Page 24 of Heavenly Bodies
She found Enzo waiting by the palace gate, leaning with his arms crossed against the warm stone. His blue sleeveless tunic and trousers accentuated his eyes, which tightened when he saw Leonardo escorting her. He pressed his lips together as the general nodded at Enzo. ‘See you for training later?’ Leonardo asked.
‘Don’t worry,’ smirked Enzo, ‘even after a day of combat, I’ll thrash you just like I did last night.’
Leonardo laughed. ‘I was going easy on you.’
‘We’ll see,’ Enzo crooned.
‘Elara.’ The general bowed, and Elara inclined her head, turning to watch him walk away.
‘What is that?’ Enzo said roughly from behind her.
She twisted her head, registering that his eyes were burning into her nearly bare back. She had Merissa to thank for the blouse she’d donned, just a thin tie across her back leaving her feeling cool and comfortable.
‘What? You think you’re the only royal with your sigil upon your skin?’ She smirked, sweeping her hair around her shoulder.
‘And why is that mythas the Bellereves’ sigil?’
She swallowed the lump in her throat. She was the only Bellereve left now.
‘Because the dragun keeps to itself. It may be shunned by the other mythas. But when called, it will raze a battlefield. With no mercy, and no regret.’
Enzo snorted. ‘And I suppose you believe you share similarities with the dragun?’
Elara tilted her head. ‘Iamthe dragun.’ Then she raised a brow. ‘Are you done gawping?’
The mocking smile had slid off Enzo’s face. ‘We’re still training after we visit Isra. How are you going to learn to fight if you can’t even dress appropriately?’
Elara smoothed her hands up her skirt. ‘Oh this?’ she asked. The fabric bunched around her thigh as she slipped her dagger from its place there. She cocked it towards him. ‘Why can’t I look pretty as I stab you?’
‘Put that away,’ Enzo hissed, but Elara didn’t miss the way his eyes burned into the bare flesh of her thigh, before she re-sheathed her knife and dropped the hem. ‘Your skirts are impractical.’
She smiled. ‘Lest you forget, I am a queen. Which means I’ll be wearing gowns a lot. So I should practise fighting in one.’
‘And those ridiculous flowers and jewels you always have strewn through your hair? What’s your excuse for those?’
Elara’s smile widened. ‘You know, there’s no harm in enjoying beautiful things.’
‘That’s true,’ he said, and the dangerous lilt to his voice set Elara’s nerves alight. When she stole a glance, his furrowed brow had cleared, an arrogant smile playing on his lips. ‘You can attest to that last night, can’t you? Did you enjoy drooling over myglamour muscles, princess?’
It was as though a bucket of ice had been dropped over Elara’s head. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
‘Ah,’ he said as they walked. ‘So you weren’t watching Leo and I fight?’
‘Oh no, I was,’ she said coolly. ‘There was just no drooling involved. Unless you count me looking atLeo’srippling pectorals.’
Enzo’s arrogance vanished as he scowled, and Elara swanned ahead.
His hand gripped her wrist and she whirled, the warmth of his touch stirring the shadows within her.
‘You’re to stay by me. Keep close and do as I say.’
Elara rolled her eyes. ‘As much as I love the idea of following your every order, can you at least deign to tell me why?’
‘Because although Merissa’s glamour holds, we do not know who could be lurking. One of Ariete’s spies, or someone poor enough to want to kill an Asterian heir for him, should they see through your glamour.’
‘Who can?’ she asked.
‘Only a handful of seers—Isra included. Though most seers’ gifts lie with prophecies. We should be fine.’ He handed her a cloak from his satchel. ‘But just in case, put this on.’ Enzo settled his own over his shoulders, pulling up the hood, and once she had donned hers, Elara followed his lead.