Marked By Destiny, page 29
Ira couldn’t help but notice that Kaiden almost immediately volunteered.
“Kick her ass,” Tilion muttered under his breath while bumping Ira’s shoulder. He gave her a quick wink and another dimpled smile before jogging over to Kaiden.
Tilion barely got his footing sorted out before Kaiden struck him hard and pinned him down.
“Hey, what gives?” Tilion pushed Kaiden off of him. “I wasn’t even ready yet.”
“My bad.” Kaiden’s jaw clenched as Tilion got back up to his feet.
Gritting her teeth, Ira brought her attention back to Emery, a new fire blazing in her eyes.
Emery scanned Ira from head to toe before saying, “Ready to punch it out?”
“Your anger is making you incredibly boring to spar with today.” True to her words, Emery sounded utterly bored as she picked at her fingernails, waiting for Ira to get back up.
“Again,” was all Ira huffed in response.
“No.”
Ira’s brows knit together.
“You are offering no challenge to me today. I can’t get better if you’re getting worse.” Emery’s words cut like a knife, and Ira found her muscles tensing.
“Again.” Ira squared her hips and held up her arms.
Holding onto her same bored expression, Emery mimicked Ira’s stance. Ira made the same mistake she’d been making all day and lunged forward too eagerly. Emery effortlessly avoided her blow while hooking her foot around Ira’s ankle.
Instead of letting Ira fall to the ground of her own accord though, Emery used the momentum to swivel around and slam her open palm into Ira’s chest, shooting her to the ground with an unbearably strong force.
A small thud could be heard as Ira’s neck snapped back, and her head slammed against the ground. Ira gaped, trying desperately to suck in the air that had been knocked out of her lungs. She felt two strong hands bring her into a seated position, where she could finally take a deep gulp of air.
“Fuck, Emery, you didn’t have to hit her with all your strength,” Kaiden hissed. Once Ira realized it was him helping her, she shook her arm out of his grasp.
“Who says that was all my strength?” Emery quipped, going back to examining her nails.
Even though her head spun, and a dull ache began to form along the back of her neck, Ira gritted out, “Again.”
Emery rose one perfectly arched brow.
“Only if you actually make it a fight this time.”
Before getting into her position, Ira took a deep breath. She repeated this until she felt her heartbeat slow, her shoulders drop, and the tension in her jaw ease. When she opened her eyes, Emery’s grey ones were watching her closely. The bored expression was now replaced with amusement.
“Ready?” The intensity in her words struck Ira right into her fighting stance. She only answered with a nod.
This time, Ira refused to strike first. She and Emery had trained day after day together, and Ira realized she almost always was the first to strike. Today, she would be patient. The two continued to hold locked eyes and circle each other until Emery finally made her first move. She lunged forward fast, very fast, but Ira’s newfound patience and concentration led her to swivel out of the way.
Without missing a beat, Emery made another move at Ira by kicking her leg toward Ira’s head. Ira much more narrowly dodged this move and decided to put as much space between her and Emery as possible as she righted herself. Emery wasn’t allowing Ira time to calculate. She struck again, and this time, Ira dodged by ducking low and sweeping her leg out. Emery avoided Ira’s attempted attack with effortless ease.
This back and forth continued. It quickly became the longest sparring match they had ever been in together. A gentle bead of sweat was escaped from Ira’s hairline as she watched Emery. She was waiting for her to strike again, waiting for her to make some kind of mistake.
At this point, Emery was the one growing more impatient. With each blow she made and didn’t land, she began to let out a frustrated snarl. Slowly, Emery started sacrificing her technique as her eagerness to strike and win grew.
And just like that, it happened. Emery made a crucial error. She left herself off-balance and without enough time to recover. Ira rapidly dropped her body down, wrapped her arms around Emery’s upper thigh, and pushed her shoulder into her gut with all of her might.
Emery groaned as her back slammed into the ground, and Ira quickly clamored on top of her. She clenched her fingers into a fist and held it just out of reach of Emery’s face. Emery’s eyes were wide for only a beat before they narrowed.
“Get off,” she hissed, shoving Ira to the side.
With a triumphant smile, Ira tried to get to her feet but was only able to climb off of Emery when she found her stomach churned in her body, and bile fell from her mouth.
“You should make sure you didn’t break anything in that head of yours when it smacked the ground,” Emery snarled before stalking off the sparring field.
Chapter 51
“Iwon! I actually won!” Ira beamed at Constance.
Constance gently laid her hands on top of Ira’s head, and Ira felt a gentle, tingly sensation spread across her scalp.
“Maybe next time you could do it without injuring your brain,” Constance chided, as her eyes screwed shut.
“I’m a warrior. I’m brawn, not brain.” Ira smiled coolly. She felt much better thanks to the tonic Constance made up for her.
“You’re a woman, so unfortunately you’re plagued to have both,” Constance joked, flicking Ira in the forehead. Ira swatted her hand away with a smile that quickly wavered when she saw Kaiden walk into the tent.
“I wanted to see if you were okay,” he explained.
Ira rolled her eyes, but before she could tell him to go away, Constance spoke.
“No bleeding in her brain is a big relief. The treatment for that can be excruciating,” Constance said, pointedly.
Ira glared at her, but Constance only shrugged. Ira knew it was unfair of her to expect Constance to be cold toward Kaiden. The two of them had been friends long before Ira came around, but it still stung.
Constance rustled up a couple more tonics for Ira. “Take one before bed until they’re all gone,” she instructed before turning on her heel and leaving them alone.
Ira wondered why everyone was so intent on leaving her alone with Kaiden today.
“I’m fine,” Ira finally huffed, shoving the tonics into her satchel.
“You were amazing in the sparring ring today. You looked like a master out there, so elegant and beautiful.” Kaiden’s teeth clapped loudly as he slammed his mouth shut.
Ira hated the heat that entered her cheeks as she looked at Kaiden. He didn’t try to take the words back. He didn’t try to clarify anything. He just looked at Ira, expectant.
“I have to meet Thameus.” Ira scurried past him, but he turned with her.
“I’m actually going that way too. Thameus invited me to your session today.”
“Great,” Ira grumbled through a tight smile.
When she arrived at the library on the fourth floor in Aloysi tower, Thameus had eight extra journals lined up on the table. Nela was already sitting on a chair, an enchantment book propped in her lap and her feet on the table.
“Is it true?” Nela chirped the moment Ira walked into the room. “You won your first sparring match? And it was against Emery?” The pride in Nela’s face lifted Ira’s mood immediately.
“I did!” she practically squealed, and Nela hopped out of the chair to grasp Ira’s hands and spin around.
“You’re going to be unstoppable in no time,” Nela practically sang.
“It was just one match.” Ira laughed.
“There will be more.” Nela’s voice sounded dreamy, and her kind words floated around Ira like a cloud.
“I appreciate the confidence.”
“You should have more confidence. Don’t you have a birthmark for that?”
“Surprisingly, no.” Ira laughed.
When Nela stopped gushing over Ira’s big win for the day, she finally noticed Kaiden leaning against the doorway.
“Kaiden?” Her voice was hesitant as if she was trying to conceal her excitement. “Are you joining us today?”
“Thameus asked me to.” Kaiden stuffed his hands in his pockets.
Ira glared at Thameus before muttering, “busybody,” under her breath.
Nela’s face dropped for a moment before she put a smile back on it. “Well, I’m glad. We’ve missed you.” Nela swung her arms around Kaiden and gave him a gentle squeeze.
A warm smile Ira had not seen in a long time filled both of their faces before Kaiden gently pressed a quick kiss to the top of her head.
“I’ve missed you too.” He gently rubbed her back.
Nela pulled away first, twirling back over to Ira before taking a seat. Though she didn’t say anything, her stance was clear in her movements and expression—she was not picking sides in this.
“There’s not much to go over today,” Thameus said, gaining the trio’s attention. “I just want you to start sifting through these journals. Take notes about whatever sticks out to you or whatever questions you have. Tomorrow, we can start dissecting your questions and what you find. Ira, make sure to take your pain tonics before starting, especially considering the head injury you endured today.”
Thameus moved to exit the room.
“Where are you going?” Ira asked, suddenly even more peeved that he was forcing her to be around Kaiden and not staying for the aftermath of it.
“I have my own studying to do.”
With a wink, Thameus was gone, leaving just the three of them.
Chapter 52
With a guttural groan, Ira dropped the journal she was reading on the table. She’d been pouring over the journals for days and hadn’t found anything of real interest.
To make matters worse, she was so drained every night that when she got to her room, she didn’t have the energy to read the journal she saved from the library. She could practically feel the secrets ebbing at the edges of its pages, but her exhaustion won out every night.
“There’s nothing in these.” Ira dropped her head back to look up at the ceiling. “I journaled about everything and nothing all at the same time.”
Ira felt a gentle squeeze from Nela’s hand. Nela hadn’t cracked open any of the journals upon request from Ira. Something about her closest friend prying into her private journals felt too personal.
Kaiden, on the other hand, couldn’t have cared less about Ira’s request. The first day started and ended in a screaming match until Ira finally conceded, deciding she didn’t care what Kaiden thought of her, which was, of course, a lie. She often caught herself stealing glances at him, trying to read his expression.
Nela stood and gracefully stretched her limbs in a feline fashion.
“I need a break.” Her voice lilted through the silence. “I’m going to take a lap.”
Ira hated it when Nela did this, and she did it often. She didn’t want to be left alone with Kaiden, who was now peeking at her from above the journal propped on his lap.
“In mine, you just slayed your first shadow stalker.” Ira perked up at Kaiden’s words, leaning closer to him. She slumped back in her seat when she noticed his coy smile.
“I don’t even want you here, so making jokes may not be in your best interest,” she snapped.
“Someone’s tense today.”
“I just don’t know what I’m supposed to find that’s important in these.”
“Maybe you’re not,” Kaiden shrugged and returned to his journal.
“Thameus has a system. He kept these journals for a reason.”
“I’ve heard Thameus say he had a system before, and it was just pushing me beyond the limits I was setting for myself. Maybe you’re overthinking it.”
“So this is my fault.”
Kaiden winced at Ira’s tone and took a deep breath, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“I’m not saying that. What I mean is, what if his system is basic? What if he’s just trying to get you to understand who you were?”
“Who I was? I’m the same person!”
“I don’t know, you sound fairly less argumentative in my journal.”
Ira lifted her head to snap at him but saw the teasing gleam in his eye. Narrowing her own, she stuck out her tongue instead.
“Ira, you’ve lived eight past lives. It’s unrealistic to think you would be the exact same person.”
Ira’s expression changed from exasperated to perplexed.
“Look.” Kaiden thumbed through the journal he had, bringing it over to Ira. His arm brushed hers as he scooted closer, and Ira tried to push away the fluttering that swirled in her stomach. “In this one, you write about when you fell off of a horse doing an easy ride in the forest.” Kaiden pointed to the scrawled words in the journal.
“So?”
“So, I saw you on Marigold in the mountains. You would never fall off your horse on an easy ride.”
Ira’s expression was vacant. She raised a brow.
“So, you’re not the same person,” Kaiden urged.
“Or I learned from my mistakes?”
“Even more my point!”
Ira dropped her head in her hands and began to massage her temples, feeling an all-too-familiar ache starting to form. She reached for the nearby vile of her pain tonic and saw that it was empty. This was usually her indicator to give it a rest for the day.
“The problem is I’m supposed to be this great warrior, but I’ve only won one sparring match, and I haven’t even begun my lessons on finding my weapon affinity.”
By now, everyone Ira’s age had done their challenges to discover which weapon best suited and called to their skills. Thameus kept putting Ira’s off, and she knew it was because she wasn’t ready. She wasn’t even confident in her ability to properly hold a sword for a match, nonetheless find the weapon she would be bound to.
“Ira, listen to me.” Kaiden dropped the journal on the table and cradled Ira’s face in his hands. For the first time since the library, she didn’t pull away from his touch. “You’ve spent eight separate lifetimes perfecting a skill of being a warrior, which granted you eight birthmarks. That’s unheard of with anyone else in all nine kingdoms. Each of those versions of yourself and all of those lessons you’ve learned are inside you. Maybe Thameus just wants you to see…” Kaiden’s voice drifted off.
“See what?” Ira’s voice was a whisper.
“How remarkable you are.”
Ira swallowed. Their faces were only a breath apart. One of Kaiden’s hands slid to the back of her neck, his thumb rubbing along her jawline. Ira had to hide her shiver as she thought about how easy it would be to lean forward and brush her lips against his. Before she could give that idea any more thought, Kaiden slowly dropped his hand back to his side.
“How did you remember that detail about the horse anyway?” Ira asked. It looked like it had been mentioned at the very beginning of the journal, and Kaiden was now more than halfway through it.
“I like learning about you.” Kaiden flashed Ira his lopsided grin, and she couldn’t help but smile back. The air felt lighter between them, and it gave Ira the courage to ask the question that had been haunting her since the library attack.
“What happened after the library?”
Kaiden’s shoulders tensed, but he answered without hesitation. “I was scared. You were screaming in so much pain while Constance extracted the venom out of your blood, and I couldn’t do anything. I just had to stand there and watch… it… I…” Kaiden ran his fingers through his hair. “I should have been there for you. I just couldn’t imagine what it would feel like to lose you if I got any closer. I thought…” Kaiden let out a slow breath. “I guess I don’t know what I thought.” Kaiden wasn’t meeting Ira’s eyes anymore.
“I was scared too,” Ira admitted softly. “I thought you hated me for putting you in danger.”
“One thing I don’t think I’ll ever be able to do is hate you.” The honesty in Kaiden’s words left Ira’s throat constricting. “I know I abandoned you when you needed me.” Now, Kaiden wasn’t looking anywhere but at Ira’s eyes. A warmth radiated in his wolf-like gaze. “I won’t ever leave you again.”
Ira paused contemplatively as she studied Kaiden’s face. Creases etched his forehead as he stared back at her, his icy eyes pleading her to believe him.
“Promise me.” The demand was soft as it left Ira’s lips.
Kaiden’s features softened with relief. “I promise.”
“Swear it.”
Kaiden’s lips lifted into a soft smile, and he placed his hand over his heart. “I swear it.”
Their faces grew closer, as the volume of their voices dropped to a hushed whisper. One of Kaiden’s hands reached out and grabbed the arm of Ira’s chair pulling it toward him, so that their lips hovered against each other.
“Ira?” Kaiden’s voice was a husky whisper.
“Yes?” Ira’s eyes drooped closed as his hand snaked up to grip the back of her neck again, tilting her head up just slightly.
“Have you learned why we’re in your journals yet?” Nela pranced into the room, completely aloof to Ira and Kaiden jumping apart.
Ira recovered first.
“Not yet.” Her voice sounded strained, and she tried clearing her throat to get rid of the constricted feeling inside it.
Nela tossed her arms over Ira’s shoulders, dropping her chin to the top of her head.
“I need food.” Kaiden was barely done talking by the time he was out the door.
Nela dropped into the chair next to Ira and gracefully propped her legs up on the table again. She focused her aquamarine eyes on Ira, and a smile spread across her face.
“What?” Ira asked, trying to look innocent. She didn’t have the mental energy to unpack whatever just happened between her and Kaiden.
“Did you guys kiss yet?”
Ira choked on her ill-timed sip of water. “What? No!” she sputtered.
