As Rhen stepped out of her dorm room, she found herself feeling calm and at peace, despite her impending class trial – the last requirement she needed to become a sword singer apprentice. Though she could have fought against any teacher, she was glad that it was Lorad challenging her. It seemed only fitting that the man who recognized her abilities be the one who stood between her and apprenticeship.

Admittedly, Rhen found it rather grating that Lars had earned the status of apprentice before she did. Over the past year, he'd done nothing but make her life miserable, even spreading rumors that she became a slave because she was a thief. Really, though, the joke was on him – all his torment did was strengthen her resolve.

As she stepped out into the courtyard that reminded her so much of Clearwater, Rhen straightened her posture and held her head high as she approached Lorad.

Lorad inclined his head in acknowledgement, touching a hand to his opposite shoulder in a show of respect. "The trials are a serious matter, not to be underestimated," he began, a solemn note to his voice. Aside from Rhen herself, Lorad was perhaps the one person who was just as invested in her progress. "Are you ready to enter?"

Rhen braced herself to answer, taking a deep breath to steady herself. Becoming a sword singer had been her saving grace, and she would not let herself falter now. "Yes, sir."

An almost imperceptible smile graced Lorad's expression, and if Rhen had not gotten to know him this past year, she likely wouldn't have noticed it. "Very well. Let's begin."

In a sudden flash of movement, Lorad had his sword drawn and lunged towards Rhen. Rhen's reaction was instant, parrying Lorad's strike. The sound of metal against metal rang out as their swords collided, sparks quite literally flying upon impact.

A small crowd gathered around them, drawn by the spectacle; some were fellow students while others were seasoned teachers, all of them watching with a mix of curiosity and admiration.

The duel unfolded like a storm; to the untrained eye, Rhen's and Lorad's movements were a blur. Each of Rhen's strikes, her blocks, her feints – they were all executed with precision, earned through a year's worth of relentless training and unwavering determination.

The air crackled with tension as the duel went on. Despite the physical exertion, Rhen's technique never wavered as she held her own against Lorad. In a final, decisive move, she managed to outmaneuver him, bringing her sword to his throat.

There was a hint of pride in Lorad's eyes as he stepped back, giving Rhen a curt nod. "Congratulations, Rhen. Here is your new class schedule."

The crowd broke into applause and even a few cheers at Rhen's victory. No one was prouder than Rhen herself, who puffed up at Lorad's praise.

"You should go to your room to get some rest. Tomorrow marks your first day of classes as an apprentice," Lorad advised her, handing over an official slip of paper signifying Rhen's apprenticeship and which allowed her to choose her own classes.

Although it was only late afternoon, a nap didn't sound too bad. The duel had been grueling, and Rhen knew she had a long way to go before she could perform such a duel without much effort.

The closer she got to her dorm room, the more that the fatigue seemed to take over until it felt like she could hardly even lift her feet anymore. The only time she could recall ever feeling this exhausted was when she had first arrived in Veldarah.

Rhen didn't even realize when she'd fallen asleep, instead jolting awake into what seemed to be a sky studded with stars. She didn't recall what awoke her, but this definitely wasn't Shadwood... Or was it? Perhaps this was just another part of the apprentice trials.

"Rhen..."

"Who's there?!" Rhen cried out, whirling around in an attempt to see who was speaking.

"The... ring... Put on... ring..."

Rhen's brow furrowed in confusion, her head beginning to ache. What was going on...? No matter how many times she called out, the voice never answered her back, and whatever realm this was seemed to become fuzzier and fuzzier by the moment.

She jolted awake in a cold sweat, goosebumps all over her body. The dream was already beginning to fade from her memory, but one thing remained: that strange voice imploring her to put on... a ring?

A ring... The only ring that Rhen could recall was the one that the priestess from so long ago had insisted she wear. She could hardly wear it now, not when she didn't even have it anymore.

Rhen shook off the lingering effects of the dream, pushing it to the back of her mind. It was just a dream, after all. She stretched out her whole body as she got out of bed, brushing off her student uniform to ensure that it was wrinkle-free.

The bright sunlight hit her eyes as she exited the dorms; Rhen instinctively covered her eyes, squinting across the courtyard. It took her a moment to adjust to the change in lighting, blinking the dark spots out of her vision. Judging by the position of the sun, she'd slept right through the rest of yesterday.

As much as she wanted to view her options for her apprentice classes, she had all day to do that. That aside, for some reason, she felt compelled to go exploring the city.

The streets of Veldarah were as busy as ever, filled with the hustle and bustle of merchants and nobles. Over the past year, the people here had become familiar faces – it was hard to believe that she'd ever spent three months as a slave on this continent. Almost nobody here in Veldarah knew of those wretched few months, aside from Lars, Lorad, and Ghelda. Though Lars had spread rumors of why she became a slave, most of their classmates seemed to brush it off.

As Rhen wandered the shopping district, she found herself situated in front of the very same junk shop that she saw when she first arrived in Veldarah. The sign had been replaced recently, and so had its windows, if the telltale shininess was anything to go by.

The bell on the door jingled softly as Rhen entered, though the shopkeeper didn't seem to recognize her. Why would he? Even Rhen didn't recognize herself sometimes when she looked in the mirror. She was so different from the slave who had wandered into the city, and from the girl who had been kidnapped from Clearwater.

The junk shop's wares had changed since Rhen was last here a year ago, though a few remained the same: she remembered seeing that hand mirror, but the bird cage was new... And so was a very familiar looking ring.

"Excuse me, how much does this ring cost?" Rhen asked the shopkeeper, her gaze fixed onto the ring. She didn't know if it was the same one that the priestess gave her, but it certainly looked similar.

"Ten gold pennies at least!" the shopkeeper boasted, grinning from ear to ear in pride.

Goddess, that was expensive. "I can't imagine how much an original priestess ring would cost," Rhen murmured, speaking her thoughts aloud rather than to the shopkeeper. She did have her coin purse with her... No, a ring was too silly and frivolous for her to justify spending her money on. But her dream...

Almost mindlessly, Rhen reached out to touch the ring, entranced by how the sunlight bounced off its turquoise stone. As soon as her fingers wrapped around it, a bright flash of sparkling light blinded her. When it cleared, a familiar face stood in front of her.

"You! It's you! The priestess!" Rhen sputtered, almost falling flat on her bottom at the priestess's startling entrance. She was vaguely aware of the shopkeeper diving behind the counter, but she barely paid him any mind.

"I have finally found you," the priestess said, looking like a great weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

Found her...? Had the priestess been looking for her, then? Had her family been looking for her?

"How did you find me?" Rhen asked, still dazed by this revelation and the priestess's appearance.

The priestess raised a finger, pointing at the ring in Rhen's hand. "The ring. While you wore it, I knew where you were," she explained. "But shortly after I gave it to you, you disappeared from me. Now that you've touched it again..."

"I was supposed to meet Peter by the sheep pen... But right outside the village, a slave trader caught me," Rhen told her, glad to finally have that weight off her chest. Even if the priestess wasn't from Clearwater, at least someone from across the sea knew now. "He took the ring and sold it when he sold me."

The priestess's brow furrowed, her mouth opening slightly in surprise. "Sold you? You are a slave?"

"No, not anymore," Rhen quickly assured her.

The priestess just frowned, the furrow in her brow becoming more pronounced as she cast her gaze around the junk shop. "Where is this place?"

"This is a city called Veldarah. Other than that, I have no idea where we are." All the people here just referred to the place as the Eastern Empire, and Rhen had no idea where that was in relation to Clearwater.

"So, we are in the Eastern Empire..." the priestess muttered to herself, her expression growing distant.

"I suppose so, ma'am," Rhen said politely, indulging the priestess's dreamlike trance. "Can you take me home?"

The priestess's expression softened as she looked back at Rhen, looking almost motherly. "Home is a long way away, Rhen," she said gently. "You are safer here."

Rhen's heart fell at the priestess's answer. So she really would be stuck here for the foreseeable future, then. As a slave, she'd already been here for far too long, and a year into her schooling at Shadwood, she still wanted nothing more than to see her ma and pa again.

"Is something wrong?" she asked, trying to keep her voice steady but failing to stop it from trembling anyway. She just wanted to go home. She never asked for any of this, to be a slave or a sword singer or any of that.

"I must leave you now," the priestess said instead of giving her a straight answer, still speaking gently. "I will need my ring back for the time being."

Rhen sniffled a little, tears pricking her eyes as she handed the ring back over to the priestess. As the door's bell rang again, Rhen blurted out, "Wait! Where are you going? And who... What are you?"

The priestess flinched slightly at Rhen's wording, but she quickly regained her composure. "I am going to see the empress. We have much to talk about," she said simply, tucking her hands into her sleeves. She turned to leave again, but paused and turned back to Rhen instead. "Oh... And my name is Talia. That is all you need to know for now."

The door shut behind her, leaving Rhen behind in shocked silence. After so long, she never thought that she would see the priestess... Talia again. Perhaps there was even hope for her to see her family again.

Pulling her shoulders back and her head high, Rhen stepped out of the shop, confidently striding towards the palace. She was intent on getting more answers, and while the empress was known for her temper, Rhen was also the most powerful sword singer of her generation – or so Lorad and Ghelda said, anyway. Surely that would give even the empress pause.