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“What?”
“You said–” He stepped back, just a small step, but he caught me off guard. I relaxed. And then he had me. He pushed hard, slamming me back.
I was knocked off guard, falling into nothingness, tumbling down into the dirt. My back hit the ground and all the air was sucked from my lungs.
“You said you weren't real,” he repeated, panting, as he stood above me. “Notreal. Not real like the fae. Like the part-fae. So, what are you then, Princess? Surely youaresomething. So, what are you? Do you even know?”
I glared up at him, struggling to regain my breath, my fists twisting with rage.
He lowered his voice. “Whatever might have happened to you, you’re choosing to fight back. I don’t see how that’s a bad thing. All of life is a fight. There’s no point in avoiding it.” Then he reached out a hand to help me up from the dirt.
I took a deep breath, looking up at him, then swatted his hand away.
The sound of clapping drew my attention. We both turned towards the opposite side of the fence.
Arthur stood there, putting his hands together slowly. A retinue of guards stood just behind him.
“Well done, Captain Draven. Well done indeed.” He looked vastly amused. “And you, Morgan, of course. Well done, too. Though I must say I missed all but that last part.” He let out a chuckle. “Highly entertaining.”
Draven turned back to me. His face had swiftly returned to a mask of blank civility. “Princess? Are we through?”
I pushed myself up onto my elbows, then leapt to my feet.
“How good of you to come and watch, Arthur,” I said coolly, crossing the yard and ignoring the pain from my arms, my back. “Were you looking for me?”
My brother shook his head. “Not you. I came to speak to Dame Halyna about a certain matter. I didn’t expect to see you here. Though, of course, Agravaine has told me how hard you have been working.” There was a glint in his eyes as he looked at me. “I must say, I don’t see how a knight’s skills will serve you as a priestess.”
There had been warrior priestesses in Pendrath in the past. Though they had been few and far between. But one Pendragon queen had commanded an entire battalion of them. Zorya’s Blades they had been called.
I decided not to point that out to Arthur.
“I find the training stimulating,” I said simply. “I need useful occupation.”
“I’d have preferred you found it at the temple, but I suppose you aren’t in any danger here at least,” Arthur said, consideringly. “Surrounded by knights and guards. It’s the safest place to be.”
I swallowed the impulse to say “Safer than in your castle.”
“Yes,” I answered. “Very safe, with the captain of your Royal Guard here to protect me once again.”
“Yes, you do not seem to get on well with Draven. Despite his heroic rescue,” Arthur observed. “Very interesting. I would have thought women might find him an appealing man. But you don’t.”
“He’s proud, arrogant, and utterly detestable,” I said honestly, hoping my face wouldn’t reveal that it was more complicated than that. I couldn’t deny Draven was a handsome bastard. But he was also the most infuriating man I’d ever met. And one of the most brutal.
Had he meant to hurt me? To knock me down so hard? It wasn’t quite sporting, but then, I hadn’t been quite so sporting either when I’d pushed that poor little squire up against the fence.
“And yet, he’s the best.” Arthur seemed oddly delighted. By my failure or my fury at Draven? “Well, you’ve helped settle something for me, Morgan. I must thank you. It simplifies matters.”
“Glad to help, Brother.” I glanced around. Draven had disappeared. I felt a twinge of disappointment. Perhaps he was on night duty. If so, I hoped I had thoroughly worn him out and that he would be exhausted and sore for the entirety of his shift.
“You haven’t joined us in the dining hall for a meal in some time, Morgan,” Arthur observed. “Kaye misses you. Come sit with us tonight.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to ask whether that was the king’s command or my brother’s request, but I bit back the question and accepted it as an order.
“Of course. I’ll be there.”
There was just one thing I had to do first.
“Good. Sit with us. Eat with us. We are your family after all, are we not? After all, nothing can come between blood.” Arthur gave me a thin-lipped smile and I forced myself to smile back.
