Page 6 of Pawns of Salistya

‘No one is poisoning Eliasson, Mazyr. Not yet anyway,’ I replied. ‘I also think Meredith’s role is worth a shout out. She does have to clean up after me, remember.’ Mazyr laughed at the same time I did.

‘True. But then again, is she cleaning up after you or herself?’ Mazyr threw me a knowing look.

‘Eh, minor details.’ I waved my hands, dismissing his question. The five of us were a tight group, ride or die until the end, but Meredith was my best friend, my closest confidante. Always has been, always will be. It was a no-brainer positioning her as my maid and second-hand.

‘Speaking of Rynelle, I assume he’s getting in a training session at the arena?’

‘Correct,’ Mazyr nodded. ‘And before you ask about Dwyla, we’ve checked in with her teachers. She’s doing well, excelling in all classes, and has acquired strong magic. Not to the extent of yours, of course, but she can hold her own with water and air.’

I threw Mazyr a curt nod, the only sign I had heard his report as I came to a stop in front of the large black doors of the training arena. I technically wasn’t supposed to be updated about her progress. Standard Solistan procedure was that the family of trainees were kept on a need-to-know basis.

‘Are you ready, Your Highness?’ Amire asked.

I pushed the doors open, figuring the action was response enough, and walked down the dark, narrow corridor. As we walked further into the building, sounds of shouting became increasingly louder. Coming to the end of the corridor, I stepped through the last door on the right. My eyes took a minute to adjust to the overwhelmingly bright light.

The room was a typical viewing space with a modestly sized lounge placed against one side of the wall and a table and chairs on the other. However, the large balcony that spanned the length of the entire space was the main feature. I stepped onto it, moving to the barriers. Looking out, I finally understood why these platforms were often used by the Solistan trainers to observe the best and brightest of the groups. You could see everything in the massive arena.

From this vantage point, I could see the enormous gym in the left-hand corner, with the archery area set up next to it. Close to me was a small area exclusively for magic training – only last years with stable control of their magic were able to practice in the arena. Newbies were prohibited from using their magic or training on this island. Instead the Solistans had a whole other island dedicated to that.

The last corner of the arena was where the trainees sparred. Luckily for us, this was where most of the action was tonight and, right in the centre of the sparring ring, where I spotted the girl Mazyr had given an update on earlier.

I watched enraptured as she fought her opponent. She was so graceful she made fighting look like a dance, her dark hair swirling around her with every movement of her body. Her opponent, an Arloman, danced with her, eyes fixed on every step she took. I noticed he never took an offensive move, only defending herattacks. Interesting. As if she knew this, the girl feigned a step to the left before darting to the right and, before he had time to defend himself, teleporting behind him, bringing her sword to his throat. She whispered in his ear. An amused grin formed on the boy’s face as he lifted his head to hit her forehead. Laughing, she released the boy before he connected, threw a teasing wink at him and sauntered off. His eyes never left hers.

What. The. Shit.

‘Is anyone else seeing what I’m seeing?’ I spat out through gritted teeth.

Dead silence. It was a rhetorical question, but they should know me well enough to know that I am always after some sort of acknowledgement.

I looked to my left to gauge Amire’s response. As typical, neutral. Looking to my right, Mazyr’s eyes looked like they were about to escape his head all together. Well, that was reassuring.

‘Right. Thank you Mazyr for the confirmation. So, I did just see my innocent eighteen-year-old sister not only taunting an Arloman, but outright flirting with him.’ My eyes stared accusingly at Mazyr. ‘Where was that piece of information in your little update, Mazyr?’

Mazyr took an audible gulp. For all the banter we threw back at each other, he knew not to push me when it came to my over-protective nature. ‘I don’t know what to – ’

‘That, my dear Valare, you can blame on me,’ came a drawl from behind me.

Shelving my annoyance for the time being, I swiftly turned into Varqel’s arms, giving him a fierce hug. ‘How long have you been in the room?’ I asked. Damn Varqel, his magic was able to shield him from others knowing he was in the room. It was a rare gift that other magic wielders don’t have, not even me.

‘Not too long. I was going to knock on the door but thought I’d see how much of your training has stuck. Clearly you need a refresher, dear. Those Arlomans are softening you,’ Varqel taunted.

I let out a curse, annoyance re-emerging, pushing away from him to resume standing near the edge of the balcony. Turning to lean against the barriers, I faced him once again.

‘I’m softening, am I? Maybe this is more of a reflection on your training, V,’ I threw back. ‘Care to share why Dwyla is flirting with an Arloman?’

‘I feel it may be remiss of me not to point out that it looked like more than flirting. I feel intimate familiarity are the correct words for it,’ Amire interrupted, in her signature matter of fact way.

Closing my eyes momentarily, I took a few deep breaths, controlling my instinct to react to her bluntness.

‘Yes, about that,’ Varqel said, no trace of taunting or amusement left in his voice. ‘I wanted to talk to you about this personally rather than through Fyriane whispers. No offense, Mazyr.’

‘None taken, chief. Not upset at all that I didn’t deliver this one,’ he chuckled, scratching the back of his head with his hand, like he still couldn’t believe what he just saw.

Before he realised what I was doing, I had stepped to the side and jabbed my elbow straight into Mazyr’s stomach.

Crumpling over, one hand on his stomach the other hand on his knees. ‘What the fuck, Valare. I thought we agreed no more cheap shots. Did you really have to throw extra magic into that one?’ he wheezed out between deep breaths.

‘Wehadan agreement, before you failed to report on Dwyla. That is for not keeping your spies in line, Maz. I shouldn’t have to wait to hear from Varqel about my little sister publicly prancing around with a boy, and an Arloman no less. Maybe we should focus less on Meredith’s late-night antics and more on the heir to the Salistyan throne,’ I said, anger sharpening my tone.