The Ice Diamond Cuff (Custodian Novel #4) (16 page)

Etyran and the Alsian circled around the
arena, sussing each other out, trying to predict the others first
move. Etyran's sword glinted in the sunlight, but the Alsian's
glittered like diamonds. Faedra had to admit it was a thing of
beauty, but wondered how strong something made of ice could be.
Surely not strong enough to defeat a weapon forged of steel. Her
curiosity was quickly satisfied when the fight began. As the swords
made contact, the one forged of ice that shimmered like diamonds,
seemed inexplicably stronger. So much so, after a few strikes,
Faedra could make out tiny dints along the length of Etyran's
sword. It was only by sheer mastery alone that Etyran eventually
won the bout by points. The Alsian glared at the Lightbender as
they stood face to face at the end of the match. Although the
Alsian obliged the rules and threw a curt incline of his head to
the winner, he turned quickly afterwards, swiped his sword off the
ground, where Etyran had knocked it out of his hand, and stalked
out of the arena.

Etyran raised his sword above his head to the
excited applause of the spectators. Faedra, Jocelyn and her two
dads stood and clapped. It took every atom of her being to hold
herself back from cupping her hands around her mouth and whooping
her delight. Etyran walked towards the part of the stands that held
the royal box. He showed his respect with a deep bow and made sure
to sneak in a wink to his girlfriend before exiting.

"That young man can fight," Henry said to
Faedra, a hint of awe in his voice.

"You wait 'til you see my man," Faedra
replied, her lips quirking up at the corner.

They sat through several more fights before
it was Faen's turn to compete. So far, two Azranians, one Valkyrie,
and three Alsians had won their respective fights and would be
moving forward to the next round.

Faedra's heart did a little flip flop as her
husband entered the arena with his competitor, one of Derian's men
from Umor. If Faedra had been curious as to how strong an ice blade
was, having a sword made of water didn't seem in the least little
bit feasible. Yet again, Faedra sat and watched in amazement at the
water sword, which was every bit as strong as her husband's. But
how could that be? It defied physics, didn't it? But, then, she
realized, most of the things she had experienced over the past
couple of years defied physics.

The young man from Umor turned out to be no
match for her husband. Faen won his round in only a few minutes.
The competitors turned to face each other, and the young man bowed
low in front of Faen, showing much better competitive spirit than
the Alsian who fought against Etyran earlier that morning. By the
look on this man's face, he seemed pleased to just have had the
opportunity to fight against someone as well respected as the
former Guardian was.

Faen's fight was the final one for that day.
The event would continue the following morning, giving the
remaining competitors time to rest before they had to fight against
the winners from the other arenas.

As Faedra, her two dads, and Jocelyn made
their way down the steps from the royal box, she could see Faen and
Etyran waiting at the bottom. A smile spread across her lips as her
insides warmed at the sight of her husband. It didn't help that she
knew exactly the effect Etyran was having on her best friend and
newly appointed Guardian, either. The two friends looked at each
other, sharing in their unspoken happiness, and couldn't help but
fall into girlie giggles for the rest of the way down the steps.
They were greeted at the bottom by two sets of loving arms that
were wrapped around them by their respective men.

"We'll see you this afternoon, Dad," Faedra
said. "And don't worry, you'll do great."

Henry didn't look convinced.

"We're going to meet up with Alyssa and
Alaris for lunch, see you later."

"Okay, darling. Have fun."

Faedra watched as the king wandered away with
her dad. Another warm and gooey feeling washed over her at how well
they were getting along.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Faedra came to an abrupt halt, tugging Faen
to a stop, which prompted Etyran and Jocelyn to follow suit, lest
they bump into the back of them.

"What is it?" Faen asked.

Faedra shuddered, the anger and hatred she
sensed lashed at her like an icy wind.

"Fae, whassup?" Etyran said.

Jocelyn's gaze darted about them as she
folded her fingers around the hilt of her sword.

Faedra's eyes narrowed and her expression
grew steely. "Zaven," she spat taking a determined stride
forward.

They rounded one of the medieval style tents
that had been erected in neat rows outside the castle walls. Most
everyone had already made their way towards the huge marquees that
had been set up to feed the tournament participants. The area was
deserted apart from two people. The group of four jerked to a
stop.

"You know nothing," Zaven hissed, pulling
himself up taller so that he could glower over Derian who was
holding a pointed finger at the Ambassador.

Faedra heard the sound of rushing water. Her
eyes widened as she watched a pedestal of liquid form itself under
Derian's feet raising him off the ground until he was the same
height as his aggressor. Zaven straightened as Derian rose until
the two men were eye-to-eye, nose-to-nose.

"I know enough," Derian warned, still
pointing his finger.

Zaven looked down at Derian's finger with a
derisive snarl. "Touch me with that thing and I'll freeze you where
you stand, then shatter you into a million pieces. Treaty or no
treaty."

Faedra stepped forward. "What's going on
here?"

The two men turned. The flicker of surprise
in their eyes was staunched immediately, but Faedra could feel it
in their emotions. She had just caught them in the middle of
something neither wanted to be forthcoming on, that was for
sure.

The pedestal Derian was standing on melted
into the grass as he lowered himself to the ground. Both men turned
to face the group and plastered false smiles on their faces.

"Nothing to concern yourself with, Your
Highness," Zaven said. "My friend, Derian and I were just having a
playful discussion on who we thought would win the tournament."

"Didn't look very playful to me," Faedra
said, folding her arms across her chest. Didn't they realize who
she was? That she could tell they were lying to her? Even without
her
spidey
senses, it was obvious they weren't telling the
truth. Did they really take her for stupid?

"Well, you know how it is," Zaven continued.
"We males get a little competitive when it comes to our
sports."

Faedra looked over to Derian, hoping he would
be a little more forthcoming. Out of the two, she considered him a
lot more trustworthy than the Ambassador. "Derian?"

"It is as Zaven tells it, My Lady. We do get
a little competitive with our sports."

Faedra turned a considering look on both men,
one at a time.

"If there's nothing more, Your Highness,"
Zaven said, breaking the uneasy silence, "we would like to partake
of some lunch before the afternoon competitions begin."

Faedra cast the men a subtle nod.

Throwing each other a poignant glare, the two
men turned and stalked off in opposite directions.

"Well, if that was about competitive
sportsmanship, my name's Harvey Wallbanger," Etyran spouted.

All three heads turned and shot the
Lightbender a look of disbelief.

"What?" Etyran said, a hint of exasperation
in his voice. "Why do you guys always look at me like that?"

Faedra put a hand on Etyran's shoulder.
"Harvey Wallbanger is a cocktail."

Etyran straightened. "I knew that."

Faedra smiled. "Come, on. Let's go and get
something to eat. I'm famished."

***

The great hall was brimming over with
spectators that afternoon. Faedra looked around the mammoth room,
of which every nook and cranny had been crammed with people all
vying for a view of the first ever competitor from the World of Men
to compete in the Seven Realms Tournament. To all intents and
purposes, this was a monumental event. The noise was deafening as
the witnesses to this momentous occasion chatted with excitement
amongst themselves. The energy in the room was almost overwhelming.
Faedra wondered if she couldn't power a whole city with such
energy. She shuffled in her seat.

"Are you okay?" Faen leaned in and asked.
"The energy in here is electric; I cannot even imagine how you must
be feeling."

"You can feel it?"

Faen nodded.

"It is a little...overwhelming. But, I think
I've got a handle on it. I'm not missing this for all the tea in
China. My dad up against the God of War. That'll be something to
tell the grandkids." She sighed and looked up to the heavens. "If
Mum could see him now, she'd be so proud." Faedra scratched her
neck and thought about who her dad was up against. Then again,
there was a good chance her mum could be turning in her grave. To
distract herself from that thought, Faedra settled her gaze on the
dart board. Now there was a sight she never thought she would see
in her father's great hall. The pristine circular board was hung on
the wall to the side of the dais. The oche ran along the floor, the
white line behind which the thrower had to stand was bright white
against the black mat.

"I played your dad once," Etyran piped up. He
was sitting behind her and Faen with Jocelyn, Alyssa, and the
dragons. "He was pretty darn good. Slaughtered me."

Faedra turned in her seat. "Really? When did
you play darts with my dad?"

"One night when you were trying not to burn
the house down and had locked yourself in your room. I could see
your dad was not handling it well and took him to the pub and
shoved some darts in his hand. We had a blast that night. He's got
a good chance of winning this."

"I didn't know you did that...thank you."

Etyran inclined his head. "Made of good
stuff, your dad."

Faedra turned back to face the front, a wide
grin on her face. "That he is."

The door to the king's study opened, and
instantly the noise in the hall waned until only a few hushed
murmurs were left resonating about the room.

The king walked out first. Everyone stood. He
made a gesture for all to be seated, to which they obeyed. Odin
followed in behind the king. His enormous stature dwarfing that of
Faedra's dad, who followed in behind the God of War. After the king
had made an announcement about the event being an unforgettable
moment in the history of the seven realms, he took his seat next to
his daughter amid earsplitting applause.

The applause settled as a page walked out
behind the two contestants. He was carrying a red velvet cushion
upon which were nestled two sets of darts. Henry cast his daughter
a nervous glance before picking up his set of three darts. Faedra
sent him a warm smile and mouthed 'you'll be fine'. She saw her dad
draw in a large breath and blow it out through his mouth. Odin
turned to face her dad and bowed his head. The gesture took her dad
by surprise, his eyes widened for just a second before he realized
he was supposed to reciprocate. Henry returned an apprehensive
bow.

"May the best man win," Odin boomed, giving
Henry a slap on the back that sent him flying.

Gasps echoed around the room. Every
protective atom in Faedra's body had her starting to rise from her
chair. A firm hand rested on her shoulder as she was half way up,
pushing her gently back down. "Your dad is fine, Faedra. He has
this," Faen murmured.

Faedra met the supportive eyes of her husband
and swallowed. Faen gave her a subtle nod. She held his gaze for a
heartbeat more before turning back to check on her dad.

Odin shot Henry a sheepish grin, if anything
the God of War did could ever be described as sheepish. "Oops,
sorry," Odin said, bending down and offering Henry his hand. "Don't
know my own strength sometimes."

Henry paled but took the offered hand. Odin
launched him off the floor and set him straight on his feet.

"No harm done, hey?" Odin said.

Henry rubbed his shoulder and offered the
great warrior a small smile.

"Well, at least it wasn't his throwing arm,"
Etyran whispered.

Faedra drew in a steady breath, but said
nothing. What was she thinking, asking her dad to do this? He was
way out of his league.

The concerned mutters that were making their
way around the hall melted away as the adjudicator signaled the
start of the game. He tossed a coin to see who would be first to
throw. Both men peered down at the coin resting on the back of the
adjudicator's hand, and Faedra felt her dad's nerves hitch up a
notch.

Henry lined himself up behind the oche, his
right foot forward, his arm angled in front of him. His first throw
wasn't his best, but then, under the circumstances, he did, at
least, hit the board and didn't make a total fool of himself. He
stepped back from the oche and looked towards his daughter who was
giving him a thumbs up and big supportive grin. Henry smiled back,
a little of his nerves melting away now that the first throw was
over.

Odin took his turn, thankfully throwing a bit
less than Henry, which did wonders to boost Henry's confidence. As
the game continued, Henry's scores got better and better. He
started throwing double and triple twenty one's. Odin's game also
improved leaps and bounds until the two were almost neck and neck
as they got down to the last throw.

Faedra shuffled in her seat as her dad got up
to stand behind the oche. This was it, he could win the game with
this throw. He just had to get a double to get out. If he didn't,
it left the game open for Odin, who also only needed to throw a
double to win. Faedra leaned forward, both elbows on knees, chin
resting on fists.