Morning broke clean and clear over the palace grounds.
Mist clung to the grass in thin silver ribbons, and the stone of the training circle still held the cool of night. Birds stirred in the nearby trees, their calls soft and unhurried, as sunlight crept over the walls and spilled across the open field.
Anna arrived first, Alistar trotting proudly at her heels, wings fluttering in small, eager bursts. The power core at her chest glimmered faintly beneath her tunic—steady, quiet, listening.
Brom joined her moments later, boots crunching softly against the stone. He stopped a few paces away, studying her—not as a commander weighing a recruit, but as a man who had been changed.
"Princess," he said, then corrected himself with a huff and a smile. "Anna."
She looked up, surprised.
He placed a fist over his chest and bowed—not deep, not formal. Honest. "Thank you. What you showed me… it gave me something I thought I'd lost." His voice lowered. "I swear to you, I'll repay that debt."
Anna shifted, embarrassed. "I just shared a book."
Brom shook his head. "No. You shared a way forward."
He straightened, rolling his shoulders as the air around him settled into a calm, grounded hum. "Now it's my turn."
He gestured to the circle. "Today, we begin your training. Slow. Careful. Built to keep you whole."
Alistar chirped approvingly.
Brom's lips twitched. "And yes," he added, glancing at the dragon, "that includes your shadow."
Anna smiled—nervous, determined, ready.
Brom paced the edge of the circle, eyes never leaving Anna.
"Before we teach you how to use your power," he said, "we need to understand when it's there."
Anna frowned slightly. "It's… always there, I think?"
"Thinking isn't knowing," Brom replied evenly. He stopped in front of her. "Some mages carry constant output—like a forge that never cools. Others spike only when emotion, instinct, or danger pulls the trigger." He tapped his temple. "And some don't even realize they're doing it."
He gestured toward her chest, careful not to touch the core. "I need to know which one you are."
Anna swallowed. "How?"
Brom's answer was immediate.
"We fight."
Anna stiffened. "—What?"
"Not to hurt you," he said calmly, already raising a hand before panic could take root. "Not to win. And not today like you're thinking." He stepped back, widening the circle between them. "I need to see what your power does when your body believes it's in danger—but your mind knows it's safe."
She hesitated. "That sounds… contradictory."
Brom gave a short, approving huff. "Good. That means you're thinking."
He rolled his shoulders, the ground beneath his boots answering with a faint, earthy hum. "I'll apply pressure. Slow at first. Predictable. If your power is constant, it won't change. If it's instinctive, it'll react before you do."
Anna glanced down at her hands. "And if it reacts too much?"
Brom met her eyes, steady and unflinching. "Then we stop. Immediately. This isn't about proving strength. It's about finding your limits," Brom continued, voice steady. "Not breaking them. Not pushing past them. Just… seeing where they are."
He stepped closer, then stopped—careful, deliberate. "Every mage has a threshold. A point where power starts to answer fear instead of will. If we know where yours is, we can teach you how to stand just before it."
Anna swallowed, nodding slowly.
"You don't grow by ignoring the edge," Brom said. "You grow by learning how to feel it coming—and choosing what happens next."
Brom took two measured steps back and shifted his footing.
The change was immediate.
His posture lowered, weight settling evenly through his legs, shoulders loose but ready. It wasn't an aggressive stance—no raised fists, no killing intent—but it was unmistakably that of someone who knew how to end a fight quickly if needed. The air around him thickened, grounded, like stone bracing itself.
"Alright," he said quietly. "I'm going to come at you slow. Direct. No tricks."
Anna's heart thudded, but she forced herself to breathe—slow, steady, just like the book had taught her.
Brom met her eyes. "Don't hold back your awareness," he added. "I don't want bravery. I want honesty."
She nodded, fingers curling slightly at her sides. "Okay."
Brom shifted his weight forward, just enough to test the space between them.
"Ready?" he asked.
Anna swallowed—then lifted her chin.
"…I'm ready."
Brom moved.
Not fast enough to be a blur—but fast enough that the air snapped in his wake. His first step ate half the distance between them, boots striking stone with a dull thud that Anna felt in her bones more than heard.
Her body reacted before her thoughts.
Anna twisted aside, just barely, Brom's outstretched hand cutting through the space where her shoulder had been. The brush of displaced air sent a shiver down her spine.
Too close.
She pivoted, remembering his words—slow, predictable—and dropped low as he followed, his momentum carrying him forward. Stone scraped beneath her palm as she slid back and sprang upright again.
Brom noted it immediately. Good instincts. No panic.
He pressed in again, testing.
Anna raised her forearms, resonance flaring instinctively as she blocked. The impact rang up her arms—not painful, but heavy. She staggered back a step, boots skidding.
Her power answered—quietly.
She felt it then: a warm swell in her chest, restrained, coiled. Not exploding. Not surging.
She darted sideways, dodged a sweeping strike, then snapped a quick counter toward his ribs. The blow landed—
—and barely moved him.
Brom absorbed it like a mountain taking rain.
He didn't smile, but his eyes sharpened.
"Again," he said, already shifting.
Anna tried faster this time. A feint. A low strike. A burst of movement fueled by a flicker of resonance that surged into her legs.
She hit him.
And still—nothing. Not really.
Her attacks landed, but they lacked weight. No recoil. No echo.
Inside her, the power stirred—but it didn't pour.
Brom backed off half a step, raising a hand.
"Good," he said calmly. "Very good."
Anna panted, frustration prickling. "I'm trying," she said. "It just… won't come out."
Brom studied her closely now—not her stance, not her fists—but her aura.
Brom lowered his guard but didn't relax, eyes still fixed on Anna like he was watching a tide pattern.
"Tell me about last time," he said. "When you fought the girl at the Circle."
Anna's breath caught.
She looked away, shoulders tightening. "I… wasn't fighting at first."
Brom nodded. "Go on."
"She kept pushing," Anna said quietly. "Mocking me. My sisters. Saying I didn't belong." Her fingers curled at her sides, knuckles whitening. "I tried to ignore it. I really did."
Brom watched closely as her aura shifted—just a hair. Not flaring. Warming.
"And then?" he prompted.
Anna swallowed. "She mentioned my family. Said I was nothing without them." Her voice dipped. "That I'd break the moment they weren't there.. And then she talked down about my sisters..."
The air around her thickened.
Brom felt it this time—a pressure like soil drawing tight around roots.
"I told her to stop," Anna continued. "She didn't." Her jaw clenched. "And something in me just… snapped."
Her chest rose sharply.
"I wasn't thinking about hitting her," Anna said. "I was scared. Not of her—of what would happen if she didn't stop. Of losing control. Of everyone watching."
She lifted her hands slightly, trembling. "And then it all came out. Like I wasn't choosing anymore."
Brom exhaled slowly.
Fear-triggered. Protective. Social threat. Not combat. Not aggression.
He stepped closer—careful, grounded.
"So when your mind felt cornered," he said, "your power answered before you could."
Anna nodded. "It felt like… it was defending something. Not me. Something bigger."
Brom's gaze flicked briefly to the faint glow at her chest—the core necklace resting there, quiet and watchful.
"Good," he said softly.
Anna blinked. "Good?"
Brom met her eyes, steady and certain. "Because that means your power isn't weak. It's waiting."
Anna frowned, confusion and unease mixing in her eyes. "Waiting for what?" she asked quietly. "I don't want it to come out like that again. I don't want to hurt anyone… or lose myself."
Brom's expression softened—not gentle, but understanding. "That's exactly why this matters," he said. "Power that waits is power that listens. It just hasn't learned who it should answer yet."
He stepped back, rolling his shoulders, feet settling into a ready stance once more. The air around him grounded, steady, patient.
"We're going to try again," Brom said. "But this time, I want you to remember."
Anna stiffened.
"Not the fight," he clarified. "The words. What she said about your sisters. How it made you feel." His gaze locked onto hers. "Don't push it away. Don't let it explode. Just… hold to that feeling."
Anna's hands trembled as she nodded.
"Good," Brom said, lowering his center of gravity. "Now breathe. Let that feeling rise—but keep it on a leash. Guide it, don't force it."
He raised his fists pointing at her as he said with a confident grin. "Show me what your power does when you're in control."
Anna closed her eyes.
For a heartbeat, she was back there—stone beneath her feet, eyes on her, the sting of words sharper than any strike.
Nothing without them.You'd break the moment they weren't there.
Her chest tightened.
She breathed in. Slow. Just like the book. Just like the mornings with Brom.
She didn't shove the feeling down. She didn't let it spill over.
She held it.
When she opened her eyes again, something had changed.
Not an explosion. Not a flare.
A weight settled around her—subtle, steady. The air near her skin grew denser, as if the space itself had decided to stay close.
Brom felt it immediately.
His next step met resistance—not a wall, not a blast, but pressure. Like moving through deep water.
Anna moved.
She didn't rush. She didn't panic.
She stepped aside as Brom advanced, her hand lifting instinctively—not to strike, but to redirect. His forearm glanced off an invisible curve in the air, momentum bleeding away instead of crashing through.
Brom's eyes widened.
"There," he murmured, even as he adjusted and pressed again.
Brom shifted.
Not much—just enough to test her.
Then he sped up.
His movements sharpened, steps snapping faster, strikes coming in tighter angles. Where before he had pressed like a steady tide, now he flowed like stone breaking loose downhill.
Anna didn't freeze.
She moved with him.
Each step came easier than the last. Her body stopped arguing with itself. She slipped past a strike, turned a shoulder, let another pass where she wasn't anymore. The pressure around her didn't swell—it guided, curving Brom's momentum away, feeding her openings she didn't have to force.
Brom's breath hitched—not from effort, but realization.
She was outmaneuvering him.
"Good," he growled, half-laughing as he came in hard, closing the distance. "Now—show me!"
Anna felt it then.
Not anger. Not fear.
Resolve.
She planted her foot and threw a punch.
Everything in Brom screamed block.
He crossed his arms instinctively—
—and the impact hit like a landslide.
Not just the strike, but the afterblow—a second, invisible wave that followed through her fist, slamming into his guard and driving him backward. Stone cracked under his boots as he slid several feet, heat rolling off him in a visible shimmer.
Silence.
Brom stood there, arms still raised, steam curling from his skin.
Slowly, he lowered them.
Then he grinned—wide, fierce, utterly delighted.
"…There it is," he said, laughing under his breath. "Not wild. Not loud."
His eyes locked on Anna, bright with pride.
"Controlled."
Anna stared at Brom for half a heartbeat.
Then it hit her.
"I did it!" she burst out, the words tumbling over each other as she bounced on her toes. "I actually—I didn't lose it—I didn't—!"
She jumped once. Then again.
A bright, breathless laugh spilled out of her as she spun in place, pure joy lighting her face. "Did you see that? I didn't explode! I controlled it!"
Alistar let out an excited trill and bolted toward her, claws scrabbling over the stone. He leapt, wings flaring wildly, and landed against her legs before springing back up again, tail whipping as he bounced in place with her.
The two of them jumped together—girl and dragon—laughing and chirping in mismatched harmony.
Brom watched the scene in silence, arms resting at his sides, steam finally fading from his skin.
Then he chuckled—low and warm.
"Yeah," he said quietly, pride unmistakable in his voice. "I saw it."
Under the flowering arbor, Selene sat perfectly still.
Her hand rose to her mouth without her quite realizing it, fingers pressing lightly against her lips as she watched the training grounds unfold below. Sunlight filtered through pale blossoms overhead, petals drifting lazily on the breeze—soft, harmless things in a world that so often demanded strength instead.
Her eyes never left Anna.
The way her daughter laughed. The way she jumped without fear. The way her power had moved—not violently, not desperately—but answered her.
A sharp breath caught in Selene's chest.
She turned her face just slightly, enough that no one would see, and a single tear slipped free, tracing a quiet path down her cheek. She brushed it away quickly, but her smile stayed—trembling, proud, and utterly unguarded.
"She's doing it," Selene whispered to no one at all.
For the first time since the night everything changed, the tight knot around her heart loosened.
Not because the danger was gone.
But because her daughter was learning how to face it—and smiling while she did.
Anna broke away from Alistar with a final laugh and sprinted up the path toward the arbor, boots pounding lightly against the stone.
"Mother!" she called, breathless and bright. "Did you see that? Did you really see it?"
She skidded to a stop in front of Selene, eyes shining, hands gesturing wildly as if replaying the moment might make it even more real. "I didn't lose control. I didn't get scared. I just—felt it and moved with it!"
Alistar hurried after her, wings flapping unevenly as he scrambled up beside Anna and plopped down at Selene's feet, chest puffed out as if he'd helped somehow.
Selene's hand fell from her mouth, and she leaned forward, cupping Anna's face gently between her palms. Her thumbs brushed away a smudge of dust from Anna's cheek.
"I saw," Selene said softly, voice thick with emotion. "Every moment."
Anna's grin wobbled, suddenly shy. "I was really careful," she said. "Like you said. Like Grandma used to say."
Selene smiled through the lingering shine in her eyes and pressed her forehead briefly to Anna's. "And you did beautifully," she whispered. "I am so proud of you."
Alistar chirped in agreement, curling his tail happily around Anna's ankle as the three of them shared the quiet, glowing moment beneath the falling blossoms.