A Court of Bastards [ACOTAR]

Chapter 16

Fiona swore quietly under her breath. Eris was usually adept at working his silver tongue and keeping cool. Evidently, this time he'd borne one too many slights to his precious honour. Would Aidan be the same one day, she wondered - throwing his finger in the face of whichever High Lord he wanted to blame?

"Accused Rhys of what?" Bella asked.

"He seems to be under the impression that one of us stole Fiona under the cover of night."

Riordan snorted. "Someone should tell him that she winnowed. I'd pay good money to see his face on hearing that."

"Speaking of which," Xander rolled up his shirt sleeves, revealing a long, twisted band of black tattooed along his forearm. "I was thinking that it might be time for you to learn some basic combat skills, Fiona. If you'd want to, of course."

Fiona blinked in the sunlight. She didn't have to look to know that Bella had broken into a wicked grin beside her.

"If you were able to winnow without training then there might be more that you could learn to use to your advantage." Xander explained. "Considering all that's happened, I think it's worth a shot."

The group waited patiently for her response. Fiona could practically feel their anticipation in the air, and remembered not for the first time that her new friends had all been raised and trained as promising young fae. Even Riordan, who'd had to catch up on several decades-worth of teaching by the time Helion found him, could now wield both his body and magic to the standard of a High Lord's progeny.

No one had ever seen potential in her, so she'd never been taught. But perhaps Xander was right. A bastard-born child of Autumn wasn't supposed to be able to winnow from the mountains to the coast on their first go. Maybe there was more that she could do.

"Alright." A twinkle of excitement shone in her eye. "When do we start?"

Xander broke into one of his rare smiles, but before he could so much as stand up, Bella was in his way, her wings shading Fiona from the wintry sunlight. "Hold on there, cousin," she laughed. "Much as I'd love to see you try and play teacher, I don't think you're the right fae for the job."

She placed her hands on her hips, swinging around to face Fiona with an apologetic smile. "Don't take this personally," she told her. "But you don't even know how to stand."

"Excuse me, o divine Illyrian warrior," Fiona mumbled dryly. "But I've been standing just fine for the last thirty years or so."

"We were all taught when we were barely out of nappies." Gabriel pointed out, realisation dawning on his face. "There's only one person I know who has experience teaching someone like you."

"Who?" Fiona asked, paling.

Bella's smile widened.

Less than an hour later, the Lord General of the Night Court arrived.

Xander had winnowed them over to the House of Wind soon after lunch and a last check from Madja, while commenting wryly that this completed her tour of the most sensitive locations in the Night Court. Velaris looked beautiful from this height, with the sun glittering off the distant sea and the the terracotta tiles, but Fiona struggled to take comfort in the view. Upon being told who would be teaching her, she had spent the waiting hour shaking in her slippers and biting her nails.

Bella was there too, but she had stripped down to a tank top and leggings as soon as they'd arrived, claiming that she didn't want to be caught slacking by her father. When the fabled warrior landed, his daughter had already worked up a sweat launching herself through a make-shift obstacle course made of wooden swords and swivels.