Nerina's POV
The training arena beneath the crystal dome shimmered with light refracted from the sea above. It was a place designed for warriors—echoing with whispers of power, sweat, and pain.
Kaelen stood across from me, his arms crossed, looking infuriatingly composed. His blade glinted at his hip, untouched. Mine, however, had already clattered to the floor… twice.
"I'm trying," I huffed, strands of hair clinging to my cheek.
"You're thinking too much," he said, tossing me a practice blade again. "You're fighting like a surface dweller. Your blood is older than that."
"I didn't grow up in your kingdom, Kaelen," I snapped, frustrated. "I didn't have the luxury of power. Or training. Or truth."
His expression shifted slightly—regret, maybe. But he didn't speak.
I adjusted my grip, closing my eyes for a moment. Something inside me pulsed—like a distant echo from the deep. A hum. A rhythm.
Breathe with the current.
I moved again, this time not fighting the water, but flowing with it. The blade danced in my hand like it belonged there. I spun, blocked Kaelen's mock strike, and landed a blow to his chest that made him stumble back slightly.
He blinked, surprised. "You felt it, didn't you?"
I nodded, breathing heavily. "Something… called to me."
Kaelen lowered his blade, his eyes darkening. "The ocean doesn't speak to just anyone, Nerina. It speaks to its own."
I stepped back, heart racing—not just from the energy flowing through my veins but from the look in his eyes. It wasn't just pride.
He was looking at me.
Really looking.
His gaze traced over my damp skin, the curve of my neck, the rise and fall of my chest. Not in a vulgar way—more like he was trying to solve something ancient. Something forbidden.
Heat crept up my throat.
"Kaelen?" I asked softly.
He blinked, startled. "What?"
"You're… staring."
He turned away abruptly, jaw tense. "We're done for today."
But I saw it.
The way his hands curled into fists.
The way his ears turned slightly red.
And as I picked up my things, I felt it too—that strange pull growing stronger by the day.
Not just magic.
Something more dangerous.
---
Kaelen's POV
I plunged my hands into the cold basin outside the training hall, letting the freezing water calm the fire crawling beneath my skin.
What is wrong with me?
Every time I'm near her, something unravels.
It's not just her power—that would be easier to explain. It's her eyes when she's angry. Her laugh when she forgets to be guarded. The way she moves like she's made of storm and flame and everything in between.
I've seen hundreds of warriors. I've trained hundreds more.
But her?
She stirs something buried so deep I almost forgot it existed.
And today, when she moved like the sea itself bent to her will—when she smiled because she felt it—it hit me like a tidal wave.
She belongs here.
She belongs to the ocean.
And gods help me…
A part of me wants her to belong to me, too.