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She gritted her teeth and forced herself to return to her place by the other trainee warriors. He still avoided calling her by her last name, even now when she was about to earn the designation of warrior with the official rank of lieutenant.

But she was a Laesornysh. She would earn that title eventually.

Shifting from foot to foot, she clenched her fists to smother the few tendrils of magic that had escaped her control. If only she could actually use her magic in this test.

But, no. This was a test of a warrior’s sword skills, and thus use of magic was forbidden.

Perhaps such a thing made sense for the warriors who had plant magic. But her magic was meant for war, and it was an integral part of who she was as a warrior. Fighting without it was like fighting without a sword or a shield.

At least she could still let her magic fill her, drawing on its strength to fuel her speed and agility during the fights. She was fairly sure the elf commander didn’t fully understand how her magic worked and didn’t realize such a thing was even possible with the magic of the ancient kings.

Glancing around to distract herself, her gaze landed on a figure with bright chestnut hair, his gait slow and deliberate.

But he was walking.

Despite her commander’s stern glare, Adry broke ranks once again. “Merrik! You came!” He gave an oof as she slammed into him. She hugged him tightly. “And you’re walking!”

“I am.” He wrapped his arms around her. “From the moment you asked me to come, I decided I was going to walk for this. I want to stand tall to support you.”

He’d done that for her. She hugged him tighter, her magic scorching through her even hotter than before with the force of her emotion.

“You know I appreciate that you’re here whether you’re walking or wheeling.” Adry pulled away slightly to meet his gaze. She kept a tight rein on the magic so she wouldn’t burn her boyfriend.

“I know.” Merrik pressed a light kiss to her forehead. “But maybe I needed the goal and deadline to push myself harder.”

She could have admonished him that he shouldn’t hurt himself by pushing too hard, but this was Merrik. He was too sensible for that.

Her commanding officer gave a loud clearing of his throat.

Adry sighed and let go of Merrik. “I need to return to my place.”

“I will find a spot in the seats.” Merrik shared one last look with her before he turned and headed for the tiers of benches that had been grown into the trees around the fighting clearing.

While the setup appeared somewhat similar to the troll fighting arenas, the elves, at least, claimed this test wasn’t like those bloody fights whatsoever. For one thing, shedding blood at all was considered a failure of skill. Not that there was much chance of drawing blood with their dulled practice blades. The trainees were here to demonstrate their dexterity and skill with their blades rather than brute violence.

Once Adry had returned to her spot in line, she searched the benches until she found the seat on the bottom tier where Merrik was sitting. He met her gaze, smiling, and she smiled back.

The first couple of prospective warriors were called up to fight one of the experienced warriors who had volunteered for these tests. She recognized many of them as royal guards, the elite who were tasked with guarding Ellonahshinel and any members of the royal family who were in residence, which was just Aunt Rheva and Adry’s cousin Emmyth at the moment.

After yet another recruit fought well but was eventually trounced by the more experienced warrior, the commander called out, “Adriana Laesornysh.”

Her magic surged within her veins as she drew her two swords from where they were strapped across her back. She stalked into the clearing, gripping her swords.

Across from her, an elf with dark brown hair strode forward, a long sword and a leaf-shaped shield in his hands.

Another fizz of her magic jolted through her. That was the elf in command of the royal guards, at least now that Uncle Weylind and his personal guards were at the front. He was one of the top warriors in Tarenhiel. At least they were making this test as tough as they could for a Laesornysh.

She dropped into a fighting crouch, her swords in her hand, her magic scorching through her veins.

The elf paused for only a heartbeat, studying her, before he launched into an attack.

Adry grinned, the expression hard edged, and parried.

Right here, right now, she was alive. Only unleashing her magic would make her fully whole. But for this fight, all she could do was let it simmer beneath her skin while she held it in check. Until she fought in a true battle, it would have to be enough.

Merrik caught his breath at the sight of Adry whirling into the violent dance of battle.

She was so incandescently beautiful. Deadly and dangerous and, yes, a touch feral as she bared her teeth in something between a snarl and grin. When she danced away from the elf warrior’s blade, her hair floated around her in strands of red-gold that glinted in the morning sunlight.