Page 88 of Draekora

Thankfully, Roka chose to ignore her strange analogy and focused on what was more important.

“I don’t know what you are, Aeylia,” he said, lifting her hand and looking at her scar, then flicking his gaze along her forearm showing the glow of her bond with Xiraxus. “But human, Meyarin, Draekoran, or otherwise, I don’t care. Aes Daega wouldn’t have asked us to help you without reason, and now that I know the truth, you don’t have to hide anymore—not from me. I’ll train you here, just as I would have done in the future.” He pursed his lips thoughtfully and amended his tenses, “Just as I’m sure Iwilldo in the future.”

Her eyes swimming, Alex had to blink to keep her grateful tears at bay. “Roka, what you’re offering—You don’t know—”

“Is it important?” he interrupted. “Your learning how to control your Meyarin abilities?”

“Very,” Alex replied quietly.

“Then that’s all that matters. There’s nothing else I need to know.”

With calm determination, he stood to his feet, holding out a hand to Alex.

She looked at it in question.

“Well, come on then,” he said, gesturing for her to take it. “You said you’ll be returning to the future as soon as your draekon can manage. We don’t have any time to waste.”

Alex’s eyes were wide when she guessed, “You want to start my trainingnow? It’s after midnight!”

“Are you tired?” Roka instantly returned.

“Well—no,” Alex admitted. In fact, she was wired with adrenaline after the events of her evening.

Roka grinned. “Then what are you waiting for? Let’s go see if we can turn a mortal into a Meyarin. Are you with me?”

Looking from his open fingers to his bright eyes and, reading the challenge in them, Alex inhaled deeply and said, “Yeah, Roka. I’m with you.”

Twenty-Seven

If Alex thought hours of sparring withRokaevery…single…day… would transform her into a Meyarin fighting machine, she would have been wrong. Very, very wrong. The truth was, as much as she appreciated his instruction, and as much as she was learning from him, she didn’t actually feel she was getting anywhere. And as hard as it was to admit it, that wasbecauseof Roka.

To put it simply, he was babying her. She felt as if every time they fought it was like he walked on eggshells around her, excruciatingly aware of her mortality. Every move he made, every attack, every single motion was carefully controlled so as to not cause even the smallest bruise. Alex wasn’t sure if it was because this Roka was much younger or because he’d spent so little time around mortals and didn’t want to accidentally harm her, but either way, the next seven days of ‘training’ benefitted her much less than she would have liked.

A big part of the problem was that he was of the opinion she needed time to ‘warm up’ and become familiar with her Meyarin abilities before he was willing to outright assault her. She, however, argued that there wouldn’tbeany warming up in a life-and-death situation, and that was what she needed to be preparing herself for. She even mentioned that in the future he had fought her blindfolded—and fully armed—the first time they’d met just to prove that she was able to fight like a Meyarin.

Needless to say, Roka was horrified to hear he’d attacked a ‘helpless mortal’ in such a way.

Alex didn’t speak to him for a day after that remark, though she did feel better after throwing a wooden practice sword at his head. It didn’t matter that he reflexively ducked in time; her action was still cathartic.

Aside from her growing frustration at her lack of progress, Alex’s week wasn’t a complete write-off. Thanks to all the hours she spent sparring with Roka—regardless of how basic those attempts at fighting were—she was using her Meyarin abilities more frequently than ever before, which meant they were coming more naturally to her now. It still took time to ‘enter the zone’, as she called it, but she was noticeably faster each time she tried.

Despite that, after a whole week of training, Alex was neither comfortable nor confident with her ability to access Aven’s blood in her veins, and that royally sucked.

So, to get her mind off her snail-like improvement, Alex spent her downtime with Kyia, Aven and Niyx. Roka, too, when he was free, though with theGarsethbecoming increasingly prominent on the city streets, the prince was busier than ever trying to play peacemaker with the Rebels and preventing Astophe from recognising Aven’s involvement.

Alex didn’t know why Roka bothered, since she was certain the kinghadto be aware that his youngest son was at least in cahoots with, if not the leader of, the anti-mortals. But she admired Roka’s dedication to keeping his family intact and figured it best to let him remain committed for as long as possible before all hell broke loose on House Dalmarta.

The good news was that disaster wouldn’t be unfolding any time soon. The day Roka and Kyia had disappeared turned out to be because they’d visited the ruling human monarchies of Medora—there were four of them in the current time—to ask that they hold off from visiting Meya until the political climate had calmed. The trade agreement was still in place, but until the anti-mortal propaganda quietened, all exchanges of wares would happen outside of the city on human soil.

Since D.C.’s recount of history claimed that Aven’s massacre happened in front of the Meyarin palace the next time a trading group of humans visited, Alex was thankful to know she, at least, wouldn’t have to witness it happening in the short time she had left in the past.

As for Aven himself, he’d been a constant in Alex’s life over the past week. After her daily breakfasts with the queen—a rendezvous Niida seemed to especially treasure—no matter where Alex was or what she was doing, Aven always sought her out for lunch. Most days someone else joined them; Niyx, Kyia or Roka if he could swing it. Sometimes all three managed to come along, and those were the lunches Alex loved the most. She was still homesick for those she’d left in the future, but there were moments when she would laugh so hard at her Meyarin friends’ antics that she nearly cried—particularly when Niyx’s attempts to be debonair were crushed by Aven’s relentless wit. Then there was the equally hilarious development between Roka and Kyia that had only become more noticeable since their day trip around Medora. Now as awkward as a pair of opposing magnets, Alex was certain something must have happened between them. Not that they’d ever tell her. Though, Rokadidlook at Alex appraisingly the first time she badgered him for details, and she hastily retreated after realising that, since he now knew she was from the future, he’d likely put the pieces together.

Other than that particular ‘oops’ moment, the rest of her week outside of training was reasonably uneventful, apart from Niyx’s mysterious disappearance three days ago. When Alex questioned his whereabouts, disguising her concern as mere curiosity, Aven reassured her that he was out hunting in the forest and would be back soon. It was something Niyx often did, apparently, disappearing only to return later with his spoils, just like a cat leaving a mouse on the doorstep of its master.

Alex chuckled at the thought of Niyx slinking back home with a rodent between his teeth. Somehow she doubted that was the kind of hunting he was doing, even if the mental picture was entertaining.

Apart from sparring with Roka, breakfasting with Niida, hanging out with Aven, Niyx and Kyia, and continuing to dine with the whole royal family and whatever council members might be in attendance, the rest of Alex’s time was spent helping organise the upcoming, end-of-summer festival. She blamed Kyia for roping her into it, since the Meyarin had claimed Alex was no longer paying attention to her theory lessons, so she might as well do something useful with her time. When Aven, who was in charge of organising the festival, overheard this, he jumped on the idea of Alex’s assistance—dragging Kyia along too, much to her disgruntlement.

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