Page 189 of Fated to be Enemies

I had to clear my head and focus. When I let go and turned to Kieran, I found a gentle smile on his face.

My heart pounded against my ribs, those weird feelings fluttering through me again. If he kept looking at me that way, especially in his more relaxed state, I’d jump him. “So, are you ready? I thought we came here to train, not to stare at each other.”

He chuckled, sounding nothing like the angry, cold king I’d met on my first day here. “First, we need to address the amount of medicine you took this morning. How much was it? I don’t want you feeling better than you actually are and wind up hurting you.”

I lifted a brow. “You should take advantage. You’d be hurting me without meaning to and thus not breaking your promise.”

“If I knew you overdosed, that would still be a broken promise, and we fae don’t break our promises.” He placed a hand over his heart as if the gesture added more sincerity to his words.

They all kept saying they couldn’t break a promise. I’d learned this morning that they—we—couldn’t tell a lie … figuratively. But I don’t see how your body can prevent you from breaking a promise. “Everyone keeps saying that, but what does that mean? Is it like telling a lie—your body forces you to do something even if you don’t want to?”

He went to the ice-blue dresser across from the bed and opened the top middle drawer. “No, it’s not like trying to lie and having your voice stop working. If you break a promise, you lose your magic, including your wings if you’re High Fae.”

I ran a hand over the comforter, thin and smooth as silk. I swallowed hard. “How is that possible?”

“Your magic leaves you. The thing about our species is we’re bound to the truth by word and action.” He removed a long sword from the drawer. The blade was dark like a shadow, and the hilt was pale blue with a white snowflake etched into it. “Our magic prevents us from lying, but actions are different.”

I snorted. “The saying ‘actions speak louder than words’ has a whole different meaning here.”

“That saying comes from this kingdom.” He tilted his head. “Humans must have learned it from our kind when a fae visited Earth.” He took a belt from the drawer and placed it around his waist. Then he put the sword in the sheathe at his side.

Great. He had a long sword, and I had a dagger. Honestly, it was something I’d have to face at some point with the others. Might as well be now while I could learn a defense.

He removed another sword, identical to the first but with a thinner blade. “I need you to answer me about the medicine.”

Here I thought I’d deflected quite well. I huffed, not wanting to reveal my secret. “I didn’t take any medicine this morning.” But if he was going to train me, revealing I wasn’t injured was the better alternative.

His arm dropped, the tip of the sword hitting the floor.

I grimaced, hoping he hadn’t messed up the tile.

“How is that possible?” He scanned me from top to bottom. His brows pulled together like he was solving the biggest puzzle in the world.

Yesterday, during the trial, the pain had been excruciating, and I’d believed I was near death. Given how quickly I’d healed, I must have been acting melodramatic. “I must have looked worse than I was.” That was all I could come up with despite not believing it myself.

He stalked toward me and grabbed my arm, tugging so hard I thought he was going to pop my arm out of its socket.

“What are you doing?” I jerked away, glaring. “That’s not training. That’s manhandling, and if that’s the shit you’re going to pull, I’ll see myself out.”

His jaw dropped. “You aren’t in pain.”

I rolled my eyes. “I told you I’m fine.”

“No, you said you didn’t take the medicine.” He shook his head. “I wanted to see if you were hurt, but you really are healed.”

“Next time, just ask.” I placed my hands on my hips, ignoring the way I wanted his touch. Each time he touched me, I became more desperate for him to do it again. That wasn’t the sort of addiction I needed, especially when I was supposed to fight him. “Since I can’t lie.”

“That doesn’t mean you can’t skate around the truth.” He held out the second sword to me.

He had me there. I glanced at his sword and back at him, arching a brow.

“Here.” He turned his hand so I could reach the hilt. “Take it. I have a belt you can use.”

I’d trained with a bow, daggers, knives, and guns. The one thing I’d never used was a sword. “Uh … I have a dagger.” I clutched the end of my sunflower-yellow skirt, wishing I could wear my pig onesie. At least in that, I could kick without worrying about my skirt flying up.

“No, you need to use this.” He nodded to the sword again. “We’ll work on flight too, but that will be harder in this room. Since you can’t yet access your magic well or fly competently, you need a weapon that can reach farther to prevent the enemy from getting close.”

I gritted my teeth, trying to keep calm. “Fair point, but I don’t have my own sword, so there’s no point in training with yours. It’s best if I stick with my dagger. Besides, I can use my bow and arrows in a pinch.”

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