E is for Electricity
AU. Maven's betrayal never happened and they are still engaged.
For the first time in the six months since she's arrived in the palace, Mare finds time that's not strictly regimented by Queen Elara.
Julian had begged off their lesson by citing a headache but Mare had seen the tumbler of whiskey he was holding behind his back. If this was last week, she might have called him out on it. But she'd since gathered from Elara's even more tense moods and the murmurings of the servants that the anniversary of Coriane's death is nearing so she lets the mourning brother have his time alone.
As a result, she's left to wander the halls of Whitefire Palace on her own. She finds it more confining than the Hall of Sun, with its stifling décor and extravagant pillars, but its undeniably more fun to explore with never-ending passageways and hidden doors. She's strolling down one said corridor when a strong hand closes around her elbow.
She stifles a scream, whirling around to face her attacker. "Maven!" She says in exasperation, "You scared me."
"Sorry." He wears an amused smile that she doesn't get to see too often so she lets it slide. "You're not in Lessons?"
"Julian wasn't feeling up to it," she shrugs and something dark flickers in her betrothed's eyes. She feels a stir of unease; the relations between Maven and Julian were still so tense that she often felt caught between two worlds. She loved Maven but Julian had become like a father to her.
"You up for some training?" He asks casually, drawing her out of her thoughts. She gives him a dubious look, "I thought you hated training."
"I just hate it when we have an audience. I don't mind it so much on my own. Besides, you need the practice if you ever want to beat Evangeline in a duel."
She sneers, "I could've beat her that day and you know it. If only she hadn't cut me."
"Sure," he says, teasing her.
Her eyes gleam with determination and she stands up straighter to meet his gaze. "Why don't you take me on and we'll see who's the real winner?"
He has to hide a smile at that because she looks adorable with her flushed cheeks and tiny frame squaring up against his own. Then, he feels a little nervous because he'd been watching her at every training session. She is good and he has no doubt that she could easily take Cal's vicious bride-to-be in a fair match.
"You're on." He challenges because he loves the way she's looking at him and spending the entire afternoon with her sounds much better than sitting in on one of his father's tax councils.
They change together in the small room outside the training facilities, leaving their shirts and trousers and socks on the floor in favor of tight suits. They'd consummated their relationship on his eighteenth birthday but he still feels a shudder run through him at the sight of her in just undergarments. He doesn't want to fight all of a sudden; he wants to spend an afternoon wrapped around her in bed, shutting out the rest of the world.
She catches his expression and shakes her head at him teasingly. "Not until you've proven your worth," she says over her shoulder as she walks into the room, "Maybe then you can claim your reward."
He's never moved faster before. Once the door is closed behind them, he immediately hits the button that puts up the makeshift arena lest they send a stray fireball or lightning bolt hurling into the expensive equipment. Before he's even turned around, there's a bolt of electricity at his feet nearly knocking him to the ground.
He faces her, a menacing look on his face. "You're not playing fair," he growls and she smirks back at him.
"What are you going to do about it?"
The flame he throws at her actually catches her off guard for half a second before she responds in kind. They continue their strange dance, playing with different elements to see who comes out on top. There's a flush in Mare's cheeks as she dodges a hit and she calls out playfully, "That all you got?"
His jaw set, he releases the biggest inferno he can make and Mare's eyes go round as it actually makes contact with her smooth skin. He's by her side in a second, pulling her hand away from the injury. "Is it bad? I'm so sorry, Mare, I got carried away-"
He sees her gleeful smile a beat too late and suddenly the arena is plunged into darkness and there's a whoosh of movement by his wrist. When the lights flicker back on, she's standing three feet away wearing a satisfied smirk.
"I can't believe I ever doubted your acting skills," he says, shaking his head. "Now you're really in for it, little lightning girl." He lifts his hand to prove his point but instead of unleashing the raging inferno he plans to, nothing happens. His eyes flick to his wrist and he realizes the little brat had stolen his flame maker.
If this was in the middle of Training and Cal and Instructor Arven were sitting off to the side, he'd be angry and humiliated. He likely would have skulked to the sidelines and not spoken to her for the entire day. But now, he just feels incredible pride for the woman who's going to be his wife. Queenstrial may have decreed that Evangeline Samos is the noblest lady in the land but anyone with half a brain can see it's really Mare.
"Clever," he admits, "But now we're going to have to wrestle for it and when it comes to semantics, we already know who's physically stronger."
She laughs as he makes a dive for her, sending them both tumbling to the ground. She ends up flat on her back underneath him while he has her hands pinned to the floor, hips brushing. Her breath fans across his lips when she speaks, "Even though I won, you want to claim your reward early?"
"This isn't over yet," he promises before pressing his lips firmly to hers. She tangles her hands in his hair, responding eagerly. She presses her body against his and one of his hands trails up her leg…
"What is going on in here?" They both jerk in surprise at the stern voice. Blushing madly, Mare ducks her head behind Maven's shoulder as he faces their instructor.
"We were putting a little extra training in and got carried away," he explains smoothly, "Our apologies, sir. It won't happen again."
"You bet it won't," the white haired man mumbles irritably, "Just wait till your father hears about this, Prince Maven. And Lady Blonos!"
"Not Lady Blonos," Mare says in a hushed voice, eyes wide.
They can hear Arven leaving the area, muttering about errant teenagers and their wild hormones. They wait exactly two point five seconds before bursting into laughter.
And it's right then, with their limbs tangled together and their breath mingling on the floor of the training center, that Maven realizes that Mare Barrow has become much more than a ploy in ending the Red Rebellion, more than a fiancée even.
She's his best friend. Which means he'll let her have her silly victory.
Just this once.
I hope you all like this chapter; it's another cute and fluffy one. For those of you who enjoyed chapter three and want to see some darker stuff set after Glass Sword, I think you'll find what I have in mind for 'G' and 'H' to your liking. Also, if you want to see Cal playing a bigger part, he's a major character in the chapter after the next. I've pretty much mapped out the main ideas of the rest of the chapters, and I think it'll be an equal mix of some of these short, happy ones and dark, angsty chapters like "Cut", so hopefully everyone who reads this story will find something to their liking. Anyway, thank you so much for taking the time to read my work, and please don't forget to review. I really appreciate it! :)