A Kingdom of Blood and Betrayal (Stars and Shadows #2)(27)
We pushed outside into the courtyard, and before she could ask, I set my dagger down along the edge. “What are we working on today?”
“More of the same.” She bounced on her toes. “We need to focus on building your balance and your strength if you're to get anywhere else, then we’ll work on your magic.”
I was caught off guard by her words. I hadn’t thought we would get to it so quickly. “My magic?”
“Yeah.” She motioned toward my hands that were still stained black from where I had used my magic before. They resembled Evren’s hands after he used his power, but I had seen no one else with the same markings, not in this kingdom or beyond it. It was only him and I. “Your magic is different than mine. I'm not quite sure how different, but it appears to resemble Evren’s much closer than it does my own.”
“Do all Starblessed have magic?”
“No.” She shook her head. “And most don't realize the magic that’s inside them until they are fed from. I didn't have a clue until Gavril took and took and took from me.” Her gaze darkened as she spoke. “I could feel it stirring inside me then, but I didn’t know how to control it. It wasn't until I came here, until Evren helped me train, that I realized just how much power I held.”
My chest ached for this woman in front of me. For everything that she had endured and survived. When I first laid eyes on her, I had hated her, envied her for the things I thought she had done, but every bit of that had dissolved and had been replaced with something new.
“Okay.” I nodded and widened my stance just like she had shown me the day before. “Tell me what you want me to do.”
By the time we got through the first portion of the training, I was sweating, out of breath, and certain I would wake up with several bruises in the morning. Thalia had taken it easy on me the day before, and even that had been hard. But today? Today she showed me what she was capable of.
I lay against the ground and shielded the sun from my eyes.
“Take some deep breaths and get a drink of your water.” She was barely breathing hard. “This is going to seem like nothing once we begin training with your magic.”
“What?” I looked over at her and groaned as she smirked. She had her elbows resting on her knees and a cup of cold water in her hand, thanks to Mina. Mina who had said nothing to me about the night before, thankfully.
“What we just did is physically taxing.” She motioned to the small ring we had created. “But magic drains you from within. It takes so much concentration and skill, and it will drain you in a way you have never experienced before.”
“Way to sell it, Thalia.” Both of our heads jerked up at the sound of Sorin's voice. He was sitting on a low stone ledge that wrapped around the courtyard, and neither of us had noticed his presence. “I bet the girl can't wait to get started now.”
“Don't you have somewhere better to be, Sorin?” Thalia rolled her eyes at him. “Bashing someone's head or something?”
I looked back and forth between them, and I was so confused. They both claimed to be Evren's close friend, yet they looked at one another as if they were more than willing to kill the other.
“And miss this?” Sorin leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. His hair was pulled back at the nape of his neck, and he somehow looked more handsome than the night I met him. “I wouldn't dare.”
Thalia growled low and only loud enough for me to hear, but Sorin's handsome face lit up in a smirk that told me he knew exactly what he was doing.
“Are you two friends?” I motion back and forth between them, and Sorin laughed.
“The best of friends.” He grinned “Thalia just doesn't like to admit it.”
“I never denied we were friends.” Thalia pushed up off the ground and stood. “You can be my friend while I still think you're nothing but a brute.”
Sorin assessed her, his gaze roaming over every inch of her body before he stood with a large grin on his face. He dusted off his trousers nonchalantly, but I noted the dagger that was strapped to his thigh and two larger ones that were crossed along his back. “I could show you exactly what kind of brute I could be if only you given a chance.”
I blushed and quickly rolled over onto my stomach as I pushed up on trembling, tired arms.
“Be careful of this one, Adara. He’ll try to get in your pants any chance you let him.”
Sorin cocked his head to the side and studied her, but his grin never slipped from his face. “You do realize that’s a you and me thing, right?” He moved his hand back and forth between them. “You're the only one I've been pining after for all these years.”
I stood next to Thalia, and she tried to look so stubborn, but she couldn't hide the way her lips twitched at the side or how her shoulders relaxed. She may have been annoyed by Sorin, but she was comfortable with him. I wondered if the two of them had done far more than either were willing to admit.
“Do you mind, Sorin? We have training to get back to.”
“Of course.” Sorin bowed playfully with his hand resting over his heart. “I just came to relay some news about our prince.”
Everything stopped in that moment. I could feel my heart hammering away in my chest. He had news of Evren. News that he was waiting until now to deliver?