Page 50 of The Crimson Princess
“Of me?” her brow furrows. “What were you thinking?” she asks, an earnest quality to her voice.
“My mother believed with all of her heart she was chosen as guardian for a reason, perhaps to stop what might have come through the portal in the Earth realm. Or maybe it was all about saving you, to fulfill a greater purpose. So you, Raven, have to go into the Challenge and kick butt.”
Tears brim her eyelashes and she nods forcefully. “I will. I will not let her or you down. I will do something magnificent for our people, to be worthy of her sacrifice.”
I will myself in front of her, and to my delight, and no doubt thanks to Toren’s blood, I blink, and a moment later, I’m pulling her into my arms. “I know you will.” I ease back, my hands on her shoulders. “Now train with me. Show me you’re ready.”
She nods again and we begin to spar, and I manage to shield myself for maybe one second, but it’s long enough to halt her blow. This stuns us both, but she has no idea this is a new skill to me that Toren’s blood has fueled. I don’t dwell on the new gift he’s given me but rather how to keep Raven alive. “A shield is rare,” I say, explaining to her what my mother had to me at one point. “But if you do face an opponent with the skill, a shield only lasts a mere few seconds. It requires extreme and unlikely skill to use it on repeat. The element of surprise, as well as an energized attack, become your best strategy.”
It’s advice I didn’t attempt when training with Toren. I didn’t want to fight him. And I don’t want my gales to fight his vampires.
A long time later, I invite Raven to help me hunt werewolves tonight, as a way to prepare for the Challenge, and she eagerly accepts. When we part ways, and I blink back to the castle, a smile on my face at my ability to do so, and with Mikhail as my witness, he offers me a wink of approval. Not much later, a tray of food is delivered to my room and I eat a big bowl of stew filled withthe cama nuts native to Ravengale, a mix of vegetables, and a hefty amount of beef, a common food for us as well as the Earthly realm. With a full belly, I lay down on my mattress to rest until the hunt, replaying the moment Toren kissed me, the hunger I’d felt for him.My magic will feed your magic, he’d said to me.
I reach out to him, a whisper in my mind.Thank you.
And he replies with,You found your magic?
I blinked and shielded.
I knew you could.
I tuck my hands behind my head.How long will your magic last?
A few days, but now that you’ve awakened your own, you should hold onto the skills. Come to me tonight.
I would,I reply and I mean it. I want to see him. I even feel a need to see him.But I can’t. I’m leading a hunting party of our best men in the forest this evening. And you can’t show up. That would be dangerous for us both.
Come after.
I’ll try. My father is watching me.
Try hard, he presses.
I will, I promise.
We’re silent a moment but I can still feel him with me, as I know he can me with him. It’s him who breaks the silence.There is no one else I would share my magic with, princess. Don’t forget that.
Never, I vow, and then he’s gone. I feel him pull away.
I lay there and replay his words.Don’t forget.In hindsight, they hit me as peculiar. What reason would I have to forget such a thing?
Chapter twenty-three
Thesuncrowdsthehorizon as I join my father and Idris on the edge of the woods, a small group of soldiers mingling just out of hearing range. “I didn’t know you were werewolf hunting with us tonight, father,” I greet.
“I’m not hunting,” he assures me, “but I’d like to know the plan. A werewolf infestation is no small problem.”
One he should have known about and I can’t get that part of this equation out of my head. Was he too busy bed hopping to actually protect Ravengale? Or was my mother the only way he kept a grip on what was going on outside the castle?
“The plan,” I say, “is to kill the werewolves, which is simple enough, but demanding since they’re in excess.” I eye Idris. “I assume you’ve killed your share?”
“I have,” Idris confirms, “but most of our gales have not. We haven’t seen a werewolf in these parts in centuries. I’ve already told them to go for the throat.”
“Their skin is thick,” I remind him.
“They have blades cast with your father’s magic that will do the job.”
“They won’t need their blades near as much if they protect the frostburns. They’ll do a lot of the killing for us.”
