Burning Key

Chapter 34

Chapter 34

After spending so much time training her magic, it took Dessa almost an hour to get back into physical training with her sword and dagger in hand. That warmup took another hour, though, because of the male training her.

The night before, Dessa and Elys stayed in their respective rooms...after she had to kick him out of hers around midnight. She didn't want to chance anyone – mainly her father or baby sister – coming in and finding them lying in bed with limbs tangled together. He got one kiss goodnight before she pushed him out of her room and toward his door.

"Go to bed," she told him, shoving him across the hallway.

Elys stuck out his bottom lip in a pout. "I'm not going to be able to sleep. I've already had one night where I couldn't have you in my arms. I don't want another."

"You're back in your own bed after weeks of not being home."

"You're not in it, though."

Dessa pinched the bridge of her nose. "Gods above..."

She didn't know how it was possible, but he pouted even more.

"Go to bed," she told him again. "I'll see you in the morning."

"And I take pride in knowing that you will be just as grumpy as I'll be because you can sleep without me either."

A laugh burst from her. "We'll see about that," she told him, then dropped her voice to a whisper. "I love you."

Elys's pout disappeared...and he quickly rushed across the hallway, took her face in his hands, and kissed her again. "I love you, too, Dessa Jai."

However, the following morning, Dessa didn't want to be the one to first admit that Elys had been right. She didn't sleep well, couldn't find a comfortable position in her bed, and all she wanted was to snuggle up beside Elys and fall asleep in his arms. After about two hours of tossing and turning in her too large bed, she finally fell asleep until the sunlight peeking through her curtains woke her up.

After taking a quick shower, magically drying her hair and braiding it back into two thick plaits, she dressed in her training gear of black leather pants and boots with a flowy white top that she tucked into the waistband. The necklace Elys had given her rested against her chest while she fastened her dagger sheath to her thigh and her sword across her back.

No one else was up as she went down to the kitchen to grab some buttered toast and an apple, eating both as she made her way outside into the training courtyard. Usually, there would be guardsmen there doing their morning workouts, but they had the morning off. Dessa definitely didn't mind it. The alone time in being able to stretch out some of the aches in her muscles and just be outside in the early morning light had her sighing in contentment.

Until a throat cleared behind her.

Grinning, she didn't need to turn around to know he was there.

"Good morning," she smiled, leaning her face up toward the sky, feeling the slight breeze whip through the courtyard.

"Not a good morning. I slept like shit," Elys grumbled as he walked up behind her.

Dessa laughed, opening her eyes to peer up at him, seeing his grumpy face upside down. "You were still sleeping a little while ago when I got up."

"Not a good sleep," he huffed, then leaned down to kiss her forehead. "But from what I'm getting from you, it wasn't for you either."

"You might be right."

"Mark this down on today's date, Princess Dessa Jai Deverell Ayveri said I, Elys, Seer of Ikreus, was right," he called out to the empty training space. "And yet no one is around to hear the words!"