The Arrival (Birthright Trilogy #1) (47 page)

We’d all had a sip of the verlin, and it worked well when I begun to instruct my group through the first throw. As I wandered around the pairs I gave pointers and tips, or showed them the correct way if they had it wrong. It was satisfying work and other than Iggy, who kept his haughty look, all the others we’d met were open and friendly. More than one person teased me for throwing Alek. They all wanted to be taught the ‘royal’ throw as they’d named it.

At the end of the day, back on the stage, Sian took questions. A man raised his arm.

'Yes?’

'Would you mind giving us a demonstration? Of a decent fight, I can see how the throws would be helpful, but I’d really like to see what else you can do.' There was a loud murmur of agreement from the crowd.

Iggy stepped forward, 'I’d be happy to help.'

The four of us exchanged glances. I gave a slight nod to Kassie, whose eyebrows shot up, and then she gave a tiny shrug. Rumal and the other men, Yakov included, gave Iggy heated looks.

Well this should make them smile.
I winked at Sian and Loi.

Kassie stepped forward and gave the traditional bow to Iggy. The room went silent. Iggy bowed, and the rest of us stepped back out of the way. There was an awkward moment where the two fighters just stared at one another.

Kassie bit her lip to stop from giggling, 'You’ll need to attack me.'

Iggy gave a curt nod and lunged at her.

Not fast enough mate, she thought, as she dodged him. He lunged again and this time tackled her to the ground. A shocked murmur echoed through the room. She lifted her hips sharply and used the momentum to flick his hands forward, throwing him off balance. Then she jerked one knee up, and grasping his wrist and collar, used his body weight to heft him over.

Now on top of him, Kassie turned to the crowd.

'This is where I would have punched him hard in the throat,' and she motioned her intent. Iggy, to his credit, didn’t flinch.

'Again?' She glanced at the stone-faced man beneath her thighs. He gave her a curt nod, and she gracefully lifted off him. They stood and faced each other again.

Iggy studied her for a moment and then lunged, throwing a punch. Kassie used the momentum like she had done back on Earth, at that party before the spell, and threw him over her shoulder. Applause echoed through the room with most audience members smiling.

They started again, this time Iggy attempted a hard, high kick. She threw her arms up, crossing her wrists and ‘catching’ his ankle, then shoved him backward so he fell. There were a few snickers from the audience, then silence as everyone waited to see what he would do next. He staggered to his feet, his face an amusing mix of confusion and annoyance. This time, he charged forward and attempted to catch Kassie in a bear hug. She jumped, pushed off his thigh and caught his right arm with her legs, twisted and pulled herself backward. Iggy was wrenched off his feet and thrown hard onto the floor.

There was an astonished silence.

Sian stepped forward, and God only knows how, managed to keep her face straight as she said, 'Now, this is where knowing how to fall correctly is absolutely necessary, as the Lieutenant fell a lot harder than we’d prefer.'

Kassie and Iggy both stood and bowed politely to each other, then Yakov stepped forward.

'May we have some appreciation for our teachers and volunteers,' his lips twitched as he spoke.

The room erupted into noisy applause and loud exclamations; everyone seemed far more excited about the new techniques now.

That evening at dinner, Kassie was the center of attention with Rumal seated close to her, smiling proudly. After dinner we gathered in the library and Elena congratulated us on our success, a broad smile on her face as she turned to Kassie, 'I hear your training session was quite a success. I’m sorry to have missed it.'

Everyone chuckled.

Yakov, who had joined us in the library, winked at Elena, 'It was fantastic, Ellie. I’ll show you some time.' She gave him a warm smile.

Again I wondered if they were a couple. They seemed so natural together.

How would that work? Elena would be at least, oh I don’t know, a couple of millennia older?
That’d put a new spin on cradle snatcher. Alek squeezed my hand, distracting me.

Loi relaxed against Sabyn as they listened to Elena’s debriefing and new outline for the weeks leading up to the ball.

'We will continue to alternate days. Yakov and I feel you’ll be able to focus better if one day is devoted to physical activity, and the other to mental. The last day of each week will be your free day. So try to get to bed early, and I will see you at the Griffons Quarters tomorrow, straight after breakfast.'

With the debriefing finished, they all headed off.

Kassie and Rumal wandered to their favorite turret in the inner gate and Sian and Daron disappeared to visit Nesha.

Sabyn turned to Loi, 'Would you like to walk in the courtyard?'

It was their evening routine now. She’d looked forward to it all day. Cat and Alek seemed happy to stay put. Both still wore an aura of absolute content and Audi snored in front of the fireplace.

As they settled into their favorite spot beneath a huge tree, Loi leaned back into Sabyn’s arms.

'What’s with Iggy, why does he have such a problem with us?'

'I don’t think it’s you girls personally, Iggy just seems to be of the opinion that women are to be seen and not heard.'

'What?'

She twisted to stare into his face. 'Are you serious? Where did he come up with such a deluded idea? No one else here appears to be of that opinion.'

Sabyn smiled at the indignant look on her face, 'No, but from what I understand Iggy’s mother was extremely subservient to his father, and his sisters were brought up in the same manner. Even Iggy’s wife is, naturally, very subservient. If it’s what you’ve been surrounded by most of your life, you’ll begin to consider it normal. After all, there are some villages were men are considered subservient. As long as they don’t force their ideas on others and people choose to go there of their own free will, then it’s not considered an issue.'

Loi grudgingly conceded the truth of that. Still, she hated that some didn’t consider her equal, even if she could beat them.

Maybe once I master this whole elemental thing people will take me seriously.

Some creative ideas along those lines ran through her mind and she resisted the urge to giggle.

Watch out Iggy, cross me and you’ll be sorry.

Sabyn watched in amusement as ideas flickered across her face.

I wonder how different their world is if this seems so strange to her. Iggy had better watch himself around the four women, I suspect they’d enjoy shaking him up.

He played with a strand of her ebony hair and twisted it out, admiring the silky length. It was a source of envy for more than one woman in the castle. She turned then, looking up at him and his breath hitched in his throat.

Those luminous eyes.

Slipping a hand to the nape of her neck he pulled her close, trailing kisses down her cheekbone and pressed his forehead gently to hers. Her eyes darkened and he felt her flush, the skin under his fingers grew warm. Smiling into her topaz gaze, he wrapped his arms around her and caught her mouth with his.

When we arrived at the training circle the next day Elena explained her intentions for the session.

'Today I want to teach you all to create physical manifestations of your gifts.'

I was surprised.

'Won’t we use the energy the way it is?'

Elena shook her head.

'No. You’ll find it more useful in its physical state. The energy itself you can throw out in a wave, but I still feel you will find learning this just as useful.'

We listened as she explained. Over the next few hours Elena coaxed us into creating our physical elements.

Elena watched Sian, delighted with her success. At first she’d used water from the nearby stream but once she had a feel for it and how her body responded, she was able to focus her energy on creating her element. Elena was thrilled as she watched a gush of water come out of Sian’s palm. It wasn’t strong yet and she knew the girls would be exhausted by tonight, but she hoped that after their day of physical activity tomorrow, they’d be back into it the day after.

Kassie frowned as she attempted to blow the leaves of the bush in front of her. It was rather frustrating. Just as she’d felt she’d gotten good at the energy raising and other techniques Elena had taught them, now she was back at square one. She sighed and watched as her breath moved the leaves.

Urrgghh. Look how easy that was. It should be that easy.

Rolling her shoulders, then her head, she drew in a deep breath and let it out slow.

Relax. Try again.

Loi sat on the dirt near a tree. Her hands pressed to the ground, eyes closed as she allowed her energy to move down her arms, into the earth. Strands of her long hair tickled the back of her hands and her eyes snapped open in irritation. She was so close.

Thrusting the hair back over her shoulders, she relaxed back into her original position, closed her eyes and took deep, slow breaths. Her energy moved through the ground, brushing past tree roots, rocks, and even a skeleton (not human–though she suspected it wouldn’t matter here). The earth beneath her was alive and the sensation thrilled her. With her eyes closed she knew the precise location of all the trees and plants in the vicinity. She knew which ones needed more water and which were fine. As she brushed past their roots with her mind, she suddenly realized she could hear them. Her eyes snapped open in shock as the delicate and resonate voices touched her mind, in response to her energy.

Elena could hear the murmur of the trees around them and she spun, looking. There was Loi, with an astonished look on her face, her hands pressed to the ground and her head cocked to one side as she listened.

'Well done, Loi,' she breathed, not wanting to break her attention. Loi gave her an absentminded smile as she continued to listen.

I’d managed to get the tips of my fingers to flame and I worked at creating a ball of fire, like I had with my energy. Even though it was really the same thing, it felt a lot harder to do. I went back to my meditative breathing and practiced forming the ball in my mind. Extending my hands, eyes closed, I followed the energy down my arms and pushed the sphere out between my palms.

FLARE,
I shouted the word in my mind. Heat burst from my palms and I opened my eyes to see a sphere of fire, fed from fire that flowed from my palms.