Page 53 of Vicious Princess
Pointing a finger at me, he lifts a glass. “Have you maybe considered that my behavior is to protect you?” I blink and purse my lips. “I don’t think you understand how serious Ezkai take our sacred, honorable laws.”
“In that case, I don’t think it’s smart for us to be seen talking.”
A corner of his sensuous mouth curls. “Talking won’t do us harm. It might even do us some good. Especially considering we might need to do more of it moving forwards.”
I arch an eyebrow. “And why’s that?” After a beat, I add, “If you plan on always referring to me as ‘human’ instead of my name, I’d rather we didn’t.”
He ignores my comment. “You have an affinity, yet your weapon doesn’t bow to you. You have the strength of an exceptionalhumanDecarios, yet at the current state, it’s no match against that of a fae Decarios, or even a dwarf Decarios. You speak Ekiosh fluently enough, yet you have no understanding of our culture, politics, or what it means to be part of all this.”
I glower at him through my eyelashes. “If I wanted someone to list out all my disadvantages for me, I would have asked Kata Nightingale to do it.”
“How do you expect to graduate the academy?”
Daegel’s words are like a stab to my stomach. He took my greatest fear, my biggest insecurity, and put it into words.
“I still have time to train,” I say. “I’m not dropping out or leaving, if that’s what you’re about to suggest.”
“Not at all. What I’m trying to say,princess, is that you’re a diamond in the rough. A little bit more pressure and polish, and you have the potential to be the brightest one in the bunch.”
I’m so surprised to hear that, my mouth drops.
“But you need help to reach your full potential if you want to graduate,” Daegel says, amusement dancing in his dark gaze. “I can help.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “And what does your help entail?”
“It means I’ll take you on as my personal mentee. We’ll train outside your lectures. It’s going to be ruthless and hard, nothing like you’ve experienced before, but it will help prepare you for what’s to come.”
Keeping his gaze, I pull up my sleeve to reveal some of my Decarios scars. “I doubt it’ll be harder than what I’ve experienced before.”
His expression doesn’t waver. No pity, no disgust.
“Even better, then. It’ll be like a walk in a park for you,” he says.
I pull my sleeve down. “Why would you do that? Offer to be my mentor and help me? Especially when it puts us in danger?”
Daegel wets his lips and averts his gaze to the soiree on the other side of the column. So close to us, yet in this moment, all of it feels distant.
“I’ll be honest, I’m not doing this solely out of the goodness of my heart,” he says, looking at me again. “I have high ambitions. I sense you do, too. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be where you are. It’s something we have in common.” I don’t confirm or deny. “You have the Ezkai General’s curiosity. He’s an unconventional man, with unconventional thoughts, which is a good and a bad thing at once. One of his unconventional ideas is to bring more humans and dwarves to Ekios, to create a thriving mixture of cultures like Emera has, and a good place to begin is with theOrder of Ezkai, to make it more welcoming to other Decarios, not only fae.”
I snort. “Hate to break it to you, but you’ve got a long way to go.”
He smirks. “I’m aware, and so is the General. But the change has to start somewhere, and it might start with you, if you allow it.”
“I see. So you want to train me so I’ll be the human the Ezkai General can parade around and entice more humans and dwarves to come to Ekios and build a new culture with friendly and welcoming fae.”
“Pretty much.”
“How does that benefityou, again?”
“I’ll be your mentor, which is an honorable position to hold. Especially if you, as my mentee, go on to play a significant role in the eyes of our General.”
Political games. And I haven’t even graduated the academy and joined the Order.
Daegel wants to use me. I appreciate the honesty, though. That he doesn’t hide his ambition and the reason he wants to help me. It’s refreshing.
I can use him, too.
While becoming the General’s pet human soldier wasn’t my plan, if it gets me protection, power and resources I need…
