Page 28 of Crown of Iron
I shake my head and hand him the rest of my strudel. “No. The Staterablessedme with great teachers.”
We fall silent. Kyron finishes his second strudel, and I stare at the mud clinging to the toe of my boots. The unsettling calm I felt while riding returns. It brushes against my skin like the tips of feathers. I tighten my arms around my legs, attempting to distance myself from the intimate feeling, but it persists. Sitting this close to him, I have no doubt it’s Kyron's power.
“What exactly is your gift? I've never felt anything like it before,” I say, the words tumbling from my mouth before I can think better of them.
He cocks a dark eyebrow. “I'm an elemental, blessed with three gifts.”
“Three?”
“I'm an Ignita, Noctist, and Cognus.”
“A Noctist? Of course you have a rare gift,” I mumble.
If it were earlier in the day, I'd be suspicious of his power to cloak himself in shadows. It makes spying easy. Gathering all the army's secrets would be simple for him, and he could use that information to con his wayinto my father's position I don't completely trust him, but I'm also not sure he would do that.
His gift of calling upon fire is common enough, but it's his third gift that gives me pause. My thumb glides back and forth over my betrothal ring. “You're a Cognus too?”
He gives a quick snort. “Don't worry, the gift is weak. I can't bind memories and sort through thoughts. I only sense feelings when I touch a person or an animal.”
I perk up. “You know what animals are feeling?”
“Not all, just those who possess an intelligence comparable to ours. Why? Are you worriedSammyis telling me all the deep, dark secrets you divulge to him during your visits?”
“No,” I lie. That horse is holding some of my deepest thoughts.
Kyron chuckles and says, “Samson doesn't normally let anyone else near him. It's always been just him and me. You won him over.”
I pause, taken back by the upturn of his lips. Gone is the hard exterior and in its place sits a smile. He’s remarkably handsome when he lets his guard down. So much so I find he's fractured my defenses, and I meet his chuckle with a good-natured response. “What can I say? I'm just that charming.”
“Or very generous with the apples.”
“That too.”
I ponder his words for a moment. He knows I visit the stables regularly. Is he spying on me? I already suspected as much when he placed me next to Greer's room.
A little nagging voice reminds me that I shouldn't trust him. He's a Stigian, my enemy. If he found out who I am, he could devastate our kingdom by harming me. On the other hand, he shouldn't trust me. I haven't been forthcoming about what exactly I'm doing here, or who I am.
“So, you're a Cyffred?” Kyron asks, pulling me out of my guilty thoughts.
I take a pebble and toss it into the river. “That's right. Nothing more than a meal to some.” As soon as the words slip through my lips, I flinch. “I don't think?—”
“I meet resistance with every recruit who stumbles through Basecamp’s gate. I've heard worse.”
Of course, he faces the question with each new soldier. No onewould understand why a Stigian is leading our army. It's unfair to judge him, especially after what I witnessed today, but his eyes tell the story of what he has done. He took something the Statera didn't grant him, even if the owner of the power gave it freely.
There’s no way he still doesn't siphon from others. It’s well-known the mental health of the Stigians becomes unstable the longer they consume other's gifts. Yet they can't turn away from the rush of power, and if they try, rumor has it they die. Of course, it’s hearsay. No Stigian has ever walked away from their kingdom.
It's why Kyron is a complete conundrum. Is he the exception to the rule, or does he have an entire army fooled?
I lift my gaze to the stars while sorting through my thoughts. A flash of green and pink slides through the sky. I sit up, holding my breath, and another swirl of purple and yellow flies past.
“Did you see those lights?”
“I saw nothing,” Kyron says, leaning back on his hands.
A streak of aqua arks over the mountain peaks in the distance. “Right there! You didn't see that?”
“You're spending too much time with the horses, princess.”
