"You still good with this?" Bracken asked as the other students were making their way out.
I shrugged. "Not like we have a choice."
"Wrong," he corrected. "You, Keir, have a choice. Rain doesn't."
"Because wearing me out might make me less magical?" she asked.
"Morrigan!" Jack called from his perch on the training dummy, which made her flap her arms in annoyance.
"See!"
I chuckled as I looked back at Bracken. "I made you a promise. That means I don't get a choice either."
"Wait..." Rain said, immediately picking up on that. "Zez? What did you do?"
"Who?" I asked.
"Qezegot shortened to zez," Bracken explained. "Like the fae version of 'pops.'"
"Nice," I praised, looking over to make sure Rain knew that was meant for her.
Which made her glance away, a hint of color taking over her cheeks. "It was kinda my shadow's idea."
"And I like it," Bracken assured her. "So, if Keir's really invested in this - and it sounds like he is - then you two go and warm up in the private training room. I'm going to go a little easy today, because I want you both to get used to working together. Not always against each other."
"Can do," Rain said, tilting her head to invite me along.
She picked the same room we'd used that first time, back when she'd been trying to figure out if she'd liked having Aspen kiss her. Something about that felt nice, as if this was becoming our space. And when I picked up a pair of sticks, passing her one, she flapped her hand for a second.
"Zez has been making me use two," she explained. "It's my first weapon combo to master, I guess."
"Nice," I mumbled approvingly even as I passed her another.
Then we began to stretch. Halfway through the slow and methodical movements, the back of my neck began to itch. A moment later, the sensationtraveled lower. It took a bit, but when I heard a woman talking to Bracken in the main area, I realized what was going on.
"Who the fuck brought iron in here?" I grumbled, dropping my sticks and heading for the door.
"What? When?" Rain asked, immediately following.
Sadly, that I didn't know. At least not until we made it up the hall and into the main training space. There, I saw Tag, the weapons crafting instructor, first. Bracken was standing before her, but not close. He was also scratching at his own arm, because the human woman was holding a very delicate, very iron sword between them, point down.
"What the hell?" I breathed.
But Bracken heard. "I was wondering if you'd feel that," he said, moving another step away from Tag. "Rain?"
"Yeah?" she asked, sounding skeptical.
"Would you please come get your new sword? I really do not want to touch it."
"Mine?" she asked, moving that way. "But I don't have - "
"Bracken asked me to make this for you," Tag explained. "Why do you think I was checking your grip size in class today?"
"Because you said you wanted to make sure I wasn't using too heavy of a hammer," Rain replied.
Which made Tag smile. "Still human, Rain. I can lie, and while every other student in class could feel it, you couldn't." Then she thrust out the sword, hilt first, towards Rain. "I've been working on this for days now. I hope it meets your approval, Morrigan."
Rain mumbled a few sounds, but her hands found the sword out of habit. And once Tag let go, Rain tested the blade, swiping it through the air. Slowly, a smile grew on her face.
