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I could do this, I could fight. I could show all of them that I wasn’t sick.
So then why did my entire body feel as though it was going to turn inside out? This level of panic was not me. I looked to the Boy, but he only stood there, his thumbs moving over the back of my hands as he prompted me to breathe. It was enough.
“I can do this,” I said, and he nodded, prodding me on. “I will show her how strong I am. I will show them all that I am not weak.” He nodded again, his thumbs still softly moving against my hands.
“I am not the person she tried to beat me into. I am amazing and strong, and it's time she sees that.” I was firm, the words so close to what I had screamed at her.
His hands squeezed mine as he pulled me into him, his arms wrapping around me. The weight of his hand against the back of my head, against the thick braid that Aeinya had pulled my curls into was something like a promise as we stood there. As every part of him rattled against me, his heat moved through me and my heart stuttered. The knots of nerves that had been tangling in my gut rose into my throat as he held me there, the crowd erupting in what was clearly the end of that match.
The third match.
I was up next.
By the Goddess. Why had I thought this was a good idea? Even if Aeinya had paid whoever I was facing not to use their magic, even if I could somehow get mine to cooperate, there was no way this was a good idea.
He pulled away, those knots dropping right down to my legs, tangling everything on their way down. I couldn’t breathe, couldn't move as the announcer relayed the winners and the losers.
“I can do this,” I said again, although that time I wasn’t sure I believed it.
The Boy nodded and held his hand out to me, his palm flat as he held something. A small circlet of what looked like white and red thread was coiled against the black leather. The threads were intricately woven in a twelve strand design; shapes and patterns woven through it in something that was far too complex for how dainty the band was.
I stared at it, unsure of what it was before he grabbed my hand, quickly sliding the small bracelet onto my wrist and tucking it under the leathers. The second it touched my skin that same feeling from last night raced over my skin, the shocks and zings turning into a fire.
It wasn’t thread. It was hair. Fae hair.
He had clearly stolen some from the training arena and, thankfully, washed it.
He touched the spot where he had hidden the bracelet, then his heart, then mine. A gift. He had made me a gift.
“Thank you,” I whispered, staring at the spot where it was vibrating against my skin.
He nodded once, his hand again moving to the bracelet before making a motion that was clearly magic, and then something he had used before.
Wait.
“Wait to use my magic?” I asked, piecing together his message as he nodded in acknowledgement.
“You said before not to tell Aeinya?” In fact, he had seemed quite firm about that.
Again, he repeated the motions, before gesturing to the arena, and then placing his hand against my heart again.
“Wait to use the magic?” Again, a nod. “When the time is right?” Another nod.
I would have asked him when the time was right, when I would know, but I think I already knew the answer to that.
The last minute, when everyone would think me dead.
Well, it would make sense to wait until then. It was also risky, especially seeing as I didn’t have even an ounce of control over the power and the one and only time I had knowingly produced even one explosion of power I had also passed out.
The last minute was probably the only time I would be able to call the magic.
His hand lingered against my heart as the announcer's voice echoed again.
“Our next fight, Lix from the Kingdom of Spryv, and The Keeper of Sun.”
This was it. This was the moment when everything was going to change. I would make sure of it.
“Thank you,” I whispered again, pulling his hand from my chest and placing my lips against his knuckles. “Thank you for everything.”
