Their Fireheart

Chapter Fourteen

Rowan

I was practically vibrating with rage as I followed Cassian towards the sparring ring. These arrogant assholes knew exactly who Aelin was to me and decided to not only pursue her anyway, but to let me know their plans of pursuing her in the most cavalier and contemptuous way possible. Had the fae of this realm no respect for the mating bond? I had been holding back my primal urges the past several days because I knew that Aelin would hand me my balls if I messed up her newly forged alliance. It didn't mean that I hadn't categorically tracked every single gaze, comment and movement they made towards my mate. I grinned ferally at the thought, it was time to make these males pay, and show them just who they would have to go through if they thought to take a pass at Aelin.

We reached the sparring ring and Cassian waved insolently towards the rack of weapons. "Feel free to choose whatever suits your needs, Prince," he smirked at me. While it was an impressive array of weaponry, I had something a bit more primal in mind. After all, it wouldn't do to actually kill these males, as much as I wanted to, before they aided with our return to Eirlea.

I barred my teeth in a semblance of a grin, "I think I have all the weapons I need already." Cassian grinned at me and gestured towards the ring. "I think it would be more fair to you if your little shadow friend joined as well." At that, he narrowed his eyes and nodded for Azriel to join us.

"Any ground rules, Prince?" He spat sarcastically. Oh this was going to be fun. They wanted my mate? They could go through me first.

"Give it all you can - I certainly will be. I think this will be an excellent reminder that I was the one who trained Aelin, you know the one who beat you into submission in just her human form." Without waiting for a response, I launched myself into the ring.

I barreled my fist into Cassian's smirking face, grinning savagely as he bent back under the force of my blow. I moved swiftly to the side, barely missing the returning hit from Azriel. Well, shadow boy was fast, this might actually be fun. In unison, they attacked me, and I had to admit the two of them were decent fighters. We traded blows, managing to block the majority of the attacks while assessing each other's skills. I managed to get a heavy blow onto Azriel's ribs and heard him grunt in pain while Cassian delivered a lightning fast uppercut that glanced off the side of my head, splitting open my eyebrow. I spun, grabbing at his shoulder as I prepared to return the blow, only to have my fist halted by a blue shield that appeared to originate from Azriel.

I grinned ferally, "Oh it's on, now." I shot spears of ice towards both males, grinning at their shock as they rapidly created shields to block my attack. I lost myself to the fight, which had gone far beyond sparring at this point. We traded vicious blows and targeted magical attacks. The most primal part of me was surging forward with every moment of the fight. This wasn't training, this was a brutal contest to prove our dominance. I hated to admit it, but the two of them against me were almost evenly matched, and all of us were sustaining injuries.

I had just managed to secure Cassian in a headlock, holding him despite his snarling as Azriel attacked my shield of hard air with his strange blue magic when a pulse of light interrupted our challenge. A wall of fire erupted between all of us, forcing me away from Cassian, snarling. My attention was forced away from the other males when Aelin's melodic voice drawled, "I'm gone for a few hours and you already managed to get into a pissing contest. Really, Buzzard, I can't take you anywhere." I looked up and cringed slightly at the disappointment and condemnation in Aelin's eyes. I tried to feel contrite, but honestly the bastards had deserved it. Although the ire in Aelin's gaze took away any pleasure I had found in challenging the other males.

Surprisingly, Azriel spoke up, "In all transparency Aelin, it was Cassian and I who invited Rowan to uh," he coughed slightly, "spar. We all share the responsibility for how, out of hand, the session became." I was confused as to why he would stick up for me, but as Aelin turned her gaze towards the other two males I couldn't suppress the slight sigh of relief as her relentless glare speared Cassian and Azriel instead of me.