Janelle
The Southern Kingdom's training courtyard was nothing like the cold, stone spaces I had known in the north.
For two weeks, I'd been learning to be a princess and a witch at the same time, and I was failing spectacularly at both.
"Focus on your breathing," Master Aldric said patiently. "Magic flows with your emotions, Princess Janelle. If your mind is scattered, so is your power."
My mind was more than scattered. It was shattered into a thousand pieces, each one crying out for Adrian. The silver flames flickered and died as my concentration broke again.
"I can't do this," I said, sinking onto the stone bench beside the training circle. "I'm not meant to be a princess or a powerful witch. I'm just a servant girl who got caught in something too big for her."
Master Aldric, an elderly man with kind eyes and hands marked by years of magic practice, sat beside me. "Your mother said the exact same thing when she first came here."
