All Things Wild and Beautiful

32. Unwelcome Apologies

The artwork above is not mine.

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Nascha leaned over her leather-bound notebook, writing a new story. Fenrys sat on the bed behind her, sharpening her duel bladed swords. "You should've mentioned how dull they were before," he muttered under his breath. "It's a wonder these blades can still deal damage."

Nascha took a sip of the whiskey Lysandra had given her the day before, then replied, "I never noticed they were dull. I took care of them the way Zeno taught me to, and that worked well enough. I'm sorry if my methods don't meet your standards."

"Your methods have never met my standards."

Nascha furrowed her brows and faced him, cocking her head. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Fenrys glanced up with a lopsided grin. "You fight like someone who has lived on the streets for most of their life. Sloppy. Unrefined. Deadly. You've improved a lot since you started training with the Bane's novices."

Nascha rolled her eyes and went back to writing. "I'm lucky I learned to fight at all before Adarlan invaded. Mother never approved of females learning to fight, but our family has always had a warrior legacy. Every Makatza learned to fight, even her. My training began when I was ten."

"Four years before you were forced to flee."

Nascha nodded and took another swig of whiskey. "Zeno taught me what he could while we were on the run, but we soon learned that sometimes brutality counts more than technique. I fight to win. I don't care if I look good while doing it."

"You should care," Fenrys interrupted. "If you looked good while fighting, some of your enemies would surrender as soon as they saw you."

"Would they surrender out of fear or attraction?" Nascha scoffed.

"Both."

"Would you?"

His grin became a smirk. "Yes, and then we'd be doing a different kind of fighting, Sweetheart. One far more enjoyable. I can already think of a few moves I would want to teach you." Nascha refused to look at him. She drank more whiskey and blamed the warm, fluttery feeling in her stomach on it. "So easily excited," Fenrys chuckled. "So easily excited by me."

Nascha was saved from more of his comments by a knock at the door. Fenrys set her blades aside and left to answer it. Nascha blushed furiously and scribbled a few more lines into her story. She managed to hide her blush as Fenrys returned, accompanied by Elide. Nascha arched an eyebrow.

"Elide is going to stay with you while I attend to some of my duties," Fenrys explained. "Aelin might come by later, but I'm not certain."

Nascha feigned disinterest and took another drink. "All right."

Fenrys vanished from sight and Elide took a seat near Nascha. The room was silent, save for the scratch of Nascha's pen and the swish of whiskey in its bottle. Finally, Elide spoke. "I wanted to apologize for how Lorcan and I treated you in the village."

Nascha didn't look at her. "Did Fenrys put you up to this?"

"No, I genuinely mean it. I'm sorry about all of that. It must have been just as shocking to you as it was to us, and we acted like you were the one to blame. We even blamed Rayan and Eliora, although they had nothing to do with it. There is no one to blame but the group responsible."

"I'm glad you understand that." Nascha pursed her lips, studying Elide from the corner of her eye. "Lorcan refused to come, didn't he?"

Elide nodded with a tight lipped smile. "For two reasons. He didn't want to apologize, and he and Fenrys have been at odds with one another since your burnout."