Trik chuckled. “I do love your enthusiasm.”
“Shut-it quiver boy.”
“Feisty,” he continued to laugh. “I like it.”
“Trik.”
“Yes love.”
“Keep it up and I’ll use my new moves on you first,” she warned.
“Mm, that’s what I’m hoping for, A’maelamin,” he crooned.
“It has been a long while since you’ve had to make weapons,” Tamsin said as he watched Syndra flit about the throne room directing people here and there as she prepared it for the day’s activities.
She stopped beside him, her long hair pulled back in a braid down her back. She was wearing her warrior garments instead of the human clothes she favored so much. Her eyes met his and a sad smile appeared on her beautiful face. “It has been a long time since we have needed so many weapons all at once.”
Tamsin reached up and cupped her face gently. “And it will be an even longer time once this is over.”
“Ah my love, ever the optimist,” she said as she stepped into his embrace. “You will be helping train the warriors today with Trik?” She asked him with her face pressed to his chest.
He treasured these moments because his queen was not one for public affection, nor did she like to feel vulnerable. “Yes,” he answered. “Somebody has to show that elf how it’s done.” She laughed as he had intended and when she pulled back her eyes were lit with humor.
“Please put him on his backside at least once,” she grinned mischievously.
“Women always have been the more bloodthirsty sex. Really it should be you leading us into battle,” he teased her as he turned to go.
“You call it bloodthirsty, but it is only an incentive for others not to mess with me,” she called after him. Tamsin found himself smiling all the way to the court yard.
Cassie listened and watched silently as Trik and Tamsin went over various fighting techniques and strategies. She stopped focusing on their words when Trik started saying things like if you swing your sword at your enemy then be sure you swing to kill because the less times you have to swing at him the more energy you will conserve for the next one. Yep, that pretty much made her focus more on the techniques that he was showing them. Who knew there were so many ways to approach your opponent? Not to mention how many ways to kill him with just your hands. There was no doubt she was way, way, out of her league. She cringed as she watched Trik grab another male by the arm and jerk him forward with a speed that left her astounded. In a quick series of complicated leg movements, he had the male on his back on the ground with a dagger at his throat. Holy crap where did the dagger come from, she thought to herself. Trik looked up from where he was positioned over the elf and winked at her. She rolled her eyes. Only he could look that hot while holding a dagger to another man’s throat.
“You ready to give it a try?” he asked her as he helped the male elf, whose eyes were wide with shock, up from the ground.
“Um, yeah, let me think about it,” she paused and then answered quickly, “no.” Cassie held her arm up with her palm out as Trik started moving towards her in that slow, cat like way.
“Trik, I’m serious, I’m just watching. Just let me stand over here and do my thing, while you do your thing,” she stumbled over her words as she tried to back away from him.
“Lesson number one,” Trik called out as he continued to stalk her, “never run from a predator.” He grinned at her as he snatched her arm just as quickly as he had the males, only he was much gentler with her. He jerked her into his chest and wrapped his steel like arms around her. “It makes you prey,” he finished as he looked down at her face.
Cassie went limp against him, knowing there was no point in fighting him. It was better to just bide her time and wait until he was distracted, then she could make a run for it.
“You do realize I’m listening to you right now right?” He asked with a raised brow.
“Damn,” she snapped. “Why do I always do that?”
“Because subconsciously you want me to know every tiny little detail about you,” Trik murmured against her ear.
Cassie felt the warmth of his breath all the way down to tips of her badly in need of paint toe nails. She struggled not to close her eyes and give in to the allure that was Trik and the clearing of a throat greatly increased her willpower. She leaned so she could look around Trik’s large shoulders, because he refused to let her go, to see Tamsin and about a hundred other elves staring at them.
“You haven’t distracted me,” Trik whispered, obviously ignoring Tamsin’s interruption.
“What?” she asked still looking at the people behind him and wanting to crawl in a hole.
“You mentally grumbled because I refused to let you go. And I was just helpfully pointing out that you are supposed to wait until I’m distracted to slip away from me, and you have failed to sufficiently distract me.”
Cassie pinched her lips together as she looked back up at him. He looked so relaxed, so at ease with himself and, not to her surprise, completely serious. “You do realize that you’re supposed to be training all those people right?”
“PAIR UP, PREFERABLY WITH SOMEONE OF A DIFFERENT SIZE THAN YOURSELF,” he yelled as his eyes continued to hold hers. “WORK ON THE FIGHTING TECHNIQUES WE JUST WENT OVER. USE REAL WEAPONS; IT WILL MAKE YOU BE MORE ACCURATE. INJURIES THAT CAN BE HEALED ARE ACCEPTABLE, MORTAL WOUNDS ARE NOT.”
Where there had been silence, suddenly there was a flurry of activity behind him. Cassie once again leaned around him and saw that all hundred or so male and female elves were doing exactly as Trik asked them to. She righted herself and then looked back up at him. He was wearing the face that goes along with the t-shirt she saw him wear once that read I’m kind of a big deal.
“How do you like them apples?” he teased as he waggled his eyebrows at her.
Cassie couldn’t help but laugh. She shook her head at him but the smile stayed on her lips. “Gah,” she groaned. “Fine, I’m ready. Show me your moves.”
“Words every guy loves to hear,” he smirked at her as he released her from his hold. “Okay,” his voice went immediately into business mode. “The first thing you need to learn is that being a female actually gives you an advantage on the battlefield.”
“How?” She asked curiously.
“You will always be underestimated by every male you face.”
Cassie thought about that for a minute. “I’m not sure if I should be insulted or not. See this is why I need Elora with me. She always knows when to put you in your place.”
As quickly as it was adopted, his business voice was dropped and suddenly she was looking into his bedroom eyes. “I know my place, Cassandra.” His voice dropped even lower and though he didn’t move any closer to her, she swore she could feel his warm, sweet breath on her face. “My place is wherever you are. And your place is by my side, which is why I must insist that you learn to fight.”
And the business voice is back, she thought to herself as she mentally sighed, already missing his flirting.
“I’m completely fine with learning how to fight,” she argued. “I’m just, I mean I don’t know,” she sighed in frustration and stomped over to him taking his hand in hers. She opened her mind up to him and let him see what it was she couldn’t voice.
“You don’t think you can kill someone,” Trik put words to her worry as she looked down at the ground. Her chest tightened and her palms grew moist at just the thought of having to take another’s life. “That’s not something to be ashamed of, love,” Trik told her as he lifted her chin with a finger. “The ease at which I took lives is not a strength, Cassie. It’s not something to be proud of. I would be worried if you weren’t the least bit bothered by killing.”
Cassie shook her head as her eyes met his. “You should have a Queen who is as strong as you are. You would be better off with someone like Elora.” Even as the words left her mouth, she felt as though a knife had entered her heart at the thought of Trik with another.
He growled at her as his piercing silver eyes held hers. “There is no other for me. If I was mated to Elora one of us would wind up killing the other.”
“But she’s tough,” Cassie interrupted, “and not scared of anything and she can be heartless when it’s called for. She’s really your equivalent, minus the boy parts,” she finished whispering the last part. Her heart and mind filled with self-doubt and uncertainty.
“Cassie, beautiful, why in seven realms would I want to be with someone who was my equal? Why would I want to be mated to someone who shared my same flaws, my same weaknesses, or even my same strengths? How would having someone like that help me in any way? Don’t you see why you are so perfect for me? Don’t you see why you bear the other half of my soul?”
Cassie shook her head, not trusting herself to speak without bursting into a balling mess.
“You are everything I am not. You are compassionate, selfless, and loving. I am none of those things, not naturally. I am only compassionate because you remind me to be. I am only loving because you show me how to be. And we both know I’m still working on the whole selfless bit,” he chuckled. “No, Cassie, I couldn’t be with Elora, or any other woman. You are perfect for me and you are stronger than you realize. And because of you, I am stronger as well.”
Cassie was speechless as she listened to not only his words, but the passion behind them. She knew he was right and she also knew that no amount of her bellyaching about what she wasn’t would change anything. If she thought Trik needed a strong female to rule beside him, then she was just going to have to put on her big girl panties and do what needed to be done. “Okay,” she nodded to him. “Let’s do this.”
A broad grin stretched across his face. “That’s my girl. Like I said you will be underestimated and you can use that to your advantage. A male fighter will look at you and not see much of a threat because they won’t think you are strong enough to hurt them.”
“But I’m not,” she interrupted.
“But you are small and quick. Speed can out do strength most days. So what we are going to work on is conditioning,”
“That translates into running doesn’t it?”
“And agility,” he continued without answering her. “Also you will learn hand to hand combat. And because you are smaller, I think you will learn with two fighting daggers instead of a sword. Last, you will learn archery because I would much prefer you not be in the thick of things until you absolutely have to be.”
“So what first?” she asked when he finished.
He thought about it for a minute and then grinned as he rubbed his hands together like a child about to play with his favorite toy. “Let’s start with some hand to hand combat.”
And so her training began. Trik showed her the basics of what she would call some form of martial arts. And he had agreed with her that one style he showed her was similar to Jujitsu and that another was similar to Judo, which had been her favorite because she was actually able to get Trik on the ground.
Trik looked out at the courtyard as the evening sun was beginning to slip beyond the horizon. Male and female elves were all in various states of rest, some lying on their backs panting from the run and some hunched over with their hands on their knees. He had pushed them hard and he would push them even harder still tomorrow.
“I know today was challenging but I have heard it said that nothing worth anything comes easily. And what we want is worth it—freedom. Freedom not only for ourselves, but also for the human race. We have a battle ahead of us and it will take every ounce of training to ensure that we are victorious.” He motioned with his hands and suddenly all of them were on their feet, alert, ready and listening to their king.
“You will walk out of this quad with your heads held high and your shoulders back. You will not look weary and worn for all the rest to judge you as less than ready,” he told them firmly, correcting them as a father would correct his children. “We are warriors!” His shout filled the silent courtyard. “And we will behave as such. You all have done well today. Same time tomorrow,” he nodded as he looked over the large group, “go now and rest.” The male warriors all crossed one arm across their chest in a warrior’s salute and bowed, while the female warriors only bowed their heads. As one they moved in perfect unison.
“What did you think?” Tamsin asked as he made his way over to the front of the makeshift practice field of the courtyard.
“I think there are some that are born warriors and I think there are some that are made warriors,” Trik answered honestly. “You have a mixture of both, but both are equally as good.”
“How long until they’re ready?”
Trik glanced over to where Cassie stood talking to one of the female elves. He knew the warriors could be ready in a matter of days, that wasn’t his concern. He looked back at Tamsin who was watching him closely and had obviously picked up on his thoughts. “I wish I could give her more time,” Trik told him, knowing the light-elf king would understand.
“We will all protect her, Trik. You don’t need to try and draw this out for her benefit.”
Trik nodded. “I know, but that doesn’t stop me from wanting to. I may be the king, Tamsin, but she will always be my Chosen first.” He started towards Cassie but looked over his shoulder at the light-elf king as his jaw tensed, not wanting to say the words but forcing them out all the same. “We will leave in three days.” As he turned back towards Cassie, he muttered under his breath. “And the Forest Lords save us all if anything should happen to her.”
Chapter 9
“I’ve always known something about me was just a little off. It was one of those things I just embraced about myself. But now to find out that what I have been embracing was darkness, that because of my DNA I am actually prone to evil desires, let’s just say that I didn’t handle it real well. Okay, maybe that’s putting it a bit mildly.” ~Elora
“What exactly does that mean?” Elora asked and then added. “And if you give me a vague guy answer I swear I will mess you up.”
“You could hit him with your hammer,” Oakley offered up. Rin choked on a laugh as Cush turned his steely gaze on him. Oakley just shrugged.
Tony let out a deep breath. “Okay, dark elves 101 it is,” he quipped. “Dark elves aren’t called dark elves because they like to dress in black and wear really thick eyeliner.”
“Okay, I should have clarified that a smart ass answer will also get you messed up,” Elora said dryly.
“Could you let him finish before you mess him up please?” Cush asked her
“I make no promises.” She smiled as she felt his humor through the strange bond between them. Cush pulled her to him and wrapped an arm around her, securing her in front of him with her back against his chest.
Tony looked from Cush to Elora, obviously waiting on them. “As I was saying,” he started again, “dark elves are drawn to evil. Their very nature is preprogrammed to seek out the wicked things in this world. It’s like they have an addiction before ever having tasted the drug. Even if they are never exposed to evil, or to self-pleasing things, they would still have the innate need to seek it out. Las Vegas,” he motioned out towards the casino floor, “is a dark elf’s mecca. And if a dark elf that had never really given into their darker nature came to Vegas, it would be akin to taking a drug addict and dropping them in a field of opium.”
Tony’s words seemed to resonate down to her soul. She felt them in her very bones, in the cells that made up her body, and knew that he was right. She let her mind think back to the times in her life when she felt this same pull, although not anywhere near this intensity. She had even started a diary that nobody, not even Cassie, knew about because writing about how she felt seemed to help her control the impulses she didn’t understand. How many times had she been at a party and longed to dive into the liquor without thought of consequences? On the few dates she had allowed herself to go on, how hard had she fought desire that she didn’t understand? It wasn’t the same kind of desire sh
e felt for Cush—not anywhere close—but it had been there, and she had been tempted and repulsed at the same time.
She felt Cush tense behind her as he picked up on her thoughts. She didn’t bother trying to hide them from him; she was tired of keeping this part of herself a secret. If she had to share it with someone, she was glad it was him.
“So I’m really evil?” The words just sort of spilled out without conscious effort or thought and then suddenly she was facing Cush and his hands were on her face, forcing her to look up at him. His eyes seemed to pulse with power and his handsome face was tense with the obvious effort to keep himself in check.
“You. Are. Not. Evil,” he said each word carefully, as if doing so would make them sink in. “We all desire things we shouldn’t at times. We all do things we shouldn’t. We all have the capacity for evil but that doesn’t make us evil.”
“You’re forgetting the fact that I have dark-elf DNA swirling around in my cells,” she pointed out unnecessarily.
“Regardless, you have not let it dictate who you are.”
Elora reached up and took his hands from her face and held them in hers. She understood what Cush was saying, but it didn’t take away the feelings churning inside of her, feelings that she didn’t feel totally in control of. The clearing of a throat had her turning to look at Tony.
“So you have dark-elf blood then?” he asked.
Lisa spoke before Elora could answer. “I was a Chosen to a dark elf, and Elora and Oakley are products of that mating.”
“Wait,” Elora swung around to face her brother as a thought suddenly hit her. “Why aren’t you trembling like a junkie? You have dark-elf blood running through your corrupt little veins too.”
Oakley shrugged. “I don’t know. I mean I feel a little off, like I’ve just drunk a Red Bull. Kind of geared up, ya know? But that’s all.”
“Oakley, you are older than Elora?” Tony asked.
Oakley nodded.