Wiping his eyes with the back of his hand, Janco said, “Gee, Ari, and you were worried about her. ”

“She’s learned a new trick since coming to Sitia,” Cahil said. He was leaning on the training yard’s fence, and must have watched the match.

Ari’s posture turned defensive and alert as Cahil moved to join us. Armed with his long sword, Cahil wore a loose sand-colored tunic and brown pants.

After I introduced Cahil, Ari still didn’t relax. He kept a wary eye on him. I hoped Ari and Janco didn’t recognize Cahil’s name. Names of the dead King’s family were not mentioned in the Commander’s history books of the takeover, and if the older citizens of Ixia remembered, they kept it to themselves.

“What trick?” Janco asked.

“A magic trick. She anticipated your every move by reading your mind. Devious, isn’t she?” Cahil asked.

Before Janco could respond, I said, “I didn’t read his mind. I kept my own mind open and picked up on his intentions.”

“Sounds like the same thing to me,” Cahil countered. “Leif was right when he accused you of using magic to beat me that time we sparred in the forest. Not only devious, but a liar, too.”

I placed a hand on Ari’s arm to keep him from throttling Cahil. “Cahil, I didn’t need to read your mind. Truth is you’re not as skilled as Ari and Janco. In fact, they taught me to find that zone of concentration, or else I never would have the chance to win against them. There is only one person I know who could take them on and win without any help,” I said.

Janco considered. “One?” He scratched at the scar in his right ear, thinking.

“Valek,” Ari said.

“Oh, yes. The infamous Valek. I’m sure his lover would think that highly of him. Or should I call you his spy?” Cahil stared at me in challenge.

“I think you should leave. Now,” Ari said. His voice rumbled close to a growl.

“This is my home. Thanks to Valek. You leave,” Cahil said to Ari, but his eyes never left my face.

Janco stepped between us. “Let’s see if I have this right,” he said to Cahil. “Yelena beats you, so you want a rematch, but you think she’ll use her magic instead of her fighting skills to win. That’s quite the quandary.” Janco pulled at his goatee. “Since I taught her everything she knows, and I don’t have any magic, thank fate, how about you fight me? Your long sword against my bow.”

“ You taught her everything?” Ari asked.

Janco waved away his comment. “Details, details. I’m thinking big picture here, Ari.”

Cahil agreed to the match. With a confident expression, Cahil assumed a fighting stance then attacked. Janco’s bow blurred and he unarmed Cahil within three moves. His mood didn’t improve when Janco told Cahil he needed to use a lighter sword.

“She helped you,” Cahil said to Janco. “I should know better than to trust a bunch of northerners.” Cahil stalked away with the promise of a future encounter flaming in his eyes.

I shrugged his comments off. Cahil wouldn’t ruin my time with my friends. Challenging Janco to another match, I swung my bow toward him, but he blocked it with ease and countered with one of his lightning-fast jabs.

The three of us worked together for a while. Even connected to my mental zone, Ari still beat me twice.

Ari grinned. “I’m trying not to project my intentions,” he said after dumping me in the mud.

The daylight disappeared in a hurry. Tired, covered with layers of mud and sweat and smelling as if I could attract dung beetles, I longed for a bath.

Before Ari and Janco headed back to the Citadel, Ari put a large hand on my shoulder. “Be extremely careful. I don’t like the way Cahil looked at you.”

“I’m always careful, Ari.” I waved and aimed my sore body toward the bathhouse.

The cooling season was ending; I could see the Ice Queen constellation glittering in the clear night sky. The half-moon glowed like a jewel. Only six days until the full moon. I shivered in the cold air. The puddles would be frozen by morning.

My thoughts lingered on Cahil and how fast our relationship had changed back to those first days when he had believed I was a northern spy. A full circle. I reached for my snake bracelet, spinning it around my arm.

Only when I noticed that the campus seemed strangely empty and quiet did I look around for my guards. Used to their presence, it took me a few moments before I realized that they no longer followed me.

Pulling my bow, I searched for attackers. I saw no one. I drew power to project my awareness out, but a bug bit me on the neck, and, distracted, I slapped at it. My fingers found a tiny dart. The hollow metal end dripped with my blood.

I lied to Ari. I wasn’t careful. I had trusted my guards to keep me safe. Hundreds of excuses for my lapse churned through my mind as the world around me began to spin. No one to blame but myself.

Unfortunately this acknowledgement of my own stupidity didn’t prevent the blackness from claiming me.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

A sharp pain and a burning numbness in my shoulders roused me from sleep. With a rank taste in my dry mouth, I glanced around. Nothing looked familiar. And why was I standing? Not standing, but hanging. Looking up, I spotted the reason for my position. My wrists were manacled to the ends of a long chain that hung from a thick wooden beam in the ceiling. Once I put my weight on my feet, the pain in my shoulders eased somewhat.

Studying my surroundings, I saw rusted shovels and dirt encrusted hoes lining the wooden walls. Spiderwebs clung to dull-edged scythes. Dust coated the tools. Sunlight filtered in through small cracks and holes, illuminating what I guessed to be an abandoned shed with a muted light.