Prince Jayden Larkspear was lying on the sofa engrossed deeply in one of the books he had found at his doorstep the night after the strange occurrence. They were all facts about magic, but the letters were slightly faded, and the font was difficult to read. So far, only a few small things had clicked about how 'it' could possibly be used and of what it even was.

He let out a sigh and walked over to place the book in a drawer in his desk. He managed to get away from the desk and eased himself to a chair near his table. His training had been rigorous, and he had been pushed beyond his limits. All his joints were crying out in pain and rebelling against every movement he was making. He wanted to fall asleep at that moment, but he knew he'd be in trouble if he was caught sleeping. He wouldn't get any food later if he fell asleep then.

He gathered himself up and headed out of his chambers, trying not to flinch. There was his training test tomorrow, which would prove him worthy of passing into the following training stages with the knights, but it seemed like he was going to fail by the looks of his luck.

He made it to the large council chambers where he usually dined with his parents but waited outside at the mention of his name in hushed tones. 

"He won't make it tomorrow," He heard his mother's voice saying.

"Have some faith, he will pull through," Cyprian answered.

"He has a heart of a weakling. His standards of skill are much lower than those of his age," Noxaura replied sharply, "He can't even wield a sword in the balanced position and you think he'll stand a chance in the duel."

Jayden knew that his mother was right. He had no faith in himself either. If he lost, it would be a blow to the king's honour.

"I believe in him, maybe he isn't like the others but his heart cares. That Noxaura is the heart of a king who'll always look for the best interest of his people over his honor. Maybe he just hasn't found his path yet, but trust me, one day he'll be a fine ruler," Cyprian said with confidence in his voice.

Jayden chose that moment to stroll into the room. He couldn't stand listening to their conversation any longer.

Noxaura opened her mouth to say something but fell silent upon Jayden's appearance.

"Sorry, if I interrupted anything," Jayden said calmly and settled at the empty chair left for him.

He noticed Noxaura's fingers slide slowly onto Cyprian's forearm. 

"No, we were just waiting for you to arrive," Noxaura said and looked Jayden in the eye.

"It looks like training was tough on you today," Noxaura continued as she looked over at him.

He went rigid and did nothing to hide the weariness inside him. He couldn't. The rest of the meal passed in silence, with no one daring to break it. The tension between them was evident about the next day and what could happen.

Elizah looked over the field that belonged to her family and wondered how long it would take to sow the seeds in for the next season. The weather was starting to warm up now that the winter had ended. The field had gone back to a stage when plants could be grown on it.

This is my permanent job now. Elizah thought with a sigh. She'd completed the necessary level and age restriction for finishing her studies at the schoolhouse, so now it was time that she lived and helped with the household.

She caught a glimpse of her reflection on one of the vessels. For once, she had to admit that her face looked as if she hadn't slept in days. Which was entirely accurate. The noises she heard outside her room had only gotten worse after her birthday. As a result, her sleep had been disturbed.

Her stream of thoughts were interrupted by the kettle whistling that the morning tea was ready. She quickly hurried and poured the tea into the cups and went to the table to serve them to her awaiting stepfather and brother.

"If you were any later, we would be late to head to the city," her stepfather mumbled, and Elizah raised a brow.

"Why are you heading out so early?" she asked Micah.

"It's the big day at the arena today. The testing duels are happening and the Prince is in them. It's the talk of the town," Micah said.

At the mention of the Prince, she remembered how he said that he wasn't that good at any fighting skills. She uttered a small prayer to the spirits in his name for good measure, even if they were or weren't real.

"So Elizah is doing the sowing today. Have at least a few rows neatly done by the time I get back," her stepfather said, interrupting her thoughts.

Elizah stifled a groan. He needed the rows to be perfect, but to Elizah, she preferred just getting the job done. Perfection was a more challenging aspect for her to master.

Roxanne appeared in the kitchen and smiled weakly at Elizah. Maybe she hadn't noticed it before, but she could see the scattered greying streaks of age in her mother's hair and slight wrinkles on her face, along with the dark circles under her eyes with a fear shining in them. It was unusual for her to look so worried when nothing was going on, but Elizah couldn't understand it.

Roxanne helped Elizah clear the trays and went into the kitchen. "Do you need a hand in the kitchen?" Elizah asked.

Roxanne let out a sigh and said, "I wouldn't want to bother you if you have any other work."

"The field can wait. Looking after you should be my first priority," Elizah answered stubbornly.

"Don't try to pull yourself into my problems Liz," Roxanne said after a soft pause.

"What's happening? Tell me," Elizah asked, with a hint of worry in her voice.

"You wouldn't believe me or even understand at your age. Forget about me and worry about your own house and brother," Roxanne said and went back to looking for the utensils for whatever she was planning on cooking.

Elizah's heart wanted to stay with her mother, but she knew if she didn't finish the sowing, she'd be in a huge amount of trouble. With a sigh, she picked up the bag of seeds and walked out the door to head into the small field.

Jayden was seated alone in the lush green grass that surrounded the pond. He wondered what his punishment would be if he went back to the castle.

He heard footsteps drawing close towards the area where he was seated, and on impulse, stood ready in a position to fight.

"It's just me, no one to threaten you," he heard a gentle girl's voice, and he settled back down as Elizah walked over.

Her gown was covered in mud, and her face was glinting with sweat. She looked almost the same, but Jayden knew something was off about her.

"I heard about your victory today. Congratulations," Elizah said and extended her hand to him.

Jayden looked at her with a bewildered expression on his face. "I didn't win…," he said, and Elizah put her hand down.

"You're the talk of the town because of your victory," she said and had a similar expression on her own face.

"What did you hear?" Jayden asked intently.

"I heard that you managed a good fight and it was shocking that you won," Elizah said.

Jayden pushed down the laughter that was building up in his throat. "Well, you heard wrong. I was beaten terribly. The shocking fact is that they're putting me into the next level even though they know I'm not that strong. It was to avoid the humiliation that my parents will have to face. That's why I'm the talk of the town. I both passed and utterly failed at the same time."

A silence existed between the two of them. Neither of them dared to break it and just looked into the reflecting water of the pond.

"I'm really sorry to hear that," Elizah whispered after a while.

Jayden just looked at her and, for the first time in his life, he was maintaining eye contact with someone. He observed her face and noticed the small details he usually didn't pay much attention to in anyone. 

The freckles scattered on her face, the sharp cheekbones and the tanned skin tone, which was no doubt because of the hard farmyard labour. But Jayden also noticed the darkness under her eyes and the usually bright eyes seeming dull and worried. It was pretty evident that something was troubling her.

"Is everything alright?" he asked, intending to find an answer.

"I'm not exactly sure. There's something going on, but can't understand what exactly it is," Elizah said grimly.

Jayden was left confused by her answer but decided he'd question her at another time.

"I've been wanting to ask you something," Elizah began after a few moments, "Would you teach me how to defend myself? I've always wanted to. Just the basics would be fine too."

She never wanted to be defenceless when threatened. Even the basics would help in any scenario.

"You want me to teach you? I'm terrible at that myself. But if you're eager to learn I could try and explain the techniques like the masters do. I won't be able to demonstrate well enough, though . Who knows, you might even be better than I am, especially from what I've seen of your abilities from that day when you fought the other boy ," he said with a smile.

"Are you serious?" Elizah asked, surprised. She didn't think it would be this easy to convince him.

Jayden only nodded. Elizah's grim face suddenly disappeared and was replaced by joy.

"Bring your brother's sword and meet me here when you're done with your daily chores. We'll start tomorrow," Jayden said.

Elizah just rushed up to him and caught him in an embrace, which had taken Jayden by surprise. 

"Thank you," she said one last time and, with the same smile, left for her home while Jayden laid back in the grass to relax a bit before he returned home.