Page 32 of Bound to Three Fae Beasts

I glanced over at Seb to find him watching us with an open scowl. I lifted one hand in our universal sign of ‘Gareth’s being Gareth’ and his scowl only deepened. Meanwhile, Azriel had pulled Penry closer to her, protective and comforting.

Gareth’s gaze lingered on Azriel, his sharp green eyes studying her. Had he also noticed how easily she fit into any role assigned to her? I got to my feet as well, eager to distract his attention from her. “Miss Penry, you have been taught how to dance, haven’t you?”

She nodded. “Yes, my lord.”

“See?” Gareth snorted. “One word answer.”

“Which is your favorite dance?” I pushed on, ignoring him. “Do you have any music you particularly like?”

Penry hesitated, then haltingly started to speak. Soon, I hit on what I’d hoped to get. She played the harp, which happened to be Gareth’s favorite instrument. That must be why Phineas paired them. Gareth forgot all about Azriel as he began to grill Penry on which compositions she could play, then seized her again to take her back inside, where a harp was located.

Azriel made to follow, but I stopped her. “Your friend will do better if she learns how to interact with high-born without you there shielding her.”

“And yet, the likelihood of any of us needing to know how to interact with high-born—”

“You interact with us nearly every day in class,” I interrupted. “And currently, there is a level of grace given to you. Even Flora holds back on the missteps of the low-born right now. We are trained to allow lenience when it’s warranted.”

The color drained from her face as she turned back to me. “She’s been lenient?”

It struck me as unfair that she wouldn’t understand. But then, life was unfair. It wasn’t fair I was stuck with a cursed beast. It wasn’t fair that the future I’d planned for myself was taken away. It wasn’t fair that I would never—

There was no point in dwelling on this. I offered her my arm again. “Let’s go back inside.”

Azriel sighed as she accepted my arm. I put thoughts of fair and unfair from my mind. It didn’t matter what I’d lost. And who knew? Maybe a daisy was such an unremarkable flower that even a cursed beast could touch it someday.

Chapter 15 - Azriel

I double-checked to make sure my brooch was pinned securely to my undershirt at my shoulder as I headed for Thatcher’s training pavilion. Though Seb had been having me meet him at Lotmas’s pavilion for most of these ‘mentorship’ sessions, he’d switched up the location last minute. Left a note on the door telling me to meet him here.

When I entered the pavilion, I tensed. A bunch of students milled around, all of them looking rather eager. The usual bullies lounged to one side, each one of them playing with a different weapon. But they weren’t the only ones. Several older students were on the other side of the room, while other first-years watched eagerly.

A crowd could only be a bad thing. If I had known this, I would have asked Freta, Silas, and Penry to join me. Though maybe it would be best to leave them out of this.

“You’re late,” Seb said. He already stood in the training ring. The mats Thatcher always had us use were hanging on the walls, which meant no extra protection for whatever beating Seb had planned.

I quietly strode to the circle, trying to ignore the prickling on the back of my neck. The sweat that had built on my back as I ran here turned cold. This was not good. He was far better at inflicting pain and damage to me than Kili had been.

On the other hand—and I thought this only reluctantly—his purpose wasn’t mere cruelty. In our mentorship sessions so far, he hadn’t mocked me overmuch, not the way I expected at least. Even I had to admit that I was learning, too. Fighting Seb did help me improve. During the sparring sessions in Thatcher’s class, I could even hold my own against some of the low-ranked fae.

“What are you waiting for?” Seb snapped at me. “Or are you still sore from our last session?”

A cruel smile spread over his face as Flora giggled. I tried to ignore her. Now that I knew she was desperate to seduce Seb, her behavior was far more obvious. The thing I didn’t get was why a pampered, entitled prince wouldn’t just sleep with her. She was beautiful, she had a great body, and she was eager.

The only thing I could think of was that it was a matter of court politics. Maybe if he took her honor, he’d be forced into marriage.

Not that now was the best time for those distractions. I had healing potions back at the Alegro room, but I hadn’t brought any with me. I’d given away how I carried a knife on me, but I wanted to keep the potions a secret for right now. So far the duels had been practice, but soon the first-years would be holding official duels. Those were the ones that counted toward our future ranks.

These duels weren’t as important as the binding trials themselves, but having a good show in them would get the right kind of attention.

“Leave your knife out of the ring,” Seb said as I stepped past the painted circle.

I scowled at him. “Why?”

“We are practicing without weapons today, Miss Azriel,” he said, his impatience barely concealed.

I pulled the knife from my belt and flicked my wrist, sending the knife standing upright in the wooden floor. “You’re only saying that because you’re worried I’ll mark up that pretty face of yours. Or maybe it’s because you want an even playing field?”

Seb rolled his eyes at me. “Your bravado is transparent.”