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Gilda tilted her head as if confused when he knew she was anything but "I thought you planned to take her into battle Should she not see what her role shall be? Would you prefer to si the way? I would have thought Thomas’s death would prove to you how poorly that worked"

Drake’s teeth ground together and he had to fight back a wave of grief and guilt before he could speak "I was trying to teach her"

"And was it working?" she asked as if she already knew the answer

Helen’s fingers squeezed his "Let her show me I need to learn this stuff or I’ll never be able to help you"

"There are easier ways to learn," he told her

"But are there faster ways?" asked Helen

Gilda’s beautiful mouth curved into a satisfied smile "No There are not" She reached out a s "I am Gilda and I will teach you what you must know Come"

Helen followed Gilda to a section of land that had been cleared down to packed dirt War the sweat on her skin There were no security lights here and she had to use Drake’s power to allow her to see in the dark She was already exhausted, and using even that s its toll on her She had to struggle to take each step, and if it weren’t for Drake’s strong ared even that much

As if suiven Helen his oath to die for her That one was older than the rest, with a craggy face and a still silence about hi watch over her The pale gray band around her throaton his hand There was no movement in the colors as there were in Helen’s necklace, and she wondered why they were different

Drake stood by Helen’s side, helping to keep her on her feet and letting her lean against hi as if she’d just finished a marathon and she didn’t trust them to hold her up But she trusted Drake and held on to hi to wonder whether he’d ever run out of strength The hard ridges of thehis spine under her hand teers over the the feel of him

He leaned down close to her ear as he pointed to the craggy-faced us, Gilda’s partner and husband"

"Do you knohat those otherhere?" she asked him

Gilda reached up and touched each one on the forehead and whispered so quietly to hie of the clearing as if awaiting orders

"Gilda is going to put on athosea protection over each one so that her ic won’t kill them"

Wow There was so ine She found it fascinating, if a bit disquieting It was odd to think that all of this had been going on under her nose her entire life and she’d never even had a clue "Have you done this before?"

"Many tih I i on more of a show for your benefit"

"What do youto try to scare you or shock you into believing you’re not good enough to do what is expected of you"

"Why? I thought all of your people wanted me to help in your war Why would she try to convince ave her a sad srow up and sees us as her children She’s protective She’s worried that your inexperience will get me or one of the other ht If I’d knohat to do to save Thoht not have died" She’d tried not to think about it too long because she worried the guilt would crush her, but she couldn’t ignore the obvious She’d failed and now Thomas was dead

Drake cupped her chin in his hand and olden flecks in his eyes gloith a fierce light "That’s not true, and if you think like that--dwelling on what-ifs and should-haves--you’ll never be able to overcoer to those around you"

"I don’t want rowntime and know the risks Look at those men and tell me if you think they see you as a threat or as a weakness"

Helen looked toward the line ofher with open speculation and soh that was part of it It was , somber men could be called wistful She wasn’t sure what to think about it

"Each one of theht now Each one of then that their lives iven the time" His thumb slid over her botto As tired as she was, she still wanted him to kiss her None of this stuff could bother her when he kissed her "A person can do incredible things if he or she has enough hope You should remember that"

Helen knehat he h confidence to overcome her vision--her fear of fire She wanted that, too, but acceptance was so much easier Especially when she truly believed that she was nearly out of tiain that acceptance and she didn’t want to go back and do it all over again She wasn’t that strong

"We’re ready to begin," said Gilda fro It was about a hundred feet across and at the center was a giant boulder carved with sous handed her a sword that looked like it had been used hard, and she held it up for all to see "The goal is to retrieve this practice weapon The Theronai will guard it and try to keep it from me Drake and Helen will remain inside the circle but will not participate Understood?"

"Yes,Drake