Page 55 of Swords and Curses

Rosa was nearing the training room to meet Eli when she found Nimue hovering outside the doors.

"Morning! You're up obscenely early," Rosa yawned.

Everyone else tended to sleep until midday, but Eli had insisted on 8 a.m. training sessions.

"I need to speak with Eli without Eldon or any of the others," she said, looking more nervous than the day she arrived.

Rosa put a hand on her arm. "Whatever it is, we can work it out."

The training room door opened, and Eli was looking down at them, his sword blade resting against his bare shoulder.

"What's wrong, Nimue?" he asked.

"For God's sake, Eli, put the sword down and let us in," Rosa said, moving inside. "Can't you see she's scared enough as it is?"

"I need to show you something," Nimue said once they were inside and the door was closed once more. She unzipped the hoodie she liked to train in. "Eldon is still suspicious, and maybe I deserve it, but you need to know the glamour I'm using isn't hiding anything."

"Nim, you don't have to do this," Rosa insisted.

"Ido, Rosa."

"Show me, Nimue," Eli said. Nimue turned her back to him and dropped her glamour. Even though her singlet only revealed her arms and the top of her back, it still took all of Rosa's self control to swallow the lump in her throat.

"Why are you showing me this and not Eldon?" Eli asked.

"I'd rather him remember me as I was." Nimue turned to him to show the crisscrossing of scars on her chest and one that ran from her right eye, down her neck to her collarbone. "You thought that I had betrayed you, but you saw my truth when it was revealed to you. Eldon doesn't want to see the truth, and I don't want him to see me as this damaged and twisted thing the queen turned me into. You and Zalan understand her capacity for cruelty. I pray that Eldon never does."

Nimue stood still as if waiting for Eli's judgment. Instead, he passed his sword to Rosa and took an astonished Nimue in his arms. He said something softly to her in a language Rosa couldn't understand, and Nimue hugged him back, murmuring in reply as she let herself be comforted.

The tension in the room finally broke, and Rosa breathed a sigh of relief. Nimue had been Eli's adopted daughter long before Rosa, but she couldn't imagine what it would be like to have him angry with her.

"I'm so, so sorry about Deryn," Nimue said in English. "I never would've wished her harm. You know how much I loved her, Eli."

"I know," Eli replied as he stroked her hair. "She wouldn't want us to be angry with each other anymore. Let's have peace between us again. I don't have the heart to hate you for Ryn's actions."

"Thank you. I promise I'll defend Gwaed Lyn until my heart stops beating," Nimue said when they broke apart. "Eldon healed so much of my mind, but I need to make sure that she'sgone for good. I need you to check for her again. I don't want there to be any chance that she might be able to control me."

"Eldon would have made sure, Nimue. No matter how conflicted his feelings are toward you, he'd never risk Gwaed Lyn," Eli replied.

"Please, check everything. I don't care what you see."

Eli placed a hand on the top of her head and goosebumps broke out on Rosa's skin as his power filled the room. Nimue whimpered but stood tall until he was finished.

"There is nothing left, Nimue. Rest easy, you are well protected here," he said.

Nimue's smile was sunshine as she rolled her shoulders and the glamour fell back over her. Rosa shook her head. She didn't think she'd ever get used to magic.

"I don't know why you are letting the scars bother you. They tell the story of your survival," Eli said.

"Maybe one day I won't feel like I need it, but it's not today.

"So, what are we learning this morning? Bows, blades, or fists?" Rosa asked.

They had only been workingon their sword technique for twenty minutes before Saul burst through the door at full speed.

"What is it? You look like you're sweating," Rosa said.

"You better get downstairs, Eli," he panted. "I think Eldon just challenged the entire cohort of Midnight Warriors to a duel."

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