Page 51 of Journey to the Elderoak
“This is ridiculous. I’ll go back and do the course.”
“No. You’re angry and you’ll get distracted again. Fight me. Show me what you learned on that ship.”
“You’re a hundred times stronger than me. I’ll never be able to get past you.”
“Try. Or are you a coward?”
Her heart picked up speed. “Don’t call me a coward.”
“Or what…princess? Why don’t you do something about it?”
He was provoking her, goading her into fighting him. Purposely.
Furious, she stomped forward, prepared to shove him out of her way but he dodged her attempt and she lost her balance, falling to the grass.
Her hands shook as she rose and tried to leave, but he stepped in front of her again. “That was pathetic.”
Rearing her arm back, her fist shot through the air as she tried to punch him, but he caught her wrist. She tried to yank from his grip, but his hand tightened and he turned, pulling her back to him with her arm twisted behind her.
“That hurts, you brute,” she said, struggling. “Let me go.”
“Pax had you in this hold. Get out of it.”
She tried kicking him, but he avoided her feet. Her anger was boiling over now, a violent mess of emotions. Anger mixed with grief of the past and fear of what was still to come.
“Take your anger out on me. Come on. If you refuse to talk about it, then hurt me. Do something.”
She let out a snarl and tried to head butt him, but he wrapped his arms around her and twisted, throwing her to the ground. He pinned her wrists above her head and straddled her.
“Not good enough,” he growled, eyes boring into hers. “Fight me.”
Shaking with wrath, she glared at him, attempting to yank her arms away and kicking in frustration. “Let. Me. Go.”
He was silent while she struggled a few seconds longer before her energy dissipated. Tired, she relaxed, the fight leaving her as quickly as it had come.
Casimir’s eyes filled with concern. “You’ve disappeared these last few weeks,” he whispered. “Come back to me, princess.”
A lump formed in her throat as she fought to keep her tears at bay. But she couldn’t get the words out. Couldn’t say what she was feeling out loud. Everyone was dead. Her mother. Her grandfather. Eleanor. Zeph and the sailors. And she knew there would be more.
She couldn’t bear it. Needed to get back to her room so she could bathe and take a nap. Needed a distraction. So, she would get past the general and escape what he was trying to do. She wasn’t ready.
Casimir sat back and stood, allowing her out of the hold. He started to walk away, preparing to block her again, but before he made it out of her reach, she lunged and wrapped her arms around his leg and pulled as hard as she could, sending him crashing to the ground on his back.
“Shit,” he panted, the air knocked out of him.
She rose and stood over him. “Asshole,” she said before walking away, leaving him stunned on the ground.
She made it to the tree line and caught Quinn watching. “Nice,” she said to Ava and grinned. Ava attempted to smile back as she passed, heading back to her suite.
The group was havingdinner at Kai and Jorrar’s home tonight, and Ava was relieved to escape the castle for the evening. Now in a lighter mood after a long nap, she hoped a change in scenery would be a distraction from the fears about this war.
Cirilla finished tightening a forest green corset over her brown dress, and Ava touched the dazzling necklace of green gemstones around her neck, a gift from the Queens of Saxumdale.
“You look very pretty, Your Highness.”
Ava smiled. “Thank you.”
It had been a while since Ava had been in anything besides her training gear of pants and tunics, and tonight she felt beautiful.
