“I was actually hoping to train in my chambers, perhaps in the courtyard? It’s big enough to move freely and it’s also warm because of the orem, not to mention the air is fresh, and the juniper blossoms smell divine, and—”
Grinning, Sandus held up a hand. “No need to convince me further. You had me at warm.”
I laughed. “Just keep quiet while we go through the bedroom. Cailis is still sleeping.”
I hadn’t known what to expect under Sandus’s tutelage, but not using weapons and working on maintaining my balance while standing on one leg in various positions hadn’t been it.
“You do have a natural advantage,” Sandus said as he circled me.
I’d been holding my current position for over five minutes with one bare foot on the ground while my other leg was bent at the knee with my free foot tucked behind my standing leg at the thigh.
“Oh? What’s that?” I panted lightly. In the last two minutes, Sandus had made me lift weights over my head, one weight in each hand as I held my arms aloft. My shoulder muscles were screaming.
“A life of laboring in the fields has made you strong and fit.”
“Despite my recent weight gain?” I retorted. Sweat slid between my breasts. That had happened plenty of times when I’d been tending the fields, but now my breasts had grown large enough that they nearly touched.
“Your weight gain was needed, and considering you made this happen in the past month,”—he held his arms wide, nodding toward the thriving plants and trees in the courtyard—“You weren’t exactly sitting on your arse. No, Lady Seary, you’re toned and strong, and now that you’re a healthy weight, your body is truly ready to start training in earnest.”
I swayed a bit until righting my balance again. Screaming, seriously, my muscles were screaming in agony despite Sandus’s claim that I was in shape. “I thought I was . . . to learn weapons . . . not whatever this is,” I said in between breaths.
He smiled ruefully. “Weapons come later. Balance, strength, and technique come first.” He circled me, tapping areas of my body to correct my form. “Straighten here. Tighten here.” He did another two circles around me, nodding in approval every time I made adjustments.
“Good. Very good. You’re already further along than I’d expected you to be. Your strength is good, your balance is excellent, and you seem to have a natural inclination for technique. Every time I’ve corrected one of your positions, you were able to make the subtle changes with my guidance. Most fae aren’t able to do that without months to full seasons of mind-body training first.” He scratched his chin. “Have you ever trained before?”
I shook my head. “The only training I’ve ever done is to tend fields.”
Sandus clucked his tongue, then stood in front of me. “Whatever the case, I think you’re ready for the basic warmups each warrior does before sparring. I thought it would be weeks until we got into this, but I’m rather impressed by what I’m seeing and think you can do it.”
He finally let me relax my position, and I nearly fell to the ground in relief.
“None of that,” he said with a smile. “Now, watch and learn.”
He demonstrated first, going through a series of movements that involved dipping, swaying, bending, and straightening. His entire body moved with effortless grace, even when he stood only on his hands or bent so low that his chest brushed the cobblestones. It looked like a dance unto itself, filled with positions that, at times, seemed to defy gravity.
“Follow me through each movement,” he said when he finished. “I’ll show the routine to you first, and we’ll go through it until you have it memorized. Then I’ll have you do it with me watching you, and I’ll adjust you as needed.”
For the next hour, we dipped and flowed through a series of connecting steps. I mimicked each and every bend of his knees, twist of his arms, and arch of his back. By the third time through, I caught on enough not to need his guidance, even though I couldn’t fully execute the more advanced moves yet.
He stood back. Arms crossed, he watched me carefully, stepping in when needed to instruct how I should alter my position.
“Very good, Ilara.” A grin split his features. “Are you certain you haven’t had a warrior affinity manifest?”
I laughed, then sobered when I realized his question wasn’t a cheeky one. “Are you serious?”
“I am actually. I’ve never seen a fairy move as you just did with such little training. Only warriors move like that or fae who’ve spent full seasons honing their bodies.”
My heart beat harder when I remembered what Matron Olsander had said yesterday, about sensing something still inside me that had not yet awoken. Something that was still slumbering. And while I’d never been a fighter, there was something about what Sandus had just taught me that spoke to me. As though a connection had just been forged inside me that had always been there but had only needed a guiding hand to make the path.
“I don’t know,” I finally said. “How would I—”
A sneeze cut me off, and I twirled toward the courtyard’s doors. My jaw dropped when I beheld Daiseeum, the crown prince, Cailis, and Nuwin.
From the looks of it, they’d all been standing there for a while.
Daiseeum sneezed again, then dabbed at her nose with her handkerchief. “Excuse me, Ilara. The marigold blossoms always get to me, but I just couldn’t look away. What you were just doing . . . It was beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. I had no idea you were capable of such . . .” Her voice trailed off, as if she were at a loss for words.
“Art?” the crown prince supplied.
“I was going to say exotic dance,” Nuwin replied, which got a glare from his brother.
I cocked my head at them, and the crown prince’s sapphire gaze bore into mine. His expression was blank, yet his eyes burned with fire.
“’Tis how you appeared,” Prince Norivun added. “Like a beautiful piece of artwork come to life, not like a sultry dancer as my brother so eloquently implied.”
“Well, her breasts were straining quite regularly against her—”
“Enough, Nuwin,” the prince growled.
Nuwin just grinned and gave me a cheeky wink. I knew he meant nothing disrespectful by his comments, but a blush still tinged my cheeks.
Clearing her throat, Cailis glared at Nuwin too before adding, “What the crown prince was saying is true, Lara. I’ve never seen you move like that either, even when we danced or pretended to battle as children. You were truly—”
“Magnificent,” Prince Norivun finished for her.
Cailis gave him a begrudging nod. “What he said.”
“Oh, all right.” Nuwin sighed. “It truly did look more like art than an exotic dance.”
Wiping the sweat from my brow, I gave an embarrassed smile. “Well, thanks.” Turning to Sandus, I said, “Tomorrow then, we’ll do this again?”
“You can count on it, love.”
I eyed the crown prince, knowing that if he was here, it was only for one reason. “Are we going to another field this morning?”
He dipped his head. He hadn’t stopped watching me, not once, since I’d realized he was there, and the urge to pick at my fingernails grew. “We are. As soon as you’re ready, we’re going to Isalee Territory before your training with Matron Olsander. There’s a new field I need you to revive—the very first field that died on our continent.”