Page 81 of A Fate of Ice and Lies
“Do you take showers in your world?” Victoria asked between bites.
I laughed. “Realm. Of course, we do,” I answered.
“With running water?” Teddy asked.
“How else would we shower?”
“I dunno.” She shrugged that delectable shoulder. “Fantasy books always show fae taking cold baths, unless of course the fae has fire magic and can heat the tub. I mean, it’s not that far-fetched, considering you use medieval weapons.”
“Medieval weapons?” Sure, we’d been using the same weapons for over seven millennia, but why perfect something that didn’t need perfecting?
“Plus, you’d never heard of coffee before, which is some serious Stone Age shit. You didn’t even know what a plumber was a few hours ago.”
“Okay, wait.” Finished combing out Victoria’s hair, I guided her a few feet away from me to conjure my sword and shield. I didn’t bother hiding the way I admired it. “How is this medieval? It’s beautiful. It belonged to my grandfatherand was given to me just as his grandfather before him. It’s traditional and far more effective than your guns.”
“More effective than guns?” She scoffed. “You can’t be serious. You can shoot guns from a distance.”
When I caught Victoria’s attention on my shield, I gave it to her and hid my smirk when she couldn’t pick it up. I helped her ease it to the floor so she could examine it.
“You can shoot arrows from a distance too,” I countered, tucking my sword away but keeping the shield so Victoria could continue playing with it. “The fire arrows are more effective on the nyxx than your small guns.”
“Nyxx? That’s what the snow monster are called?”
“Not monsters,” I countered. “They’re a breed of faerie, but unlike me and my kind, only melting them kills them.”
“Okay so aside from your nyxx, guns are more lethal.” Teddy turned from the stove, her cheeks flushed pink from the heat. “Where it takes your archers several arrows to kill those birds, it only took me one shot. And it takes forever to set an arrow while you can point and shoot, point and shoot until you run out of bullets with a gun.”
While her guns weren’t as intricately made as my sword or bow, she did have a point. It was worth considering and possibly talking to my friends to see if they wanted to learn how to fire the weapon.
“Would you want to learn how to fight?” I asked.
The question had been gnawing at me for some time now. While I’d rather protect her myself, she was alone a lot, and it’d be good for her to know how to defend herself. Although her display earlier today showed just how well she could take care of herself.
“You’re good with the gun,” I added at the quirked browshe shot me over her shoulder. “But hand-to-hand and knife combat are always good practices to learn.”
She shrugged again, but I heard the way her breath and heartbeat quickened.
“You don’t have to,” I rushed to reassure her.
“I’d like to learn,” she whispered and shot a quick look at Victoria, who was busy playing with my shield.
Knowing she wanted to talk without Victoria hearing us, I scooped both my shield and the child up and carried them to the living room. Victoria gave my neck a quick squeeze before she resumed her inspection.
From over her shoulder, Teddy smiled. “Would I ever be strong enough to fight off a fae if they were to attack me?” she asked quietly.
I growled.
“Put away the testosterone, big guy,” she teased.
“Has someone threatened you?” I gritted out.
“No.” Her laugh came out tense. “This is more of a what-if scenario.”
I rolled my neck to loosen the tightness on my neck and shoulders. “We’ll start training tomorrow,” I said, forcing my tone to soften. Forcing the creeping tension away. “No matter how much you train, though, you won’t be stronger or faster than a fae.”
Her shoulders sagged.
“But I’ll train you to be smarter,” I continued.
