Julian left some time after with little more than a wave.
My anxiousness of their meeting meant that I couldn't sit still.
First, I started to clean the kitchen after we finished breakfast. Once that was done, I managed to find a small closet with cleaning supplies. I dusted the downstairs, swept it, then mopped.
"Will you stop?" Naida hissed at me some time after.
I sighed as I sat next to her on the table from that morning. "I can't help it. I clean when I'm nervous. Or eat."
She sighed as if bored. "That sounds like a great idea." Naida waved her hand and a plate of fruit and cookies appeared in front of both of us. "I'll join you," she said as she reached for a cookie.
"Can't you sense if he's okay?" I asked as I bit into an apple.
She shook her head her eyes full of worry. "No, he's too far."
I cursed.
She laughed as she popped a grape into her mouth. "Careful, Emmy. His bad habits are starting to rub off on you."
I laughed. "I don't think I've ever heard anyone curse as much as he does."
She shook her head. "That particular habit was picked up when he lived in the human world. New York in the 1930's or something like that." She rolled her eyes. "He was insufferable after that stint."
"Were you ever in the human world?"
She nodded. "Yes but not recently. I only went there to look for a good time after the Winter War in the early 1900's." She sighed dreamily, placing her cheek in her hand. "Those human men were the bee's knees. So delicious."
I gave her a quizzical look.
She shrugged. "We've come a long way from kidnapping humans to be our concubines. The practice is no longer done." She winked. "They like to invite pretty faces into their beds."
I laughed as she grabbed another fruit from the plate.
"Is that the same war you mentioned yesterday?"
She nodded. "Mmhmm, the one and the same. The same war where I met Axel, my husband. But we were enemies at the time."
I watched her as she continued to pick another fruit. "Did you fight in it?"
She nodded. "Yes. Julian taught me how to fight since I wouldn't leave his sight even for war."
I bit my lip. "Do you think you can show me something?"
She raised an eyebrow. "Is my brother not teaching you enough?"
I sighed. "It's either that or I'm going to eat my weight in cookies."
She gave a large dazzling smile. "I'd be honored." She grabbed my hand and instantly we were in the back of the large home changed into training clothes.
A cushioned mat appeared on the marble floor of the porch in front of us. I touched the mat with my boot and felt it give slightly. It was hard but soft enough that if we were to fall it wouldn't hurt. "I didn't think you'd mean physical training."
Naida picked up her long black curls into her hands putting a hair tie in it as she spoke. "Knowing my brother, he's probably too much of a gentleman to lay a forceful hand on you." She placed her hands on her hips. "Magic is one thing and it's important but you also need to be able to protect yourself physically too."
I shuddered.
She walked to the center of the large blue mat and gestured for me. "Come on, get closer."
