Page 164 of The Eye of the Fifth
‘Ignore her,’ Mankar said with a slight roll of his eyes.
‘I’ll reserve my warnings for someone who heeds them, then.’
‘Not helpful, Zuri.’
Innocently, Zuriel said, ‘I only came to watch Kyra’s progress.’ Her eyes glittered with amused malice. ‘Your skills were atrocious the last time I witnessed them. Before you cheated with Warden magic, of course.’
‘Don’t make me regret my apology,’ Kyra warned. Shortly after the Fire Warden’s initiation into the Eternal Order, Kyra had found Zuriel and managed to, however sheepishly, grind out a rather embarrassed apology for what had happened in the crypts.
Her response had been nothing more than a short and bitter,okay.Kyra hadn’t spoken to her since.
‘I never needed a pitiful apology,’ Zuriel said indifferently. ‘Though I think you might find more use in practising your magic rather than tussling in the snow with this brute. You know, save breaking someone else from the inside out by accident.’
Kyra almost told her tofuck off,but Mankar beat her to it, in his own way. ‘You healed just fine, Zuri,’ he said dismissively, then leaned an elbow on Kyra’s shoulder. ‘Train with us. For the record, Kyra is a much better student than you ever were.’
His voice was light and jesting, but Zuriel bristled. ‘If only all her teachers thought the same.’
Kyra knew she meant Naal.
She’d avoided the Air Warden completely these past two weeks. Had rarely shown up for dinner, had refused Naal’s requests to join her on the Summit to continue their magic practice, instead throwing herself into physical training with Mankar… alongside other physical escapades with Kawai.
Distractions all around.
‘Zuriel,’ Mankar warned in a low voice. ‘You are not helping.’
Kyra had offloaded to him in the fortnight that had passed, finding in him an unlikely friend after sheepishly asking if he would train with her in combat. It was a dance she was comfortable with, a dance that was familiar and one she wasgoodat. She hadn’t told Mankar everything that had transpired in Avaldale, but just enough for him to know that she was tormented by shame and grief. She didn’t want his pity, but to have him jump to her defence was rather heart-warming.
‘I wasn’t trying to help,’ Zuriel said bluntly, then shrugged. ‘Come find me if you want round two, Kyra. See if you can refrain from relying on your untamed magic to win this time.’
‘She is such abitch,’said Kyra angrily once Zuriel had flown away.
Mankar chuckled. ‘She certainly can be.’
‘But why?’ Kyra demanded. ‘Even before theincident,she was a bitch to me. Why? What does she have against me?’
Mankar tossed her the mothsilk cloak. Now they had stopped duelling, the freezing air would swiftly come biting. ‘You want the truth?’ Kyra gave him a look as if to sayI’m waiting.‘She’s jealous of you, Kyra.’
A dark laugh escaped her then. ‘Jealous ofwhat,exactly? Being the worst fucking Warden to have ever-’
‘I thought I told you to stop talking about yourself like that?’
Kyra refrained from rolling her eyes. Aside from Kawai, Mankar had been the only one who had given her the time of day. Maida smiled at her now and then, but nothing beyond pleasantries. And Nysari couldn’t have cared less about her. ‘Fine. What is she jealous of?’
‘Your relationship with Naal.’
She laughed again. ‘She’s delusional, then. Naal and I aren’t exactly the best of friends at the moment.’
Mankar grimaced at that. ‘Zuri has never felt like she belonged here. She is much younger than the rest of us, and though none of us care who sired her, she believes her half-akee blood makes her lesser. She has spent her life trying to prove herself. And when Naal made Nys her Third…’ Mankar blew out a breath, ‘well, let us just say Zuri was not happy about it. At all.
‘Then you came into our lives and I believe she felt like Naal was slipping away from her.’ Mankar’s expression became withdrawn. ‘Her life began in neglect. She knows her father would have killed her given the chance. I think that has always stayed with her. I still do not think she believes she belongs here. As an Eternal. Or even as Naal’s family.’
Kyra said quietly, ‘Naal loves her.’
‘Of course she does,’ Mankar agreed. ‘But Zuri needs Naal’s validation. And though I would never admit this to thepramah…I don’t think she sees that side of Zuri.’
Goddess damn this male. Now she pitiedZuriel.
‘I understand her more than most,’ Mankar said, then hesitated before saying, ‘We were together once. Zuri and I.’
