees, sucking in deep, gasping breaths.

"I think so," Lea groaned as she rocked back and sat with her head between her knees. "I just need a minute," she said.

"Great, then I don’t feel so bad for doing this." Janelle stood back up and sprinted toward the water, leaving Lea and Erik behind as Lea tried to collect herself.

"That best friend of yours sure is something." Erik rolled his twinkling eyes, rather unconvincingly, Lea thought, as he offered her a hand and pulled her up.

"Best friend of mine?" Lea said as she wiped her mouth. "Don’t think I don’t know what’s going on with you two." She placed her hands on her head and took several more deep breaths. A grunt of acknowledgment was all she received from Erik as she focused her healing energy on her lungs and her legs. Forcing her heart to slow, Lea ordered her magic to sink into her muscles and relax them. After a few moments, she didn’t feel good necessarily, but she felt like she could resume the torture.

"Ready?" Erik said, as if sensing that Lea had figured out how to help her body recover.

"Sure I am," Lea said sarcastically. "Never felt better."

"You’re a terrible liar. But it doesn't matter. What you just did, do it as you’re running. You can heal your body as it fatigues. Let’s go," Erik said over his shoulder as he took off toward the water.

"Guess we’re running again," Lea muttered under her breath as she took long strides. She breathed in through her nose and out her mouth once again, finding the light inside her chest. With every inhale, she focused on sending energy to her lungs, and with each exhale, she healed the burning fatigue in her legs. Letting her day magic flow through her veins, she sent it outward, forcing away the pain. It added another layer of concentration to her running, but as she gritted her teeth, forcing her mind and magic to obey her will, itworked.

Lea lowered her chin and picked up her speed. After a few more minutes, the white-capped turquoise of the ocean appeared as she crested over a significantly larger dune. Janelle stood shoulder deep in the water, spinning in a joyous circle, but whether from the relief of standing in the cold water or happiness that she had won the race, Lea wasn’t sure.

What she was certain of was that the way Erik looked at her friend as she whooped and hollered about her victory was something more-than-friendly. Lea had seen that look before, but rarely. Only on Gray’s face as he’d observed her in moments he’d thought her attention was elsewhere.

She finally made it to the ocean and collapsed onto the sand, right where the water broke. It wasn’t frigid, but it wasn't warm either. It was cool enough to lower her body temperature almost immediately, but not enough to make her want to get out or to send her teeth chattering.

Lea rolled onto her back, allowing the waves to rush around her. Watching a blue heron dive to dip its wings in the sea, she relished in the feeling of water splashing on her face. Sand and salt mixed in her hair, tangling it, but she didn’t care. She’d made it. Not just in the race, but she made it from Bearswillow to Auropera. Then from Auropera to Calir. She made it from her birth mother’s arms to the king’s, where he had dropped her off on the hill outside of her parent’s house. And she had survived it all. Just her existence was a miracle. And she would do everything she could to use that gift to help right what had been done to her kingdom.

"Five more minutes," Erik called from the sand, trying to hide his smirk as Janelle shouted something about praying more to the gods if she never had to do that again. "Finish cooling off, and then we run back."

Janelle groaned, trying to splash him. "You’re not serious."

"Serious as the Lonely Death," Erik shrugged.

Lea rolled over in the water and looked at him pointedly. "Seriously?"

Erik grimaced. "Yeah… That wasn’t funny, was it?"

"You’re never funny," Janelle called from where she still splashed in the waves.

"Just for that, I think we’ll go straight into hand-to-hand combat once we get back. I hope you girls ate your breakfast," Erik taunted, turning to run back to the castle. "Last one there does extra squats!"

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