Chapter Text
I grab my bag on the way out and push the heavy doors open. There he is, like clockwork, leaning against the wall, knee bent with his foot planted on the wall, hands behind his back. Just as he’s been every day for the past two weeks.
Every. Single. Morning.
I can’t help the smile that tugs at my lips when I see his handsome, infuriating face. I’ve won two weeks of challenges, albeit with the use of some very helpful plants. In my defense, I was just following Mira’s advice: use my (superior) brain. I proved I'm not some meek little scribe the moment I threw those perfectly aimed daggers at Jack-fucking-Barlowe in a very public gym. And yet, Dain still tries to get me to run away and join the Scribes at least every other day. It's infuriating. And condescending. Why can't he see that I am still the stubborn girl he used to climb trees with? Why is he so determined to see me as a failure?
As I walk close to where he is standing, Dain turns his head to the side, with a look on his face I can't quite place — anger? Curiosity? Determination? I used to know everything he was thinking, but lately it's getting harder and harder to read him, to gauge what’s swirling around in that head.
Shit.
Whatever it is, I’m not sure I’m going to like where this is going. With as much strength as I can muster, I smile and greet him. “Good morning Dain, you know you don’t have to escort me to breakfast duty every morning.”
He pushes off the wall and begins walking with me to breakfast duty. “You know I don’t mind.” His voice starts to trail off. “How are you feeling with your upcoming fight tomorrow?”
"Uhmm, good, Rhi has really been drilling new moves during our sparring training, so I feel like it will be okay.” I can’t help the smile that creeps onto my face. The zihna root will make Elio, the tall guy from Third Wing lose all feeling in his feet. If I get my dosing right, it should be an easy fight. Dain turns his face and looks straight into my eyes.
Shit.
There is that look again. I turn my face to look ahead and keep walking.
He closes the distance between us, voice dropping to a whisper. “So it’s the training that will make you a three-week undefeated champion? Not the fact that you have been poisoning your opponents?”
Double Shit.
He pulls me aside into a small shadowed alcove, pressing my back against the cool stone, warm hands cupping my face. His gaze bores into mine with such intensity.
"Vi," he breathes, thumbs brushing along my jaw. "I’ve known you for 15 years. I know every damn expression you wear and what it means. That stuck out chin and clenched jaw? That's for when someone tells you that you can’t do something. When your brows furrow and eyes glaze over? You're trying to make sense of something you don't understand. When you're laughing with a wide grin, your eyes crinkle and nose scrunches up? Pure joy, like when you finished a book you didn't know you'd love that much. All those years of playing poker, I know exactly when you have a sly trick up your sleeve that no one else sees coming. I know you, every version of you, every face. And I know you are without a doubt poisoning your opponents.”
Panic courses through me, but I manage to say the first thing that comes to mind. “You don’t know every face I can make."
Was I trying to deflect? Absolutely.
Did a small part of me mean it? Also yes.
I need to figure out what to do. My Dain — the one who would prank my siblings and help me break the rules — would tell me how stupid I'm being, laugh alongside me for getting this far with no one else noticing and then offer me better poison. The question is what would Rider’s quadrant codex-rule-loving Dain do?
Dain lets out a heavy breath. “Dammit, Vi, this isn't a joke. Tell me what is going on. You cannot keep doing this — what if someone finds out? It isn’t exactly Codex approved." He pinches the bridge of his nose. "I can’t protect you from this.”
I meet his gaze, and let the truth spill out. “Dain, we both know I do not have enough training to survive the challenges without a little bit of help.” His eyes soften with defeat. “Then let me get you to the Scribe quadrant, where you have more than enough training to thrive.”
That’s it.
I’m done.
I have told him time and time again that I will not go to Scribes but does he listen to me? No.
I lift my chin up and give him my defiant stare he seems to know all about. “Listen to me very carefully Dain. I am not going to the Scribe quadrant. My body might be more breakable than others, but my will is not. I deal with more pain in a week than most people do in their lives. I will not entertain your idea of throwing me into the Scribes anymore. I will not be the failure you want me to be. If you can’t see I belong here, that’s on you. There is more to being a rider than physical strength." Professor Kaori's encouraging words ring in my head.
"I don't want you to be a failure. I would never want that." His thumb strokes my jaw. A motion so familiar, it helps ground me. Dain — my Dain — is still in there. I know he is.
"There is a decision you need to make here. One way you’re going to lose me and the other? You might lose me. Which do you prefer — losing me for sure or taking a chance?”
His eyes search my face, confusion blooms over his features, two lines appearing in his brows. “What do you mean lose you? I’m trying my damn hardest to keep you alive!”
I snort. “No, actually you’re not. You’re trying to get me to flee. If you keep this up, you will lose me. You’ll lose my friendship and my respect.” He looks absolutely gutted, and drops his hands from my face. “Or… you could take a chance on me, Dain. You're a squad leader, you've trained for years to become a rider. I didn't. So help me. Teach me to fight. Give me a chance to make it in this place. Treat me as an equal, not the fragile little girl you seem to think I am.”
I hope he can see the resolve in my eyes, because if he doesn’t choose the latter option, I will end our friendship right here right now.
Dain looks at me for what feels like a lifetime, so many emotions crossing his face. Slowly, a small smirk creeps up his lips. He cups my face in his hands, forcing me to stare into those beautiful brown eyes. “Well Vi, I never want to lose you, so looks like you’ve got a new training partner.”