The Iron Butterfly (27 page)

“You will report for practice tomorrow,” he stated slowly, calmly. A faint flexing of his jaw was the only hint I had that he was keeping his temper in check.

“No, I won’t. I’m still practicing, just not with you.”

Kael’s body went still. Something I had seen him do right before he attacked, with deadly accuracy. I was worried. “And you think you can learn more from this person than from me?”

“Probably not, but at least I don’t hate this person like I do you.” There, I threw down the gauntlet. Let him know what it feels like to be hated. I had hoped to anger him, ruffle his feathers, but all he did was smile and turn his head to me.

“Good. You should hate me. But nonetheless you will report for practice tomorrow, and the next day, and the next, or I will go to the Adepts and tell them I withdraw my promise to train ALL of the students and guards. After all, I know for a fact that your Queen, Commander Meryl and the Adepts are very excited that I’m here. It would all be your fault.”

He was right. I know the Adepts were pleased to have a SwordBrother here and would blame me if he left. I think they were hoping he would choose to be Queen Lilyana’s guard. He really was well liked among the students and the staff, even if he was a bit abrupt. I was the only one, as far as I could tell, that he actually detested.

Even Syrani had gotten on his good side after she no longer picked on me. And I was really surprised that he had not yet told the Adepts that I was ditching practice. I had thought the knock on the door would have been them, and I would have hated to get expelled.

Deep down I knew it was too good to last, and I would hate to have the Adepts question his reasons for leaving and to have my name pop up in that discussion. He got me and by the knowing smirk on his face, he knew it.

“Fine,” I said.

“Fine what?” he asked with a grin.

“Fine, I’ll be at practice. So don’t go give your notice to the Adepts. Even though I wish you would disappear. It wouldn’t be fair to the others.”

“That’s good to hear. I’m glad you came to your senses,” Kael chuckled.

“Don’t be. Just because I agree to let you train me does not mean I have to like it. I will actually hate every minute of it. I would rather have my teeth pulled.”

Again he chuckled in an annoying manner. I’m not sure why it bothered me to see the Swordbrother laugh but I was more surprised to see that the darkness surrounding him lighten and then disappear. I was too confused to make sense of it and my iffy powers.

“Thalia, I already said. You should hate me. It’s safer.” And before I could come up with a quick witted response, he was gone.

Chapter 26

Walking up to Adept Kambel’s door I knocked and waited, listening to the sounds of expletives and things crashing over. After a few more bumps and crashes, the door opened. I saw Adept Kambel, wild, gray hair splayed everywhere, and he was squinting more than usual.

“Ah, good, good. You’re here. Now you can help me.” Taking a step back to open the door wider, he crashed into a pile of books and almost slipped on a loose piece of paper that had floated to the ground.

“My glasses seem to have been stolen,” Adept Kambel said, patting himself down as if searching for the hidden item on his body. “I took a nap in my chair and put them on my desk, but when I woke up they were gone.”

Stepping into his office, I had to wonder if this is what his office usually looked like. There were telescopes at every available window, star maps, astrological calendars and many other machines, some I’d never even heard of. You could tell that Kambel’s hobby was stargazing, which seemed kind of fitting for him. His rooms still held the rows upon rows of books that you would think a historic nut would need, and his clothes still sported their usual ink stains. Kambel’s fingers were stroking his gray beard in worry.

Spreading out, I looked around his napping couch and got on my hands and knees to look under it. Working out in a circle from the couch I felt along the floor and under every table and desk. It wasn’t until I heard a twittering noise that I looked up and saw movement along a curtain. I was shocked at the sight of a monkey nimbly crawling along the curtain rod.

“Adept Kambel? Do you have a monkey?” I know it seemed really silly, but this is the first I’ve heard of any kind of pet being here at the Citadel.

“Ah yes, that would be Atticus; a gift from Adept Breah. Nasty little bugger, loves playing tricks on me, but I can’t get rid of him because it would offend poor Breah.”

As if he heard his name being said, Atticus swung down from the curtain and crawled up Kambel’s leg to perch on his shoulder. The little monkey grabbed hold of one of his large ears for support and his long brown tail wrapped around Kambel’s neck and face under his nose, giving the impression that Kambel had a bushy mustache.

“Ah…the worst part is…Ah…” he kept starting and stopping and finally sneezed, then said, “is that I’m allergic to him.”

Atticus opened his mouth wide and blew a raspberry with his mouth as Adept Kambel flailed his arms until his jumped off.

“So I take it,” I couldn’t stop laughing, “that your glasses didn’t just walk off. They literally were stolen by a monkey.”

He looked at me in all seriousness. “Why, of course, they were. You really didn't think I could misplace my glasses while I was sleeping did you? That overlarge, good-for-nothing squirrel stole them.” After I was able to get the chuckles out, I pulled out a chair and started to feel along the top of his bookshelves. When I had checked out two of them and had moved on to the third, I noticed a title of a book that caught my attention. “The King’s SwordBrothers.” Picking the book off the shelf, I flipped a couple pages before I asked if I could borrow it for reading.

“Ouch! You can borrow anything you want if you can find my glasses,” he yelled, rubbing his head where he bumped it on the desk. I was lucky as the glasses were left on top of the very last bookshelf in his study. Stepping down from the chair I handed the silver spectacles to him and he donned them to look at the book I was borrowing.

“Ah, an interesting read, if I do say so myself. There is some of the SwordBrother’s oral history, from their old clans.” He looked at me with some interest. “What makes you want to read that?”

“Extra credit, I figure I need all the help I can get with my studies,” I lied.

Walking over to me, he gave me back the book. “Well then, I think the answers you are looking for are in that book. But beware; they may not be the ones you want.” Walking to his chair, Adept Kambel sat down, his eyes twinkling in excitement. “So what other than a book on SwordBrothers brought you to my door this evening?” Sitting down in his chair he studied me as if trying to see inside of my head.

“Yes, I do have a question.” I was so distracted by all of the fuss with the monkey and excited about finding a book about SwordBrothers that I almost forgot the real reason I came. I was too scared to ask any of my teachers during class in case I was made fun of. Licking my lips nervously, I rushed out my question with absolute zero finesse. “Um, yeah, well, have you ever heard of a Guardian?”

At the mention of a Guardian, Adept Kambel’s face blanked in thought. “No, I haven’t heard of a Guardian. But I’m making a trip to the ruins next month.”

“Ruins?”

“Ah, yes, the ruins are what is left of the King of Avellgard’s Castle after the Denai War. The Denai rebuilt the city of Haven in a new location, miles from the old castle, in hopes of leaving the darkness and taint of the old monarchs behind. Avellgard’s extensive libraries still survive deep underneath the castle ruins. I’m always hoping to find a new tunnel with books and artifacts to study.”

“You think that there may be something there?”

“Maybe. There are many secret tunnels under there where the Denai hid during the war. I’ll see what I can find. How’s that sound?” He looked exited at the thought of excavating and digging through piles of books.

I was a little disappointed that I would have to wait.

“Sounds great! Can’t wait to hear what you find.” I plastered a fake smile over my disappointment and closed the door after me.

Chapter 27

I showed up for practice the next day but made sure I walked in three minutes late. Kael just growled at me to pick up a weapon and start warming up. The next few days were the same. On the days we actually used power in the Arena, which were few, I would be physically exhausted by the time I reached practice with Kael. I wasn’t sure if it was because I was new to using power, or if it was because it took longer for me to recover than everyone else. But either way, today was not a good day. I was beat and in no mood for sparring, and I couldn’t tell anyone why.

I was excelling at archery. Joss no longer worried about me getting hurt and was oftentimes the one cheering me on the loudest during our shooting competitions. Kael always looked dissatisfied with my results, or angry. Well, he usually always looked angry when he was around me. Swordfighting wasn’t my strength and he took great pleasure in flaunting it.

“Watch your footwork!” he yelled. “Too slow.”

Breathing heavily, I dodged Garit’s downward swing and spun to my right, bringing my practice sword up to strike his side. But Kael was right and I was slow. Garit anticipated my move and easily blocked my swing with the flat of his blade.

“You’re not concentrating!” Kael yelled.

“I am too,” I grunted back as I went on the defensive and did all that I could to keep Garit’s sure swings away from me. I was constantly moving around the ring, trying to stay away from the edges. But I was just dancing to Garit’s tune, and he already knew all of my moves. He disarmed me in the next two moves. I watched in dread as my practice sword hit the dirt, sending a little dust cloud into the air.

Kael’s shadow encompassed my view as he stood over me. “Not good enough. Garit, Thalia, again!”

“I can’t,” I said.

“You can and you will,” he ordered, kicking my sword over to me.

Garit moved to the middle of the ring and waited for me.

“No, I won’t.” Grabbing the wooden sword in anger, I flung it across the yard and walked away. Silence filled the training yard in my wake.

Watch out.

Faraway spoke and I saw through his eyes at the last minute Kael move behind me for an attack. Turning quickly and kneeling, I swept me leg out behind me to try and knock him off of his feet. Kael jumped over my leg swipe easily, landing on one leg and sending a sideswipe kick my way. Jumping back, I retreated again.

“See! You won’t engage in combat,” he taunted. “You keep running from it.” He threw a fake jab at my head and I ducked and circled him again, backing away. Kael’s lip went up in a knowing smirk. He was right; even now I was letting him lead me back toward the training arena. He made a motion and Garit tossed a practice sword to both of us.

“Come on, Thalia. Fight back,” he argued. “You will never overcome anything if you keep letting yourself be the victim.”

“I don’t let myself be the victim,” I retorted.

“Yes, you do. During the training exercise, you fought from a distance. A bow and arrow can only help you so far. You would never have survived the exercise, if it weren’t for me.” Rushing me, Kael swung at me. I blocked and moved away. “You would still be a prisoner if it weren’t for me.” Moving around to block my retreat, Kael tried to egg me on into fighting.

“You’re weak!” he spat. “Pathetic. This is a world where only the strong survive, Thalia. And you will never survive if you can’t engage in combat.” My arms felt like jelly as I tried to continue fighting him, but he was both stronger and faster than me.

Looking at him as he verbally attacked me, I felt the truth of the words sink into my soul like an anchor, and my body felt like it was encased in lead. Kael changed the grip on his practice sword, a signal that he was about to do a dangerous finishing move. “You have to learn to rely on yourself.”

The world seemed to slow down, as I waited, counting the seconds off in my head, my sword at the ready. Knowing Kael, this would be a feint for the head and then a stab for the heart, and he would expect me to block it. Tensing, feet planted squarely, I waited in anticipation.

Rushing me, he brought his sword up the same time I brought mine up one handed, chest height, blade parallel with the ground, glinting in the sun. When he pulled back to stab for the chest, I made eye contact with him and I could see the puzzlement in his eyes as he moved to thrust the blade forward the same time I let go of mine. Smiling, I watched his eyes widen as my sword fell to the ground, and the momentum of his powerful thrust brought the sword toward my chest.

Closing my eyes, I waited for the thrust of the sword followed by the waves of pain I expected to come. Instead, I opened them to see Kael, eyes wide and staring at me, breathing heavily as drips of sweat beaded across his brow in nervousness.

Glancing down, I saw he held the pointed practice blade mere millimeters from my heart. It took a lot of skill and concentration as a fighter to be able to pull the strike that close to the target.

Smirking at him, I couldn’t help but taunt him. “I can’t be made a victim if I’m not afraid to die.” Pulling power slowly toward me, I concentrated it on the sword and made the blade shatter into a dozen pieces, using power to shield Kael and me from any damage. Kael looked at the wooden handle left in his hand and grinned.