Scars of Gold

Chapter Twenty

My vision of the pair was obscured suddenly by Mari. She was dressed in a strip of teal satin, which crisscrossed across her body, leaving most of her tanned skin on show. It gleamed under the stark training room lighting.

"Taking in the view?" she asked, nodding towards the grappling pair and raising a perfectly shaped eyebrow.

"Just doing my job," I replied, refusing to engage.

"Well, maybe you should start looking for a new one." Now it was my turn to raise an eyebrow. "Oh! Don't look at me like that," she said with a tinkling laugh, placing a hand on my arm, as if conspiratorially. To everyone else in the room, she looked friendly. Welcoming. Jovial. Only her green eyes, framed by impossibly long, dark eyelashes, betrayed her deadly intent.

"I only have your best interests at heart, Casey. It is Casey, isn't it?" She didn't wait for me to respond before continuing. "I would hate for you to get too attached, just to get your hopes dashed. You see, allow me to let you in on a little secret: Ash and I will be announcing our formal engagement any month now. And with me by his side day and night, he won't have any need for a bodyguard. I am going to be his queen." She gazed over at her prince, a wistful glint in her eye.

"Really?" I asked, playing the surprised, awe-filled teenager. "You'd better let him know," I added, sounding thoughtful. "I don't think he knows anything about it yet."

Her grip on my arm tightened, but I pulled myself from her grasp. "Enjoy your training session, Mari. I'm going to check in with your intended." With a smile, I strolled forward into the crowd.

"Nicely handled," another voice said at my side before I could make it halfway across to Ash. I turned to find Dante beside me. His long hair was tied in a bun and he wore a vintage military jacket that couldn't have seen a battlefield in half a century. The golden lapels and buttons accentuated the single visible strip of his auretis. "You are the envy of every girl in this room. Marisol has been sharpening her nails all week, ready to scratch your eyes out for getting too close to 'her' man."

"All I need is an excuse," I replied.

Dante raised an eyebrow. "I didn't realise you cared."

I started at his words. "She's welcome to Ash, but if she wants a fight I'd be more than happy to oblige. I don't like the way she looks at me." Like I was dirt beneath her nails.

"Signing your own death warrant in the process when you reveal you're an altora," Dante replied, his voice a low warning. He glanced to each side to check that no one was listening to our conversation before ushering me back over to the wall. "Come on, Kacia. Be smarter than that. The best way to annoy Mari is to spend as much time with Ash as possible."

I pulled a face.

"Oh please, he must have grown on you a little bit by now. You did save him from the serpensaquae, after all."

"Only because I didn't want it to kill me first," I snapped back, although that wasn't entirely true. Ash and I had been edging closer to getting along ever since our return from Mari's party. I wouldn't say we were civil, but the hostilities had toned down; he'd even asked if I'd finished eating that morning instead of stalking off to the training room while I was mid mouthful. It was progress.

"You'll get there eventually," Dante said, forgetting that I had no interest in befriending Ash.

He left before I could remind him, only to be replaced, almost immediately, by a servant with familiar dark eyes.

"Ciar?" I whispered as he offered me a towel, even though I hadn't been training.

"What have you learnt?"

I felt conflicted. If I told him what I knew, Evanthe's altorae would be injured, or worse.

"Where's Arlo?" I asked, stalling for time and trying to silence the little voice in my head that was questioning what I was about to do.

"He's back in Etealia, awaiting your information so that he can save them before it's too late."

I swallowed my indecision. My people needed my help; I couldn't hold Lathrian lives above theirs.

"They're travelling by night and approaching Cribane Wood. There are three altorae with them. I don't know what their specialisms are though. They're planning to pass through the wood tomorrow night. That will be Arlo's best opportunity, given his talents."

Ciar grinned. "Perfect! Thank you."

Before I could say anything else, he vanished once more into the crowded training room, leaving me to resume my vigil over Ash's fights.

But I couldn't relax; I felt a gnawing guilt over the fates of the three altorae who were escorting the Etealians.