“How?” She asked curiously.

“You will always be underestimated by every male you face.”

Cassie thought about that for a minute. “I’m not sure if I should be insulted or not. See this is why I need Elora with me. She always knows when to put you in your place.”

As quickly as it was adopted, his business voice was dropped and suddenly she was looking into his bedroom eyes. “I know my place, Cassandra.” His voice dropped even lower and though he didn’t move any closer to her, she swore she could feel his warm, sweet breath on her face. “My place is wherever you are. And your place is by my side, which is why I must insist that you learn to fight.”

And the business voice is back, she thought to herself as she mentally sighed, already missing his flirting.

“I’m completely fine with learning how to fight,” she argued. “I’m just, I mean I don’t know,” she sighed in frustration and stomped over to him taking his hand in hers. She opened her mind up to him and let him see what it was she couldn’t voice.

“You don’t think you can kill someone,” Trik put words to her worry as she looked down at the ground. Her chest tightened and her palms grew moist at just the thought of having to take another’s life. “That’s not something to be ashamed of, love,” Trik told her as he lifted her chin with a finger. “The ease at which I took lives is not a strength, Cassie. It’s not something to be proud of. I would be worried if you weren’t the least bit bothered by killing.”

Cassie shook her head as her eyes met his. “You should have a Queen who is as strong as you are. You would be better off with someone like Elora.” Even as the words left her mouth, she felt as though a knife had entered her heart at the thought of Trik with another.

He growled at her as his piercing silver eyes held hers. “There is no other for me. If I was mated to Elora one of us would wind up killing the other.”

“But she’s tough,” Cassie interrupted, “and not scared of anything and she can be heartless when it’s called for. She’s really your equivalent, minus the boy parts,” she finished whispering the last part. Her heart and mind filled with self-doubt and uncertainty.

“Cassie, beautiful, why in seven realms would I want to be with someone who was my equal? Why would I want to be mated to someone who shared my same flaws, my same weaknesses, or even my same strengths? How would having someone like that help me in any way? Don’t you see why you are so perfect for me? Don’t you see why you bear the other half of my soul?”

Cassie shook her head, not trusting herself to speak without bursting into a balling mess.

“You are everything I am not. You are compassionate, selfless, and loving. I am none of those things, not naturally. I am only compassionate because you remind me to be. I am only loving because you show me how to be. And we both know I’m still working on the whole selfless bit,” he chuckled. “No, Cassie, I couldn’t be with Elora, or any other woman. You are perfect for me and you are stronger than you realize. And because of you, I am stronger as well.”

Cassie was speechless as she listened to not only his words, but the passion behind them. She knew he was right and she also knew that no amount of her bellyaching about what she wasn’t would change anything. If she thought Trik needed a strong female to rule beside him, then she was just going to have to put on her big girl panties and do what needed to be done. “Okay,” she nodded to him. “Let’s do this.”

A broad grin stretched across his face. “That’s my girl. Like I said you will be underestimated and you can use that to your advantage. A male fighter will look at you and not see much of a threat because they won’t think you are strong enough to hurt them.”

“But I’m not,” she interrupted.

“But you are small and quick. Speed can out do strength most days. So what we are going to work on is conditioning,”

“That translates into running doesn’t it?”

“And agility,” he continued without answering her. “Also you will learn hand to hand combat. And because you are smaller, I think you will learn with two fighting daggers instead of a sword. Last, you will learn archery because I would much prefer you not be in the thick of things until you absolutely have to be.”

“So what first?” she asked when he finished.

He thought about it for a minute and then grinned as he rubbed his hands together like a child about to play with his favorite toy. “Let’s start with some hand to hand combat.”

And so her training began. Trik showed her the basics of what she would call some form of martial arts. And he had agreed with her that one style he showed her was similar to Jujitsu and that another was similar to Judo, which had been her favorite because she was actually able to get Trik on the ground.

Trik looked out at the courtyard as the evening sun was beginning to slip beyond the horizon. Male and female elves were all in various states of rest, some lying on their backs panting from the run and some hunched over with their hands on their knees. He had pushed them hard and he would push them even harder still tomorrow.

“I know today was challenging but I have heard it said that nothing worth anything comes easily. And what we want is worth it—freedom. Freedom not only for ourselves, but also for the human race. We have a battle ahead of us and it will take every ounce of training to ensure that we are victorious.” He motioned with his hands and suddenly all of them were on their feet, alert, ready and listening to their king.