Awake (5 page)

“Ready?” she asks pleasantly, though still showing a hint of hesitancy by the way her eyes dart around and she wrings her fingers together.

“Yes. I am very eager to begin training.
”
I can already feel the adrenaline pumping in my veins and the need to fight coursing through my body. A stray thought crosses my mind: I hope we pass Holly in the hallway. Would it be worth it to be locked in one of the queen's paintings over killing one of her favorite warriors? Maybe. I smile to myself.

Glancing at Willow, I can tell my energy is contagious. She has an extra hop in her step, and her frown has turned to a smile on her face. We remain silent as we quickly make our way through the castle, both eager to see what awaits us. I still glance at the paintings on the walls, but for the first time I am not completely distracted by them. Instead, I am focused on navigating my way through the maze of hallways as quickly as possible without getting lost.

After one final turn, we reach a closed set of large, wooden double-doors covered in carvings of warrior fae in different battle poses. The detail is beautiful and fearsome, so detailed and intricate. I study them closely before listening. There is no noise coming from within the room, which indicates just how thick the doors are. I reach out to push one of the massive doors open, but Willow stops me with a soft hand on my shoulder. She then waves both open palms in front of her, causing the doors to swing slowly inward. This is the first time I have seen Willow use magic. The ease with which she has used it surprises me, and I realize then how powerful she must be. This makes me wonder for a moment why she is only a servant but then my thoughts scatter when the door finally opens all the way.

Willow motions for me to step inside. I turn toward her, intending to ask if she is coming, but stop when I notice the group of fae standing on the other side of the room, one of them staring at me. Dressed in full battle gear, and wearing all-leather clothing for better protection against knife and sword wounds, he appears ready for a fight. In his hand he holds a deadly-looking sword with a deep blue blade, and his features remain fierce and intent. As much as I do not like to admit it, he is also one of the most handsome fae I have ever seen.

With pale skin that almost glows in the light, chiseled features, and sinewy muscle, this fae is undeniably beautiful, making it difficult to look away, but a movement at my side draws my attention. Willow stands there, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. She has her hands knotted before her and her head bowed. By her sudden shift in behavior, I know she did not miss my reaction to the male fae across the room.

“Willow?” I ask softly, waiting for her to return her gaze to me before speaking again. She has pink tinged cheeks, and her eyes will not meet mine. “Are you okay?”

She glances at the fae then back at me before staring at the ground once again. “Umm…yes, I think so.” Her voice is soft and fragile.

So only she is able to hear what I say, I lean closer and whisper, “That is Gideon, is it not?”

She nods her head but still does not make eye contact or speak.

“He is very handsome. I understand why you might think I would like him.” I wait a moment for her to look up at me.
“But I assure you, I am
not interested in him at all.” I stare directly into her eyes and put as much emphasis on the last part of my statement as possible, hoping she can see and hear the truth.

“Really?” she asks in disbelief.

“Yes, really,” I reassure her again.

“But you can't know for certain. You haven't even met him yet. You've only seen him. That alone stopped you right in your tracks.” She lifts her chin, daring me to deny her observation. I like the small amount of spunk I am finally sensing in her. I make a mental note to try and coax more of that out of her if I remain here longer.

“Yes, I admit I was a bit stunned when I saw him, but appearances are not everything. And the simple fact that my friend has already told me of her interest in him takes away any possibility for an attraction to develop." I pause for a moment, giving my words a chance to sink in before I continue, "You are my friend, Willow. I would never be interested in someone you already care for.”

The sadness finally fades from her eyes, and a bright smile takes over her face. She reaches out, taking my hand in hers before squeezing it softly. “You truly are a good friend, Poppy.”

Initially, I fight the urge to pull away when she touches me, but I overcome the instinct and squeeze back, smiling in return. “Shall we?” I ask with a nod toward Gideon and all the other fae on the other side of the room. All of which are now staring at Willow and I. There are only five of them along with Gideon, but they appear quite intimidating standing together. I glance at Willow again, who is still hesitant, but she nods her head, giving me the okay to proceed.

As we make our way across the room, I gaze around, taking everything in. The massive room has the overall appearance of the rest of the seelie castle. Beneath our feet lies a beautiful light blue marble floor with veins of white and silver threading throughout it, making it sparkle and glint in the natural light, almost as if tiny crystals are scattered on it. White walls with intricate molding along the top and bottom surround us, accented by massive, white marble columns in each corner. This room remains beautiful like the rest of the castle, but the absence of paintings and flowers is obvious. In fact, it is completely bare of any decoration and seems to be sectioned off into different areas. By looking at the sections, I can assume what each is used for, but I am sure Gideon or one of his friends will insist on showing me. I smirk a little at the thought. As different as the fae are from humans, there is still one very distinct similarity. A lot of male fae, especially warriors, do not think too highly of female fae training and becoming warriors. This group will likely not be any different, and I cannot wait to prove them wrong.

After scanning the room, I return my attention to the awaiting group. Gideon and his friends stare at us as we walk toward them. They all appear to be studying us, some with narrowed eyes, and others with surprise or interest. I almost roll my eyes at the ones with interest. My action immediately makes me think of Reed and all the bad habits I seemed to have picked up from him. Not only do I find myself resisting the urge to roll my eyes but I also find myself questioning everything about my life; My friends, my upbringing, and even the ways of my court. These thoughts of course stir up memories of my dreams and of Reed. I know the two are related and desperately wish to find out what they mean.

I am pulled from my thoughts though as we finally find ourselves standing in front of Gideon and the other fae. By the gazes still on me, I realize that while my thoughts were wandering, the room remained silent and we were being studied. The silence did not bother me before, but now it is getting awkward, and I am sure it is probably making Willow nervous. She is not used to being noticed at all, much less holding the attention of six male warrior fae. I squeeze her arm before whispering, “It is okay.”
She glances up at me, I wink back at her, and she takes a breath before smiling back.

We both then turn our attention to Gideon, who offers a friendly nod before breaking the silence. “Well, hello, Willow. Who's your friend?” I'm not surprised to hear Gideon's voice sounds smooth and confident. However, the musical tone that echoes both soothing and peaceful in my ears, does surprise me. I had expected arrogance or mockery.

Willow glances up at him but then looks away before speaking. “H…Hi Gideon. Th…This is Poppy.” She motions with her hand between the two of us. “Poppy, I would like you to meet G…Gideon.” Her voice started out small and quiet, but she pulled herself together when giving the queen's order: “The queen wishes for you to train with her today.”

Gideon offers his hand for me to shake. “It's a pleasure to meet you, Poppy.” I stare at his outstretched hand for a second, considering not shaking it, but push the thought aside. Although I am not a fan of being touched, I do not wish to be rude; especially when I know he and the queen are both being unnecessarily hospitable.

I quickly grasp his hand before releasing it just as fast. “Nice to meet you as well, Gideon.” Looking around the room, I say, “This is a very impressive training room.”

“Thanks. We're proud of this space. Would you like me to show you around? I'm sure you're familiar with most of this, but I wouldn't be a good host if I didn't give you a proper tour.” He offers a polite smile and continues, “Then we can begin training.”

I offer a return smile, once again hiding my surprise at the fact he is not only polite but apparently aware of who I am and what I can do.

“Yes, that would be fine.”

Gideon turns to Willow and asks, “Are you going to stay and watch the training today?”

She is startled by the invitation and unable to speak, so I do for her. “Yes, she will. Once we are finished here, we have matters to attend to. Right, Willow?”

Willow continues to stare at us for a moment before she is able to find her voice. “Yes. I would enjoy watching. Where can I sit?” She glances around for a seat.

One of Gideon's friends steps up immediately. “Follow me. I'll show you.”

“Thank you.” She smiles at me before following him over to a wooden bench, set over to the side of the main open floor. Thankfully, it appears to be out of the way of any possible danger during training; although I know there is a bit of fire somewhere inside of Willow, I am quite sure she will not turn out like Rho has, displaying hidden combat capabilities and a warrior's toughness. Willow will need to be protected.

Once seated, she looks up at me, offering a small smile and wave. I wave back and then turn my attention to Gideon, who waits patiently by my side.

“Shall we?” I ask him, nodding toward the closest area of the training room.

“Yes.” He smiles and offers his arm for me to grasp. I hesitate once again, but he has been very pleasant; I do not wish to offend him. After I place my hand lightly at the crook of his elbow, we walk toward the area I indicated.

“You seemed surprised when I said you were probably familiar with what everything was. Why?” Gideon once again manages to surprise me with his question and his insight.

“Well, most male fae do not view females as equal. Often I am treated as if I do not know what I am doing—until I prove myself, that is.”

“Ahh,” he says as if he understands, which I doubt, but when he continues, he proves me wrong. “You will find the seelie court very different from what you're used to. The queen doesn't judge anyone of her court by their gender, age, or social status. She bases her opinion on a fae's individual abilities, honor, and personality. The rest of the court follows her example. We are not quick to judge and only do so on what we are shown by the individual.”

I raise my eyebrow, giving him a disbelieving look.

Gideon raises one hand in mock defense and chuckles lightly. “Trust me. You'll see. We try to be fair and understanding. We don't judge or criticize unless warranted, and we try to help each other before we even do that. The seelie court is almost the complete opposite of the unseelie court.”

Although he did not
mean to offend, I
cannot
help my snappy retort: “Well, your court is apparently perfect. I am very aware of the ways of the unseelie court and do not like being put into the same category as them, but that does not mean I am okay with a seelie fae speaking ill of them."

We reach the first training area. As we stop, Gideon turns to face me. His cheeks are a bit pink from embarrassment. “I apologize, Poppy. I'm not trying to offend you."

I raise my eyebrow once again
, surprised by his
quick apology. “Thank you for the apology, I appreciate it. Maybe it would be better if we discussed your training areas and then began training.”

He clears his throat, glancing over to where his friends were standing. His cheeks grow pinker, and I realize he is not used to being brushed off. If female fae are always chasing after him or intimidated by him, like Willow is, he would not typically be embarrassed in front of his friends. A lot of fae do not realize how similar we are to humans. Most fae do not travel to the human world like I do, so they are not able to see how the humans interact with each other and live their lives. It reminds me of when I saw Reed surrounded by the human girls at his surf shop and how upset they became when he brushed them off.

I feel a little guilty at causing his embarrassment, but making friends and forming relationships is not what I am here for. It would be best for him to understand this now. I take a step toward the training area, hoping Gideon will take the hint and begin to explain things to me. He does so quickly. “As you can see, this is a basic sparring area. There are mats on the floor and on the wall closest to the area for the protection of not only our warriors but the room as well.”

I nod as I gaze around, taking everything in. The floor mats are firm but will provide enough cushioning so no one is injured during training. The wall mats are more for the walls' protection, meant to prevent someone from being thrown through and causing any serious damage to the structure. “I like this. What is next?”

Gideon clears his throat and gestures to the area on our right. "If you proceed this way, I can show you the weapons area.” I follow behind him a few feet over to a similar area, except here the walls are not covered in mats but lined with tall, narrow, wooden cabinets all made of a beautiful red mahogany. Gideon waves his hand at the cabinets, whispering a spell to unlock the fae magic keeping them closed and safe from those who are not permitted to touch them. Once he is finished, the cabinets all open and display at least two of every weapon I have ever seen in battle, along with a few that are unfamiliar to me.

I step closer to the first cabinet, but stop and look back at Gideon for permission. I do not want to overstep my bounds, which, in my excitement over being able to train and seeing these beautiful weapons, I know I could easily do. The last thing I want is for him to report back to the queen that I was disrespectful and revoke my training privileges.

Gideon nods in approval, so I continue to the first of what must be twenty cabinets. The weapons within are stunning. Each one was obviously made with care and consideration. Sleek and shiny blades lead down to handles intricately designed with obvious care and over a long period of time. I reach out so I may run my hand down the side of the blade of a beautiful sword. The thin blade at the tip becomes thicker as I make my way toward the hilt. The deep blue color matches, like the night sky. I can even see a slight sparkle along the blade that reminds me of stars winking at me. The hilt of the sword is made of ivory containing small notches like the craters on the moon.

I had been so enchanted by the sword I had not heard Gideon approach. “A special fae created this sword. It is said to give the true owner the stealth of the night, the sight of the stars, and the knowledge of the moon. With this weapon, he or she would have enhanced abilities allowing them to move quieter, see better, and know better how to attack.”

“Its true owner? Do these not belong to the queen and her army?”

“Well, yes, until they find their
true
owner.” Gideon reaches past me, his arm brushing mine to pull the night sword down. He begins turning it over in his hand studying the weapon as he explains. “All of our training weapons were fashioned by special fae, fae that have a keen sense for the materials used to construct the weapons. They can sense which pieces to use together to maximize the weapon's ability. They also claim to listen to the earth when making them, following the instructions they are given. Because of this, they are made with the intent of belonging to one fae specifically. Together they would become the perfect match. The magic within the weapon will mix with the magic of the fae, and together they will become much stronger, enhancing what natural fighting abilities they already possess. All of these weapons will be used at some point during training by each and every one of our warriors. The queen wishes to match each fae with a weapon in hopes of making her army stronger.”