Oh thank the Four. Thank you, thank you.
“I couldn’t find you! I thought – I thought–”
“It’s okay, Kara, I’m here. I’m alive – with you.”
“Please don’t – don’t leave me. Not yet. Please, Sebastian, don’t.”
He buried his face in her hair. “I’m sorry. I only went for water. I didn’t think–” He cursed under his breath, holding her even tighter. “I’ll wake you next time.”
She lifted her gaze to his. “Promise me?”
His ice-blue eyes stared into her, his face lined with worry. “I promise.”
In the days that followed, they learnt what their scars meant. Their magic answered when they called, golden, crimson, emerald – and so did all the others. The Arcanth’s gift still lived within them, yet it felt heavier, as though the power strained against their veins. Making shields exhausted Kara now – but she could still hold them – and the scars burned each time they cast, but the corruption was contained, bearable.
Then they moved onto blade work.
Sebastian’s sword hit the training post with a loud crack. Precise. Deadly.
“Shit.”
“What?”
He parried and hit the post again.
Kara frowned. It looked perfect.
“What’s wrong?”
“Too slow.”
He reset his stance. Struck again. Kara saw it this time, just a heartbeat slower than before.
“Maybe you’re tired?”
“It’s not that.”
She felt his scars burn through the bond before she saw the crimson. His sword flashed. No quicker.
“You know no one will be able to tell–” Kara began.
“I can tell. My crimson comes slower too.”
“It was barely a second, Sebastian–”
“In battle, seconds are life and death.” He turned back to the post. “I need to train harder. Learn to fight around it.”
“I’ll train with you,” Kara offered immediately.
So they did.
They trained together, the two of them, in Thorne’s grounds, learning each other’s new rhythms. Sebastian changed his combinations, adjusted his footwork, learnt to work with the slower magic instead of against it. And when Edward challenged Sebastian to spar, Sebastian won easily. His friend had clapped him on the shoulder, gracious in defeat, none the wiser. Kara became strategic with her shields, casting them for short bursts and healing herself in between – emerald didn’t hurt the way their other magic did.
One afternoon, Kara watched Rowan at the other end of the training grounds, shooting arrows at a target with frightening precision.
“I didn’t know Thorne had archers.”
Sebastian looked over. “We don’t. She learned from mother.”
