After that day, it felt as if the dynamics between us had shifted ever so slightly. This became evident when I asked Kael if he could personally train me.

I had been expecting a flat 'no' as a response. But his answer wasn't any less promising—although surprising.

"Once you can beat Tirack. Then I'll consider your request."

I was stunned, but then reality checked in. "Beat Tirack? Me? That's impossible!"

He looked up from the papers at his desk. His direct gaze made me stiffen, although I held my ground. He was indifferent. "Then don't bother asking me again."

I was mute.

Tirack. The Tirack?! How? Why?

"You may leave."

His dismissal was final. I felt my eagerness deflate as I slowly made my way out of the room. He had given me an impossible task. Was he playing with me? Showing me how weak I was?

Then why did he approve of me going to the knights academy?

My emotions were reeling. I didn't even know if I was angry or not. As I touched the handle of door, ready to exit, I remembered my previous thoughts.

If he was going to kill me, he would've done it already.

Besides, Edythe didn't die until she was seventeen.

Didn't that technically mean I had some kind of immunity?

My fist clenched around the door handle and I turned abruptly, facing Kael once again.

He didn't look up from his desk.

His casual indifference was getting on my nerves.

"Just you wait." My palms were sweating. "I'll become strong. I'll prove you wrong."

His hand paused as he was writing. Slowly, he placed down his pen and raised his chin.

His eyes were bright, amusement clear on his face.

In fact, it was the first emotion (aside from indifference) that I had ever seen so blatantly portrayed on his perfect face.

"Good. You can die trying."

Was that a tone of approval? Had my plan to spite him have an opposite effect? Why?

As he finished those words, I took a step back and turned to exit the door before my face betrayed emotions I was unsure of.

Quickly, I shut the door behind me.

Shaking my head and slapping my cheeks, I decided to ignore it. Kael was always unpredictable.

There was no hesitation as I strode straight to the training grounds. I had changed into my sparring outfit on the way and after talking with Tirack, he seemed unsurprised by my suggestion to spar with him.

In only seconds, I understood why.

As soon as the sparring match begun, I was already on my back looking up into the sky with stars dancing in my vision.

"You said not to hold back." Tirack knew that my body could handle more than what an average child could, but I guess that was to my disadvantage.

I was stunned. "How?"

As I made my way to a standing position, I brushed the dust off my clothes.

"You lack experience and you are not strong enough."

Had Kael given me this condition knowing it was impossible?

"Again."

With a shrug, Kael waited for me to assume my sparring pose. As soon as one of the guys said 'begin' my world was spinning again and I felt the breath escape me as it was knocked out of lungs with the sudden slam to the floor.

"Ugh." I coughed. "Damn."

Tirack's shadow came over me. "You need to practise. No more skipping."

All I could manage was a nod.

He held his hand out this time. I took it as I stumbled to my feet. "Thank you."

"You need not thank me Miss Edythe. I will set you up with the same training regime as my men. How much you choose to practise will determine the speed of your improvement."

I was shocked that he was devoting his time to help me. "Really?"

"The Master informed me to treat you as one of my men." He calm facade broke as he smiled at me warmly. "You are strong Miss. Don't be too dismayed. You will improve."

I felt a warmth spread in my chest. "I will try."

He nodded, then gestured to follow him as he lead me into the building devoted to the knights training. Inside, were equipment of various shapes and sizes.

After showing me around in more depth, he personally picked out a few different items, as well as a sparring dummy, and we dragged all the equipment to a vacant square in the building (which was more like a giant shed).

"This–" He threw the equipment onto the ground sending dust swirling and then dragged the dummy to the centre. It was old and beaten, but not broken. "Will be your new world. You will train here, you will build your strength and skill. While we train as a group you may also spar with us, but not until you master certain techniques first."

I nodded in understanding.

He then went through each of the equipment, explaining how I would start with the light sticks first and build my muscle, eventually moving on to heavier sticks and finally a sword.

Although I had been allowed to use knives while out hunting with the group, I had never been allowed to use a sword.

The very thought of having my own sword made me giddy.

Over the next few days and weeks, Tirack assigned a female knight to me.

Her name was Adira and she was second in command. Her name fit perfectly with her character. She had dark brown hair that had been braided to keep the hair out of her face. Her uniform was impeccable and her training was harsh yet respectful.

She didn't accept even the slightest flaws and would make me repeat a whole sequence the moment I either bent my arm too much or took the slightest step backward. By the end of her training sessions, I was left on the ground, breathing heavily and letting my sweat drip into the dust.

"Well done." She smiled, my agony apparently convincing enough this time. "Remember to have a cold bath after this to help stop inflammation and flush out lactic acid. I won't go easy tomorrow just because you're sore."

I could only nod as she looked at me before turning around to leave.

We had finished an hour later than the other men because my stances weren't "good enough".

After she left, I spent a good thirty minutes lying there before I decided to peel myself off the ground.

It was always like this. Complete exhaustion without the feeling that I had improved. It was frustrating. Although I had my stances memorised, my strikes barely made the dummy jiggle, let alone get blown backwards like some of the men.

I looked down at my soaking sparring outfit now covered in dust. I'm not going to cheat.

Oh yeah? Well what happens when you're no longer here? Relying on you will become my crutch the moment you disappear. I have to fight on my own.

I could feel Nyx bristle.

I was confused. What?

I paled. Really?

I didn't think it was that serious. I thought it was more on the lines of me 'hosting' her soul. Not the fact that our souls were literally bound together.

Her mental slap made me embarrassed. She was right.

I had been holding myself back because I didn't know any better.

With one final look at the dummy, I formed a sparring pose.

Slowly, I tried concentrating the darkness into my fist. I was too exhausted to try any place else.

But I could feel the darkness fading with physical exhaustion and mental fatigue.

One last go.

With what energy I had left, I forced my fist into the body of the dummy.

At first, I thought it was the same result as before, but when I looked down I noticed a skid mark at the base.

It had been pushed back.

Although only slightly, I couldn't believe my eyes.

Then I sighed in self-annoyance. Now, not only was I going to have to train my muscles and strength, but I also had to work on my mental fortitude. There was no way I was going to be able to use this darkness properly unless I practised using it as well.

As I walked out of the training shed, I decided to return to my room to bathe. I shivered at the thought of a cold bath, but I knew Adira was right. Although I was still ten, I adamantly refused to allow the maids to bathe me despite their insistence every time. After years of my refusals, they seemed to have finally gotten the message, and instead seemed to predict my routines, because every time I found myself wanting to bathe, I would find a fresh pair of garments, body oils and towels waiting for me in the bathing room. After trialling many oils over the years, I found myself favouring the more earthen smells over the popular floral scents. Although I enjoyed smelling flowers, smelling like one myself gave me a headache.

After my chilling bath, I was no longer surprised at the tiny keyhole that still remained on my chest as I changed near the mirror. It was just as much a part of me now as any birthmark would be—although I had yet to find a birthmark on this body.

It was only as I walked onto my balcony, my muscles finally relaxing after how tight they had been after my intense workout that I stared out into the gardens.

Looking at the sky, I knew there were still a few more hours of daylight left.

Without a second thought, I stepped up onto the edge of stone railing.

Let's try this out again.

Hopefully I didn't tear these fresh clothes. I then stepped forward as if expecting the air to carry my weight. My body then dropped through the air and I felt the breeze rush through my damp hair. This time, there was no hesitation as I focused the mana into my legs, making sure to concentrate Nyx's (our) energy just below the soles of my feet to act as cushion. Small concentrations of darkness were all I could manage at the moment. The mental strain was too much to try anything more. As I fell through the air, it was my first time allowing myself to rely on the darkness to aid me.

As I landed, I barely had to bend my knees to disperse the blow.

I felt nothing.

My eyes widened as I stared down at my legs. Rather than the usual split second pain or ache—there was nothing. Not even a niggle.

My mind was blown.

I hadn't even used the darkness on my own body, but below my feet.

Just how much more was it capable of?

Smiling, I strode forward with renewed vigour. This was a good sign.

Suddenly, Kael's request didn't seem impossible anymore.

As I made my way down the wide stone pathways, I passed by the well manicured gardens and came to the end of a little path that had an ivy archway leading to an area where the gardens and bushes were allowed to grow wild on their own. It was a little jungle paradise I had discovered two years ago.

Back then, it had looked more neglected than it did now. Over the last two years I had suspected the gardener had discovered my favourite hiding place and trimmed the ivy archway and cleared the pathway discreetly. It made me smile.

He left beyond the archway untouched.

As I stepped through, I walked along my familiar trek to a fallen tree whose large trunk provided the perfect spot to sit and close my eyes. The moss creeping around the edges made me think that it had been this way for a while.

Nevertheless, it was almost magical to sit here, close my eyes, and listen to everything around me. This little patch of heaven was far enough away from the mansion that you could no longer hear the chatter of passing servants and other staff.

Another aspect I enjoyed was trying to guess the animals with my eyes closed. Aside from a few birds and mammals, there were many I couldn't name. Yet, I enjoyed the solitude of this place too much that I didn't wish to bring anyone here to teach me what the noises belonged to. I knew they weren't threatening though, otherwise Nyx would have alerted me to their presence. The sound of the wind blowing through the tree tops was a tune I always enjoyed listening to. Sometimes, when I had been caught out in the rain, the sound of the water droplets hitting the leaves and the floor of the earth provided a whole new level of relaxation. The smell of the water then mixing with the flowers seemed to create a lovely refreshing aroma which only added another layer to this magical cake of a place.

With these sounds, every so often, I would hear a flutter that was light and had a soft beat. It was too light to belong to any type of butterfly or bird.

I tilted my head with my eyes closed. Initially I had thought it to be a butterfly, but after sitting here many times and listening long enough, I had begun to distinguish the differences between the fluttering of wings.

This was different. It was lighter and quicker—yet softer somehow.

As if it were delicate.

"A bug?" I mumbled.

"How rude." Came a reply.

I opened my eyes in shock.

But there was no one there.

All that surrounded me was the familiar trees, bushes and flowers which painted this place in beautiful colours.

After I called out and found no reply, I was almost lead to believe that I had imagined it.

When I closed my eyes to listen again, the flutter was gone.