"Come on, Kael, one more round! Don't fail me now," Elara shouted, her voice ringing through him. He caught the sheen of perspiration on her forehead as she stepped past, her glistening red ponytail swishing by his face.

She wore a loose, billowing shirt and leather pants that hugged her legs far too tightly—an outfit that would have been absolutely scandalous a month ago, yet another change he had been powerless to stop.

Kael raised his training sword, muscles screaming in protest, to block another strike.

CLANG!

Their blades collided midair, jarring his arm. He stumbled back a step, his chest heaving deep, hard breaths.

They had been sparring for over an hour, and yet she still showed no sign of letting up.

Ever since she had started taking lessons at the Academy, she had thrown herself into her studies and training with a terrifying intensity. It was as if she was not only making up for lost time, but racing against a countdown that only she could hear.

He wasn't sure what was said during the meeting with her parents, but she had emerged from it with a grim determination that chilled him to the bone.

Whatever drove her now, he knew it ran deep.

He wanted to tell her to confide in him, that he could help, but the words always caught in his throat, choked by one single truth: he had failed her. Each and every time.

He swung his sword back at her in a wild, heavy arc that she easily ducked under. With the fluid grace he'd grown accustomed to, she stepped around him and shoved him from the side, forgoing an easy strike. "Hey, don't be like that. Take this seriously!"

He had failed her when she was that spoiled little girl, unable to correct her because she was too adorable a little 'sister'.

He had failed her at the Soul Seeding, only telling her to have courage despite the obvious panic and horror on her face. Tears were in her eyes then. He should have reached out to her instead of standing by.

His sword glanced off of hers as he stepped in for a thrust. She had read it far ahead of time, and was already in the middle of a counter. His blade was directed away, throwing him off balance. Then came another shove, this time gently with her soft hand. She laughed. "Alright, I get it. You're tired. No need to spray your sweat all over me."

He could almost pinpoint the change. It was that morning after the Soul Seeding, when she had inexplicably demanded to go on a run, of all things. She had been running and doing those strange routines every day since then. That was the beginning of her transformation from a frail girl into this inexhaustible beauty of steel.

A transformation born from her realization that she couldn't rely on him.

He stepped back, inhaling deeply, and raised his sword with both hands.

Chill Flow!

He channeled the spell, and a cooling sensation poured from his Soul Seed through his weary body. "No. I can go for a little longer."

Those haunting, emerald eyes of hers instantly perked up. She smiled, holding her sword sideways, sinking low. "Alright, come at me then! Give me everything you've got!"

BLADE STORM!

Shards of ice coalesced in the air around him and then shot out in a wave toward her.

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He had failed her when it mattered most, when they were cornered at the cliff. He had to watch in petrified horror as she threw herself in front of him, and then, to see that sword stabbing through her when it should've been him.

She had sacrificed herself to save him, even though he was her Protector.

When he woke up from the elves' poison, he saw her drenched in blood with another hole in her chest. He was again useless, and all he could do was to cradle her cheeks in his hand. He had the audacity then to be drawn in by the softness of her blood-encrusted skin, and the vulnerability in her pain filled eyes.

How dare he!

The shards of ice exploded against a wall of ice. She stepped around one end of the wall, swinging her training sword down at him and he barely had time to block.

"Neat huh?" she boasted as she held up a clear blue crystal in her hand. A magic stone. She seemed to have gotten a hold on a few of those. Most likely from that Aethelwing of hers.

He remembered that day when her Aethelwing dropped the still-beating heart in her hand. How macabre she looked as she bit into it, and the blood smeared her lips and lower face. He could see from her face how disgusted she herself was by it, but she was doing what she felt she had to.

That girl was now made of steel, after being tempered by an entire…

No, it was too wrong to call it that... She was tortured for an entire night, and he failed in stopping that as well.

The blade stopped a hair's breath from his face. Wind from its blade brushed against his cheek.

"Kael? You okay? Snap out of it." She quickly lowered her sword. Her hand grabbed his, pulling him toward a bench seat. "Let's rest. Sorry for pushing it. I just want to get as much training as I can before I head out."

"I'm fine. Your Highness." He sank his weary, sore body down onto the bench, the sweat-soaked fabric of his shirt sticking to the wooden back. "There is no need to worry about me. And we are heading out together, as I said before."

She grimaced as she plopped down on the spot beside him, stretching her arms high up in the air. "But, as you just saw, I can take care of myself now. I've no need for protection anymore. It would be just easier that way."

"Because you would have to protect me?" He thought of that moment when he was descending into the darkness, and her tear filled eyes staring down at him. She had been trying to protect him then, she had always protected him.

"That's not it. I just think you'd be happier if you stayed here, you know… with Astrid."

"Elara, you know that Astrid would want to come too."

"Argh…" she groaned, rubbing at her forehead in frustration. "It's too dangerous. She's no longer Chosen, and those are demons… real demons."

"I know that you're tough, and you want to keep everyone safe. But you can't do this alone." He rubbed at his chest. "It hurts us to see you doing everything alone. We love you and we want to be there for you, even if it means risking our lives."

"We, huh?" she grumbled to herself in a low voice, but he heard it.

He knew how much that hurt her.

But she's his charge, and she'll forever be that little 'sister' laughing and teasing him. He can't return her feelings, no matter how much her face haunts him.

"I will think about it. But that was a good workout!" her voice fluttered, light and carefree beside him as she stretched her long arms out over the back of the bench seat. Her sweat-soaked shirt clung to her body.

It might've been fine before… No, even back at the barn, just the sight of her exposed skin had made him burn up. But she didn't have curves back then; now, the new muscles on her body gave tantalizing hints of the woman she was becoming..

He jerked back from the thought. The two of them were just sharing a moment after a long training session. The quiet camaraderie brought him back to his Academy days, lounging with fellow trainees after a grueling session. No words were needed then, either: only ragged breaths and a shared understanding of the trial they had endured.

She grabbed a canteen of water from beside the bench, uncorked it, and then tipped it over her lips, taking a long drink.

"Ah…" She lazily handed the canteen over to Kael, who just stared at the open container.

"What're you doing, Your Highness?"

"What, aren't you thirsty?"

"I can't just drink from something that your lips have touched." Then a horrifying realization struck him. "Have you been doing this with other students?! Is that why they're so eager to train with you?"

Elara shrugged. "Maybe. What's the big deal? It's just water."

Kael leaned over, groaning and covering his face. More and more lately, Elara seemed to have thrown all her etiquette out the window.

Maybe after all that had happened, she had stopped caring.

He felt sorry for Meris.

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