The Hunter and the Mage (The Raven and the Dove #2) - Kaitlyn Davis Page 0,72

the world above?

Where, in Aethios's name, was she?

Lyana studied the sky one more time, waiting for something, anything, to break up the impenetrable darkness.

Nothing came.

After a while, she retreated into her room, a hollow void in her heart. It had been naïve, maybe, but in all her hours dreaming of adventure, she had never once imagined that when she finally found one, it would leave her feeling so alone.

23

Xander

When Xander walked into his study, he was surprised to find Cassi there waiting, the whites of her wings painted pink by the dying light of the sun. She looked a million miles away, staring out the window with her soft lips slightly pursed and a wrinkle in her brow. Whatever thought had been in his mind fled at the sight, replaced by the sudden urge to make her smile.

"If you meant to catch me by surprise, you succeeded," he murmured into the silence. Cassi started and turned toward him. "Though I admit, I enjoy this sort of surprise far more than your usual sort. No daggers. No chokeholds. Some might say you're losing your touch."

"I thought your dignity could use a break to recover," she drawled, then quickly eyed the door behind his back. A wicked gleam flashed across her irises. "But if you want me to toss you up against another wall…"

He fought a rising flush as the image filled his vision—Cassi up against him, her hands on his chest, their bodies pressed tight, their breath mingling as the fire crackled across the silence.

"No. No, I don't think that's necessary," he stammered, stifling the thought and focusing on safer ground. What the gods was that? "Are you here for a book?"

"Actually, no."

"No?"

"I have something for you."

Eyebrows raised, he found himself unable to keep his gaze from straying to her face. She was grinning now, the sight drawing him in like a flower stretching to the sun, something innate, almost physical in the pull. "What?"

"A present," she replied coyly.

His lips curved into a smile. "You bought me a present?"

"Well, no. Not quite. I asked Helen to have something made, which she did, using the crown's resources. So, really, you bought yourself a present."

"A technicality."

"Precisely."

He waited for her to give him a box or move to the side or do anything really, but she didn’t. She stood there and stared, an unfamiliar sensation in the air. If he didn’t know her better, he'd say she was nervous. But Cassi never got nervous. Did she? The very idea made him want to laugh. "And am I allowed to see this mysterious item I bought myself?"

"Oh, right."

She bent to retrieve a box from the floor and handed it to him. He recognized the insignia immediately. Metal ore and precious stones were his house's largest exports, the blacksmith's guild its richest, and he'd seen this emblem many times before, just not burned into gifts meant for him. It belonged to the wealthiest shop in the city, and for Helen to have spent that much royal coin, Cassi's design had clearly been deemed more than worthy.

Xander opened the lid, heart thumping with an eagerness he couldn't quite explain. The last few weapons he'd been presented left him feeling nothing but dread, yet this was different. For whatever reason, his fingers trembled ever so slightly as he removed the bundle from the box and unwound the cloth, a giddy excitement fluttering beneath his skin.

"After I agreed to teach you, I asked Helen to take me to the storerooms to see what sorts of weapons you'd previously been trained with," Cassi explained as he undid the wrappings. "Broadswords. Bows. Clubs. Staffs. There was a whole array of special devices for your hand, all manner of strange contraptions, and none of it seemed to suit you. So I thought I would have something made instead."

Xander finally removed the last bit of cloth, revealing a matching set of steel cylinders with leather straps. "They're…arm guards?"

"Of a sort." She stepped forward. "If I may?"

Xander nodded and held out his arms as she removed the guards from his hold. It was only when she started attaching them to his forearms that he noticed how easily the gesture had come. He tried to hide his disability from most people—keeping his right arm by his side, holding it behind his back, shrouding it from view. With Cassi, he didn't seem to mind putting it on display. He was comfortable, he was shocked to realize, as she leaned over the rounded end of his arm