Burning Key

Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Of course, Cleo had always pictured Dessa as a perfect combination of her parents just like everyone else, but it wasn't until those following few weeks that she saw even more similarities between them.

Namely, Dessa didn't just have one of their tempers and stubbornness, but both.

"How Elys is going to put up with you for their rest of your lives, I have no idea," Cleo huffed out as she looked down at Dessa. "I guess it helps that he's loved you since you were born and has been in love with you since he came home a few months ago."

Dessa wasn't moving, sprawled out on the ground of the training courtyard. Her eyes were open, staring up at the bright blue sky above them as her shadowflame curled around her wrists and weaved through her fingers.

"You said she was usually this stubborn, right?" Adeena asked from Cleo's right.

"Unfortunately. Plus, it runs through both sides of her family, so she's probably the worst of them all, including us."

"Never thought I'd see the day when that was a fact."

"And good thing she's been the light in everyone's lives since even before she was born. Otherwise, they probably would have strangled her."

Dessa's eyes finally cut to them. "You know I can hear you, don't you?"

Cleo grinned. "Of course, I do, but it's nothing you haven't heard before," she said, then kicked her boot against hers. It rocked back and forth lazily. "Now, get up."

"If I said no?"

"Then would you rather train lying down?"

"That's an option?"

"No."

A low, half-hearted growl emitted from between Dessa's lips. "You're so mean to me."

"I'm mean, but you at least know I love you."

"Then I guess I'll get up...and I love you, too."

Cleo grinned as she reached down to take her hand and haul her up to stand. Dessa dusted off the back of her white shirt, which she had tucked into her leather riding pants, then made sure her ponytail was smooth after plucking a few small leaves and even a twig from it.

"I don't know why you're so hesitant when it comes to your shadowflame. You've done really well since it finally showed itself, but now..."

"I'm having trouble controlling it," Dessa said softly, lifting one hand to watch it curl around her wrist and through her fingers. "It's like it's got a mind of its own."

"Cleo's shadows were the same when we were little," Adeena told her. A sympathetic and encouraging smile lifted both corners of her mouth. "Every tantrum or even the slightest heightened emotion and they would almost explode around her."

"Speak for yourself," Cleo scoffed. "Anyone who wasn't Grandma Renna or Grandpa Evander told you no and you'd almost immediately use your magic to invade their mind and make them do what you wanted."

"All right, we were both a little...lax with how our emotions controlled our magic when it came to our wants and needs. We were children barely out of the toddler stage."

"Children who others in Laria still believed were powerful enough to have to send a highly trained assassin to kill them."

"And you know well what ended up happening to him. What I did to him."