Mother.
“Where is Nic this morning? I half expected to see him sitting here laughing at my expense.”
Sitting down on the wooden bench, I rested my aching limbs for a few minutes, knowing Vanessa wouldn’t give me much
respite before pulling me into another battle of her kicking my ass.
“He’s with the council. That’s all I know. He will be gone most of the day. He did say you are to entertain yourself until he
meets you for dinner.”
Perfect. I’d have some time to write my letter and head down to the dungeons. I needed to see Kathlyn and Hector, who
Nicholas refused to set free. It broke my heart even if Kathlyn had betrayed me. I was just glad he hadn’t killed them as he said
he would. I still cared for her despite the betrayal. Hector, to no fault of his own, didn’t deserve to be locked away.
“Run the course for me and then we will work on your defence and then we will see if there is any hidden magic inside
you.”
“Magic? Don’t be silly. Nicholas already said that it was doubtful I possessed any abilities. If I did, they would have
manifested by now.”
“Even still, I want to see for myself.”
Nodding at her request, I was back on my feet and running the course in the training room. I ran across thin pieces of wood,
swinging my sword to attack a dummy stuffed with hay, while dodging Vanessa as she threw blunt daggers at me—many hitting
me on the arm or leg—and then swinging myself across a pretend body of water. She made me do it a number of times before
giving me another break. Then we started to work on honing my potential magic abilities.
Exhausted by the time the afternoon sun hit the sky, I collapsed on my bed, sweating and aching from places I didn’t even
know I had. My ears rang and my head banged like a drum.
No magic, and even if Vanessa acted like it was perfectly fine, I could see the disappointment in her eyes. If I wasn’t good
at swinging a sword or firing an arrow, magic would have been the next best thing.
She said tomorrow I would learn hand to hand combat to maybe help me in a fight. Otherwise, it would be just escape and
survive as best as you can.
I felt useless. Annoyed that Norok was offered this kind of training from the moment he could walk. All I was given was a
pen, a book, and lessons on how to be a good wife and princess.
Ridiculous.
Whatever happened next, I would make it my mission to at least learn how I could use a sword as I would have liked to run
it through my uncle.
S neaking down to the dungeons was a lot harder than I thought it would be. For the most part, I had no idea where I was