The Darkness

Lessons

Day one of my training began after tea. I had wanted to go back to my room and change into reliable gear, but I had spent too much time at the Pack house as it was and I couldn't start off on the wrong foot by missing meeting my new mentor.

I had made my way to the clearing, frowning to myself as Paeris stood alone there waiting.

"What are you doing up? Are you supposed to be out here?" I asked worriedly as I jogged closer.

His skin was bronzer than I had remembered, as if he had spent an unusually long amount of time in the sun lately. I expected to see dark circles around his eyes and his hair to be limp the way it had been when I had visited him last in the infirmary. Instead, his hair was freshly cut and the darkness around his eyes had disappeared. There was a heavy weight in my chest that never seemed to disappear now. While Paeris looked great, I felt horrible.

"I'm fine. I have been fine for days." His eyes rolled, but his reaction looked more like a sadness than an anger.

"Okay.... so what are you doing here?"

"My father asked me to mentor you. You have a lot to learn in a small amount of time."

"I don't think that's a good idea."

He rolled his eyes again.

"If you don't want to take this seriously, then just renounce your title. If you want to learn, thoroughly and quickly, then let's get to work. You are on a strict schedule, your Highness."

It was my turn to roll my eyes.

"Lesson one: I want you to manifest a ball of fire."

"And you don't think Merith could teach me this? How are you going to teach me fire elementals?"

"I may not have the best control of my power right now, but I know you. And I know how to teach you. Are you going to even try? Or is this a waste of everyone's time?"

I sighed, sliding my hips backward and my arms forward. I focused on flames rolling down my wrists, pooling into the palms of my hands, but frowned with disappointment at the small crackles of sparks instead of actual flames.

I tried again, rolling the stiffness from my shoulders and envisioned a swirling ball of fire. The warmth licked my fingertips, but faded away before fully forming a full ball.

"This is pointless."

"Just... here." All at once, Paeris' breath was on my neck as his hands were wrapped around me, his hands cupping mine.

"Focus." He snapped, pulling me closer to his chest.

I swallowed as his chest pressed against my back, memories of our past swirling through my veins. "You're not focusing."

"I'm trying!" I snapped, shoving myself backward into him to force some distance between us.

"You aren't trying!" He thundered, anger forcing into me at his aggression.

A roar of fire lifted from my hands as his touch returned, blowing him backward with surprise momentarily.

"Now we are getting somewhere!" He exclaimed happily, shooting me his signature smile that I remembered so well.

We worked for hours with fire, focusing on harnessing control and seeing the flames in my minds eye. He explained that anger was the easiest way to manifest the element, but not as easy to control. Passion was the easiest path to control, but would never be as strong or dangerous as anger. It made sense to me now, how Merith seemed so angry all the time.

Paeris was a great teacher. I felt like he was being too easy on me at times, but I couldn't complain. I assumed he was still exhausted from his brush with death. Occasionally, I would see little glimpses of the Paeris I knew, like the kindness in the way he directed me, the way he patiently explained every step he showed me.

Then there was the new Paeris, the one that made my blood boil and my heart race in a way it never had before. There was a new sarcasm to his tone, a roughness that rubbed my ego raw. He didn't speak to me like I was breakable anymore, and while he still showed me respect in an official capacity, there was an anger in him that seemed to simmer just below the surface. More than once, he had to walk away out of frustration, but he always came back relaxed and focused.

We had been working together for the past few days at request of Jonas to try and get my manifestation to full force. Paeris personally hadn't been able to manifest his power in a stable capacity since the night in the woods, but it seemed like working with me to bring out my own seemed to help bring happiness back into his life and make it a little easier to control his own chaos. He didn't speak to me the way he used to, but I could tell it was helping to be around me and direct me the way he once had.

I attempted to focus on the ball of fire, the way it licked my arms painlessly and danced between my fingers. The ball dissolved again as I felt the warmth of his chest pressed against me. I sighed in frustration.

"You just need to relax. You keep getting all worked up and then you can't focus."

I silently wondered if he could feel the tension in the air as much as I could. I wondered if his skin burned when it touched me too. If he was affected at all by our close proximity, he didn't let it show. I wondered if he could feel the wounds of our past reopening the way I could. We had gotten so close in such a short period of time and now I had been forced to choose someone else, even if it was in an unofficial capacity.

I could feel the heat radiating off his body as he corrected my stance, pulling my leg backward to a more defensive position and tapping my elbow to make my arm a little looser. I felt a blush rise to my cheeks as his hand rested on my hip, swiveling it to a more comfortable position.

"Don't fight it." He whispered, his fingers grazing against my skin at the area where my shirt had lifted during his tweaking.

I cleared my throat, willing my mind to stay away from the thoughts that raced through it.

"Get angry, focus on the heat of anger you feel." He continued, digging his fingers into my arm a little further.

"This is pointless." I whined, pulling myself away from him.

"Get back here and stay still." He snapped, pulling me back into a defensive crouch, forcing my arms up into fists. I felt a pull as I unintentionally pushed closer to him, reveling in his warmth. "That's not staying still, Ray."

"Sorry."

He sighed, pushing me away from him before shaking his arms as if he was just as affected as I was. It was as if he was attempting to cling to whatever small string of sanity he had left.

"Okay. This isn't working."

"I told you this was pointless. You aren't even of Braun. I should be training with Merith."

"Do you have a death wish? Merith is not a teacher. He is great at channeling his anger, but to teach?" He snorted, shaking his head. "Let's take a break."

"Okay, let's discuss the Spiris ritual." I supplied, sitting on the damp ground and crossing my legs. "It's only a couple of days away and I have no idea what I'm doing."

Now that Keya, the leader of the Spiris Division was gone, we had to name a new leader. She had been a dear friend of mine and a casualty in the attack by the Darklings. It was very rare that a new division head was chosen as Elves lived a every long time, but the ceremony was just as important to my people as our Pack traditions.

"Well, Laurel has your dress picked out, right?"

I nodded. Laurel had picked out a beautiful purple dress that was elegant and fierce. It was never anything I personally would have chosen. The skirt was much bigger than I was normally comfortable with and the back was completely open, only thin lace covering the bodice. I had been worried that it would be too exposing on the top, but she had promised that no inappropriate parts would show through the slightly thicker material of the breast lining.

"So the ceremony is basically just a formality now. It used to be a party that introduced the heads that each Region sent as their speaker for the Council. Since Lorelei though, it has become more of a nomination ceremony. The current Heads of the Council will 'give their word' on a person they feel is strong enough and has the leadership skills. Usually it's only one person who is introduced and it is generally a done deal."

I tipped my head, a little confused on how my mother had changed everything while she was in charge. I knew she had been powerful, but I didn't understand why people bowed down to someone who was so clearly corrupt.

"If there is more than one choice available, you will have until the beginning of the harvest season to name your choice. At that time, you will name them to the Council and we will have another party."

"What is it with all the parties?"

He let out a breathy laugh and shrugged. "We like to party. Always have."

"Why is that? Aren't there more important things to do?"

"I think we need something to occupy our time between harvest seasons. It's hard to do much when it's snowy, but we need the freezing period to rest. Our numbers aren't as much as they used to be, Ray."

Especially now.

"Besides, when you live as long as we do, what other kind of fun can we have?" He winked then, causing me to roll my eyes again.

I pulled my sweater closer to me as a gust of wind blew past us, the cold starting to sink into my bones as we sat still. It would probably start snowing in the next couple of days and training would be hard to accomplish in the cold.

"I'm just not use to being so social."

"You will get used to it. You pretend surprisingly well with how grumpy you are on a normal basis."

I crossed my arms, huffing at the truth in his words.

"Come on, your Highness, lets get back to work." He extended his hand and hoisted me back to my feet.

I threw myself into training, focusing on manifesting fire balls and blocking as Paeris tried to land punches. The pull between us seemed to slide to the back of my mind as I pushed myself harder. By the time we were done, we were both covered in soot and our faces were red from the heat. The area we had been training in was scorched from my flames and we both were breathless.

"You're getting good. I'm proud of you. I think you deserve a day off from kicking my butt."

"Study day tomorrow?"

"You got it. Bring your brain and wear something sexy for me." He winked at me before jogging off toward the market area and waving at Laurel who seemed to be shopping for fabrics and vials of what I assumed to be perfume. I frowned to myself and shook my head as I tried to ignore the way her eyes lit up when she saw him.