Dare whirls on me, his expression morphing from livid to caring as he looks me over. "You can skip a day, Ever. It won't kill you."
"I don't want to skip a day. I need to stay active and sharp. I can't afford to get out of shape while I'm pregnant."
"I will protect you." Dare's chest puffs out and I smile softly at him.
"I know you will. But I'd also like to be able to protect myself and our babies if need be." I hold out my hand for him and he grabs it, sitting on the edge of the bed. "We talked about you wrapping me in cotton."
He sighs. "I know. I can't help it, Ever. I want you safe and out of harm’s way."
"Kiara isn't going to harm me. In fact, I'll probably be the one harming her."
Kiara snorts from the hallway. "She's right. I end each practice session with a new bruise to add to my collection."
"See? I'll be fine." I nod to Kiara. "I'll meet you in the training room. Give me, like, ten minutes to get dressed and waddle my ass over there."
"Sounds good. See you there." She shuts the door before retreating, her footsteps louder than they should be for someone so tiny.
"Can you help me out of bed?" I grunt from the effort it takes to get moving once I've been still for so long. Dare opens his mouth but I slap my hand over it. "Don't even think about it. I'm going. End of discussion. You can come and watch. That's all I'll give you."
He narrows his eyes at me, his lips forming a frown under my palm, but he nods. He stands up, pulling me with him and depositing me on my own two feet in one smooth motion. "Fine. But I will say when you've had enough."
I wave him off as I grab some clothes to throw on. "Sure, sure."
I dress quickly and we head to the training room, the sounds of flesh meeting mat alerting us to someone who's already practicing. I watch as Kiara practices her movements with a punching bag. She's focused on her breathing as she moves her body, each swing of her arm perfectly timed.
Kiara catches sight of us and stops mid-swing, her expression like a kid who got caught with their hand in the cookie jar.
"Don't stop on my account. You're looking really solid in your maneuvers. You don't have to only practice with me. I won't be offended if you spar with others. As a matter of fact, I encourage it so you can learn from them as well."
"I just don't want to go up against someone and make a fool of myself." She winces. "I've had enough of looking like a fool."
"I get it. Okay, then, let's add to what we were working on last time." I show her the basic movements for getting out of someone's hold, walking her through each step and correcting her when she steps too far or doesn't get it quite right. "Dare, can you help with this?"
Kiara's eyes go wide. "I can't break out of his hold. He's massive."
I laugh. "If I can break out of his hold, you can too. It's all about using your body weight to your advantage and their larger mass to their disadvantage."
"What can I help with?" Dare looks between the two of us, his hands on his hips.
"You're going to attack Kiara and she's going to break out of your hold." I smile at him.
"I don't think that's a good idea." Dare steps backwards.
"Why not? You're a great teacher and it will be good for her to learn with someone larger than her." I tilt my head, wondering why he's scared of Kiara.
"She's the Unseelie queen's daughter. I do not wish to harm her by accident and start a war."
I look to Kiara. "Can you promise that if you get a bruise from working with Dare, you won't cry to your mommy and start a war between her kingdom and Dare's father's?"
Kiara nods. "I don't think it would be a problem. It's not like you're intentionally trying to hurt me. We're only training. I know the difference."
Dare still hesitates and I tap my foot on the mat, waiting for him to make up his mind.
"I can promise that I won't start a war from a silly scratch during training with my daughter." Her voice booms through the room even though she didn't raise her voice. Queen Nicnivin.
My hand flies to my throat in surprise and I twirl to face the queen of the Unseelie court. I shouldn't be surprised. She doesn't seem to have any issues breaking through our wards, but how she was able to pinpoint our location within the castle is another thing altogether. "Queen Nicnivin. How nice of you to join us." I tip my head to the side in a sort of bow in lieu of a curtsey. If I squat down, I'm not getting back up at this point.
"Oh, my dear Ever. You never were one to mince words."
"I didn't mean offense." I really don't care either way, but it's best to not piss off the queen of the Unseelie. She's got the sluagh under her command and I need another enemy like I need a hole in my head.
She waves me off. "I know. I came to check in on my daughter and offer my congratulations."
I frown. How the hell did she know that congratulations were in order? "You've already congratulated me."
"Yes, but now you know you are carrying twins."
"And you knew this before I did?" Dare steps forward, his stance defensive.
"Of course I did. I saw it in one of my glimpses of the future."
"Why didn't you tell me?" I'm not so much angry at her but frustrated that she withheld the information. Gods know who else she could have told. Or what she could have bargained for with the intel.
"And ruin the surprise for the both of you? I would never." She places a hand over her chest like the suggestion offends her and I try to stop myself from rolling my eyes at her dramatics. Normally she's much more straightforward.
"Mmhmm. Well, thank you for stopping by. As you can see, Kiara is fine, and we're teaching her how to defend herself."
Nicnivin's sharp gaze moves from me to her daughter and her lips purse. "Where is Brigid? She is your guard while you are here. She should be teaching you this, should she not?"
Kiara's pale skin flushes red and I grimace. Shit, this is my fault. "Uh, actually, this was my idea. Kiara needs to learn, and Brigid needs to stay sharp, so we swapped. I teach Kiara and get a workout in, as much as I can in my condition, and Brigid gets to train with the goblins." I clap my hands together. "Win-win."
"Win-win, indeed." Nicnivin clasps her hands in front of her and stands there, staring at the three of us.
I look at Kiara and Dare, waiting for one of them to say something. Neither of them do. "Was there something else, Queen Nicnivin?"
"Nothing pressing. Please do continue. I'd like to see Kiara's progress."
Kiara's shoulders droop and I rack my brain on how to get her out of this situation. Training in front of an audience is daunting even when you've had years of experience. For someone so new to hand-to-hand combat, it can be terrifying.
"Okay, we'll show you a few moves." I make eye contact with Kiara and try to give her a pointed look, mouthing the words, follow my lead.
She nods almost imperceptibly and follows me over to the shelves of weapons. I grab two staffs and toss one at her. She catches it midair with one hand and spins it around.
"Let's go for disarming me rather than maiming me, yeah?"