Page 115 of Of Vows and War: Special Edition
With a wink that rivaled my own, Lian saluted me and left the same way Dima had.
What theutter fuckjust happened?
Chapter Forty-Eight
Asher
Sweat trickled down my temple, my head pounding as magic flooding my body and poured out of me like a raging waterfall. Lian’s bursts of air were fierce as they crashed upon me, Noe’s cool shadows slashing my legs at every chance. Cyprus was nearly impossible to get a hold of as he faded in and out of his misty darkness, Farai swapping between the forms of different animals to evade me. Meanwhile, Henry and Damon had seen fit to barrel into me with sheer force, the two of them striking me any chance they could. I was completely surrounded and continuously moving.
But I was still winning.
“Who was the twenty-second Ayad to rule over Eoforhild?” Adbeel asked in a shout from his place on the sidelines. He had his large arms crossed and his brow furrowed as he stared at my every movement.
“Deja Ayad!” I yelled in response, my leg swinging to take out Cyprus after I saw in his mind the moment he decided to take back his solid form. His body flew, flipping four times before crashing back onto the ground.
Noe’s shadows were slinking around my foot as it arched back down, Henry’s fist ready as it swung towards my exposed jaw. I breathed through my nose and followed the will of the magic in my veins, ducking the punch and tugging the line of shadows. I was quick, probably quicker than I had ever been. Neither was ready as Henry’s fist cracked into Noe’s face. But I did not stop there, choosing to use Damon’s fondness of Noe to my advantage.
For a few precious moments, the silver-haired demon was so blissfully distracted that it was practically nothing to will him into sleep, his body crumpling to the ground. Farai was quick to take Damon’s place, coming at me as different beasts.
“Portal!” Adbeel ordered. I did as I was told, continuously jumping to a new spot until I got behind Farai in the form of a vulture. I grabbed one of my daggers and threw it, watching as it flew through Farai’s right wing.
Lian was on me quicker than the rest, a dome of air encircling me just as Farai hit the ground—becoming a solid force in which I could not break. Despite that, I still ferociously kicked at it.
“What were the six territories named after?” Adbeel’s voice still boomed across the open training yard, the air shield not stopping the question from reaching me. Groaning, I turned to Lian.
“Careful, Lian, you have always had a weak mental shield,” I taunted her. Her face pinched, fury making blood rush to hercheeks and stain them red. I saw a shimmer around me, the shield glittering in the light of midday as Lian momentarily lost her focus. I smirked, not turning to Adbeel before answering him. “The greatest attributes of the six brothers and sisters that first ruled Eoforhild.”
“Correct. And what were those traits?” he asked, still circling the area. My eyes never left Lian’s.
Go on, Lian, tell him.
She ground her teeth at my voice in her head, the audible sound of bone scraping faint beyond the shield. The next time I spoke, it was in the deeper tenor of The Manipulator, my head tilting to the side just as Bellamy’s always did.
“Tell him, Lian.”
Then, inside her head, I said the answers, willing her to repeat them.
“Strength, courage, hope, love, power, and intelligence,” Lian said between clenched teeth. And, with no more than a smirk her way, I willed Lian to sleep as well. The air around me thinned, the shield disappearing from existence. I beamed Adbeel’s way, proud of my accomplishment, but the king only eyed me as if thinking up a new challenge.
Turns out, that was exactly what he was doing.
“Okay, now my turn. This time, no magic.” The king’s order was not only terrifying, butexcitingas well.
“Let us find out who is more rusty,” I offered as I raised my fists in preparation. In that time, I also allowed Damon and Lian to wake up, their groggy forms swaying as the others helped them out of the way. Then it was just Adbeel and I.
We circled each other, neither moving so much as an inch closer. My magic itched to break free of the gates that I had locked it behind again, the chains rattling like the moans of the dead come back to life, charging at me for daring to cage them.But I held it back, digging my feet into the ground the second that Adbeel rushed me.
Ducking his blow, I spun, facing him again.
“I have been filled in about the gods, and properly terrified of it all. So I understand why Anastasia is training your magic, as she knows where our magic began before it trickled down to us,” he said, once more circling me. I maintained my distance, not wanting him to have the upperhand. Close combat was not my best, but I could beat him. Over the last year I had discovered that I could doanything.“While I might not understand your magic fully due to you being half fae—which is likely why your magic is so different to begin with—I do know whereyoucome from.” The king struck, jumping forward and bringing his blade down upon me. I was quick to free my sword from its sheath, catching his blade with mine. “I know where you willgoas well.”
A battle of wills commenced. With every bit of ground one of us gained, the other eventually pushed back enough to level the playing field again. Strikes and blows and kicks. No clear winner was in sight. Adbeel soon began quizzing me again, asking me the names of the lords and ladies, the laws that existed in the realm, everything and anything he thought I needed to know for the upcoming ascension. I would be a great queen, of that I was certain.
I was born and raised to be, even if it was all done in the hopes of turning me into Mia. Learning often came at a price, but the knowledge was there forever. And so I would rule well.
Not to mention I would have a particularly well-versed partner. A male who had been raised for this throne in particular. The same male who suddenly appeared into existence behind me.
Bellamy.
