Page 235 of Onyx Cage: Volume II
I couldn’t quell the small bit of satisfaction that tugged at my lips. In her own stubborn way, she was asking for my help, acknowledging that I was the best person to train her, though I was hardly the only one here who fought with two swords.
Even if standing close to her was painful right now, I would never miss a chance to help her get stronger, let alone when we were in the middle of a war.
I tilted my head in acquiescence, gesturing to the nearest ring. “I am ever at your service.”
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED TWO
Sparring with Rowan was either a very good or a very bad idea.
On the one hand, she was right. I was the best person for the job.
On the other, I had meant what I said the night before. I would support her in literally anything that she wanted to do, except die. It wasn’t that a part of me couldn’t understand what she was saying about choices.
It was that there wasnopart of me that could stand back and do nothing while she was in a position to be hurt.
I didn’t know where that left things, except that endless chasm between us remained, one that was infinitely more painful whenever I was near her.
Then again, being away from her was just as excruciating. Hence, the mixed feelings on sparring.
Rowan took a moment to stretch, and my mind flew back to the first time we did this.
Her crimson braid had been messier than it was now, her jade eyes not nearly as guarded.
It was impossible to forget how breathtaking she had been, standing in a sparring ring in a dress meant for dancing, staring me down without a trace of apprehension.
How she had taken me off guard with her bawdy joke. How desperate I had been to know her better, even as I searched in vain for reasons to hate her.
How even then, I had wanted her to improve, because even then, the thought of something happening to her had filled me with unreasonable, unbridled panic.
Wrenching myself back to the present with considerable effort, I went on the attack without warning, as I always did.
And as she always did, Rowan reacted instantaneously. Her reflexes were quick, and her instincts were solid. If she had been the size of a man, she would have been better than most of my soldiers.
But she wasn’t, so she had to be faster and more skilled to make up for it.
Just as I opened my mouth to tell her she was too high on her left, she attacked with the same kind of unrelenting fury I had seen from her men, only far more intense.
What had she said when we sparred before?I had a lot of anger to work out.
That was clearly true now as well.
She may have wanted me to train her, but part of me wondered if she also just wanted the chance to come at me this way.
I had to work harder than usual to keep up with her, and twice, she hit me on the side.
Hard.
The second time, she came in with too much force. I used the momentum to pull her to the ground, putting my blade to her throat.
“You’re letting your emotions get the better of you,” I told her. “Nothing will make you lose your fight faster than that.”
Suppressing a wince at the echo of my father’s voice, I moved my blade, offering her a hand up. Heat spread from every place her gently calloused fingers touched mine.
When she got to her feet, she was standing closer to me than I realized she would be. She dropped my hand, but she didn’t step back. She only looked up at me, her eyes burning with passion.
“You’re wrong about that.” Rowan’s tone was low, but no less fervent for it. “You can’t just take the emotions out of a situation. Sometimes they’re all you have. Sometimes they’re what keep you going long enough to win.”
She shook her head in disbelief. “You asked me how I raised an army in two weeks, Evander. It sure as hell wasn’t by leaving my emotions out of it. Perhaps the problem is that you should put your emotionsintothings.”