Ah, the same treatment I received from Nora when I was a child. Although tough and harsh, it was the only way I’d listen
and get my pompous little prince head out of my own ass.
“AGAIN!” she yelled in Ornella’s face, and I could see the princess wince.
She held the sword upwards and then with one swift movement, brought it down toward her left. As if she were cutting an
opponent in front of her. Again, and again and again. I lost count how many times she did the movement. Eventually Nora told
her to bring the sword back up and from her left shoulder and down towards her right leg. The same movement in reverse.
Swordplay was often like a dance, there was a lot of footwork to be done along with hand movements. Ornella however—
although good in a ballroom, appeared to have two left feet when it came to swords.
“Continue that movement until I say stop.”
Nora left her to join me and took the glass of water from my hands, draining it. I dared not to say a word as I knew right
now Nora could have easily taken me.
“You look like death warmed up,” she whispered under her breath, taking in the bags under my eyes. Changing the subject
swiftly, she added, “I may not have time to teach her how to become a great fighter, but she will be good enough to at least
escape should she ever need to.”
“Do you think she has any magic?” I had to ask.
“The Crystal Fae bred out their magic abilities a long time ago. If she has any, it would be deeply buried within. However,
sire, I do not see it or feel it.”
One of Nora’s many talents was sensing when magic was in the air. She was the first one to tell my parents of my gifts
when I was just a babe. She’d also been the one to teach me a few skills, how to vanish and reappear using my shadows. For
her to not sense anything on Ornella told me enough.
“I watched her run her hand through candle fire. She was unburnt and injured.”
“She is a Crystal Fae. Her line is protected from harm in the form of light. The fire most likely sees her as kin. That is my
best guess anyway.”
Maybe that was it. It still didn’t explain the blood ability to open the portal though. We had many concerns, like an army at
our doors and her inability to hold a sword but the portal and her blood were the most worrisome.. If that portal were to open,
we were all doomed.
“His majesty will take over for a moment. I must step out.”
My eyes flew at Nora as she grinned, but she didn’t give me a chance to decline or say anything before she slipped out
training room. I would make her pay for that later.
Ornella stopped moving, I could hear her heart beating faster as I looked at her, surveying her. She swallowed hard before