We’ve always been told that the crown chooses the ruler, and that it will abandon them should they fail the crown or the realm, or when it is someone else’s time. So why the hell has my father been king for so long?
—From the journal of Violet Andrever
My days settled into a pattern. Every morning, I showed up at the training yard promptly with the sun, and did every task Kaia set for me. I felt like maybe I was gaining her approval, albeit grudgingly. Then, at midday, I’d hop in the bath for a quick rinse, grab something to eat from the kitchen where they always had a plate ready and waiting for me, and meet Finn in the library to continue honing my power. Once I mastered levitating the quill, it appeared I had fully unlocked my channels, and they became easier and easier to use.
I read the prophecy several more times, each time coming away with the feeling that I was missing something. Finn had started pulling books for me, his faith in the power of the written word convincing him that I’d find something helpful there. I wasn’t confident—after all, what could I find that hadn’t been found in the past fifty years? But I dutifully tried to make my way through them. I didn’t understand it, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was missing—some big, important piece of information thatwas the key to everything. And given that the people here lived forever, I couldn’t reconcile the fact that no one seemed to have any answers with the fact that they had all lived through this once before.
On nights that I didn’t collapse into bed exhausted, I would brave the gauntlet of dinner in the Great Hall, where I dodged courtiers trying to win my favor and snide comments from my grandfather about how my training was progressing. Usually, Finn accompanied me, and Griff would join us when he was in residence, however, he came and went like the wind. He would appear out of nowhere, call me “Princess,” drop me on my ass in training, and then the next day, disappear. I never knew when he was here or not—a fact that didn’t sit well with me.
On nights when both brothers were busy, I’d go to the soldiers’ mess hall instead. The first few times confused them, but they soon learned I was happy to receive my fair share of ribbing, and they settled. I mostly listened, trying to be unobtrusive and learning this new environment that I found myself immersed in.
Before I knew it, over a month had passed.
This morning was no different. Kaia met me with a smile that I had learned meant she was planning something particularly intense. I barely had time to say good morning before she was on me.
Our practice blades met with a sharp clang, the impact jarring up my arm. She immediately pressed her advantage, her strikes coming so fast and relentlessly that I realized she had been holding back this past month. And had apparently decided today was the day to stop that.
I tried to counter her endless thrusts, but she read my intention instantly, sidestepping and bringing her blade around in an arc that I barely had time to duck under.
“You’re thinking too much,” she called out, not even breathing hard, while I was already starting to sweat. “Fighting must become instinct.”
I gritted my teeth and attacked again. For a moment, I thought Ihad her as she backed up two steps. But it was a trap. As I overextended, she twisted away and swept my legs out from under me.
And to think, I used to consider myself good at sword fighting.
The ground rushed up to meet me and I fell. Hard. As all the breath was knocked from my lungs, it also released all of my doubts. How was I supposed to do this? How was I supposed to lead a kingdom, defeat an evil foe, protect people from a threat I had never seen? I could barely last thirty seconds against a single opponent who was simply trying to make me better. How could anyone think I was the savior they needed?
Could the prophecy be wrong?
What if I truly was just a farm girl who happened to have the right bloodline but none of the actual ability?
How was I ever going to do anything useful?
By picking yourself back up, came Cormac’s voice in my head.You pick yourself up, and then you put one foot in front of the other.
Kaia was looking at me, waiting to see what I’d do next.
And so I hauled myself up out of the dirt, and raised my blade. “Again.”
We finished the bout,and I went over to where the practice swords were stored, picking up a cloth to clean the one I’d used.
Kaia’s gaze was sharp, her eyes missing none of the stiffness of my walk. “You’re not what I expected, girl.”
I couldn’t tell if that was a good thing or a bad thing. I guess that showed in my face because she chuckled. “My mistake. I should have known better, given who your parents were and who raised you.”
“How well did you know them?” I dared to ask. Kaia was formidable, but since she had brought it up…
A cloud passed over her face, a sadness in those caramel-brown eyes. “I met your mother only after she got together with your father, but I grew up with Thom and Violet. Violet… she was my best friend. Wetrained together, challenged each other, and I was convinced we would die together. But fate, it seemed, had other plans in store for both of us. But oh, the trouble she could get us into.” Her face brightened with the memory. “The number of times your grandmother caught us doing something we shouldn’t. It was one of the reasons she threw us into training. Gave us a place to expend our energy. We still got in trouble, we were just quieter about it after that.” She gazed around the yard fondly. “Thom, Violet, and I would spend many a day here, with the soldiers, learning all their tricks.”
“And Nana?” I asked. “Did she know how to fight?” My mind went back to when I was young and practicing at home. While I never saw her lift a blade, I remember countless times she’d corrected my form.
“Rose?” Kaia’s face changed completely with a broad grin. “Of course she knew how to fight. Everyone has been trained to some degree. But she never needed weapons. The very earth would rise to do her bidding.”
My brows lifted in surprise.
“Rose had a very powerful earth channel. She just had to think it and the earth would do it. Whether it was immobilize a man’s feet as if they were in quicksand, or strangle someone with ivy, she was never without options.”
My mind was whirling. It had only been the two of us for so long, but there was so much I didn’t know about her. “And healing? Could she also heal?” I knew the answer before Kaia confirmed it. There was no way she had been that powerful a healer, even outside the Veil, without some extra power. It had been different from the body healers here, who could run their hands over someone and tell what was wrong, and often just fix it with power. She knew the secrets of the earth, and they told her what to do.
