Raelia (The Medoran Chronicles Book 2) (23 page)

“You can’t be serious!” she cried.

The sharp whistle of steel through the air told her that he was indeed serious.

Her instincts compelled her to duck out of the path of the blade. “You’re going to kill me!”

“Just concentrate,” he told her. “Open your mind and listen.”

“Stop telling me to listen.” She jumped back when she felt him lunge towards her. “And let me fight you fairly, with a weapon and no blindfold. You’re Meyarin—you’ll still win.”

“If you have a weapon, you’re more than welcome to use it,” he said. “And if it makes you feel better, I’m just as blind as you.”

“What!” Alex shrieked, dropping to the ground and rolling away from another attack.

Was he honestly fighting her blindfolded as well? Oh, she was
so
going to end up skewered.

“Can’t you feel it, Alex?” he asked, and she sensed his weapon stab towards her again. This time she was too distracted by her fear, and the blade nicked her arm, causing her to hiss as it grazed her flesh.

“I certainly felt that,” she said. “Too close, buddy.”

His voice was amused when he said, “Buddy? Really?”

“You haven’t given me any other name,” she said, jumping backwards when his blade swiped at her again. “And what exactly am I supposed to be feeling?”

“
Everything
,” he told her reverently. “Let your instincts guide you.”

“What do you think I’ve been doing?” she huffed. “Building a submarine?”

“You’re not letting go completely, Alex,” he said. “Listen. Feel. Experience.”

Alex stopped moving, ducking only when she felt the blade swing at her again, and tried to centre herself. A few times during their ‘experiment’ she felt what she thought he was talking about. It was a natural instinct that took over and guided her to move in ways she didn’t understand but still made sense. The feeling had so far been sporadic, and the rest of the time she’d just been plain lucky. Now that the Meyarin had a blade, their game had changed, and she was more than ready to even the score. It was time for her to take an offensive position and test the limits of her senses.

When Alex felt him come at her again, she crouched down to avoid the blade and swept her leg out, using his own trick to hook her limb around him and knock him off his feet. It half worked, and she sensed him stumble to his knees, but he
recovered quickly and sprang back up, renewing his fight. She twirled around him, dodging another swipe of his blade, and when she sensed she was behind him, she jumped onto his back, wrapping her legs around his torso and reaching down until she held his weaponed arm. But his strength was too much for her and he effortlessly detached her from his body throwing her over his head and onto the ground.

She hit the mat harder than expected and the fall dazed her, taking away all her ‘listening’ skills. By the time she came back to full awareness, all she knew was that there was a blade flying through the air, straight towards her head.

Alex didn’t have time to move out of the way; all she could do was raise her arm to protect her face and hope that the Meyarin would pull back after he realised he’d hit flesh. But the blinding pain from her wrist being amputated never came. Instead, there was a metallic clang as steel met steel.

Alex’s shock almost caused her to drop the weapon that was now in her grasp and blocking the other blade from slashing through her body. Where had it c

“You’ve been holding out on me,” the Meyarin said, and Alex could hear the anticipation in his voice. “Now we can
really
experiment.”

Alex didn’t have the chance to tell him to stop. She felt the strength behind his blade ease for a fraction of a second before he lunged towards her again, prompting her to roll out of the way and jump to her feet, raising her weapon in front of her.

It was then that her entire perception of the world changed.

She still couldn’t see anything, but she didn’t need to. Everything else was magnified. She could hear, feel, smell and taste the air around her. Her senses drew together a perfect picture that she couldn’t have seen with her eyes open. She was suddenly
aware
, and it made her feel powerful. Invincible. And
when the Meyarin sliced his blade towards her, she met his attacks over and over again.

They lunged, they parried, blocked and deflected. They spun, jumped, ducked and twirled. Alex gave as good as she received; never before had she felt so capable with a blade. In the end it was her human weakness that ended their fight, but only when she became so breathless that she could barely draw air into her lungs.

“Enough,” the Meyarin said. “I think we’ve proved my hypothesis correct.”

Alex collapsed to the ground and panted heavily, dropping her weapon to the side. A moment later the Meyarin released her blindfold, and she winced at the painfully bright Myrox barrier surrounding them.

Only when her companion sat beside her did she notice that he was also affected by their workout. His breath wasn’t anywhere near as ragged as hers, but he was definitely drawing in more air than normal.

“Why are you winded?” she asked, continuing to suck in deep breaths. “You’re Meyarin.”

“And you just fought like one,” he told her with a brilliant smile. “That was incredible, Alex.”

“What do you mean?” she asked stupidly. Their fight had seemed like a whirlwind to her, but that was mostly because she’d been blindfolded, right? Her sense of, well, everything had just been distorted… Right?

“My hypothesis,” he said, “do you want to know what it was?”

“Definitely,” she answered without hesitation.

“I wanted to test whether the dormant Meyarin blood in your veins—Aven’s blood—could be utilised.”

Alex felt her slowly calming heartbeat pick up speed again. “What are you saying?”

“Alex, I believe you can choose to access Aven’s Meyarin characteristics because of his blood that resides in you,” he said. “But whether or not you can only do so under duress is yet to be seen. That’s why I blindfolded you—sometimes we rely too heavily on what we see and miss out on opportunities to have faith in what we feel.”

“But you couldn’t see either,” Alex reminded him, her tone thick with accusation at the memory of his risky actions.

“I’ve participated in many similar exercises before,” he assured her. “I wouldn’t have let any harm come to you. There was one potentially dangerous situation you faced, but you surprised me when you drew your own blade to save yourself.” He glanced around the mat and added, “Your weapon sang beautifully. May I see it?”

Alex raised her eyebrows at his wording, before looking down to where she’d dropped her blade. But there was nothing there.

“I… Uh… Um…”

She had no idea how to answer, but fortunately he smiled at her and said, “Don’t worry, I’m not going to take it from you. You handled it so well that you’ve earned the right to keep it hidden, if that’s your wish.”

He rose to his feet and offered her his hand. Since every muscle in her body ached, she was grateful for the assistance.

“We’d better return to the others,” he said, pressing the coded rhythm into the mat again to lower the barrier around them. “I’m sure they’ll be curious about what we’ve been doing.”

“What will you tell them?” Alex asked, following as he led the way back to the small group waiting at the other end of the massive training room.

“Just that I wanted to witness your fighting ability for myself, without prying eyes.”

“You don’t want your, uh,
companions
to know about your hypothesis?” she asked, not quite sure how to label the other Meyarins, one of whom was the king. “Don’t you trust them?”

He turned to look at her as they walked. “It’s not
my
companions I don’t trust.”

Reading the implication in his words, Alex opened her mouth to defend her friends, but he continued talking.

“I know I don’t have any input over what you say and do, Alex, but I strongly advise against telling anyone what we just discovered. If Aven learns about the abilities he’s inadvertently given you, he’ll stop at nothing to get to you.”

“He’s already pretty desperate to get his hands on me,” Alex said. “It’s no secret that he wants me dead.”

“True as that may be,” the Meyarin said, reaching out and bringing her to a halt, “if he learns the full threat you pose to him, he’ll be more desperate than ever to keep you from ruining his plans.”

“Me? A threat to him?” Alex released an incredulous laugh. “Are you mad?”

“The blood in your veins allows you to use
his
immortal abilities—not general Meyarin characteristics, but Aven’s
personal
genetic traits,” the Meyarin said, his face solemn enough to instantly erase Alex’s disbelief. “Your strength, your speed, your heightened senses; you draw from the essence of Aven’s blood when you access those characteristics inherent to the Meyarin race. The connection between you two, even with the bond severed…” He trailed off and shook his head, looking at her with compassionate eyes. “Alex, you’re not like his other Claimed victims. You
share
his power. How much of it, only time will tell. But the potential you possess will paint you as a threat, of that there is no doubt.”

Alex once again felt like she was going to throw up. “But I’m not—I’m not powerful. I’m nothing like Aven—I’m just me.”

“I’m sorry, Alex,” he said, his voice gentle. “But it was definitely his power I felt leaking out of you when we fought. That much is true.”

“But—But I’m not Claimed anymore!” she said, almost hysterically. Then she gasped. “Wait—does that mean I’m like you now? That I’m immortal? That I’m not
human
anymore?” Heart pounding, she continued blurting out her spiralling fears. “You said I can access the Meyarin characteristics, but that doesn’t mean I’m, like, doing it all the time, right? You said the power is dormant in me… right?”

“Alex, breathe.” He sent her a comforting look. “You’re definitely not Claimed, and you’re definitely human. You could choose to never tap into Aven’s power and live a perfectly normal life. If you do decide to test the limits of the blood in your veins, you’ll still remain mortal because you are no longer bound to Aven’s life force. But if Aven learns that his power lingers in your veins, he’ll either want to kill you more than he already does, or he’ll want to find a way to manipulate you to further his own plans. That’s why I believe the knowledge of your blood should be kept between as few people as possible. To keep you safe… or at least, safer.”

Alex took a moment to let his words wash over her until she forced herself to be calm again. Only then did she say, “But I trust my friends. I don’t keep secrets from them.”

“Please, Alex,” he said, his expressive eyes begging her to understand. “Don’t let them know about your blood. At least not until we know more.”

Alex could see nothing but genuine concern in his gaze— concern for her. So, despite how difficult it was, she nodded her agreement. “I won’t tell them for now. But I reserve the right to do so in the future.”

He released the breath he’d been holding and smiled. “I can accept that compromise.”

And with their agreement, the Meyarin resumed walking.

They were almost back to their companions when Alex said, “After all that, are you still not going to tell me your name? You did nearly decapitate me, you know. Surely that earns me something.”

The Meyarin chuckled and glanced sideways at her. “It’s Roka.”

Roka. Cool name.

… And one that Alex had heard before.

She strained her thoughts for some kind of recognition, and finally a hazy memory came back to her.

“
Prince
Roka?” she choked out. “You’re Aven’s
brother
?”

He laughed at her reaction but didn’t have a chance to respond before they reached the others. Her friends must have heard her exclamation, since the three of them were staring at the Meyarin with wide eyes.

“Is everything all right?” the king asked.

Alex couldn’t help but stare at Astophe, searching for the similarities between him, Roka and Aven and finding few. Roka had his father’s bearing and kingly stature, but his dark hair must have come from his mother, while Aven shared the king’s golden locks. As far as Alex could tell, the only thing both Aven and Roka had in common were their eyes, but they didn’t inherit those from the king, either. The remarkable colour should have clued Alex in much earlier to Roka’s identity, but she’d been a tad overwhelmed by everything else to note the minor resemblance between him and his brother. For all she’d known, golden eyes were the norm in Meya. And there was little else in Roka’s appearance—or character— that was mimicked in his evil sibling, at least from Alex’s perspective.

“Everything is fine,” Roka assured his father, and Alex wondered why they’d been asked the question in the first place.
But then D.C. walked over and prodded her arm where the Meyarin’s blade had bit into her flesh, causing Alex to wince.

“You’re bleeding,” D.C. stated. “Why are you bleeding?”

“More interestingly,” Jordan said, “why is
he
bleeding?”

Alex followed his gaze and was surprised to see a few small cuts along Roka’s arms that glittered silver. She must have nicked him with her blade, as unfathomable as the idea was. She glanced at him apologetically and wondered what the punishment was for drawing blood from the crown prince of Meya.

Roka’s face lit with humour when he saw her expression, probably figuring out where her thoughts were leading her. He tried to reassure her with a smile, but it did little good since the other Meyarins were also staring at the wounds on their prince.

“We’re both perfectly fine,” Roka repeated. “I merely wanted to experience Alex’s fighting skills for myself. And you were right, Zain. She’s impressive—for a human, anyway. But she still has a lot to learn.”

“How did she injure you?” Kyia asked curiously.

“I was blindfolded.”

While the answer was enough of an explanation for Alex’s friends, the other Meyarins looked at Roka dubiously. Their super-senses would have allowed them to hear the conversation between him and Alex as they’d walked back across the mat, so the Meyarins would have heard all about Aven’s blood in her veins. Curiosity was splashed across their beautiful faces.