Page 42 of Synodic

She flashed him with what I assumed was the Wyn equivalent of the finger and kept walking, not sparing him a glance as her white ponytail swayed in time with her hips.

Ven approached me with a smile that was actually more of a grimace, “That was… um… hard to watch.”

I continued to pant, leaning forward with my elbows on my knees. The sun’s descent set the sky aflame in orange and fuchsia swirls, while the perennial plants slowly illuminated with their gentle pastel glow.

“Do you know where I can get cleaned up?” I asked after a moment, standing to my feet.

But it was Rowen who answered, suddenly at my side. “I’ll take you to the baths,” he said, petting Sabra on the head. “Looks like you three went rogue today.”

“It was my idea,” I said as I turned to Rowen, momentarily stunned by his sheer size and beauty. His ability to affect me was still an annoying smack to the face.

“I’m sure it was,” he replied, eyeing the young boy with a knowing smirk. “Ven is well aware he’s not of age to be wandering the adult training grounds without a chaperone.”

“What does that make me?” I asked indignantly.

“Uh, I best be getting home now,” Ven said sheepishly before darting off with Sabra.

I swatted the dust from my pants. “Did you at least enjoy the front-row show?”

“Not really. It did become pretty predictable after about your third try. I’m not sure you possess the disposition for close combat. Hopefully, you have other skills to fall back on, Copeland,” he said with perfect unconcern as he offered me his waterskin. “Especially at the rate you attract danger.”

“You’d prefer I use my speed and run from my opponent?” I asked before guzzling down the cool water.

“If it kept you alive,” he said, his eyes flashing with a look that was gone before I could decipher it. “You mentioned you enjoyed running, but not that you were fast.”

“Fast is one way of putting it,” I said, handing him back the waterskin.

“You will have to find a way to incorporate speed into your training. Dyani may be an excellent fighter, but she is far from a good teacher. You learned absolutely nothing today, and it was a complete waste of time.”

“I may have learned nothing from her, but she learned something from me.”

“And what’s that?” he asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

“That I don’t give up easily.”

“So it would seem,” he said, raising an acknowledging eyebrow. “Next time, watch where she twists her hips; it’s a dead giveaway where she means to strike.”

“Thanks for the tip. I could have really used that an hour ago.”

Rowen’s unbothered gaze scanned my disheveled appearance. “You need to get cleaned up. The Summit wants to see you. Tonight.”

* * *

Rowen silently led me away from the village and into the thick of the wildwood. The sun set at our backs as the stars grew bolder, casting the trees in shadow-frosted tips and tinseled fire.

“You’re fast,” Rowen said, unable to shake our previous conversation. “What is it you run from?”

Caught off guard, I wondered if he really cared, but then again, Rowen didn’t seem like the type to start noncommittal conversations. If he asked, he was genuinely interested. “I ran for competition. To be the best and win.”

He seemed shocked by my answer. “And did you? Win?” he asked as if he couldn’t help himself from wanting to know.

There was no point in being coy or modest. “Most of the time, but…” I stopped myself, sensing all too finitely the cracks in my armor I was exposing.

“Go on,” he encouraged.

“Well, it started to feel that no matter how hard or fast I ran, I never got anywhere.”

“I know the feeling,” he said as his eyes went to that place I could never follow, the dark place where he retreated and punished himself. “But then I came to live here and found all the running I did was a distraction, a lie I told myself to keep from admitting the truth.”

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