Diclaimed
A/N: In this chapter, a few more characters will be introduced. Daemonar makes an appearance, plus a special character whom I don't wish to reveal just yet. You'll have to continue reading to find out .
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Omrah ran out toward the courtyard, desperate to not be late to practice. She tucked her arms to her sides, lowered her head, concentrated on her breathing to keep from getting stitches in her sides... and ran into something hard yet soft. Something that wasn't thrilled she'd hit it.
Opening her eyes, she realized she'd run headlong into someone who wasn't going to just let her apologize and get to practice on time. She sighed resignedly and turned hopeful eyes on her cousin Daemonar.
"Daemonar please just let me get to practice. If I don't get there in the next few minutes Uncle Lucivar will come looking for me. I've already had an eventful morning and I could do without a visit from him. Please?"
Daemonar picked up the towel he'd dropped when his younger cousin had barreled into him. He wiped the sweat from his chest and placed the towel around his neck. He opened and closed his wings thoughtfully for a moment before replying to Omrah.
"Today is your birthday after all... I 'll let it go today, but keep your eyes open when you run. Now get moving or you'll have Father for a sparring partner."
Omrah grinned at her cousin. Usually he'd try to detain her so she'd be late. He said it was good practice, you never knew when an attacker would try the same things he did. She had to admit, grudgingly, that he made sense. But she'd never admit that to him.
She took off running down the hall again, keeping her head up and eyes open. She couldn't afford to trip or run into anyone else.
"Thank you Daemonar," she yelled back over her shoulder. "I'll see you at the party tonight!"
She made it out to the courtyard a few minutes later. When she got to the practice yard, she stopped, bent over, put her hands on her knees and tried to slow her heartbeat and catch her breath.
"I'm... here... Uncle... Lu...ci...var." She gasped out before dropping to her knees on the ground.
"I was going to come looking for you in a few minutes Omrah. What kept you this morning?"
She made some gasping and wheezing noises, throwing in a few unintelligable sounds for good measure.
"The usual morning chaos. You're getting here quicker. If nothing else the chaos has improved your running. Now, get up. It's time to spar."
He gave her a toothy grin that reminded her of Kaelas right before he attacked some poor defenseless creature. It was a good thing she was already on the ground, she would have fallen if she'd been standing.
At just that moment, another straggler walked sedately into the practice yard. Omrah felt relief as that smile and penetrating gaze moved from her to the other late comer. She felt bad for whoever it was. Uncle Lucivar was pretty scary when he wanted to be.
She cursed Laurent for being free of this torment. She cursed Father for not taking her to Armdarh too. She cursed males in general. Today was definitely not going to be a good day.
As she caught her breath, an annoyingly familiar psychic scent washed over her. It came from the other late comer.
Mother Night and may the Darkness be merciful. Not him. Anyone but him.
Him happened to be a Red jeweled Warlord Prince. Adonar. He teased her mercilessly whenever he had the chance. He was seven years older than her, but since he was of one of the long lived races, his maturity hadn't kicked in yet.
He was the son of Surreal and Falonar, conceived during a night of passionate goodbye sex the couple had had before Falonar went to chase after the quiet Healer of the Eyrie. So while his parents weren't together when he was born, or even the time his mother had been pregnant with him, they loved him just the same.
He was 5'10, muscled but not overly so, with the tan skin and black hair common to the long lived races. What marked him as different was his eyes and that he noticeably lacked wings. His eyes were same mixture of gold and green as his mother.
Unlike his parents, he had no real interest in fighting or anything like it. He would much rather while away the hours in the Keep's Library, or even the library of the Hall. He was fascinated with books. Especially with learning about the landens, since not much seemed to be known about them. The way they lived without Jewels or Craft astounded him. And if you asked him about landens, you could be bored to death in fifteen minutes flat.
Omrah took one last steadying breath before getting up. Her legs felt a bit wobbly but she was sure she could stand long enough to give a passing attempt at sparring today. At least, she hoped she could.
Adonar smiled back pleasantly at Lucivar. I knew I shouldn't have rolled back over in bed this morning, he thought. Oh well, too late now. I get to spar with Lucivar. Again. Joyous.
Lucivar's toothy grin disappeared, only to be replaced by a genuine smile.
"I have an idea. Rather than the both of you getting your asses kicked by me this morning, spar with each other. Whoever wins get to skip the rest of today's practice. The loser however, gets to stay twice as long. Grab your sticks and have at it."
He threw two sticks into the bare ground between the pair. The two looked at him as if he were nuts, not totally believing what he'd said. As the moments ticked by, they began to realize he wasn't kidding. Omrah sized up Adonar, he was bigger than her, and most definitely stronger. She wore a darker Jewel but that gave her no advantage with the sticks. She didn't think she could win, but she sure as hell wasn't going to go out without a fight.
Adonar looked at the girl. Shorter than him for sure, but he knew she had to have some muscle on her. Her small stature lent her agility and probably a fair amount of speed. His Jewel was lighter, but the Jewel you wore made no difference, not with practice sparring at least. He knew she had a chance of knocking him on his ass, and if she managed to do that... she was either really good, or he was a disgrace to every male in every Realm.
The two bent to pick up the sticks Lucivar had thrown between them. Adonar stepped to the center of the practice circle, motioning Omrah to do the same. She thought he was doing it out of arrogance so she growled and began circling him.
She jumped at him quickly, her stick raised to come down on his head. Adonar raised his stick, the crack of wood sharp. He smiled at her, she snarled. Stepping back from one another, they resumed circling, each looking for a weakness.
Omrah feignted to the left, trying to force him into leaving an opening. They circled one another, launching an attack whenever they could. Circle, thrust, clash, back away. They continued the savage dance for several minutes. The both of them were sweating, but they were graceful dancers.
No matter how hard she tried, or how violent the attack, she couldn't break through his defenses. She was beginning to tire, her arms felt heavy, sluggish. If it went on too much longer, she'd have to give in, work twice as hard at everything else today. The thought made her groan. She looked at him. At least he's sweating almost as hard as I am, I'm not completely inept.
Just then, she saw an opening. He'd picked his stick up too far, leaving his feet wide open. She grinned triumphantly as she brought down her own stick, catching him at the ankle, knocking him on his butt on the ground.
She stood up, called in a towel, and wiped the sweat from her face before it could sting her eyes. She offered Adonar a hand, pulling him back to his feet. She called in another towel for him, giving him a wicked smile.
"I guess I'm out for today. Have fun Adonar."
Adonar acknowledged her with a slight nod before turning his back on her, rubbing the sweat off of his chest. He walked to Luvicar who was wiping a barely concealed grin from his face.
"All right Omrah, get out of here. Me and Adonar have some training to do."
Omrah left the practice circle, placing the practice stick back with the others. On the edge of the courtyard, Vivere sat patiently waiting. The two hurried off, leaving the males to their devices.
Once they were out of earshot, Lucivar turned to Adonar.
"Why did you let her win?"
Adonar looked at Lucivar and decided the truth would work better than the lie he'd been working on.
"It is her birthday, and I've been worried about her lately. She doesn't look like she's been eating or sleeping enough. If she doesn't stop doing so much and rest soon, I'm going to throttle her."
Lucivar looked at Adonar critically. It sounded as if, beneath the usual male concern for a female's well-being, there was more. If it was any other witch, Lucivar would have been amused. But this was his niece. He was not amused with the affection in the other Warlord Prince's voice.
He had to tell Saetan what was going on with the children now. There had been bets as to who the parents thought the children would be with. But none of them had ever foreseen Omrah and Adonar. At least, not since a ten year old Adonar had tricked a three year old Omrah into walking into a cave. Omrah hadn't forgiven him for the tricks he'd played on her in the dark. She'd gotten him back a few years later when she'd had her Birthright Ceremony and came away wearing the Red. He'd stopped his pranks then.
"Adonar, you're free today too. Go on now, go."
Adonar didn't have to be told twice. He vanished the towel, placed the stick back carefully, and walked off in the direction of the Hall's library. He had a book left out from when he realized he was late for practice. He wanted to get back to it. It was a detailed account of the myths landens believed, and it was fascinating.
Lucivar watched the young man walk away carefully. There was strength in him, strength he didn't realize he had. Lucivar would adjust his routine accordingly. But now, he had to tell his father that the years for bets were over. The children were beginning to notice one another. And it terrified him
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A/N: Please review. This will be the last chapter until I have more reviews. I want to know if this story is even good enough to bother continue writing. So please, be good and let me know what you think. I'll read your reviews, and if there's anything you need/want clarified/want to know, I'll tell you (Unless telling you will give away the plot). This is my first non-oneshot, and only the second story I've felt was good enough to post here. Let me know your thoughts. Okay, I'm done nagging/begging now .
