Page 42 of The Kingdom's Reckoning
Laurince snorted and crossed his arms. "I’m not so sure about that."
Involuntarily, Myra’s attention flicked to the captain’s muscles straining against the cotton fabric. She swallowed hard and quickly forced her attention back to Rian as she silently sent another prayer to the gods, this one for purely selfish reasons.
"I don’t know if I would have the courage," Rian said.
"That’scourage?" Laurince asked, striking the sky as he pointed to the small figure. "You just said it was idiotic!"
Myra muffled her laughter with her hand.
"Of course it is. But if that doesn’t prove he cares about her, what would?"
Laurince’s gaze narrowed, and his nose twitched. "Are you still in love with her?"
Rian’s face twisted, and a wave of muddied feelings washed over Myra.
"I don’t know if I ever wasinlove with her," Rian said. "I cared for her—as much as one could in such a short timeframe. But to say I was in love with her would be taking it a step too far. Don’t you think?"
Myra pursed her lips and shrugged as Nyrri headed toward the clouds. "I don’t know. I don’t think there is a schedule that love abides to. With the right person at the right time, it could happen in the blink of an eye." Realizing she had said the answer aloud, she ripped her gaze from the flying pair. Her two companions stared at her, dumbfounded.
"You really are something, aren’t you?" Laurince asked, perplexed.
Myra wasn’t sure if it was a compliment or not, but she decided to believe it was one. She knew she loved easily. She had always been a hopeless romantic, one who often chose the wrong man. Armen, her last love interest who had introduced himself to her under a different name, had been a spy for the Pontians and disappeared the moment he and Myra had arrived in Pontia. Many people would have sworn off love after that, but Myra wasa glutton for punishment. As she stood there, she couldn’t help but hope that one day someone would love her enough to fly after her.
If the war didn’t kill me first.
The thought rushed over her like a bucket of ice-water. She blinked away the fantasies and wiped the sweat from her palms on her thighs.
"Did you know she was going to run?" Rian asked her.
"Run?"
Rian nodded. "That’s what she’s doing, right? Running away?"
"Kallie wouldn’t run. Not this time." Myra was certain of it. If she knew Kallie, the princess would be running straight toward King Domitius.
"Then where is she—" Rian gasped. "She wouldn’t."
Myra didn’t bother voicing a response. Whether Rian and Laurince harbored ill-feelings towards Kallie or not, they all were there when she had suggested a trade.
Rian looked at Laurince, eyes wide. A silent conversation passed between them, but before Myra could analyze it further, Laurince brushed his hand through his hair and said, "Come on. Let’s get back to it."
Myra tipped her head back and groaned.
"Arms up, feet apart," the captain instructed.
"This is useless, you know," Myra whined, her body already protesting. They had been practicing positions and movements for over an hour. She hadn’t even picked up a training sword, yet her body screamed when she bent her knees, her thighs aching. She would be even sorer come morning.
"The ability to defend yourself is not useless," Laurince argued. "Now, come on. Just like we practiced."
Pouting, Myra grumbled and shifted into the stance Laurince had made her learn when they were on the run.
"If I have to spend hours reading, you can spend an hour training," Laurince said.
She glanced at Rian, who had returned to his own training. "I know you said research was not his strong suit, but maybe arithmetic is actually the captain’s weak point. It’s already been an hour."
Rian snorted, the longsword nearly slipping from his hand as he struck the training dummy.
"I’m more than happy to call it a day if you can run through the movements without falling flat on your ass," Laurince challenged, tucking his hands beneath his crossed arms.
