Page 27 of Tarnished Crown
“I think I’ve proved that amply by now.”
“Do you?” He let out a patronizing chuckle, making me wish I had a weapon right about now. “Tomorrow morning, we’ll spar. If you beat me, I’ll give you a weapon. But if I beat you, you have to answer any question I ask. Truthfully,” he tacked on.
I deliberated. I had seen him in action twice now. Once in the sparring ring, and again with the Unclanned, and both times he had been a force to be reckoned with.
All ye need is one good opening to win.My father’s words came back to me, making me weigh the situation a little more.
It was worth a shot, though I wasn’t sure why Evander would bother.
I studied his inscrutable features. “Why not just ask me what you want to know?”
“Because though you’re terrible at it, you seem inclined to lie.”
Well, then.
“I won’t give you any information on Lochlann. Or Elk,” I clarified.
He rolled his eyes. “That would be boring, Lemmikki. I promise not to ask you for anyone’s secrets besides your own.”
That should have been comforting, but instead, it gave me pause. What could he possibly want to know enough to barter for it, if not to give him an edge on Lochlann or Elk?
This time, my hesitation was longer, but finally, I nodded. “Then I accept.”
CHAPTER22
The next morning, Evander and I stood in an indoor training ring in a building off the main estate. I wore one of Mila’s lighter dancing dresses, the sapphire one, so at least I had room to move, even if I had gone numb with cold on the walk over.
It was the most normal thing in the world to train with the men back home. I missed the energy of the sparring rooms; the loud clanging of training weapons, the grunts and laughs of the men fighting, the constant bickering between my cousins and me.
The spirit of competition and…fun.
One of those things was ostensibly lacking from this morning’s activities, though I certainly felt competitive enough. Especially since this would make the difference in whether I was, once again, stuck on the road defenseless.
Evander had dismissed the few guards who were sparring when we arrived, leaving us completely alone in the large, open room. I couldn’t decide which was worse: fighting under the weight of their scandalized stares, or being in here alone with Evander.
He unbuttoned his black military overcoat, revealing a thin cream colored tunic with black leather laces over fitted black trousers. Once he neatly folded the coat and set it to the side, he grabbed two wooden sparring swords...like the kind children learned with.
I leveled a look at him, and he leveled one right back.
Reluctantly yanking one of the swords from him, I moved to the center of the ring to begin warming up.
But Evander had other plans.
He attacked without warning.
Glaring at him, I sprang up from where I had been stretching out my frozen legs to deflect his blade. He nodded like he was reluctantly impressed, and a little triumphant thrill went through me.
Inwardly, I thanked Fia for starting out so many of our lessons the same way.
I braced myself for the same lightning fast attack he had used on Theo, but he kept a moderate pace as he swung his blade toward my torso, my neck, my legs, waiting to see how I would counter his movements.
The bastard was toying with me.
I parried his next hit, then went on the offensive. Keeping my features entirely neutral, I feinted toward his smug face before swinging my blade low, knocking it against his solid thigh with a thud.
Instead of looking irritated, a satisfied smirk played at the corner of his lips. He circled me before attacking again, this time with incrementally more speed than before.
“Playing games now?” I huffed.