Silence descended in the courtyard as Nyktos stared down at me. Wisps of eather began churning in eyes that had heated to quicksilver. “Nervous is the last thing I’m feeling at the moment.”

Ector cleared his throat as he eyed the packed dirt.

“Good.” I didn’t allow my mind to take what he said straight into the gutter. “Then you should lift your sword.”

The only thing that lifted was one corner of his lip. “And if I don’t?”

“You will find yourself in grave need of a feeding.”

His eyes became a fire of Primal essence, ignited by either anger or something I chose not to think about at the moment. “You do realize that most men would take their soon-to-be Consort holding a sword to their throat in front of their guards as a great offense.”

“Which is one of the reasons I find most men to be easily offended.” The sword’s hilt felt good against my palm, the weight welcome. “But you’re not like most men, are you?”

“I suppose not since most would send their wives to their chambers for such an act.”

“Soon-to-be wife,” I corrected softly. “And if you order me to return to my chambers, my grip on this sword may slip an inch.”

“Accidentally, of course.”

Aware that we’d gained quite an audience, I smiled tightly. “Intentionally.”

Nyktos’s short laugh was rough, throaty and…warm. “You want to train with me? What are you waiting for?”

“You haven’t lifted your sword.”

“I don’t need to.”

My head cocked to the side as I glanced down at his weapon. He held it, tip pointed at the ground, not at the ready. Which meant only one thing. He believed he didn’t need to defend himself. Keeping my anger in check at the unintentional—or not—insult, I lowered the sword I held. Our gazes locked as I began circling him slowly. If he believed he needed no defense, so be it. That would be his mistake. I waited until the other side of his lip quirked up.

Then I attacked.

Nyktos was fast, deflecting the blow without even facing me. “You went for my back.” He looked over his shoulder at me, smirking. “I should’ve known you’d fight dirty.”

“And I should’ve known better than to overestimate your skill.”

His brows lifted. “Is that so?”

“Even a novice knows to never turn their back on someone with a sword.” I made a quick, clean swipe with the blade along the back of his neck, nicking a piece of hair that had fallen free of the knot.

He spun on me, his eyes narrowing. Someone let out a low whistle as the lock of hair fell to the hard, gray soil.

“Huh.” I feigned wide eyes. “These shadowstone swords are sharp.”

“Touché.” He struck out, not nearly as fast as I knew he could, but the blow of his sword connecting with mine rattled my entire arm, proving he wasn’t entirely holding back.

“If you want, I could use a trim.” I thrust the sword at his chest.

He cut the blow with a swipe of his blade. “I would never dare even think of cutting one strand of hair on your head.”

“Too bad.” Secretly pleased, I tracked his movements as he circled me, keeping the sword partially lowered. It was far lighter than the one he carried, but I knew my muscles would grow tired, nonetheless. I also knew I had no hope of holding my own against him if he truly decided to stop holding back.

But this wasn’t about winning.

“Now that I have your attention,” I began, watching him carefully.

“You have my full, undivided attention now.” He practically purred the words, chin dipped and eyes glowing from behind his lashes.

Muscles low in my stomach curled. “I understand that I need to be watched.”

“That’s good to hear since we’ve already discussed that to the point of it being repetitive.” He thrust.

I parried, lifting my sword with both hands and blocking his strike. “I wasn’t finished.”

“My apologies.” He started to bow—

Shooting forward, I spun and swung back with the hilt of the sword, slamming it into his stomach. Nyktos grunted out a harsh curse.

Muffled laughs and whistles echoed through the courtyard as I danced out of arm’s reach when he snapped upright.

“Ouch,” he coughed out with a laugh.

I faced him, smiling not so tightly. “As I was saying, I understand you feel it necessary, even though I’m sure Saion would rather babysit Jadis while Reaver avoids her than follow me from chamber to chamber.”

“You know,” Saion drawled from the boulder he now sat upon, “I would actually have to think long and hard about which one would be preferable.”

“I’ll watch over her,” a guard offered, and I gave him a quick glance. All I had time to see was that he was the fair-haired guard I’d first seen Nyktos with. “Seems like it would be an entertaining duty.”

“That won’t be necessary, Kars,” Nyktos growled, his fangs appearing.

Pleased by his reaction, it took a lot to stop my grin. “Nor will I be forced to remain in my bedchamber to read or knit or whatever.”

“No one said you needed to stay in your bedchamber at all times.” Nyktos stalked toward me, sword raised as he stopped. “Wait. You knit?”

“What do you think?”

“I don’t know.” He dragged his fangs over his lower lip. “But I have a feeling you’d do terrible things with a knitting needle.”

“Give me a pair and you’ll find out.” I swung on him.

Nyktos shot forward, blocking my blow as he caught my sword arm with his other hand. He hauled me toward him. My breath snagged at the feel of his chest against mine. “As much as I enjoy your threats of violence, you should spend less time making them and more time getting to the point behind why you interrupted me.”

“But I so enjoy threatening you,” I said, driving my knee up. Several curses exploded from the onlookers.

Nyktos dropped my wrist, using his thigh to avoid a direct hit to a very sensitive place. “The gown you were in yesterday was a distraction,” he whispered, his gaze dropping to where the swells of my breasts strained against the black lace of the bodice. “But this one is rather indecent.”

“As I said before, your failings to keep your gaze from straying is no reflection upon me.”

“I would have to be made of stone for my gaze not to stray.” A strand of reddish-brown hair fell against his cheek as his chin tipped down. “But I’m only flesh and blood, and you are…”

“What am I?”

“You are flesh and fire.”

“Then you should be careful,” I taunted, “lest you become nothing more than ember and ash.” Twisting sharply, I broke his grip and backed off, winking at him. “I need something to do.”

“Other than being a distraction?”

“In addition to that.”

Nyktos laughed, making his move then. He swung hard—hard enough that if he’d connected with my sword, he surely would’ve disarmed me. I darted to the left and spun, swinging my blade down. The impact echoed through the courtyard.

“Nice,” someone shouted—possibly this Kars or Ector. I wasn’t sure.

There was no fighting my smile as it spread across my face. “I need to be training.”

Nyktos brushed the now-shorter strand of hair back from his face as he straightened. “You do realize that if you wanted to train, all you had to do was ask.”

My eyes narrowed. “Really?”

“Really.” He swung again.

I dipped under his arm and spun, kicking out. My slippered foot connected with his midsection as I arced the sword up and around. The guards shouted as Nyktos leaned back. My sword cut through the air where his chest had been. He backed off, his eyes glimmering in a way Holland’s did whenever I surprised him in training, and he approved of whatever I’d done.

I was practically floating as I circled him. “I’m asking now.”

“I’m sure there is more.” His sword was at the ready. “Unless you plan to spend all day training. If not, tell me what you want.”

“I want to attend Court,” I said after a moment. “Now. I don’t want to wait.”