Nights of Fire & Ash

Chapter 15

"Harder, hit me harder. I know grannies who hit harder than that!" Caythan chanted at me as we worked on my hits. I threw an elbow at him, connecting with his forearm. The impact sent a jolt through my bones. "Oh, come on. I saw that one coming from a mile away. Why haven't I seen any of those moves that Heldius taught you? Too scared?" I kicked to have it blocked again.
I grunted as he caught one of my jabs to his left. Finally, I snapped and launched myself enough to kick Caythan in the back.
"There we go, princess. About damn time I see the real you. I never thought I would get her out of you." I went to trip Caythan except he stepped away. "I think you've proven yourself. Let's practice other things."
He walked over to the wall of weapons. Finally, he had me sparring with my fists and kicks for weeks now. We had only been working on physical forms so far because as Caythan put it, "I couldn't lift a dagger let alone a sword."
I had put every bit of motivation I had into getting stronger and gaining strength.
I found myself exhausted every night and starving as we sat down to eat dinner. I was barely able to read before bed. It was only 2 hours I had every day to work with Caythan, but it made a huge difference.
I had muscle where I used to be just skin and bones. My stomach was no longer soft and flabby. It was like looking at an entirely new person in the mirror.
"Let's practice your stance. I want you to take your sword and place your hands just like this. That one on top and put it under the guard here. Hold on to the grip." Caythan guided my hands. "Now, you're going to hold it like this and guide it through these stances."
I watched as Caythan demonstrated each position and where to put my feet. After the first set, I followed him.
"Okay, so this, and now what?" I set the heavy sword down again.
"You keep doing these for the next 30 minutes, and then, we will do this until you can hold that sword without your arms wobbling like cooked noodles." I looked at his muscular arms and back towards mine.
This is going to be a long ass week.

I crawled into bed a few nights later without any strength in my bones. My muscles ached with every movement. I couldn't even drag myself downstairs to eat dinner. The thought of even lifting my arms to push the button to go down the lift sounded like absolute torcher. Caythan was taking the next few days to go to the Spring Court, so I wouldn't see him for a few days. Thank the gods, I couldn't stand to go through another day of moving my sword from position to position.
"Miss Raeva, aren't you going down for dinner?" Echa popped her head in the door.
"No, no, I can't even think about those stairs. I can't even wrap my brain around the possibility that I will have to lift my fingers to push a button." I rolled onto my back and stared at the ceiling. "Caythan said that he and the King were gone tonight. Can I please eat dinner up here?"
I heard her chuckle lightly.
"Fine, fine. I have seen you working your butt off. I will bring it back up." She sauntered off, and I heard her light laugh as she left the room.
Of course, she would find this funny.
I laid in bed and listened to the sounds of the birds chirping and rustling of the leaves in the summer breeze. It was so peaceful and calm here. A few minutes later I heard a soft knock at the door. It slowly opened.
"Oh, Echa. I can't even manage to get my crap together to stand up. Can you help me into the bathtub?" I moaned.
"Uh, well, I guess I can." I heard a male voice say. I strained to sit up, and my muscles screamed in response. I looked with wide eyes to see Makiel standing with two trays of food.
"Oh, I, uh, what are you doing here?" I stuttered. We had barely spoken since my outburst after our kiss those weeks ago. That kiss had been so amazing until I ruined it.
"Echa said that you needed dinner, and I offered to bring it up. I didn't want you to have to eat alone." He took a few steps forward, and I moved up to the top of the bed.
"You don't have to do that. I bet that it would't be all that much fun. I just want to get dinner eaten and lay down."
"Well, let's do that." Makiel climbed in the bed next to me. He gave me my tray, and we ate together in almost near silence.
After the meal was over, Makiel was getting ready to leave, but then, I grabbed his hand.
"I know that I've been pushing you away, but I don't think that I want you to go." I held his hand, and he stared into my eyes. His brown eyes with those hints of green just grabbed my soul. It tugged on me.
"I don't want you to feel like I have to." Makiel said. His leg hung off the bed like he wasn't sure.
"I just need a bath. Please, stay." I held his hand and gave him a small tug. I smiled at him. I scurried off to the bathroom and ran myself a hot bath. I slid into the bathtub and did my best to soap myself as much as possible. I hissed at the pain as I tried to reach my hair.
"Are you okay?" Makiel called through the door.
"Uh, yeah. Just not going to have clean hair. It's okay. I'll be all sweaty and fine." Trying to reach my head one more time, I dropped my head backwards and rested it on the edge of the tub.
"Can I come help?" Makiel stuck his head in, just enough for me to see his chin.
"I don't want you to see me naked." I blushed at the thought. I looked so strangely lankey and boyish. I didn't want him looking at me and thinking the same horrible things that I do.
"I promise, I won't peak at all. I just want to help you wash your hair." I looked down at the water. The swirls of soaps and oils in the water made it, so he couldn't see in the water.
"Fine." I sighed. "Just my hair."
Makiel stalked towards the bathtub. He slowly gathered my hair out from under my neck and started to scrub on my hair. He worked his fingers throughout my hair and all over my scalp. I opened my eyes to stare into his. In that moment, it felt so intimate to have his fingers in my hair and have him doting over me. He smiled at me and put a little pressure on my head to let me know that I should dunk into the water. He continued to rinse my hair out until it felt clean and fresh.
After he left, I dressed quickly and made my way to the bed. Makiel waited for me there, and then, he started combing through my wet hair. By the end of the night, I was laying next to Makiel. We laid next to one another and slowly drifted off to sleep.