They were led to a proper training field with a shack of gear and weapons, as well as a fenced-off circular arena of sand. Asterin wondered how she had not noticed it before, but remembered how quickly they made sure to lock her up in the barn upon her arrival.

In the distance, they could spot other portions of the Floating Isles—with the Iridescent Tower, the central hub of all Valkyr affairs, standing out amongst them all. It gleamed in the morning sunlight, its glass surface revealing none of what dwell within—a silent promise to house those who did their best in training and came out on top.

To gauge their physical aptness, they would face off against another recruit. Asterin figured it was a way for them to start off the rankings to see who would be at the bottom of the barrel. A bit cruel, but necessary, she guessed.

The matches, at first, went rather quickly. The nobles pitted against merchants made quick work of them, leaving the rest to face each other.

Asterin stood across from Raibyn, body stiff as she remembered the pure power radiating off of the other woman.

Raibyn appraised her, the two circling each other whilst everyone waited in silence. It was an unspoken rule of the matches, to not jeer or taunt each other. Instead, allowing each other to move at their own pace.

Surely that would change once training kicked into full gear.

A crackle of electricity in the air. That was all the warning Asterin had. She activated her Sight just in time to see a swath of pure white energy heading straight for her.

There was no enough time for Asterin to dodge. She braced herself, refusing to fall back as the magick hit her full force.

Her skin burned, as though she were dunked directly into a volcano. Her body pulsed, her heart beating loudly in her ears.

But… it didn’t hurt? It was an uncomfortable feeling, but no real pain accompanied it.

Asterin straightened her back, not wanting to question anything about it. She narrowed her eyes at Raibyn, who looked more confused than anything.

Asterin briefly glanced to Rialis, a silent question in her gaze. How far was she allowed to go before it raised suspicions?

Rialis nodded her head. Asterin supposed it made sense. This was supposed to help her stay higher in the rankings, and perhaps not seem completely hopeless.

She didn’t want to expose anything quite yet. Something within told her to put some amount of trust with Ada for that. Her eyes danced to Dralais’ scowling form and a slight smirk lifted her lips.

Asterin reached for the source of energy she was becoming more aware of each day, pulling it up from within until it warmed her throat.

“Sleep,” she whispered, directing the words to Raibyn and Raibyn only.

Almost immediately, the woman’s eyelids fluttered. Then, she collapsed to the floor.

It wouldn’t place her at the absolute bottom, but she hadn’t displayed any physical prowess.

Still, as someone supposed to be keeping their head low… she was doing a terrible job at it.

The instructors gave the recruits-now-cadets the next day to recover from the day’s activities, with an emphasis placed on how rare of an opportunity it would be going forward.

The original cliques had gone through a final adjustment. Despite their attempts to include her, Asterin maintained her cot in the far corner of the room with the ones deemed too weak to make it far into training.

Asterin sat in her cot, back against the wall. She traced her skin, the warm brown becoming more familiar than the pale lilac hidden under layers of magick. It had been well over a year since the last night she saw her ex-husband, the same night as his vicious crime, and things had changed far more than she ever could have imagined when she entered Androsa’s shop.

Faraldin… she would need to get some answers from him. She had released him from his Promise upon her arrival—after all she didn’t need him punished for whatever her fate was with the Valkyr—only to find it no longer existed. The magick tethering them had dissipated without her noticing.

But could he have been so capable? She recalled numerous things that struck out to her now that she could think on it—the changed strength of his Glamour, that odd light in his eye, the change in the color of his magick…

Was he even the same Faraldin she first met? Or was there a change at some point?

“Who do you think the finalists will be?” One of her fellow cadets drew her out of her thoughts.

A group made up of a noble, commoner, and merchant—all wearing the dull grey training robes given to them upon arrival—sat together on one of their beds not too far away from her, discussing all of the cadets and how things would proceed from here.

“I’d say Lady Nienna is a strong candidate. Her bloodline connects to the Imperial Family. Bastard or not, there is a power there.”

Nienna… the woman in an elaborate garb with a halo for hair, and the power to manipulate people’s minds. Very fitting for a courtly persona. She along with the others who stood out grabbed the attention of the head of the Wanderers—Commander Ailadon—who, if rumor was correct…

“I hear the Commander is looking for a partner for his heir amongst the top cadets.”

A few gasps erupted as others joined in on the group’s gossip.

“That doesn’t make sense. I thought they despised us.”

The girl who spoke hummed to herself, looking quite pleased at the growing attention. “It’s all about power. I snuck a peek at the briefings in my aunt’s office before I was summoned here. Some sort of politics struggle is happening down on the Surface. If the General signs off on it, then it’s a done deal. And,” she leaned forward, “you’d get to live on the Surface!”

“No wonder all of his sons are present, then. I heard they’re usually separated on missions.”

“The Heir isn’t the only eligible bachelor, you know. There’s also those Heroes… Meren and Seren was it?”

Asterin’s cheeks burned. She bit her tongue to keep her expression from turning sour, deciding to instead lay down and count the lines in the wooden beams above.

“They’re Kenra though, right? They would outlive any of us…”

“Except Dox and Raibyn.”

Asterin huffed where she lay. That certainly was a grand difficulty—being a long-lived species in a kingdom primarily made up of Humans left one feeling rather lonely. Only the Great Houses held Kenra, which meant there was little other opportunity for marriage without the risk of inbreeding were it to occur as commonly as it did for Humans. That’s why Asterin and the Duke’s marriage was such a profound affair. As a hybrid he inherited a long life span, making it one of the first marriages outside of the Great House structure… perhaps ever.

She eyed the wall behind her bed. If she hit her head hard enough, she could pass out for the night. It’s not like anyone truly care for her well-being.

“All this talk about marriage. You would not think we face our deaths should we fail.”

Asterin sat up at the close proximity of the voice, looking over to see Dox—the cadet anyone could see held the most potential—sitting with the others who were acknowledged by the Wanderer Commander.

Birds of a feather flock together and all that good stuff, Asterin thought as she observed their small circle.

Raibyn met Asterin’s eyes, a small twinkle in their golden depths. She tugged on Dox’s tunic and motioned to Asterin, who made sure to look quite occupied with the threads in her cot.

“You knew what Raibyn was going to do, didn’t you?”

Asterin almost fell back at the sudden proximity.

Dox stood close beside her with a cool expression that betrayed none of her thoughts—leaving Asterin to wonder just why she decided to seek her out. She looked over to see Raibyn not-so-discreetly peeking over at them.

“I saw you tense, as though you were bracing yourself to receive some kind of blow. I wondered what could make you react that way, and then we saw her magick burst out towards you. Most would have still be down for the count.” Dox walked closer to Asterin, taking it upon herself to sit at the end of her cot.

Asterin drew her legs a bit closer to her, wrapping her arms around them as she took in the person before her.

There was nothing outright remarkable about Dox’s appearance. At least, nothing that gave away the extraordinary power hidden within her. She looked like any other Sandu that Asterin had met before—with moss-colored skin and ebony hair pulled back into intricate braids that pooled down past her waist. Length correlated to honor, Asterin recalled. Dox’s tusks were on the smaller size, looking like nothing more than overgrown canines peeking behind her bottom lip, which was a bit jutted out.

“Merina, was it?”

Why is she so insistent on addressing? What could Raibyn have possibly said?

A few other cadets seemed to notice Dox’s closeness to her. Asterin figured it would be worse to be seen blatantly ignoring the Sandu.

“Yes.” Asterin placed her chin on top of her knees, meeting Dox’s gaze fully. “As for the other things… it’s a competition, isn’t it? We shouldn’t be sharing our secrets.”

Dox grinned. “Ah, but sometimes the best thing to do in competitions is to find allies who supplement your weaknesses.”

Asterin scoffed. “I think you’re overestimating my potential here a bit. You’d be better off with anyone else.”

“None of them stood out quite like you did. Adrastos Ailadon took you as his only pupil. You survived Raibyn’s magick. And you took her down with one word.” Dox cocked her head to the side. “With abilities like that, I’m sure you would even beat me in the trials.”

Asterin’s eyes narrowed at the Faen in front of her. Trust did not exist. Not here. Not under these circumstances. To have the ability to make her feel such a way left her wary, to put it lightly.

Dox held out a hand. “How about a quick card game, then? See if you like us?”

It would be idiotic to turn away the premise of friendship. Asterin conceded that at least she could play along for now and then deny them later.

She grasped Dox’s hand, allowing the Sandu to pull her up until Asterin’s head was just under her bust.

Stupid Faen being tall and whatnot. Asterin wished she could have at least retained the height of her Kenra body.

Raibyn made room on her cot for Asterin to take a seat. Neither acknowledged the former’s clear intention to get her to join them, and neither did the rest of the group.

“You know how to play Fated Breaths, right, Merina?” The red-haired girl, Harland, prepared a deck of tarot cards in front of her.

A common game throughout the Skies… unless you were part of a Great House. Still, Asterin had witnessed enough games played between patrons, she got the general gist of it all.

With a nod, they began to play.