Page 179 of Heart of the High King
Lifting Rafe’s face for a kiss, Aleksander brushed their lips together. With a smile, he tied a soft blue-black ribbon around Rafe’s arm. “My favor, Your Highness. Good luck.”
“Yeah.”
The wolves sprawled on the sand at the base of the stairs so they could see as the two fighters squared up. Each man lifted his weapon in front of his face, and Drystan yelled for them to start. There was a clash of steel as they made first contact, and Aleksander relaxed against the railing. Given the talent of both, he wasn’t expecting a quick takedown of either man, and he wasn’t wrong. Minutes ticked off his watch as they cursed, hurled insults, and tried to find each other’s weaknesses.
“Let’s hope some shirts come off,” Killian said. “Go out there and take off yours, Dragon Boy.”
Dravyn blushed. “I’m not even fighting right now.”
“Why aren’t you in Rafe’s sword class?” Aleksander asked the druid.
“More fun to watch. I’ll leave the weapon stuff to Dray. I’ve finally come to the realization that druids are better lovers than fighters,” Killian responded with a wry grin. “Plus, I did try, and I’m terrible.”
“Rafe told me no one was bad.”
“Hmm, well, he’s even nicer than I thought or a better liar than I imagined.”
Rafe gracefully pivoted to the left and nearly ran Conley through as he slung his giant two-handed sword through the air. The lighter blade in Conley’s hand was allowing him to use his speed to stay in the contest, but Rafe was ruthless. Advancing steadily, he’d backed Conley up closer and closer to the office building that sat behind the house.
“I was half expecting a draw,” Alaric murmured.
“Same,” Drystan responded with awe in his voice. “Con may move here to get trained. He’s not going to win this one.”
Conley let out a shout when Rafe slammed his weapon into his and the Reverent Knight couldn’t hold on to his own. As it hit the sand, he nimbly stepped away so he wouldn’t be cut, not that his skin was pervious to any blade. Both men stared at one another, huffing for breath; then Conley’s face lit up in a smile.
“You and I are going to train so hard together,” Conley promised.
“Nicely done,” Rafe offered.
“Give me a hug,” Conley insisted. “Damn, but you’re good. Where ya been all my life? None of these other losers can take me down. I think my skills have atrophied because of it.”
Rafe grinned and embraced Conley. “Why do you think those asshats kept me chained up? None of them were my match, and I was stronger because I had my dragon.”
Conley’s eyes widened. “For Fate’s sake, that’s right. You’re barely more than human now.”
“Do you mind?” Aleksander asked when the pair got near the deck and Conley still had an arm slung over Rafe’s shoulders.
“So territorial,” Conley teased. Letting go of Rafe, Conley hurled himself into Drystan’s arms. “I’ve been bested, mate. Defend my honor.”
“You’re hilarious,” Drystan responded. Conley’s mouth met his for a smacking kiss.
Aleksander got a hug from Rafe. “Great job.”
“Thanks, I used to practice a lot. Looking back, I think before I met you I was only truly happy when I had a sword in my hands. I could finally beat Sullivan at something, and he couldn’t give me crap about sucking at it. It’s funny how your perspective changes once you can see the situation for what it was.”
“Conley’s going to hang out here more, so you’ll fight with him.”
“That’s right,” Conley enthused. “Better add additional classes to your schedule.”
The two discussed times, and Rafe added a twice-weekly evening class for anyone interested. It didn’t surprise Aleksander in the slightest that there were sentinels, a few emperors’ dukes, two sprites, and a reaper that added it to their calendars.
“If Alaric’s done signing up with Rafe, does anyone want to have a Sorcery D’Vaire meeting?” Chander asked.
“Sure,” Rafe replied. Within minutes, the entire group was situated around the round table, and Aleksander reached for Rafe’s hand. Noting that Rafe was still wearing his favor around his arm, even though his swordplay was done, Aleksander smiled.
“So guys, what’ve you been up to in the last six weeks?” Aleksander asked.
“It’s a good thing you woke up when you did because we were going to ask Rafe to get everyone together this weekend or next,” Saura revealed. “While we haven’t officially met since you went to sleep, we’ve been in constant communication and working on our project to tackle Rafe’s magical intolerance. Grigori?”
