Page 101 of Empire of Dark
The one new thing added to the mix was that Damen and I trained Venetia together. The incident on the island had shown him that his daughter truly did need alternative ways to deal with feelings that were overwhelming. She’d gone from happiness to uncontrollable rage in less than a minute because it was what she knew, how she’d lived.
It was up to us to somehow give her some stopping points along the way. To show her that destroying the ground under her feet wasn’t her only option if she was angry or scared.
Not that putting a sword in her hand was any less dangerous, but it would limit the damage if she went over the edge again. A middle ground we were both willing to deal with.
In the training yard, I puffed out a breath, heaving after Damen had just put me through my paces while Venetia was taking a break, sipping water and munching on popcorn she’d brought out to the courtyard.
Damen and I both looked to where she pointed at the single-lane road weaving up from the valley that hugged the edges of the mountain. From our vantage in the courtyard, we could only see the road when it veered out from the crevices of the mountainside.
We waited. Damen’s fingers tapped impatiently along the handle of his sword.
Two black SUVs pulled into sight and then disappeared close to the mountain.
I looked to Damen. “You have meetings tonight?”
“I didn’t think so.” His eyebrows drew together, his eyes squinting at the road when the SUVs came into view again. “But I guess I do now.”
He strode over to the stone bench Venetia was sitting on and sheathed his sword with the leather scabbard he’d left sitting there. He turned to me. “Keep working on her left-footed riposte transition.” He looked over his shoulder to Venetia. “A few more goes at it and you’ll have it perfected.”
A smile crossed Venetia’s face, her shoulders pulling back as she beamed under his praise. My heart warmed, a smile tugging at my lips. “Will do.”
As I picked up my water bottle and drained it, Damen strode off toward the path that ran along this side of the castle to where he could intercept the cars as they pulled into the lower area beyond the main courtyard. He didn’t care for surprises. Much less letting surprises make it in past the inner walls of the castle.
I nudged Venetia’s leg with the tip of my sword. She heaved a sigh, then stood, grabbing her sword—a beautiful piece of augentrum steel Damen had recently gotten her that haddragons weaved into the handle and along the hilt. And just because Venetia like skulls at the moment, in the center of the cross guard was positioned a wicked-looking skull with two rubies for eyes. It fit her well, and it had been all Damen’s doing.
He was well into actually knowing his daughter—understanding her—and that delighted me to no end.
Venetia and I practiced for another half hour until we were both panting. I needed water. She did as well. Plus, dusk was quickly approaching, the days shorter now.
We broke training, walking into the castle through the side door closest to the kitchens and water.
I ushered her in front of me into the kitchens. “I think we should grab a snack while we’re down here and then we’re finally going to watchMary Poppins. You’ve been avoiding it.”
Venetia scoffed. “It sounds like a little kids’ movie.”
“They’d like you to think that, but I’m well over a century past being a little kid and I love the movie, so we’re watching it for my enjoyment. You’ll just have to suffer through it, if you must. I suffered throughThe Exorcistthe other night for you.”
“Whatever.” The pitch and tone of the word from her mouth so quintessential of the snarky teens that would move through the Academy that I had to stifle a laugh.
We gathered bowls of the popcorn that the kitchen staff made daily. I had asked Venetia about the peculiarity of her cravings for popcorn weeks ago, and she had mentioned it was her favorite food. It was just one in the long list of things she hadn’t experienced before Damen got her.
We walked toward the main staircase of the castle to go up to Venetia’s room, as she had the most comfortable furniture for movie watching—two oversized beanbags that sat at the perfect height in front of the TV in her room.
Reaching the base of the staircase, Venetia suddenly stopped next to me, her bowl dropping to the floor, ceramic shards splattering everywhere.
“Venny—”
My words cut off as I looked at her.
Terror. Pure terror flooded her eyes, her face.
The click of the study door closing just down the corridor drew my attention.
I juggled my drink into my arm holding my popcorn bowl and reached out to grab her arm. “What’s going on? Did you just see something?”
With her eyes closed tight, her head shook back and forth.
I set my popcorn bowl and water down on a step and grabbed both of her arms, turning her toward me. “Venny, what has happened? Are you in pain, did I accidently nick you outside?”