(Year 0; Falcondar Castle)

"I can't believe this," Lynsa grumbled.

"Which part?" Cassidia asked, trying to sound innocent. "That I'm finally getting training, or that you have to show me Silverstone and Azurizt?" Her whole body was brimming with excitement.

"The second part." Lynsa didn't look back as she spoke, gliding down the corridor ahead of Cassidia with practiced grace. The soft blue carpet silenced her steps almost completely, but her voice echoed between the polished stone walls."If Father wishes to have you trained, so be it, but I never even got to touch a Sword until my second year."

Cassidia struggled to maintain the same poise with her brand new sword-replica weighing down her belt and bouncing against her leg. The actual Sword and Sheath were carried by Lynsa. "Maybe he trusts you to train me especially well," she offered.

"That's not the reason." Lynsa pushed through the door at the end of the corridor with more force than strictly needed. Morning sunlight blazed in through the east-facing doorway, forcing Cassidia's eyes shut for a second. She blinked a few times and hurried down the steep stone stairs after her sister.

It wasn't Cassidia's first time in the training yard—it wasn't even her first time there with a sword-replica—but it was the first time she wouldn't be in trouble for it. Lush grass grew in a large square, the kind even the richest nobles couldn't afford to maintain. It was bordered by head-high walls of the same tan stone as the castle, only these were marred by blackened scorch marks. As usual, it was full of guards going through their routine training—guards Cassidia had befriended, and begged to keep her little informal training sessions secret—but as soon as they saw Lynsa, they rushed to clear the yard.

Cassidia followed her sister into the grass, breathing in its wet, leafy scent. She couldn't feel it at all through her new leather boots, crafted for utility rather than elegance—a welcome change from her slippers. Trousers and a shirt replaced her usual dress, and her servants had braided her snow-white curls up behind her head.

"First," Lynsa said, spinning abruptly to face her. "Do not let your guard down ever again. I don't care if you're armed or not, you are not to let anyone near you." She said it like Cassidia had already done something wrong, and the younger girl fought the urge to protest. At least she was getting trained. Complaining might change that.

"Second." The First Princess patted Silverstone's pommel at her hip. "The Swords and Sheaths are deadly tools, and after four hundred years of research, our family still barely understands how they work, with even fewer guesses as to where they came from. Be careful with them. Treat them with respect. Do you understand me, Cassidia?"

Cassidia nodded.

Lynsa huffed, seeming unconvinced. "I still can't believe you're being allowed to touch them."

They're supposed to be mine, Cassidia wanted to tell her. Mine or Merila's, at least. It's not my fault you lost yours. Instead, she carefully said, "Well, Father ordered it himself, right? And of course, you don't think he's stupid..."

Lynsa paused, then gave her a noncommittal grumble, somehow looking even grumpier.

"I'll be very careful," Cassidia promised, figuring it was best not to get too clever.

"Good. Third, do not pick fights you aren't going to win." Lynsa swept Silverstone from its Sheath with a flourish, leveling it straight at Cassidia's chest. "I know you're excited about training, and you're excited to defend our Kingdom, but as royalty, you will almost always be more valuable giving orders from the sidelines. At least until you have been trained thoroughly."

Cassidia stared at the unwavering silver blade, going still. Her eyes met her sister's icy blue ones. The look in them was deadly serious. "I understand," she breathed.

"You understand all three basic rules? I won't have to repeat them?"

"You won't have to repeat them."

"Then why is your guard down?" Lynsa snapped. "Draw your weapon!"

With a yelp, Cassidia jumped backward, reaching to the sword-replica at her hip. She drew it quickly, feeling pretty proud of how smooth the motion was.

She was less proud of how she shrieked and covered her head with her free arm when Lynsa jabbed forward with Silverstone. "Cassidia!" the older sister barked, pulling the Sword back before it actually hit. "Weapon up! Do you expect your arm to do what your blade-"

Cassidia raised the sword-replica and jabbed it back in Lynsa's direction. The First Princess' eyes widened for only a moment before she swung Silverstone around. The flat of its blade hit Cassidia's, a painful shock rang through her arm, and the sword-replica dropped unceremoniously to the grass.

She froze, meeting her sister's eyes, but by then the flicker of fury had been replaced with impatience. Lynsa was kind enough to let Cassidia drop to her knees and grab her weapon before she attacked again; Silverstone's blade flashed over Cassidia's head, and this time she managed to yank her own blade upward to block it. The same shock shot through her fingers and wrist, but she kept her grip, scrambling backward and standing upright.

She noticed that most of the guards still lingered around the training yard's entrance, doing a bad job pretending not to watch. Great. More people to be embarrassed in front of.

"Well, you've got the running-away part down," Lynsa remarked.

Cassidia scowled and lunged forward. Silver flashed in front of her nose; she shrieked and leaned back. Gods, she's right, isn't she? Cassidia tried to salvage her momentum, swinging her sword-replica at Lynsa's shoulder, but the older girl took a single step back and the attack missed completely. With a step forward, Lynsa once again smacked their blades together, and once again, Cassidia's went flying into the grass.

"You shouldn't have followed through once you were unbalanced," Lynsa said. "Better to back up and find your wits."

Yeah, I figured out that much, Cassidia thought as she scrambled sideways to pick up the sword-replica. She ducked down to swipe it from the grass, then without waiting, pointed the blade Lynsa's way. Lynsa shouted as Cassidia pressed the charge and fire buttons on the hilt. The sword-replica jerked to the side, firing an orange beam into one of the stone walls around the yard and adding a new black scorch to the stone.

"Better," Lynsa said, lowering Silverstone; Cassidia pieced together that she'd used the Sword's magnetic power to redirect the attack.

Swallowing down the swell of pride that came at the acknowledgement, Cassidia asked, "What happens if one of us actually gets hit?"

"That's not going to happen."

"But what if on accident...?"

"I'm perfectly capable of both controlling myself and defending myself," Lynsa said stiffly.

For a fleeting second, Cassidia was overcome with an urge to prove her sister wrong, before she realized exactly what that would mean, and felt guilty for thinking it. She didn't want to hurt Lynsa. She just wanted to be taken seriously.

"I'm going to attack you like a regular soldier," Lynsa announced. "See how long you can defend yourself."

Cassidia nodded. She assumed 'regular soldier' meant no Sword or Sheath abilities.

Her sister charged at her, swinging Silverstone shockingly fast. Cassidia barely tracked the blade and raised her own to intercept it, keeping a strong grip on the weapon and gritting her teeth through the pain in her hand. She had to get used to that.

Silverstone came in from the other direction next. Cassidia pulled her weapon around and managed to block again, but missed Azurizt whipping upward and smacking her shoulder. "Ow!" she yelped.

"Two hits. Go for three this time." Lynsa swung Silverstone in the same motion as the first time.

Cassidia blocked. One. The next attack followed the same pattern as well, and Cassidia's block was in place faster this time. Two. She jumped to the side, avoiding Azurizt. "Three," she grunted aloud, already watching for the next attack. The blades rang together. "Four!" The next attack came in too fast, a low strike that stopped an inch from her thigh.

Lynsa stepped back, and Cassidia already knew what was coming, but that didn't mean she felt ready. The sword-replica's point drooped toward the ground. Her arm shook trying to keep it up. And she still hadn't even gotten to touch the real Sword and Sheath yet. "Four," Lynsa said. "Go for six."

Cassidia expected her sister to vary the pattern, so she tried to keep herself from anticipating the strikes too comfortably. Sure enough, the first attack came in from the same direction it had the last two times, but the second was a low strike for her opposite leg. Cassidia swung her sword-replica down and managed to block, dodged Azurizt, and blocked again. The fifth attack came in wicked fast, and on reflex, Cassidia swung her blade straight for Lynsa's chest instead. The older Princess yelped and ducked backward, causing both attacks to miss.

Cassidia was feeling pretty smug until Lynsa scolded, "What a foolish instinct! Against any less skilled opponent, you would have been hit!"

Cassidia bit her lip. "But you would have also-"

"You are a Princess of Falcondar! You are not some expendable guard, you must defend yourself!"

Cassidia glanced at the group of guards still watching from the entrance, feeling embarrassed by the comment, even though they all would agree and die for her in a heartbeat.

Lynsa let out a grumbling sigh. "Attacking to distract your opponent isn't a bad idea, as long as you aren't endangering yourself to do it."

Cassidia nodded, trying to swallow down her hurt. She appreciated Lynsa's training, she really did, but couldn't help feeling like there was a nicer way to go about it. "Are we...going to use Silverstone and Azurizt at any point?"

The look on Lynsa's face made her regret asking the question. "Have you proven you won't get yourself killed on accident?" the First Princess asked coolly.

She shook her head, even more embarrassed.

"Once you know enough about basic combat to keep yourself alive, I will consider showing you how to use the Sword and Sheath."

Father told you to show me, Cassidia wanted to protest, but she didn't think that would improve her chances.

"I expect you to practice three times a week on your own," Lynsa said sternly. "Since things have changed, I will only have time to personally train you once a week."

Cassidia started to nod excitedly, before Lynsa's words fully registered. "How have things changed?"

"There's been a turn of events in the Kingdom. And for the same reason, I must now get back to my more important duties."

"Would you quit being vague and tell me what's actually happened?" Cassidia snapped.

Lynsa shrugged. "Kiridan's joined the Uprising."

"Kiridan...what?"

Lynsa turned and started toward the castle.

"Lynsa, wait!" Cassidia protested, hurrying after her. "What uprising? Do you mean Kiridan, like Kiridan Shairisel?"

"Kiridan, like Kiridan Shairisel," Lynsa said over her shoulder. "We've been aware of an uprising brewing since Takaren Shairisel's death. In fact, we have reason to believe she was once a part of it, though we didn't know that at the time. We've never considered them much of a threat." The guards pulled open the castle door, and Lynsa strode through, Cassidia still following. "We keep a few people in the organization to watch, but beyond that, we've let it be. Obviously, having the last living Guardian on their side changes things."

"We've just let an uprising grow unchecked in our Kingdom?" Anxiety burned in Cassidia's chest. How have you not told me about this?

"Crushing it would only have left the survivors more upset. I think Father was wise to leave it alone." Lynsa marched through the castle door without acknowledging the guards.

Cassidia followed on her heels, awkwardly trying to sheath her sword-replica without falling behind. "Is Jake part of the uprising?" she asked. That was a scary thought.

Lynsa scoffed. "No, thank the gods. He's a problem, certainly, but from what I've gathered, he's even more of a problem for the Infernal Uprising. It seems they got on his bad side, while I managed to get on his good side." She flicked her hair and pushed through a door on the side of the corridor, one that led to a small staircase down. "Don't concern yourself with this, Cassidia. You'll only get yourself in trouble." The wooden door smacked closed behind her.

Cassidia was perfectly capable of following her through the door—had every right to do so—but it suddenly looked like an impassable barrier. She shouldn't have pushed the topic, and she definitely shouldn't have brought up Jake. But she wanted to know more. There sure seemed to be a lot of immediate threats to their family that Lynsa felt like ignoring, and while she'd handled the Jake incident a year ago as well as anyone could hope to, it didn't make Cassidia feel comfortable just letting them go.

She sighed, running her hand over the sword-replica hanging at her hip. She was making progress now. She'd train as her sister had instructed, and soon, she'd be more competent, more responsible, someone her father could trust with this sort of information. She would do her duties as Third Princess, and inherit Silverstone and Azurizt whether Lynsa wanted her to or not.

But as she continued down the hall to her chambers, thick-soled boots marching over the carpet, she couldn't help but wonder what else she might be able to do, if she investigated this uprising on her own.