She bit her cheek and hooked a damp strand of hair behind her ear. Pendric was leading her back to the barrels and racks of practice equipment. A sign that they were done for the day. She was grateful. She didn’t want to admit it, but she wasn’t even sure if she could make it back to her cabin without assistance. She was definitely going to be sore in the morning.
“Oh, some old retired sword instructors living in my hometown,” she said nonchalantly, hoping that would satisfy Pendric’s curiosity.
It didn’t, which was apparent in the look he gave her, but he must have sensed her reluctance because all he did was nod.
“They taught you very well,” he said.
The captain of the guard took a breath to say something else, but his attention was caught by something over Jahrra’s shoulder.
“I look forward to seeing you again tomorrow, Miss Jahrra. Perhaps, I should be trying to talk you into training my men for me.”
He winked at her again, then turned to walk away, limping slightly but whistling like a songbird in summer.
Jahrra furrowed her brow, then turned around to see what had encouraged him to send her on her way. She was rather surprised to find her guardian standing in the shadow of one of the barracks buildings, his wings neatly folded against his back, his focus entirely on her. This was the first time she’d seen him before sundown, for every morning when she woke he was already gone. What was he doing hiding in the shadows along the edge of the practice field?
Taking a breath through her nose, Jahrra turned back to look for Dervit. He, too, noticed the huge dragon sitting near the edge of the road. He hadn’t had a chance to practice yet, what with Pendric’s challenge, so she waved him on as Erron tugged at his sleeve. Dervit gave Jahrra a half smile and waved back before joining the young boy and his friends. Before turning back to Jaax, Jahrra looked for Keiron. She just wanted to let him know she would probably be walking home on her own, but he was nowhere to be found. Oh well. She could tell him where she’d gone in the morning. Or maybe Dervit would.
Taking another breath, she moved forward, smiling at the young men and women standing around, waiting for their turn in the rings.
“What are you doing here?” Jahrra asked when she reached Jaax.
He gave her his characteristic smirk and said, “Thought I’d see what you’ve been up to while I’ve been busy keeping Morivan’s ego pacified. Are you heading back to the cabin?”
Jahrra nodded. She had plans to grab a clean set of clothes and head off to the women’s bathing house at the end of their block. Now that she had a chance to catch her breath, she could almost feel every grain of dirt and patch of sweat on her skin.
“I’ll walk with you part of the way. I need to do one more perimeter check before evening falls.”
Jaax’s tone had grown harder, and Jahrra glanced up at him.
“Have you detected anything?” she asked, worry tinging her voice.
Jaax shook his head and let out a huff of breath. “No, but that’s the problem. The Red Flange just disappeared. I managed to wipe many of them out, but not all of them. And they couldn’t have fled so quickly. I suspect they are using their dark mages to work some magic against us, but I can’t tell what.”
“Did you ask Ellyesce?” she pressed.
Jaax nodded. “He’s been trying, but apparently the natural magic in the black stones of the wall is making it more difficult. It is such a primitive power in that dark granite, and it works on an entirely different level than the one Ellyesce uses.”
Jahrra didn’t like the sound of that, but there was nothing she could do. Only hope that whatever the Crimson King had planned, his army wouldn’t be able to breach the wall.
Ready for a change of subject, Jahrra cleared her throat and asked, “So, were you surprised I won?”
“Not at all,” her guardian answered matter-of-factly, pausing to let a flatbed cart carrying timber pass by. They had wound their way around a cluster of buildings and now waited to cross one of the city’s busier roads.
Jahrra arched an eyebrow at him.
“Really?” she said disbelievingly.
Jaax cast her a sidelong glance and nodded. “Of course. I expected as much from the best fighter in Lidien.”
Jahrra stood there for a few seconds, completely stunned. What did that mean?
A break in the traffic gave Jaax the opening he was waiting for. He immediately stepped out onto the wide avenue and headed for an open patch of lawn growing between the space where two smaller roads met. Jahrra had to jog to catch up. It took her a bit longer to detect the barely contained humor in the lines of Jaax’s face.
When it finally dawned upon her what his words meant, she felt the blood drain from her face. She stopped dead, almost getting run over by an elf cutting the corner with his horse. He shot her a rude remark but she didn’t hear him. The sound of the blood roaring in her ears was too loud.
“How, how did you know?” she breathed.
Jaax, who had slowed to a stop as well, studied the talons on his right front foot. “Please, Jahrra, I’m the leader of the Coalition, well, ex-leader. There wasn’t a soul living in Lidien who didn’t know who I was, or who you were. And so many of them loved to report to me what you were up to.”
This time, she gasped out loud, anger suffusing her voice. “You spied on me?! Outside of the classroom! It was bad enough you coerced me into signing up for classes taught by Coalition members!”
At that moment, Jahrra wanted nothing more than to walk right up to her guardian and kick him as hard as she could. He was so insufferable! But kicking a dragon would only result in a broken toe for her.
“Jahrra,” he said, his tone sharp, “I did not spy on you. People saw what you were doing and regaled to me what a well-trained fighter you were. One day I decided to see for myself, so I came and watched you.”
Jahrra dropped her face into her hands. He had watched her take bets and fight strangers in the park. She had thought she was being clever; thought she could hide her secret way of earning extra money, money she ended up spending on him. And he knew about it. All along, he knew!
She wanted to scream at him, but when she did speak, all that came out was a garbled, “And you didn’t try to stop me?”
“No,” he said simply, his head tilting just enough so he could regard her with one silvery green eye. “I was proud of you.”
His voice had grown very quiet, and sincere, far more sincere than she could ever remember. Jahrra forgot her internal turmoil and looked up at him. And for just a small moment, he reminded her of Hroombra, looking upon her with enough pride to fill up the whole world.
Jahrra had to fight the tell-tale sting of tears. He was proud of her. The almighty Raejaaxorix, the hero of her childhood and the bane of her youth, was proud of her. To earn that level of admiration from someone like Jaax was something she thought impossible. Suddenly, Jahrra didn’t think a simple thank you was enough. Instead, she sniffled back her emotion and said with a shaky smile, “You know, I used the money I won to pay for your spirit stone ring.”
Jaax returned his attention to the busy road. “I know,” he murmured. “And that is why I never take it off.”
He turned to glance over his shoulder, giving her one last smile before unfurling his wings and lifting up into the sky.
In the handful of minutes that passed, while Jahrra stood there, still reeling from her guardian’s revelation, another astonishing fact hit her: It had been Jaax who’d wagered a month’s salary on her fight with the captain of the guard. It had been her guardian who had absolutely no doubt she could take on the best Cahrdyarein had to offer, and win.