The Bride He Hates-Chapter 59: Feeling You

The next day, Lyanna went to the training ground at dawn and saw Adrian already waiting for her. He was standing in the centre of the ground with two practice swords laid out on a bench beside him. These weren’t the simple training weapons she had used during human training. These were blades that were forged from some dark metal that seemed to absorb light.

"Your advanced training will start from today." Adrian said. "I taught you human combat skills earlier. But this will be different."

Lyanna picked up one of the swords, testing its weight. It was lighter than she had expected, perfect for her new strength.

"Vampire fighting is about harnessing power you barely understand." Adrian said, picking up the second sword. "You have supernatural speed, more strength, and fast reflexes now. But power without control is just chaos. You need to learn instinct, not just technique. Attack me."

Lyanna didn’t hesitate. She lunged forward, using her vampire speed to close the distance quickly. Her sword cut through the air where Adrian’s throat had been, but he wasn’t there anymore. He had moved, and had pointed his sword at her back.

"Dead." He said. "Again."

Lyanna attacked again, trying to anticipate his movement. She aimed for where she thought he’d dodge but he was somewhere else, his sword this time pointing at her heart.

"Dead. Try again."

They tried again and again. Sometimes she lost within seconds, and sometimes closer to a minute. But she lost every single time.

"You’re thinking too much." Adrian said after the tenth try. "You’re trying to plan your moves as you did as a human. But vampire combat is fast. You need to react on instinct."

"How? You’re faster than me."

"I’m not faster. I’m more experienced." He lowered his sword. "Try again. But this time, don’t think about where I’ll be. Just let your vampire instincts guide you."

Lyanna attacked this time without thinking about anything. Her body moved on instinct, and for a few seconds, she actually kept up with Adrian’s movements. But then again his sword reached at her throat.

"Much better."

They trained for hours. By the time the session ended, Lyanna had lost count of how many times she had died. But she felt the improvement. Her movements were smoother, her reactions were faster, and her instincts were sharper.

"Keep training like this, and in a few months you’ll be formidable, and in a few years, you’ll be deadly."

"Months? Years?" Lyanna repeated in frustration. "The Council of Light will attack soon. The covenant wants me dead. I don’t have time."

"Then you need to learn faster. You’re capable of it. I’ve trained newly turned vampires before, most take months just to control their strength enough to hold a weapon without crushing it. You’re already sparring. That’s exceptional."

The praise helped a bit but she was still upset. She was supposed to be a queen, supposed to be able to defend herself and her court, but here she was, losing practice fights.

"Don’t be so hard on yourself. You’re doing exceptionally well for someone who’s only been a vampire for a few weeks. Trust the process."

Lyanna finally smiled.

"You know, His Majesty is different since you turned." He said suddenly.

"Different... how?" Lyanna asked in surprise.

"He is more present and engaged. He cares about you. I haven’t seen him care about anything the way he cares about you."

"What are you trying to say?"

"When you were dying from that attack by The Leader, I saw him break completely." Adrian sounded serious. "Four centuries of control, of keeping emotions at bay, shattered in seconds. He was terrified and desperate."

Lyanna didn’t know how to answer this. Whatever he had said was true, but she still wasn’t sure if she wanted to name it.

That evening, Lyanna went to see Azrael in his study, surrounded by intelligence reports and maps. He looked up as she entered, and his expression softened a bit.

"How was your training?"

"Productive. Adrian is a good teacher." Lyanna said as she walked closer to his desk, looking at the maps on the table.

Thornfield and the surrounding territories were marked with locations of suspected covenant sympathizers and potential Council of Light targets.

"What are you planning?"

"A counterattack against the Covenant. We’ve identified three of their strongholds. Victor wants us to attack before they can organize another attack on you."

"On us." Lyanna said. "They attacked both of us."

"They attacked me to get to you. You’re their primary target, which is why I want you to stay in the castle, under guard, until we’ve taken care of the covenant threat."

"Absolutely not."

"Lyanna..."

"I won’t hide while you fight my battles." She said in frustration. "I’m a vampire now. I can fight. Adrian has been training me specifically for this."

"A few weeks of training won’t make you ready for war against vampires who’ve been killing for centuries."

"So, I just stay locked in the castle like a helpless damsel? That’s not who I am anymore!"

Azrael stood up, walking around the desk.

"You’re a queen. Your safety is the most important. If something happens to you..."

"If something happens to me, I’ll heal. Unless they stake me through the heart, and I’m fast enough now to avoid that." She stepped closer. "You can’t protect me from everything, Azrael. And you shouldn’t have to. I need to defend myself, to fight beside you, not hide behind you."

"You don’t understand the risks!"

"I killed a covenant vampire just a day ago! I understand the risks perfectly!"

The argument escalated, and both of them were too stubborn to back down. Lyanna felt her frustration and anger increasing mixed with hurt that Azrael didn’t trust her capability.

Then suddenly, she started feeling his emotions. She could feel overwhelming fear for her safety. She could sense that he was frustrated with his own protectiveness, with his inability to just let her face danger, and under it was the fear of losing her.

She gasped, stumbling back. Azrael’s expression changed immediately.

"What happened?"

"I...I don’t know." Lyanna put her hand on her chest. She could still feel the echo of his emotions, fading but still there. "I felt what you were feeling. Your fear of losing me."

"That’s not possible."

"But it happened." She looked at him and noticed how his guard had gone up. "I can still feel it but faintly now. You’re scared. You’re trying to hide it, but you’re terrified."

Azrael stepped back.

"You can’t use this ability on me without permission. My thoughts and feelings are mine."

"I didn’t mean to! I don’t even know how I did it!"

But even as she protested, she could still feel his emotional state. The fear was still there, but now there was anger too for having his controlled emotions exposed.

"This must be an empathic ability. Some vampires develop them, especially newly turned vampires who had strong emotional connections as humans. It is probably triggered by your transformation and amplified by our bond as maker and progeny."

"Our bond?"

"When I turned you, we created a connection. Apparently, for you, it’s showing up as emotional reading."

"I can feel what you’re feeling right now. You’re terrified that I’ll see how much you care, how vulnerable you are when it comes to me." Lyanna said.

"Stop."

"Why? Why is it so horrible to admit you might actually love me?" Lyanna finally said the word.

His face went blank immediately.

"Because love makes you weak and breakable. And I’ve spent four hundred years becoming unbreakable."

Lyanna stepped closer.

"Or maybe, you spent four hundred years being broken and pretending you weren’t. I can see you, Azrael, and I’m not afraid of your feelings."

For a moment, something cracked in his expression but then the walls came up again, even harder than before.

"You should be." He said, and walked out of the study, leaving Lyanna alone with the emotions he refused to acknowledge and words he wouldn’t say.

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