saw his hand sticking out, and realized that he had managed to shove her without even touching her.
He scowled down at her, and she knew that she was in for a rebuke.
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
Caitlin found herself walking with Aiden through a path in the woods. She could tel that he was silently fuming, as he hadn’t spoken a word since he’d summoned her to fol ow him.
After the fight, he’d led her outside the circle, away from the others, and had lifted off in flight with her. She had fol owed, feeling like a chastised schoolboy. She didn’t like the feeling. She felt that she was old enough now to be able to learn her own lessons from the fight. Besides, Cain had had it coming.
Now they tramped endlessly through forest, until final y, they came to a large clearing in the woods. The sunlight broke through the trees, lighting it up.
Aiden final y stopped and turned to her.
“I’m disappointed in you,” he said.
“It wasn’t my fault!” Caitlin snapped back, preparing her defense. “You saw the fight. He fought dirty, from the beginning.”
“It doesn’t matter. You should have transcended that.”
“He was trying to hurt me. To really hurt me. Even when the fight was over.”
“You let down your guard too quickly,” he answered. “A battle is never over.”
“Wel , it’s your job to mediate these fights. If you’re mad at anyone, you should be mad at him,”
Caitlin snapped back, fuming with anger. She’d had enough of being chided. “Why don’t you go and chastise him? Why are you chastising me?”
Caitlin realized she was raising her voice. She had lost her patience for authority figures, and it felt good to final y tel him what was on her mind.
Aiden seemed completely composed. He merely shook his head slightly, expressionless.
“I have chosen to speak with you and not him,” Aiden began slowly, “as a reward, not as a punishment. You have the potential to hear what I have to say. He does not. You have the potential to become the best warrior I’ve ever trained.
He does not.”
“You’re NOT my father!” Caitlin snapped back. “I don’t need to be here. I don’t need to listen to you!”
Even as she said it, she realized she sounded bratty. But she couldn’t stop herself. She was so mad at people trying to boss her around her whole life, and she was tired of answering to people.
She was also tired of taking the blame for everyone else’s mistakes.
“You are correct,” Aiden said calmly. “I am not your father.
And you do not need to be here. Or to answer to me. You choose your path in life, every step of the way. You only need to stay here if you choose to,” he reminded her calmly.
Caitlin thought about that, and slowly calmed down. He was right. She had chosen to be here.
And she did want to train. She just…wel , she didn’t know what it was. She had just been so mad she could hardly think straight.
“Your greatest strength is also your greatest weakness,” he said. “Your passion. Your fury. I’m not saying that you should have not beaten Cain. What I am saying is that you should not have beaten yourself.”
Caitlin tried to decipher what he meant. As always, it was so hard to grasp, at first glance, what he was saying. She realized it was another one of his statements that she would have to contemplate.
“What you stil fail to see is that your current powers are limited. You have, inside you, so much power—more than you ever dreamed of. I want to show you how to tap that power. You are stil caught up on superficial things, like winning and losing, and anger and revenge. If you want to grow stronger, you’l need to reach the deeper levels.”
Caitlin breathed deeply, and began to calm down.
Whenever Aiden talk, she relaxed. The more she listened, the more she realized that he actual y was not like al the other authority figures in her life. She realized that he was not, actual y, trying to control her. He real y just wanted to help her.
She was grateful for that.
“What do I have to do?” she asked.
Aiden took a few steps out into the clearing, and turned and faced her. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply. He held up his staff, so that the edge of it was touching her shoulder. She could feel the wood pressing lightly into her skin.
“Take off your shoes,” he said.
Caitlin did so.