A LAND OF FIRE AND DARKNESS

Chapter 23

I could barely sleep that night. I kept tossing and turning as I thought about Delcallon. We had agreed that I would stay and train as long as he did not treat me as his Intwined, and he had.

I contemplated leaving, just climbing down the balcony and disappearing into the night. I lay on my side staring out at the night sky as the snow fell down.

I shook my head and rolled over to face the fireplace. I was not going to run away when I was so close to completely controlling my powers. The fires in the firepit bent as I wanted them to.

It was fine. I was not Delcallon's Intwined, and nothing he said or did would change my mind.

I shot my crossbow and winced as the bolt drifted south of my target once again. I had missed several shots now and it was becoming embarrassing.

"What is wrong with you today?" Laveen asked with a far more bored tone than you would expect.

I looked over at him and arched my eyebrow in confusion.

He sat in the ring sharpening a blade with a stone. He looked up at me and pointed the blade towards me, "I have a feeling it has something to do with Delcallon." He shrugged before turning back to sharpening his sword, "Go Ahead, prove me wrong though."

I clicked my tongue in annoyance as I began loading the bolt again. "He brought up that he thinks we are Intwined." I aimed the crossbow and tried to steady my aim but once I pressed the trigger the bolt drifted too far north away from the dot that was my target.

"Oh, because you two aren't, right?" He snorted with sarcasm.

I snapped my head at him and clenched my jaw. "We aren't." I barked.

He bobbed his head, "Aha." He mumbled out with an unconvinced tone.

"I do not want to be with him!" My head was beginning to boil.

"Not at all." He muttered with sarcasm as he continued to vaguely pay attention to me.

"I tried to kill him," I shouted as I threw the bow to the floor.

He stopped sharpening his blade and looked at the crossbow on the floor. "We all know you picked the steel bolts on purpose." He stated gently as he looked up at me.

I wanted to throttle Laveen. "I cannot stand him! All we do is fight." I spat.

He shook his head, "Are you done?" He asked with uninterest in my anger.

I rubbed the temples of my head and nodded while I tried to calm myself down.

"I completely respect your decision to choose who you are bound to." He began as he leaned his elbows on his knees, "Personally I feel Del is amazing and slightly out of your league."

My jaw clenched as I shot him a deathly snarl, "Then you Intwine with him."

His lips curved up as I snapped my eyes away from the General. He released a heavy sigh.

"Alinta." He stood up from the ground and stepped towards me, "Intwining is not just romantic emotions, filled with astral projections and love." He said gripping my shoulders and forcing me to face him.

I looked up into his auburn eyes and was already certain I did not want to talk about this anymore.

"Being Intwined is a very physical thing." He said with pursed lips. I creased my face at him as he continued to talk to me. "You both are fighting an instinct."

I shrugged out his grip, "What instinct?" I asked with disgust.

He bit his bottom lip while he slowly got out the words, "To mate..." His face morphed into something a bit more awkward.