Page 21 of Her Ivory Flame

“Sorry to interrupt, but this just came from the King.” She walked over and handed her the folded paper adorned with his royal seal.

She glanced at Silas and she knew he could read the concern on her face. Trying not to rip the paper, she was able to get the seal undone and opened it. As she read it, her heart started to beat faster, color draining from her face.

“What is it?” Silas hesitantly asked.

Raine was still standing near them.

“He’s hosting a Royal Ball in my name.” She could feel her hands starting to shake. “He demands I show and wants me to make a speech in front of everyone pledging my alliance to him. He wants to announce my return to his side publicly to try and sway Mavros into stopping the war.”

She could see Silas staring at her from the corner of her eye. She just came back yesterday and the king already wants to hold a ball in four days. She set her elbows on the table and rested her head on her hands.

“I see his reasoning but he needs to let you settle for a while longer.” Silas’s voice clearly irritated.

“I will make sure to get you a gown made for this, any particular requests?” Raine mumbled quietly next to her.

“Something of Valkyrie customs, lots of skin and make sure it's white with silver coloring as an accent.” If the king wanted her there, she was going to do it her way.

“He won’t like that,” Silas warned.

“I don’t care.”

She got up, nodding to Raine a dismissive gesture and walked back to her bed. She might be living in Emris’s castle, but he was not her king. She would make sure everyone knew she was Valkyrie, and that she would avenge her people.

- - - - - - - -

Spring weather was in full bloom with the sky covered in clouds and threatening rain hung in the air. Kaden was standing in front of her with his hands holding fighting pads, her hand wrapped in bandages to help protect her knuckles.

“Again.” His mundane voice irritated her.

She struck across her body, left hand hitting the right pad twice before switching hands to strike the left once. Sweat soaked her body and her shoulders ached more than the day before.

She had not said a word to him all morning, and only said a few words to Silas before leaving. Her mood was sour, and both males could sense it and stayed quiet.

She did another set of two strikes to the right and one to the left, then switched and did the opposite to help even out her blows. Today she was not going to joke around or try to be friendly. She needed to train hard and she was determined to do so.

“Again.”

“Yes I know,” she snapped at him.

He just stared down at her with a stone expression, not a flinch at her words. He never showed any emotion towards her, but she didn’t really care. The only person left in the world to give a damn was Silas, and it was all her fault.

Left, Left, Right.

“Again.”

Her mind raced with images of her people, her home that was erased off the planet from a betrayal she still needed to figure out. She had already failed in killing Mavros and she was determined to not fail again.

Guilt engulfed her, the sinking feeling in her stomach trying to rise up her throat but she fought it down. She was the reason herpeople were slaughtered, the reason she no longer had a family to love or friends to spar with.

Right, Right, Left.

“Again.”

“I know!” she screamed, her punch hitting hard enough to make him jolt back slightly.

Her anger mixed with her guilt and it started to boil over, making her nerves feel like they were fried to the point of exhaustion. She felt a spark on the tip of her fingers, her magic flashing as a small crack broke in her wall.

She and Kaden stared at her hand for a second, both unmoving and unsure if they actually saw it happen.