starfall. [ Rhysand ]

XXI

the training.

After dinner, Rhysand couldn't shake his thoughts about everything Alexis had revealed. He yearned to winnow to Hybern and confront the King for his actions. The fact he had touched Alexis and held her captive to find a way to kill her, made him feel sick. His anger kept him awake, along with the other unsettling revelation Alexis had shared.

The prior night as they bid each other goodnight once dinner had ended, Alexis had remained at the table, staring at her untouched dish, her desire to speak apparent.

"Is there something more?" Cassian had inquired.

"I believe the King is concealing a secret weapon," she had confessed, nervously scratching her hands. She had not wanted to say out loud for two reasons. The first one was because they were going to probably think she was crazy. While the other reason was that she too did not want to say it because it was going to make it more real and it scared her. There had been something malevolent going on between those walls and it was not just the king and the Cauldron "I could sense it all around me, watching me."

Amren, who had warmed up to Alexis during dinner, since before that she thought she was a mere weaper, had asked, "What do you think it could be?"

"Not a it but a person, a powerful one," she had whispered, her gaze fixed ahead as if her own thoughts had transported her back to that gruesome week.

Another mystery surrounded her escape. When Azriel questioned how she managed to flee from Hybern's castle, she admitted she had no idea. One night, she awoke to a loud noise, her cage was open, and the guard slain. A trap door in the prison floor stood wide open. As she stepped out, someone grabbed her arm and winnowed her to the woods, the same place where Rhysand had found her.

Rhysand was tormented by countless questions. Would Alexis ever be safe? Who was the enigmatic, powerful person? Had they also been the one to free her? Probably not since Alexis sounded so scared by the negative power that the mysterious person exuded.

Rhysand had barely slept, spending the night tossing and turning, contemplating how to steal the Cauldron from the King.
He felt trapped, first by Amarantha and then by Hybern. Mentally drained and despondent, he almost dragged himself to the training room. But then, before even laying eyes on her, he sensed her presence. She was there, in the training room with Cassian, and in that moment, it felt as though he would willingly endure those 50 years of torment all over again if it meant finding her in the end. Suddenly, everything felt worthwhile.

"Found something interesting?" Azriel's voice pulled him from his thoughts. Rhysand, lost in Alexis, hadn't noticed Azriel approaching him.

"Nothing," Rhysand replied casually, but Azriel saw through him. A small smile tugged at the corner of Azriel's mouth as he observed what had captured Rhysand's attention: Alexis, clad in tight leather trousers and a matching corset, closely listening to Cassian's words.

"We'll start with the basics," he instructed, before Cassian could finish the sentence, Alexis swiftly assumed the stance, and her readiness surprised him.

Alexis had placed her right foot forward and her left one behind to managing balance while her hands formed into a fist with her thumbs out. The first few times Lucien started teaching her how to fight, she kept forgetting to leave the thumbs out as it came natural to hide them behind the four fingers.