The prince, armor cracked and dimmed, exhaled hard through his teeth and let the point of his sword drop until it scraped the broken tiles.
Theo broke the silence first."You've improved," he said quietly, sincerity soft beneath the calm. "Your control's sharper than last time."
The prince straightened, his chest rising with heavy breaths. Then a faint, proud smirk curved his lips. "Thank you,Theo.. but you are stronger still."
"Only when I earned the strenght to protect you." Theo gave a short nod, half bow, half acknowledgment. The faint distortions around his fists shimmered once and faded.
The prince sheathed his sword with a metallic sigh. "We'll end it here. Tomorrow we regroup, set a better plan, and make sure no one embarrasses themselves again."
Theo inclined his head. "Agreed."
Before the prince could even turn to tell Avin that the training session had ended, he already reached the door, Henry right behind him.
