Azure Mist's Arc

Chapter 6 of 7

The lesson ended at dusk. Azure sheathed the short blade and rolled her sore shoulders. Jade watched her from the porch of the cabin, arms crossed, saying nothing. The kiss from the day before still sat in Azure's chest like a stone she couldn't set down. She had told herself it was a test. Jade had said as much. But Jade was still looking at her, and the look was not about fighting. "You keep your guard when I grab you now," Jade said. Her voice slowed. "You don't keep it when I do this." She stepped down off the porch and closed the space between them. She was small, the same size as Azure, but she moved like she owned every inch of ground. Azure held still. "You said not to drop it." "I did." Jade lifted a hand to Azure's jaw. Her thumb pressed light against Azure's cheek. "So don't. Read me. Every second." Azure read her. She felt Jade's weight shift forward, felt the pull of her hand, felt her own pulse climb. She did not look away. Jade kissed her, and this time Azure kept her feet set and her hand ready and her mind on the body against her. She kissed back. Jade broke it first. She almost smiled. "Better." She took Azure's wrist and stepped toward the cabin door. "Inside." Azure followed. The room smelled of woodsmoke and old leather, the same as before. The lesson blades hung on their pegs. Jade led her past them, through the low doorway to the small bedroom at the back. A narrow bed. One window, gray with the last of the light. Azure stopped just inside. Her heart pounded, but her hands were steady. "Is this the lesson," she asked. "No," Jade said. She turned and pulled Azure in by the collar. "This is mine." They came together against the wall. Azure kept reading her out of habit, the shift of weight, the press of hands, and then the reading stopped mattering and she just let it happen. Jade's mouth was warm. Her hands moved sure and quick, the way they did everything. Azure gave up the last of her guard and did not lose anything for it. For once, dropping it cost her nothing. Afterward they lay close in the narrow bed. The window had gone full dark. Azure listened to Jade breathe and felt her own body loose in a way it had not been since she left the city. Jade spoke into the quiet. "Eight styles left," she said. "You still want them." "I want the tournament," Azure said. "I want to win it." Jade was silent a moment. Then, slower: "After tonight, I train you harder. Not softer." She rose on one elbow. "Don't mistake this for mercy in the ring." Azure met her eyes in the dark. Something had changed between them, and it would not change back. She would have to fight through it now, not around it.