Page 17 of Courting the Fae Captain
“Whumf?” I swallowed the lump of toast in my mouth and tore my eyes away from where Captain Raithe sat enjoying his own morning meal. He’d spent the entire morning ignoring my existence whilst other females did their best impressions of a wilting flower as they tittered and fawned over him.Ugh,please.“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said aloud to Sherai.
“Oh, I’m sorry. How foolish of me.” Her voice dripped with sarcasm. “I’m not sure how I managed to misinterpret what I thought were scowls and constant eye stabbing between the two of you for the past week. It must have been one hell of a dance you shared.”
“Eye stabbing or eye fucking?” Akira mumbled before tearing into her eggs and sausage.
Sherai’s tight ringlets fell into her eyes as she tilted her head toward the former sister of Valere. “Is there a difference?”
I gaped, shifting my eyes between the two of them. “There is absolutely nothing between the captain and me beyond mutual disdain, trust me.” They shared a look, then turned to me and raised their brows in unison as if to say, ‘we’re not stupid’. “Okay, fine,” I admitted. “We might have an agreement of sorts. Not that I really had a say in the matter.”
“And?” Akira pressed. Her long black hair tumbled over her shoulder as she leaned forward, her dark brown eyes focused. “Do we need to beat it out of you?”
I grimaced and nodded over at the fanged female, whose name I’d since learned was Portia, not in fact stabby pants as we had affectionately called her up until then. I avoided her at all costs, even if it seemed like she’d made it her personal mission to taunt me from afar. She was currently eyeing me as shewhispered to her newly acquired allies. “You could do that, but I’m sure there will be plenty of beatings at training.”
Akira looked at Portia like an annoyance and waved her off. “Ignore that murderous creature. Details. Now.”
I pursed my lips. Whilst I enjoyed the two females and was building a sort of kinship with them, I was still careful to only give them general details. No specifics. After all, this affected all of us females; having them on my side was doubtless better than going it alone. “Rumours are going around that the females from prior Wedding Rites are being held captive somewhere. The captain is … interested in finding them.”
Sherai’s cutlery clanged violently onto her plate. “They’re alive?” she asked a little breathlessly. “But I thought all the losing females had simply died. None of them were ever?—”
“Heard from again?” I cocked my head. “Intriguing, isn’t it?”
“Why would the captain care?” Akira asked. “Assuming his father is part of the Pentad, and given our accommodations here, I would think he’d be all too aware of what goes on.”
I stabbed my eggs, watching as the yolk dribbled over my toast. “Let’s just say he has a vested interest in a certain asset. He knew, or knows, one of the females missing.”
“Curious,” Sherai said, looking at the captain like he was a puzzle to be solved. “And what does he have on you to ensure your cooperation?”
“The power to end my life.” I sighed. “I kind of owe him, given he saved me from an apparently horrific night with one of the Pentad.”
Akira’s eyes narrowed. “They give me the creeps, all of them. I’d sooner put my fork in their eyes than dance with one of them.”
“Wouldn’t we all. But they certainly like to ensure we have no choice,” I said drily. “Come on, we should get ready for training.”
Sherai groaned. “I’m not cut out for this. Can’t I just … watch from the sidelines?”
“Up,” I commanded. “We gotta get some muscle on your body or you might not last a minute in the next test. Come on, we need to be prepared for whatever they throw at us, or throw us into.”
“Oh, great. Now I’ll have that looming reminder to stress about all morning.”
“You’re welcome,” I said cheerily. “Now move your bony ass. You know you want to watch the guards train while they get all hot and sweaty.”
Her dark cheeks flushed with colour. “It doesn’t help, Aeris. Not one bit.”
Akira slammed me onto the mat for the third time in a row, forcing the breath out of me. We’d only been at combat training for around twenty minutes, going through the motions of hand-to-hand combat, and I already felt like my bones had turned brittle. My mentor would be turning in his grave if he knew how easily I was being bested. Of course, practising alone only got me so far, and after Avadir’s disappearance, I never received a replacement mentor or sparring partner. In the Shadow Court, it was generally deemed inappropriate for females to train in physical combat, and my father had laughed at the mere notion of my doing so.
I was sorely out of practice and my shoulder was still stiff from the injury I’d gained in the crypt. Akira had a natural skill, or had learned a few tricks in her homeland as a child, and was intentional and quick in her movements. She stood out against the many court females who had grown uppractising embroidery or music—probably forced to, if their fathers were anything like mine—instead of learning how to protect themselves and fight back. I thought I’d have an upper hand compared to them, but that didn’t seem to count for much against my fellow females.Mostof the females, but notall.
I felt eyes in the back of my head from every angle.
Our training was held in a courtyard outside the western wing of the castle, where the arena was open to the elements and a side veranda offered scant shelter or warmth. Many of the castle’s guards had trained before our session began, but a few continued their workout on the other side of the courtyard. Which meant we got to watch as the elite males wielded their weapons with ease and precision. They must greatly underestimate us females, to be so arrogant as to think we wouldn’t be watching their advanced techniques. I paid special attention to their routines, not that it would do me much good. The Fae here were well versed with spears and long swords, and neither of those were weapons I had any clue how to defend against.
They also trained their magic for defence and offence purposes, which was yet another reminder of my apparent lack of it. I had already undergone my ascension—my coming of age being a mere twenty years old, as is customary—but that was four years ago now, and my power had yet to reveal itself. I’d expected a spark, even a whiffof something seemingly useless by now, but it didn’t seem to be in the cards for me. Here in the Shadow Court, power can come in so many forms. But it was all dark magic, mostly, malevolent spells or manipulative incantations to create or control all manner of things. The rarest form was ironically the power over Shadows. Despite being the court’s namesake, it was a rarer form of magic that more commonly manifested in powerful bloodlines stretchingback over a millennium.A bloodline just like the captain’s. Just another reason to be cautious around him.
Captain Windaire had apparently decided to train alongside us today. The good luck continued, it would seem. I’d only seen him in the courtyard once before this occasion. Which meant he either didn’t make it a regular habit or chose to do so at another time of day.
I looked away from the captain and watched several soldiers spar with their magic. They wielded daggers and spears made from dark magic that soared through the air, their opponents blocking and parrying with walls of dark energy or even a slice of shadow magic.The few that could wield shadows seemed capable of creating them from nothing, whereas those wielding dark magic seemed to draw from the dark to manipulate or manifest their dark weapons. I imagined the latter would be tiring and inefficient, if there was little darkness around. A shadow wielder, on the other hand, had no such limitations. A powerful and seemingly inexhaustive gift. I sighed wistfully at the literal extensions of their abilities and focused my attention back on my opponent, who had been stretching while giving me a breather. Akira was small, but she packed a sure punch in that strong frame of hers. She had muscles in places my body couldn’t even fathom.
“I thought you were a priestess, not a fucking fighter,” I grumbled as I rubbed my head.
