Page 2 of Enchanted Shadows
I willingly took a punch to the ribs to be able to sweep Miles’s feet out from under him. He landed face down into the dirt.
Only after I was sure he was okay did I laugh a little. I took a step toward him to pin him down, but he tapped the ground three times. His surrender.
I might be getting old as hell, a few pounds heavier than I once was, but I still had it.
I moved to walk toward Jorah and Krew. My newest assignmentwasn’t one I was fond of, but since it started in the morning, it was safe to say there was no getting out of it now. So it was time I stop avoiding them and get this bothersome conversation over with.
Two strides in, I landed on my back. Hard.
“Next time,” Miles promised from where he still lounged on the ground.
Why had I turned my back on him and assumed he wouldn’t take a cheap shot? I should have known better by now. “When you do, it will befair.”
He gave me a little salute from where we both laid, lungs heaving. Having already gone for a run that morning, I suspected I might be sore tomorrow. Which was just fine with me.
A dainty hand reached down for mine.
I might currently be pissed at her, but Jorah was Jorah. So, I took her hand and mostly hauled myself to my feet.
“We need to talk,” she said gently. “And you’re bleeding.”
I wiped at my mouth, my brown facial hair rough against the palm of my hand. I kept my stubble a bit longer these days, more so because of time management than laziness. I still trimmed it, but only every few days. “About my Assemblage, you mean?”
Krew sent me a glare while he helped Miles to his feet.
“It’s not an Assemblage,” Jorah defended.
“You did threaten me with one once. And now here we are.”
She took a deep breath and clenched her jaw. “It has beenfour years, Owen. Four years since we removed Theon from the throne. Dra Skor allows their women to train. Their women to fight. Wylan is behind the times. I am not trying to throw you an Assemblage, I am trying to reverse some deeply rooted sexism here. Trying to allow some women who would like to train the opportunity to.” Her chest heaved. “And call me a fool, but I thought the man who trainedmemight just be fit for the job.”
I masked my face from all traces of emotion, but internally Iwinced at her words. “While secretly hoping I fall madly in love with one of them, find my soulmate, and achieve the happy ending?”
She hesitated. Our bond wasn’t as strong as hers with Krew, but if I focused on it like I was now, I could tell when she was lying to me. And she knew it.
I added, “Every time a new soul bound pairing happens, you give me a sad look like you’re just waiting for me to fall madly in love at any given moment. I am more than happy you and Krew found one another, but I don’t think you realize that it doesn’t happen for us all!”
“I just want to see you happy,” she defended.
There were more soul bound pairings happening since the healing of Wylan and the other countries. Sprinkling in at a rate that made them not as absurdly rare as they used to be. That didn’t mean there was one for me, though. “I am happy! A soul bound pairing is rare.” I gestured with my fingers between her and Krew. “What the two of you have israre, remember? I might never have a soulmate. Did you ever consider that in all your scheming?”
Krew and Miles were just standing there, a part of the conversation and also not. Krew always seemed to know when Jorah and I needed to bicker like siblings, and when he should intervene. Apparently, this was the latter, as he finally interjected, “And didyouever consider in this that your sister might want to learn to defend herself? Like you taught Jorah to do?”
I took a step back. He’d delivered quite the damn blow.
“If you do not fall madly in love, that is fine,” Jorah insisted, her voice going quiet. “But I am asking you to do this because there is no one else I trust as much as you to do it. This first training group will have a rough road ahead of them in proving themselves. And I know for a fact that you are capable of bringing out the best in people.” Strands of her power licked along her jaw and neck.
She continued, “If I wanted you to have an Assemblage in thetraditional sense, I would have just called one, as your queen. I am asking you to do this, not as a queen, but as a woman. A woman who knows what it’s like to be manipulated and trapped under the power of someone else’s motives.” Her eyes went glassy at the end, and I couldn’t feel like more of a prick for being the cause of it. For causing those ghosts to resurface. “Your nephews have been asking for you nonstop the past few days. So please stop wallowing and show your face for dinner.” She turned to head back to the castle.
“Jorah,” I called to her retreating back.
She didn’t stop, just kept going.
“Give her a moment,” Krew told me. “She doesn’t feel all that well today.”
I was one of the few who knew that Jorah was pregnant. Again. She and Krew had a two-year-old son, Arden, and had just found out they were expecting again. Warrick was nearing twelve now and in the middle of a massive growth spurt, in that strange not-yet-a-man-but-looking-more-like-it-every-day stage.
Meanwhile the king and queen of Wylan had opened the walls, weeded out the advisors, and helped heal the other four countries in the realm, forming peace treaties with three of the four. We’d all been busy these last few years. Far too busy. Life was careening past us with little time to really do anything other than watch it flicker by.
