“Emilia, let’s be rational about this.” Raydir stepped forward.

Emilia laughed cruelly. “Rational? Really? I am being rational. You’re the one still living in a fantasy world.” She looked pointedly at me when she said this.

I narrowed my eyes. “Leave him out of this.”

She laughed again. “Look at you still defending him even though you no longer love him.” She dismounted her horse and Bennett raised his bow higher.

“We protect our own,” he boomed. “Now, off with you.”

Emilia muttered something to her companions and they took off in the other direction, back to the dukedoms.

“Arwyn.” Darius wrapped his arms around me and tangled his hands in my hair.

I breathed in his scent and closed my eyes. “I can’t believe it. Emilia…she actually…she really is declaring war on the valley.”

This wasn’t happening. This couldn’t be happening. Thoughts of what could happen and how little time we might have left out here invaded my head. What were we going to do? Where were we going to go? The valley was the only home we had left.

“We’re going to fight,” he said, trying to soothe me. “We are going to fight against the dukedoms for the valley. Don’t you worry.”

“Fight how?” I asked. “None of us have prepared for this. We’re not…we can’t go to war with the dukedoms. They’ll wipe us out.”

Darius cupped my face in his hands. His blue eyes bore into mine. “You have trained for this. This is the whole reason we started training you in the first place. We knew something like this could happen. We’ll spend the next month getting ready for war. That's all we can do.”

“This affects all of us,” Raydir piped up. “We can’t just expect a handle of folks who’ve checked the training box to fight for the whole valley.”

“Then we start training everyone,” Darius said. “We have to do something, but we can’t just sit around and do nothing.”

I turned to Bennett.

“The Council will figure something out,” he said. He motioned to the other protectors and the crowd dispersed.

“What do you think Emilia’s going to do?” I asked. “She’s not the type of girl to wait around for a decision. There were two parts to her threat—thirty days to surrender and death to anyone who tries to return to the dukedoms. She’s going to use that against us. We have to warn our families.”

“That’s exactly what she expects,” Raydir said, holding his head in his hands. “Arwyn, we cannot go back to Gwyniar or Alvenora, do you understand? We can’t.”

“You're the lead archer, Arwyn,” Darius reminded me.

“I know.”

“Darqua is our home and we need to protect it.”

I sighed, glancing over at Raydir. Maybe Emilia was right. My heart twinged. Maybe I was fooling myself that having Raydir out here was anything more than leading him down an endless path.

I lifted my head from Darius’s chest. “I don’t…I can’t…I need to be alone right now.”

“Arwyn—”

“She said she needs to be alone.” Caesaria and Izel stood as blockers in front of me to keep Darius from interfering. Izel nodded to me and I ran back to my cabin.

Thirty days, I thought to myself as I stripped out of my clothes. Thirty days to figure something out. I eased my body into the tub in the bathroom, letting the water roll over my muscles. Closing my eyes brought back memories of my first Alignment. The bath I took after I turned back was everything I needed in that moment. And I was happy with Raydir. He was my everything.

And now everything has changed, the voice in my head taunted. When you ended it with Raydir, you screwed up any chance of the dukedoms uniting.

I thought about if there was anything I could’ve done to stop this from happening. Our scouts had been reporting back that something was going on in Gwyniar.

“You’ll tell me if something happens with my father, right?” I had asked. Ever since my last visit, I was on edge about everything.

The fact that there hadn’t been any sort of attack or whatnot yet made me even more nervous.

“Of course,” the scout had said. He glanced at me nervously. “And by extension, you want me to keep an eye on Emilia.”

“Yes.”

I sighed, dunking my head under the water. Bubbles floated up to the surface and a face—blurry, but still visible—appeared under the water.

A wolf’s face, its eyes blinking slowly. Grey fur surrounded its head and a familiar glow appeared in its amber eyes.

You’ll get through it. You will always get through it.

“Arywn?” Darius called, knocking on the door to the bathroom. “Are you—um, when you’re done, Izel is here.”

My head broke the surface of the water and my hands grasped the sides of the tub. “Thanks. I’ll be out in a few minutes.”

With a sigh, I lifted my body out of the water and dressed into a fresh outfit. I needed to wash off the grime of the morning. After toweling my hair, I walked out of the bathroom where I found Izel and Darius sitting on the couch talking.

“Hey,” I greeted them.

Darius came over and kissed me. “Hey. I’ll leave you two to talk.”

I nodded and he left the cabin. “So, what brings you by?”

“Well, we never got the chance to talk about yesterday,” she replied, avoiding my gaze. “I mean besides what we said at breakfast, but that wasn’t all that much.”

“Izel, I told you. I don’t mind you dating Raydir. He’s a good guy and you deserve it.”

She tucked her hair behind her ears.

“So, give me all the details,” I said, grinning.

“Well, he was a complete gentleman about everything,” Izel gushed. Her words faded into an echo as my thoughts wandered away from the valley. While I did want to know about her experience with Raydir, it felt like the least important thing to talk about at the moment. Emilia’s words echoed in my head. She was giving the valley an ultimatum that she knew would result in war. None of us were going to back down without a fight. And none of us wanted a war with the dukedoms we all once belonged to. To think that just a few years ago, Emilia and I had sat in the school gardens planning our perfect weddings. It was a dream we’d always had with our birthdays falling so close together.

“White frosting and delicate pink and red roses on each of the five layers for our cake,” Emilia said. Her fingers curled around the rope that held up the wooden swings we liked to frequent in the gardens. “And I’ve always wanted one of those dresses with the big poofy skirts.”

“And who do you see at the other end of the aisle?” I asked.

Emilia shrugged. “I don’t know. A guy who is tall, sensitive, and wants to give me a family.”

I laughed. “Those are the only qualities?”

“Well who do you see?” she shot back.

The corners of my mouth turned up into a smile. “Raydir, obviously. I think we’re getting closer to something more serious happening.”

“With the way you two pass notes in class, it’s like you have your own love language,” she teased. “Okay, so your dress. I’ve always seen you as a slim fit with a skirt that twirls when you twirl but still gives you enough room to move around and breathe.”

“Sounds like you’ve thought about that a lot.” I reached up to tuck my hair behind my ears. “I think I’d want something simple but elegant. I’d wear my hair down in ringlets.” I bit my lip at the thought of it.

“He’ll propose to you, Ar. Believe me, if he could do it now he would.”

“Yeah. But we don’t even know if I’ll pick him from the Ceremony.”

“You’ll pick him,” she said confidently. “Because you’re the only one for him.”

“...Arwyn?”

I snapped to attention. “Hmm?”

“Were you…not listening to anything I just said?”

“Um…” Busted. I gave her a pained look. “Sorry. I thought I was ready to hear about this, but I guess I wasn’t.”

“It’s okay, I understand.” She gave my arm a squeeze. “I know it’s a sore subject right now.”

“It’s not that. I do want to hear about you and Ray. It’s just the timing with the war declaration and everything.”

Izel nodded. “Yeah, it’s poor timing. Anything new with the rogues? Since we saw Randel?”

“No. I haven’t had the chance to—” I paused to answer a knock at the door.

“Arwyn, Izel,” Fletcher greeted us. “We’re still looking to do that power training down at the lake. We understand this is a tough time but we need to do this now more than ever. I was hoping there will be enough time.”

I nodded. “Yeah. Let’s go.”

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

The sun burned brightly in the sky, searing against my skin. The heat suffocated me as I tried to breathe.

“Okay, let’s try this again.” Fletcher ran a hand down his face.

We had been practicing on our individual powers for over an hour before Fletcher decided to actually start the combined power portion of the lesson. And the first round was not successful, leading to a very painful and nasty burn on Raydir’s left shoulder.

“Arwyn and Izel. Your turn.”

I planted my feet on the ground in front of me and raised my hands. A small trickle of water emerged up from the lake, wavering as it stayed connected to the surface.

“Good. Now, Izel, I want you to produce a small gust of wind.”

Izel nodded and pushed her right hand out toward the water. The trickle disconnected itself from the surface of the water and began to churn as we both put all of our energy into creating a water tornado. Of course, I had been taught how to do this on my own, but it was more powerful with the ventae power attached.

“Wonderful. Now bring it back slowly to the surface of the water.”

We concentrated, guiding the funnel back to its home base. As it reconnected with the water, I used my other hand to conjure up more water. The funnel grew in front of us and the sky began to darken.

“Okay that’s enough! Back it off!” Fletcher ordered.

Izel and I dropped our hands, letting our powers ease down. The funnel dissipated into the water with a splash that sent a consequent tidal wave over the four of us.

Fletcher deflected it with his palm face up toward the wave, letting it sizzle out.

“We’ll work on adding more power to that. But good for the first time.”

“Now what?” I asked.

“Now, we have to practice the other power combinations. Come back this evening after dinner. We need to be prepared in all types of weather and lighting conditions,” Fletcher instructed.

We nodded and started to walk away.

“Oh one more thing,” Fletcher said. “Rosie and a few others are in the process of preparing durable uniforms for when the battle begins. Izel and Arwyn, she wanted to run the design by you. If it works, you’ll wear the uniforms for training tonight.”

Izel and I exchanged glances then nodded in agreement.

“What was with those glances between you and Ray?” Izel blurted as we walked back toward the cabins.

“There were no glances,” I said.

She raised her eyebrows. “Yes, there were. Is this going to be a problem with the two of you training together? You know, since he’s dating me.”

“Izel.” I shook my head. “Ray and I weren’t sharing glances. What are you so worried about?”

“I don’t…I don’t know.” Izel sighed. “I’m sorry.”

I quickened my pace, wordlessly. What did Izel think she saw? Ray and I hardly looked at each other the entire training. And when we did, it was because we had to use our powers together. But I guess in a way she did have a point.

Raydir’s green eyes had lost some of the mischief. He had deep bags under his eyes as if he hadn’t been sleeping and his smile seemed more forced.

And when he looked at Izel, I saw a flicker of regret. Every time I looked at them, I felt a twinge of regret, too. Of what could have been versus what was. Part of me still wondered why it was so hard to see Raydir here in the valley alone and now with Izel. He was happy. Darius made me happier than I’d ever been, the man I wanted to fall asleep next to forever. And when I thought about that, I wondered why I’d ever run away in the first place. Had I really made a life-lasting decision based on a childhood pact? And more importantly, I wondered if I would ever know just how much the pact meant to Raydir.

“Iz, I’m sorry. Nothing is going on between Raydir and me anymore. I want you both to be happy.”

“We are happy. But I still think Raydir needs some closure. Sometimes he still acts like there is still hope for the two of you.”

My foot stepped onto the porch of the Grand Cabin, one of the wooden boards creaking under my foot.

“Good, you’re here.” Rosie appeared in the doorway and ushered me inside. “We have a lot of work to do.”

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

“No.” I planted my hands on my hips and glared in horror at my reflection in the mirror. “Absolutely not.” The uniform top that Rosie had chosen for us was black breathable leather that stopped just below my breasts. The shoulderpads were durable and the back design was open to allow for even more movement.

“Oh come on, Arwyn. You look hot!” Caesaria pouted. She’d joined us along with several other women from the valley for uniform fittings.

I whirled around. “Hot is not exactly what I want to be going for in the middle of a war!”

“Yes, but durable is everything.” Rosie knocked on the shoulders of my top. “The leather we use to make these uniforms is made to protect the wearer from injury.”

“Except for the layer of skin that shows on our stomachs!” I protested, slapping my hand against my bare torso to make a point. “What happens if we get hit there? I’m pretty sure that’ll kill us. You seriously can’t expect us to wear these.”

“They are cute,” Izel said, turning to admire the intricate design on the back. “And the fabric is quite breathable which is a bonus in battle.”

“This is only part of the uniform,” Rosie clarified. “Next we will fit you for chainmail to wear underneath the top and a tunic to avoid chafing. This is only the outer part of the uniform.”

I pursed my lips and tipped my head to look at my reflection again, trying to imagine what that would all look like once put together. “I see.”

“You’ll come back later to get the rest of the outfit. Give it a chance in training tonight. If you really decide you don’t like it, then we’ll work out something else.”

With one more glance in the mirror, I nodded. That could work out. And Caesaria was right—I did look hot, so that had to count for something.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

The surprise on Darius’ face when I arrived back to our cabin wearing the small cropped top of leather was priceless.

“Hi,” I greeted him, leaning over the sofa to kiss him.

“Hi.” His gaze flickered to my torso and he licked his lips. “Did you have a good day?”

I shrugged. “It was ok. Training went well—Fletcher wants us to go back tonight—and then Rosie made us try on uniforms.”

“Is this the final choice?” he asked my chest.

I swatted at him. “No, it’s not. But I do have to test out the durability in practice later. Rosie said if I still don’t like it, then we’ll come up with other options.”

“Is that the entire uniform?” He bit his lip.

“Rosie is preparing the rest of it. So it’ll be a tunic and chainmail underneath.”

“Mm hmm.” His gaze never faltered from my breasts.

“Darius!” I protested. “Do you know what this means? These uniforms?”

Darius blinked up at me. “Um, it gives me another reason why I love you so much?”

“No.” I rolled my eyes, sinking to the sofa beside him. “It means this war is really happening. We only have a month to prepare and the valley is nowhere near ready for this.”

He pulled me to his chest and began to stroke his fingers through my hair. “It’ll be okay, Arwyn. I’m here with you every step of the way.”

I sighed. “I know, but”—I sat up—“I’m scared.”

“Here.” He kissed my temple. “Let’s test out that durability. We gotta make sure my beautiful girl will be safe out on the battlefield.” He dipped his head to kiss my neck.

“Darius!” I giggled as his hands circled my waist. I wanted to resist his touch but my body betrayed me.

He pushed me gently against the pillows on the couch. His lips nestled their way between my breasts, leaving the fabric secured. For now. Then he traveled down my stomach, his tongue dancing delicately over my bare skin. I curled my fingers in his hair and my eyes fluttered closed.

He always knew exactly what I needed.

“How’s this?” he murmured against my skin.

I wriggled up on the couch a bit and reached out to tug at his shirt. He lifted his arms over his head so I could pull it off and toss it to the side. With a grin, he lowered his head again and kissed right below my belly button.

My breath hitched in my throat when his fingers slid over my thighs.

“Bedroom,” I gasped.

Darius let out a low, sexy growl and a new flash of hunger flickered in his eyes. He scooped me up into his arms and we stumbled into the other room. He laid me down on the bed.

“Feeling better?” he murmured as his lips grazed over mine.

I opened my mouth to allow his tongue entrance then tugged at his lips with my teeth. “Yes.”

“Good.” He dipped his head to my neck, slipping his tongue over the mark on my skin. His fingers slid down my body to the zipper on my top. He released its hold on my body and tossed it to the side. Then I let him kiss me senseless and wash away the worry that had invaded my mind and would continue to do so for days to come.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

As we laid beside each other on the bed with a single sheet covering our naked bodies, my mind turned to power training. Even though today was our first day to put our powers together, I didn’t see how we would be ready for battle in less than a month. And we didn’t have enough warriors. Everyone who could train had to train right now if we had any hope of surviving. Gwyniar and Alvenora had more resources combined than the valley.

“What’s on your mind?” Darius asked. His fingers brushed my hair away from my face and he pressed a kiss to my temple.

“Everything. I just keep thinking about how crazy this mess is. I grew up with Emilia. She was my best friend aside from Raydir. We shared so much together; our hopes, dreams…we even planned out our dream weddings together.”

“You couldn’t have predicted she would turn against you,” Darius said. “It’s not your fault.”

I nodded, but couldn’t help wondering how things may have been different for us. I stood up, letting the sheet fall around my torso as I picked up my clothes with a sigh. “I have more training tonight and then Rosie wants us to try out a few other uniforms. I’ll see you later?”

“Okay.” He kissed me again, letting his lips linger on mine for a few extra seconds. “I love you, Arwyn.”

I cupped his face in my hands and stared into those beautiful steel blue eyes. “I love you too, Darius.”