“I mean, is it a total pain to be around me and do you feel like I can’t handle myself and need someone to protect me, because-“
“Whoa whoa, stop right there. Sit,” he instructed.
I crawled up on the corner of the bed, tucking my nightgown under my legs.
“Did Levent say this stuff to you?” he asked.
“No,” I lied. My ears fell against my head. “Yes.”
“I’m going to kill him,” Rio said, moving to get up.
“No, don’t,” I said.
“Why not?” Rio said, putting his hands on his hips.
“Because I think he might be right,” I said. “I mean, I can think about what I’m going to do, but I just can’t do it like you guys can.”
“There are a lot of people that make a living that way,” Rio said.
“Yes, but most of those people aren’t getting kidnapped on a regular basis,” I said, pointing at him.
Rio opened his mouth to disagree, and then slowly let his jaw shut.
“Oh yeah,” he finally said. “So what do you want to do about it? Hire bodyguards? I mean, I’ll do it for free provided I’m around, but-“
“No,” I said. “I want to learn how to protect myself. Levent was right, I can’t have someone around to take care of me all the time.”
“He said that?” Rio said, hackles rising.
“Not in so many words. Calm down, I don’t need you to beat him up.”
Rio sat back, a little pout on his lips. “Alright. So what did you have in mind? You want to learn to fight?”
“For starters,” I agreed.
“Well, I can teach you a little, but you’ll want someone who is familiar with your weapon of choice. I’m not that great with a staff,” Rio said.
“Staff?” I laughed. “You mean my walking stick?”
The halfblood shrugged. “It’s something that you have around, why not use it? Anyway, I could teach you a little of how to protect yourself using a blade if you like. It’s not that hard, and if you find yourself defending a kitchen from a bunch of raging trolls –“
“Trolls aren’t real, Rio.”
“Nonetheless, you could always use a kitchen knife to take them down with