The Space Between

Chapter 3

The thoughts of anger and curiosity were almost too much for Fenrys to wrap his head around. He knew that Rowan and Aelin didn't mean him any harm by not telling him about Abilyn, but he was hurt to know that he had spent so long trying to heal after everything that happened during the war and she was here this whole time. The happiness of the event alone might have been enough to speed up the process.

He also was a bit relieved that he didn't know her as a child because here she was, pulling him along by that hand out of the palace and into the forest, and he couldn't help but feel comfort at the fact that she knew what had happened during the war and what he had done and still felt comfortable enough with him to take him by the hand.

"You sure are quiet, aren't you?" Abi asked on one of her many glances back at him. Fenrys dropped her hand then and walked slightly faster so that they were side by side.

"Not normally. I'm just trying to get my thoughts in order." He gave her a soft smile, trying to show her that it was not she who he was upset with.

"Okay good, because if you were to be silent this whole time I might have torn my hair out."

"Why? Don't most women like a quiet man?" The smile that Abi gave him made pride build in his chest. He wasn't sure why making her laugh did such a thing.

"Gods, not me. I would throw myself off a roof before laying in bed with a listener. Not that listening or anything is bad. I am actually a very good listener. I just- Oh gods I just insinuated that I wanted to bed you. That is not- I am going to stop talking now." She buried her face in her hands. Fenrys waited a moment to see what she would do next. He hadn't expected the daughter of Aelin or Rowan to get so flustered with talking to others.

She peeked her head up after another moment of Fenrys' silence, his shoulders moved on their own with a laugh, and before he knew it they were laughing together, her hand reaching out to his shoulder as she caught her breath

"That is not what I thought you meant. If anything I was the one to be forward, not you." He reassured her, patting the hand that was still placed on his shoulder.

The force that threw him to the ground was fast and unexpected, his breath leaving his chest as his back collided with the forest floor.

"I didn't realize your time away would have made you slow Fenrys, or were just distracted by the princess to realize you weren't alone?" Fenrys recognized the voice immediately, and would have been able to pick it out of a crowd of thousands. Slow and smooth, deep and dark, just like his power.

He looked up to see Lorcan Salvaterre standing high above him, arms crossed over his massive chest, looking disapprovingly upon Fenrys.

Abi reached out her hand to help him up, rolling her eyes at Lorcan.

"You boys cant go five minutes without a fight can you?" She asked after Fenrys had recovered.

"I wasn't made aware we would be having guests today." Loran stared Abi down, waiting for her response, where the question was Fenrys was not sure. But, he had known Lorcan back when he was his commander and he knew his looks could mean more than any words he said.

"He just arrived and I didn't have time to give you notice, but today I will be training with Fenrys here." She took Fenrys by the shoulders and moved him stiffly past Lorcan. Fenrys looked back to see Lorcan almost growling at Abi, and Abi flashing him the biggest smile. So this must be a normal occurrence of their training. Lorcan telling Abi to do something and her either doing the opposite or blatantly not listening.

She took the training seriously or she wouldn't have been able to pin him to the ground. Lorcan was a good teacher, but Fenrys wondered how much his patience had grown from when he was training Maeve's lackeys. Back then he wouldn't have batted an eye to giving a beating to whoever was doing the action Abi was doing right now.

"How is his training going to be any better than mine?" Lorcan asked, still staring Abi and now Fenrys done.

"He can do something that you can't. I have already learned how to access the magic you have so you can only help me with combat." Abi stopped then and turned Fenrys around so that they were basically standing chest to chest. She was only looking at him now, and wondered where the girl who had just buried her face in her hands had gone. "He can teach me to winnow."