THE NEXT WEEK passed in a blur — way faster than Ravenna expected it to. Throughout each second of the day, her mind was fully occupied. The training sessions were rigorous and endless sparring that stretched deep into the later hours of the night. Each hour was intense and physically demanding. It forced Ravenna to be quick on her feet — dodging globs of white magic that Caelan hurled at her. Sometimes she could deflect with a magic shield. As more time passed, Ravenna soon became able to throw her own globs of light blue magic right back at him. It wasn't long before globs of white and light blue magic covered everything within the study — the walls, the floors, and even the ceiling.

Any time spent not throwing globs of magic at each other was dedicated toward performing mundane chores around the ever-crumbling castle. Caelan showed her the simplest of spells, growing progressively harder and higher leveled as the days passed.. She learned spells to make food, to make utensils and dishes float around, and to even organize books. She had to figure out how to perform a simple cleaning spell that could remove the magic gunk from the walls — an unfortunate side effect of their endless sparring. She even learned a spell that would help maintain and restore the exterior of the castle, preventing it from falling into ruin again.

Nights were spent reading through various different spellbooks from Tylat's immense collection. Caelan and Ravenna typically found themselves seated at a table in the study, much like how they used to back in the Royal Library. Various scrolls and spellbooks surrounded them. Each had a book open and their gazes glued to its aged pages.

Ravenna focused on the more offense-type spells, reading about various forms of attacking with magic, whereas Caelan focused on armor modification spells.

Discussion was minimal and hardly necessary. Ravenna found the quiet nighttime to be relaxing, especially while in his presence. It also gave her a chance to study him more closely.

Caelan was an enigma to her.

His personality had changed — in a good way. He was warmer and more open to her. It was as if the stoic veil that he hid behind had fallen. She saw more genuine emotions. His teaching style had changed drastically compared to her memories as well. No longer the aloof, self-focused teacher, Caelan spent every moment of the day with her. He distracted her. He laughed at her. And he challenged her, pushing her further to make more progress.

And progress had been made — but it was not as much as Ravenna had wanted.

She stood currently in the study, partially leaning against a bookshelf. Her breaths came in heavy, labored pants that she struggled to calm. Caelan was several feet away from her, leaning against another bookshelf. His expression was barely distinguishable to her from afar — however she could sense an overflow of determination seeping from him in waves.

"Had enough?" he called out to her.

He was shirtless, naturally. So even though her body was turned away from him, she watched his every movement from the corners of her eyes. "No," she told him.

A pearl of bright light appeared in his hand. She whipped her head around toward him and her hand extended, fingertips glowing bright blue. She caught the sphere of white light that he'd chucked at her.

"That's not nice," she told him. Her labored breathing started to subside and return to normal. She tossed the magic aside. It melted into the stones that covered the ground.

His lips stretched back into a small smile. He pointed at her. "Ah," he said. "But at least your reflexes have improved. You are starting to pay attention more to your surroundings."

"Or just to you," she muttered under her breath and pushed away from the bookshelf behind her. She wiped her hands and then crossed her arms over her chest.

Caelan arched an eyebrow at her. "What was that?" he asked, his head tilting slightly. Amusement marred his facial features.

She ignored him and shook her head. "We have been training for a while," she observed. "Is it almost dinner time?"

His head turned toward one of the windows that lined the wall across from them. Only a small sliver of sunlight managed to shine through. "Almost," he said. His gaze flickered back toward her and locked with her own. Something mischievous swam within his eyes.

"Try to make a dagger again," Caelan instructed.

Ravenna grimaced. The dagger had been the hardest spell for her to remaster. Any attempt that she made typically resulted in a misshapen gooey lump that levitated in the air around her head.

The difficulty of this spell had something to do with the actual size of the weapon — Caelan had explained it to her once before.

In theory, the smaller the size of a weapon, the less magic needed to create it and maintain it. However, this wasn't quite true. Channeling magic into the form of a smaller weapon was harder — it required more focus and more precise concentration. It was harder to wield as well, especially without touching it. According to Caelan, most magical weapons were usually held by the wizard using them. The weapons essentially acted as another type of wand — the contact made it easier for the magic to be maintained without a large amount of concentration.

A sigh escaped Ravenna. She stared at her hands. Naturally, she would have chosen to utilize one of the more difficult weapons as her preferred attack spell. "Can't I just create a sword?" she muttered under her breath.

The question was rhetorical — Caelan had already expressed his views on this particular notion.

He answered her anyways. "No," he told her. His amusement amplified. "This spell is a very difficult one to master and Vyses won't be expecting you to be able to wield it. This will provide some element of surprise whenever we face him."

She grumbled incoherently under her breath. It took a moment for her to clear her mind — Caelan's shirtless form was a hard visual to block out. She sucked in a sharp breath and lifted her hands. Palms turned upward toward the heavens, a light blue glow appeared, engulfing her hands.

The glow began to concentrate in the center of her palms. It solidified into a spherical shape that slowly lifted upward, until it hesitated several inches above her skin.

The light blue magic trembled in the air. Its surface slowly started to bubble, small drops breaking free from the misshapen lump and falling toward the ground like rain. Ravenna held it for a moment. And then sighed.

The lump fell unceremoniously to the floor. It hit the stones with a watery splash and then melted away. "It didn't work," she said.

"Do it again."

A frustrated huff escaped her. She lifted her hands again and concentrated hard. She stared at the center of her hands, trying to will the dagger to take shape within her grasp. Another glowing lump formed.

It too began to boil and, finally, burst. A film of light blue coated Ravenna's dress and the floor around her. Her eye twitched and she snapped her fingers, lips moving silently around the simple cleaning spell that Caelan had taught her.

"Again," Caelan ordered.

"I think it would help if I could wear the crown," she said.

"No, it won't," he responded. He sounded distracted. She glanced at him from the corners of her eyes. His eyes were glued to her face. He arched an eyebrow at her heated gaze.

She huffed again and attempted the spell.

It was so much harder without the crown. The first few days, she refused to touch it. Any spell that Caelan taught her, she repeated and mastered without the crown. The only time that she really used it was when she needed to make more ice soldiers for their ever growing miniature army.

The ease of convenience that the crown gifted her with was addictive. It was hard to not use it and rely on it.

"But it has been a week," she argued. Frustrated bristled through her. "I should be able to do it by now."

Caelan just stared at her, his eyebrow still arched.

"Stop looking at me like that," she snapped at him.

"Like what?" His amusement was evident in his tone.

"Like you want to eat me," she grumbled under her breath, hoping he wouldn't hear. She glowered at him and turned away. She focused on her hands again.

He heard. A chuckle escaped him. "And what if I do?"

Ravenna's eyes grew wide. She whipped around, her hands glowing bright blue. "What exactly do you mean by that?" she gasped out. Her cheeks burned.

An actual laugh escaped Caelan. He threw his head back, his shoulders shaking with the booming sound. "Ah, well you are making me miss dinner," he somehow managed to get out through snickers.

She muttered incoherent curses under her breath. Her gaze dropped back to her hands and she imagined a beautifully carved dagger materializing above her palms.

Surprise flitted through her as the dagger took shape.

Her gaze shifted back to Caelan. His expression was smug. "I knew you could do it," he said. It took all of her strength not to throw the dagger at him.

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I hope that you all are having an amazing week so far!! Thank you all so much for taking the time to read my work!! I genuinely can't express enough how grateful I am for you!!! ❤