Jayden slammed the door behind him, and the noise would have echoed throughout the castle. He made it to his chambers without yelling at any of the servants in anger from his argument with Noxaura. He'd been struck hard on the face for the results of the match from earlier in the presence of the entire council. Unfortunately, the place on his cheek was also where a bruise was already developing from the duel earlier that day.

Humiliation and shame engulfed Jayden, and without his own realization, a fireball grew in his palm. He looked at the ball in surprise. He hurriedly put his palm in a bucket of water that had been placed in the room.

In the past few days, he had learnt a bit of magic thanks to the book he had gotten. He had learnt to make fire rise and fall gently and that his magic type was war or battle magic. He walked up to the candles on the walls and lit them one by one, and the emotions slowly subsided until the fire extinguished itself.

The wave of exhaustion hit him again, but not as intense as the first time. He wasn't too exhausted, so he decided to take some time to relax by painting instead.

He slowly managed to get the easel into the small closet in his chambers. He sat on the floor and locked the door behind him when he was sure he had everything he needed to paint.

The earlier image of Elizah came into clear picturization in his mind, and he got ready to paint.

He wanted to make the painting perfect in every way he could. She was something that he couldn't think of losing. And when he saw her, he always seemed a little more relaxed and calm, no matter how many things were going wrong around him.

He continued on with his work until he managed the utter perfection he had wanted. He took the canvas and placed it with the other paintings in the closet. It was a masterpiece, and he felt a satisfaction unlike ever before after looking upon his handiwork.

The room was starting to grow dark, and he knew someone would come around and place his meal inside while looking for him, considering everything that had happened that day. Also, it was quite apparent that Noxaura wouldn't enjoy seeing him again, so it was best this way.

He locked the door behind him and lay on the bed, lost in thought before he unknowingly fell asleep.

Elizah waited by the pond and observed the crystalline surface of the water. It was quite surprising that no fish swam in the water. She was about to place her fingers in the water when she heard footsteps behind her.

"I warned you about this before. Don't touch it," Jayden said as he appeared with a sword by his side.

"'I'm sorry," she said and picked up her sword. She stumbled in surprise at how difficult it was to hold. She couldn't balance it in her hand, and the hilt seemed too heavy. 

"Try my sword, I'd expected that one to be too heavy. It was made for a fully grown man," Jayden said and handed her the hilt.

She moved it in a fluid motion. Jayden noticed something peculiar about the way she was using the sword. Then it hit him.

"You're left-handed," he said more to himself than to her, and she nodded.

"That actually makes things easier for me to show you. But I warn you I'm quite clumsy," Jayden said and began his instruction.

It was surprising how Elizah had mastered most of the simple techniques easily. She was agile and swift, not missing a beat when she tried to imitate his own motions. A few hours passed quickly as he taught her.

"That was amazing," he said when they were taking a break.

"Thanks. I've watched Micah practice outside early at dawn when he thinks no one is watching him," Elizah said with a short laugh.

"When I first tried these moves , my father still says I moved more like an oaf than a soldier," Jayden said, remembering fond memories.

Elizah laughed at that. "Stepfather would be coming home by now. I better hurry back. You don't know how angry when things don't go right as he wants them to go," Elizah said after she realized that it was getting late.

"Same time tomorrow," Jayden said as they parted ways, both of them imagining how their subsequent practice sessions would go.