I slept well that night, without any tea, tonic or incense. And for the first time in a long while, when I woke up, I felt rested. Despite feeling nervous about going to Windhaven, Azriel's kiss still lingered on my lips, calming me as I dressed in my Valkyrie leathers. I finished braiding my hair, strapped the dagger to my thigh and hooked my sword over my back and then headed up to the Training Ring.
I had hoped that Azriel was waiting alone but the High Lord stood beside him, also in his Illyrian leathers and with his arms folded. The conversation paused as I approached and Azriel gave me a shy smile where he stood. Rhysand, on the other hand, grinned as he took in my Valkyrie leathers.
"These look great," He said, with a flourish of his hand. "Almost makes me think ours need an upgrade." He nudged Azriel with his elbow. Cassian and Nesta walked out into the ring and from their flushed cheeks it was obvious why they were a few minutes late. From Cassian's smirk and Azriel's raised eyebrows, I knew a secret conversation was going on between the three males.
Nesta glanced over at me, concern etched on her face. "Ready?" I knew there was further meaning in her words.
I looked at her and nodded my head, "Ready."
I had forgotten that I didn't like winnowing or teleporting or anything that involved disappearing into darkness and then being thrown out somewhere else. From Nesta's face, it was clear she didn't like it either. We appeared right outside of Emerie's shop.
"I'll go ahead to speak to Devlon," The High Lord said and excused himself, heading towards the training area of the camp.
Nesta opened the door to Emerie's shop and we stepped inside, the bell chiming to announce our arrival. She hurried down the stairs in her leathers, finishing a braid.
I grabbed her sword from her counter and hooked it over her as she tied the braid with the leather cord.
"When do we get the gossip from last night?" Nesta asked and I glanced to the closed shop door, where the two Illyrian warriors waited outside.
I cleared my throat and signalled towards the door.
"Then whisper," Nesta said. She moved to stand closer to me and Emerie did the same.
"Er… we might have… kissed." My cheeks flushed red.
"You kissed?" Emerie grinned.
"Twice."
"Hmm will you be admitting that something is going on now?" Nesta asked and I stuck my tongue out at her. "Save that for Az." She nudged me with her elbow. "This conversation isn't over but," She glanced towards the door, "We've got some training to do."
It was hard to ignore the stares and whispers as the three of us walked, armed and in our Valkyrie leathers, towards the training ring. Azriel and Cassian walked beside us, just in case anyone dared to cause any trouble at all. We passed a young Illyrian mother holding a baby, a young Illyrian girl clutched to her leg. She grinned when she saw us and I smiled back before turning my attention back to the direction we were walking in.
Rhysand stood with Lord Devlon when we approached and my stomach churned at the sight of him, the person who had allowed us to be taken into the Blood Rite. I knew from what Nesta had said that he'd been made to pay for it. Lord Devlon's eyes scanned the three of us and we each folded our arms, staring him down, not bowing as he expected Illyrians to do.
"Something wrong with the Illyrian leathers we left in your shop?" Devlon asked Emerie.
She looked bored as she responded, "We're not in your Illyrian army."
"Last time I checked the three of you were somehow Carynthian."
"We're Valkyries," Emerie responded.
"There's a book about us that I can lend you, if you can read," I added. A smirk crept onto Rhysand's face and I heard a snort from Cassian behind me. By now a few other Illyrians had gathered around, watching, assessing. I ignored the disgust on many of their faces. To them, females were for breeding and running the house, nothing more.
"This is my camp," Devlon reminded us.
"We're aware," Nesta replied. "Now if you could show us to the training ring, I'd be most grateful." Devlon looked as if he would make some sarcastic retort but a glance behind him, at where I presumed Cassian was standing, and he seemed to change his mind. Instead, he led us to the training ring.
The males' training paused as we walked past but we continued onwards until we found the females waiting for us. Our novices. Many looked nervous and my heart sank at the sight of their wings, all clipped like Emerie's. A disgusting practice. A few widened their eyes as they caught sight of us and some even smiled.
"Thank you, Devlon," Emerie said to him and his eyes narrowed.
"You have two hours and then the females must do their chores."
We each gave a nod and walked into the ring.
The females hushed as we reached them. They weren't dressed for training, all in dresses and in skirts and I made a mental note to ask Cassian if we could provide them with some kind of training outfits so that they were more comfortable. We introduced ourselves and Cassian, Azriel and Rhysand left us to it, moving away with Lord Devlon so that there were no prying eyes. I felt the magic of the shield though, its quiet music humming as it bounced into place over the training ring.
"Is it really true you completed the Blood Rite?" One female asked, her eyes wide as she looked at us.
"Yes," Nesta confirmed. She glanced at Emerie and myself and smiled. "We found each other."
A few mouths opened.
"They say you're a witch," Another female said to Nesta.
Nesta smirked, "I'm worse." A few eyes widened, "But only if I need to be." She signalled to me, "Gwyn here is a priestess from Sangravah and she now lives in one of the libraries in Velaris. And some of you probably know Emerie from her shop in the camp." The eyes of the ten women trailed over each one of us, taking in our armour, our weapons. I wished I knew what they were thinking. Their faces were better masked than the males.
"We're training you to be Valkyries," I announced to them. "Not Illyrian warriors like your brothers, husbands, fathers, but Valkyries. I have the first chapter of a book I'd like you each to read as homework before our next session. It's a history of the Valkyries and what we stand for."
"And if anyone is struggling with the reading or wants a quiet place away from prying eyes, please come by my shop any evening," Emerie gave a smile of reassurance.
I walked over to a wooden post and tied a white ribbon to it. "When you're ready," I announced as I unsheathed my sword, "The ribbon will know." With a careful swing of the sword, the ribbon fluttered to the ground.
"But until then," Nesta said, "We train."
It was clear that most of the women there had never had a single training session, despite what Lord Devlon had told Cassian. Their stamina was weak, as was their strength. I remembered being in that place. We had them jogging, doing sit-ups and lunges and taught them a few moves using their fists to start them off. We were going to have to build up to weapons, it became apparent, as they were far off.
As the session ended, we told them recommendations for daily jogging and stretches to help build themselves up and then I handed the first chapter of the book to each female as they passed. I wasn't sure how many would come back. They looked exhausted.
"I'm not sure how that went," Nesta said as we packed away some of the padding we'd used for the punches. I grabbed the white ribbon off the ground and tied it to my wrist.
"They have no self-esteem," Emerie said, sadly. "Here, you're used for breeding purposes, you're not seen as important if you're female and even if you're lucky enough to be married to someone nice … the traditions are out-dated and backwards."
"Do you ever wish you could move somewhere else?" I asked her.
"Sometimes," She admitted, "But if I ran away then things wouldn't change, would they? If I stay, maybe I can do something to help, even if I can just offer a safe space."
We walked out of the ring and the male eyes were back on us now that we weren't tucked safely behind the shield. We ignored the stairs and the shouts of 'witch', 'bitch', 'trash' and every disgusting name under the Sun as we made our way back to Emerie's shop. The smell of the soup she'd left slowly cooking filled the air, drifting out of the kitchen, and I was grateful for it as my stomach grumbled. Nesta and I placed our swords down and sat at the table as Emerie brought each of us over a warm bowl and then sat down with her own. I cupped the soup in my hands and the warmth seemed to soothe the aching that was there.
"So back to our conversation from earlier," Nesta turned to face me and I nearly choked on the mouthful of the soup I was savouring.
"Seriously?" My voice came out croaky, weak.
"They'll be dropping by to collect us soon and then you'll be tucked away in the library," Nesta grinned, "Unless of course you want the other priestesses to hear our conversation."
My face heated and I knew my cheeks were red, "What do you want to know?"
"Everything," Emerie replied. "From the beginning."
I found myself telling them everything that had happened. From the night Azriel had helped train me for cutting the ribbon to the necklace, the dancing at the mating ceremony and then the confrontation from Elain, the apology, Starfall and up until… whatever last night was.
"Cauldron spare me," Emerie shook her head and I raised an eyebrow at her. "It sounds like he's been trying to court you for weeks! Or months if you count the Solstice."
"I wouldn't count that," Nesta said, "He still had that weird thing going on with Elain." She wrinkled her nose, "Although something made him want to give you the necklace." She looked thoughtful for a moment and then continued devouring her soup.
"Well there's definitely been some flirting going on for months," Emerie said, "Definitely some looks and some comments exchanged… and then training yesterday," She pointed her spoon at me. "I think if nothing had happened after that then I'd have slapped you both."
"Get in line," Nesta said.
"What now though?" I asked, glancing up from my soup. I finished the last mouthful and intertwined my hands on the table.
"What do you mean, what now?" Nesta raised an eyebrow at me.
"Well… I've never been in this… situation before."
"Ah," Nesta took the empty bowls and walked over to the sink to wash them up. "So this is all new to you?"
I gave an embarrassed nod and Emerie's face was understanding as she looked over at me.
"Now, you just enjoy it," Emerie told me, "Whatever it is… just like those books we read."
"And when he finds someone better?"
Nesta moved back to sit beside me and each friend grabbed one of my hands and squeezed. "Then we murder her," She said, her voice completely serious. Emerie laughed softly at my horrified expression but Nesta then said, "He's not going to find someone better than you. But if he ends up stupid enough to look for anyone else then he's not worth it."
"And then we kill him," Emerie said and we all laughed as the three of us embraced each other.