A Court of Dark and Decay

Chapter 19- Smiles, Secrets, and A Mean Right Hook

Cassian remembered the rush of weilding a sword for the first time. Knew the sense of purpose that melted into every inch of your body in learning how to protect and fight for what you beleive in. It had given him something to live for, something to look forward to, something to be proud of.

It filled him with an overwhelming warmth to be able to present that to Nesta.

By the look on her face, that spark was igniting a fire under her skin just like it had his.

Some trainees were a pain in the ass. They didn't have a bite, a hunger to learn or progress. Before he could train them to be warriors, he had to train them to want it first. Train them to weaponize and refine thier passions, their anger.

With Nesta, Cassian knew that wouldn't be a problem.

Nesta had always been a warrior. Always a fighter, always light on her feet ready to spar. Sure, her weapon was her words, her eyes, but that did not make her any less deadly. She was too sharp, too wicked for her own good.

She was practically drooling, eyes wide and mouth agape looking out onto the training feild. He would have to keep her from letting that unpredictability bubbling over in combat.

As a General, Cassian had to turn people into warriors.

As her mate, Cassian would have to turn a warrior into a person.

Even with her siphons on, that white void began to form on her enclosed fists. She was getting ahead of herself.

Cassian took a breath, but just then Sera shouted over the hum and drum of the training feild, "TIME! LET'S MOVE LADIES, GOOD WORK TODAY!"

The females responded immideatly, stopping thier training and resetting the training field and dragging targets and weapon holsters back into the thick brush of the forest. Casssian stepped closer to Nesta as the females ran past them and into the path leading back to camp. They parted around Cassian and Nesta like a rock in a river.

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The wind from the females running past whipped the lose strands of her hair around her face. Time slowed.

Something ancient, deeper, stronger then she had felt before spiraled inside of her at the sight.

Silent sounds were isolated in her ear.

A huff of breath as they ran past.

The crackle of leaves underfoot.

The creak of creasing leather.

Nesta straightened, stepping away from Cassian.

The females continued to part around her, the sea of power splitting before her.

Nesta let the wind flow through her. Cleansing. Clearing. Laying her honest and bare before these females she would evolve into.

She had a purpose. She had never had something that pulled her, called to her, ebbed inside of her like her magic did at the sight of the training grounds.

This was what she was meant for. That swell she had felt on the hill standing above the battlefeild during the war with Hybern.

She had screamed Cassians name.

Everything, every inch of her screamed to be down there fighting side by side with him.

She let the sounds of feet and huff of breath drown her out. She closed her eyes and felt the wind wipe away her regrets, her fears.

Nesta felt pure, patient. Ready.

When all the females had passed, she took a deep breath.

Shoulders and head high, she turned to Cassian.