Page 50 of Crown of Iron
“I'm scared of hurting you,” I quietly confess.
“I know, I felt a struggle between worry and?—”
“Reading my emotions doesn't help.”
Kyron chuckles and leans into Samson, hooks his arm around the front of the saddle, and holds my gaze. “What you did on that battlefield was amazing, Raelle.”
“Was it? Because it doesn't feel that way to me.”
He licks his lips and nods. “Everyone who stepped onto the field knew there was a possibility of not walking off alive, including myself. Greer was in danger of being one of those people, and you saved her life. You saved all our lives, and our casualties would have been worse if it weren't for you. Killing will never be easy, and it never should be, but you must focus on the good that came from your choice. If you don't, the guilt will destroy you.”
The changes in me are already in motion, and I can't ever go back to who I was. The sheltered girl who spent her time within the safety of the Lucent palace is withering away, and I don't want to lose her. She’s the person brave enough to defy a king and set out on the journey leading me here. If I ever needed fearlessness, it is now. Yet her demise is a sacrifice I’ll make for a chance to have my entire family together.
I shift to dismount, and Kyron wraps his hands around my waist, guiding me to the ground.
“This is all so much harder than I thought it would be,” I say.
“The most important battles are never easily won.”
My fingers dig into the leather of his jacket and my heart flutters. “My father always told me that.”
“He’s one of the wisest men I know.”
“Me too,” I say.
We fall silent, my palms pressed to his chest and his resting at my lower back. The physical contact feels good. And it’s very missed. Since arriving here, I've survived off words of encouragement and exhaustingactivities which left me too tired to contemplate much more than sleep. Now that he has invaded my personal space, I want to bury my face in his neck and hug him.
Kyron clears his throat and releases me. “We’ll get him back, and you will be pivotal in his rescue ifI can help you control your gift.”
“Right,” I say, removing my coat and hanging it on the low branch of a tree. “So, what do I do first?”
A sly grin that melts my insides appears on his face. “First, we figure out what triggers your gift, then we see just how powerful you are, princess.”
My foot slips on the slick surface of a rock in the middle of the river. I yelp, my arms jetting out to the side to balance me on one foot. With a slow, deep breath, my feet find purchase, and I lift my head.
Kyron stands on the bank with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face.
“Tell me again what this has to do with my training?” I ask.
He steps onto the rock nearest him. “It's the safest place I can think of to let you play with my fire. All of this”—he extends his arms—“is your playground. Just try to keep it over the water so you don't light up the forest.”
I sigh and smooth my hair back. “All right, so now what?”
“Call it to you.”
“Like I'm calling a puppy?”
“No. Summon it to you like it’s your own. Command it.”
I eye the flame sparking to life in Kyron's hand, and from the very center of my being, I wish for it to move toward me. The muscles in my jaw flex and my forehead wrinkles as I try harder.Come on flame, come here,I think.
The fire flickers in its creator's hand, mocking my failure.
“It's not working,” I say, releasing a breath.
Kyron steps forward onto the next rock, closing some distance between us. “You already used my gifts in a way I never have. You accessed two of them at the same time. I can quickly switch from one to the other.” With a flick of his wrist, a ball of fire flies into the air and smokey shadowsbillow from his fingertips, but the flame extinguishes before the cloud can cloak it. “But the hidden fire trick you did was phenomenal. What were you feeling at that moment?”
I shrug. “Scared, angry, disgusted.”
