Gavrynn, in an oddly good mood, taught Nemyria how to fight. He showed her a move, made sure she did it properly, then had her try to use said move on him.
Often times, it would not work, and something along the lines of, "The hell are you doing? Even Tiberius fights better than that," would leave his lips.
Yes, he was in a better mood, but no, that did not mean he was any less rude.
Every time Gavrynn made some comment about how horribly she fought, Crimson would laugh. Once, she even called, "Still better than these hopeless lads."
Nemyria, however, grew more and more frustrated with each move that she struggled to learn. She managed to get them down, but it was a lot more difficult than she wished to admit, and took much more time than she would have liked.
Gavrynn, blocking the blow she threw at him, blinked at the amount of force behind it.
"Well," Gavrynn said, almost teasing her, "Someone's a little mad."
She let out a vicious snarl, kicking him again with that fancy, stupid move he'd just taught her. He staggered back with the force of it, chuckling.
"Well. Good job, Nemyria," Gavrynn said, "I think you may have finally gotten that one down."
"Oh, shut up!" Nemyria snapped.
He caught her leg the next time she tried to kick him, and he shoved her back. Stumbling and falling back on her ass, she snarled at him.
"Listen, if this is so hard, then why don't you use your magic?" Gavrynn questioned.
"I have no magic, Gavrynn," she spat out, "And I won't until I've Settled."
He paused. Blinking, raising a brow in confusion and he frowned, he questioned, "Really? Why?"
"Some stupid werewolf thing, I guess. I can't shift until I Settle, I can't use magic until I Settle," Nemyria replied.
"Then that would be until you're fourteen," Crimson said.
"It should have been, but because I'm half demon, it got pushed back until I Settle," Nemyria replied.
"Ah. Well, that's odd," Gavrynn said.
"And annoying," Nemyria agreed.
Gavrynn nodded, and slid into his stance meant for sparring.
Nemyria sighed. Raising her fists, her tail lashing, she readied for him to lunge.
He rushed toward her. Launching herself into a roll, she dodged the man. Her claws shot out, digging into the ground as she slid to a stop. Running back for him, she slammed into him, tackling him to the ground. He threw her off of him before she could do much of anything, and they both got to their feet.
Stalking in a circle around each other, Gavrynn drew a blade. Nemyria grinned. Her claws itched to tear into flesh, her fangs lowering. Her tail again lashing, she readied to lunge, to attack him, to tear into him.
That was until Nemyria heard her mate's voice, snapping her out of that trance.
"Nemyria!" Tiberius called.
She stopped. Blinking, her fangs retracting and her claws sliding back to their normal range, she looked to the source of his voice.
The male held his normal smile, his eyes joyful as he met her gaze. She relaxed, straightening.
"How is the training going, my love?" Tiberius asked.
Cloven walked at his side, his eyes unnervingly calm as he surveyed the barracks.
"Not well," Gavrynn answered for her.
"Oh?" Tiberius asked, lifting a brow at his mate, "Is that true?"
"Unfortunately," she replied, sending Gavrynn a glare.
The male glared back. She snorted, and turned to find her mate a few feet from her, pulling her into his arms.
"Hello, my Nemyria," he said.
"Hello, Tiberius," she said, and looked to Cloven, "Hey, Cloven."
The prince offered her a wave.
"Miss me, love?" her mate asked, his hands finding her waist, his brow leaned against hers.
"I may have, I may not have," she replied, "But I am glad you're here."
"And why is that?"
"Because now, I don't have to train," Nemyria replied.
Tiberius chuckled. "I thought you wanted to train."
"That was before I found out how horrible at it I was," Nemyria replied.
"Oh, don't worry about it. You'll get better with practice," he said.
She did not look convinced.
"You'll get better," he promised.
She shrugged, leaning into his arms, her own circling his abdomen. He pressed a kiss to her hair as he wrapped her up in a hug.
"Now that I'm done with my meetings, is there anything you'd like to do today?" Tiberius inquired.
She shook her head. "I'm tired again."
"Then, I suppose you'd like another nap?"
"After lunch," she replied, "After lunch."
Tiberius lifted a brow toward his brother. The male stared back.
"What?"
"It's two," Tiberius said.
"And?" Gavrynn questioned.
The king sighed. He swept Nemyria off her feet, and began carrying her away.
"Lunch," Tiberius said, "Then I'll take you to bed."
Crimson snorted.
"Oh, get your mind out of the gutter," Tiberius snapped.
She chuckled again, and turned back to her trainees. Tiberius sighed, and continued into the castle. Cloven joined them, Gavrynn following behind them.
"How's Lila?" Nemyria asked.
"Well. She's asleep now," Cloven replied, smiling fondly at some memory of his wife, "First rest she's gotten since she had our little baby boy. Took me a while to convince her that our little Rexius would be okay, but she's finally sleeping."
"And where's Rex?" Nemyria asked.
"Sleeping in her arms," Cloven said, "I might have joined them, if someone hadn't dragged me to a meeting just to question me about Draven again."
Tiberius did not reply. Nemyria snorted, raising her brow toward him.
"I was curious, Nemyria," Tiberius said.
"And I'm pretty sure Cloven already told you all there is to know about his brother," Nemyria replied.
"Fair enough," he said.
"So."
He paused. Looking down at her, he raised a brow.
"Are you going to keep bothering him about it?" Nemyria asked.
Sighing, Tiberius promised, "I won't ask again unless it's important."
"Thank you," she said, leaning her head against his chest.
It brought a smile to his lips, and he continued walking, all while keeping his gaze on her.
"Tiberius," Cloven said.
"Yes?" Tiberius asked.
"You're about to run into a guard," Cloven said.
Tiberius stopped. Lifting his head, he indeed found a guard in his path.
"Yes?" Tiberius asked.
"There's a few demons at the gates," the gaurd replied. "And they're demanding to see Nemyria."