He doesn’t smile, doesn’t even attempt to lighten the mood. “Hardly. But there’s more to a waterfall than meets the eye. Just like there’s more to you than you realise. And more to me aswell.”
I don’t respond.The path winds through the dense trees, and I focus on the thundering sound of water, trying to drown out the turmoil inside me. When we reach the waterfall, it’s as beautiful as I imagined it would be. The water cascades down the rocks with a force that’s both immensely powerful and mesmerising. The mist rises around us, cool and refreshing.
Rylan wastes no time, launching into the day’s lesson with the same cold efficiency that has marked the morning. Why should it be any different? He’s drawn the line in the sand, after all. It is my fault I ever thought I could cross it.
“Today, we’re focusing on syphoning power and controlling it,” he says, his voice devoid of the warmth that once made me feel at ease. “The manoeuvre I’m going to teach you involves using the waterfall as a source of power, rather than simply relying on your own reserves. You need to do that whenever you can. You’ll channel the energy of the water, but you need to control it—direct it—without letting it overwhelm you.”
I nod stiffly, listening carefully despite the storm of emotions swirling inside me.
His tone softens just a fraction when I don’t argue. “But it’s not just about pulling the energy. It’s about guiding it, shaping it into something useful, and most of all, to command it. If you lose focus, the energy will turn against you. Dangerously so.”
His words are a thinly veiled warning, and I can’t help but feel a pang of resentment. He doesn’t trust me to handle this, doesn’t believe I’m capable. But I’m determined to prove him wrong.
I step closer to the waterfall, feeling the raw power of the rushing water. I close my eyes and concentrate, reaching out with my magic to feel the energy of the waterfall. Unlike thequiet, calm lake I envision in my mind’s eye when I’m first trying to access my magic, this power is immense. It’s like trying to hold a raging river in my hands. Carefully, I start to pull at the edges, drawing the power into myself.
At first, it feels like I’ve got it.
The water responds to my command, swirling high in a funnel in the air in a controlled current. I open my eyes, glancing at Rylan for approval, but the memory of last night—his accusations of my coldness—comes crashing back.
For a moment, it had seemed like he was… hurt? But he can’t have been. What did he have to be hurt about? What right? The thought flits through my mind, and in that moment of doubt, my concentration slips and the control I had over the water falters. The currents surge out of my grasp, and I try to pull it back, but it’s too late—the water turns wild, breaking from its controlled formation, crashing toward me with a force that takes my breath away.
“Watch out!” Rylan’s voice cuts through the chaos, and suddenly he’s there, pulling me behind him, throwing out an ice shield, blocking the cascade of water rushing toward me.
My heart races, and I’m breathing hard, the realisation of how close I came to serious harm sending a shock of adrenaline through me. Rylan’s hands are tight on my arms, holding me steady, but when I look up at him, his expression is furious.
“What the hell was that? I told you to be vigilant with your control!” he snaps, his eyes blazing with anger. “You’re better than this! Gods, you’re so reckless sometimes!”
His words hit me like a physical blow, the reminder of him saying the same thing about me to Mathis. The anger I’ve been holding back since last night bubbles over, and I can’t keep it in any longer.
“I got distracted!” I yell.
“By what?”
“Thinking about my mentor’s cold, unfeeli—”
“Cold?” Rylan interrupts, his voice rising with frustration. “I’mthe cold one? You’re the one who has completely shut me out since yesterday, and I don’t understand why!”
I blink, the hurt inside me flaring into anger. How can he be so utterly clueless? “Your memory seems to be failing you. Do I really need to explainagainwhy to you,Your Highness?” I throw his title at him like an accusation, a dagger aimed straight at his chest.
Rylan’s eyes flash with a mix of anger and confusion, the walls around him crumbling for the briefest moment. “What about what you said about not choosing me either? Go on, disciple, I would love to hear your reasons. I want to hear just what makes me so despicable to you.”
“Fine!” I spit out, my voice trembling as the weight of my words crashes over me. “You’re controlling, you think you always know best, you’re cold one minute and then searing hot the next. No one ever knows where they stand with you. You buy flowers from an elderly florist and cut down a band of bandits with the same cold expression on your face. If I hadn’t tried to run away, you’d probably still be shouting at me as your foolproof method of ‘training’—but then you find your patience and manage to unlock my magic.” I drag in a ragged breath, fighting the storm threatening to drown me.
“Sometimes I wonder if you care too much or not enough, and it drives me completely insane trying to figure you out. I know you care about your people, Iknowit! But then you treat everyone like pawns on your chessboard, sacrificing them to your own ends! You kidnapped me from my village like I wasn’t someone who had my own life! I had people who cared about me and whom I cared for! And never once, not once have you apologised for it. While I lie awake at night, wondering if they’re even still alive, you probably haven’t losta moment’s thought about what’s important to me.” I shake my head, tears threatening to break through. “But then you give Brienne back to me, as if you understand me after all. Who are you, Rylan? Who is the person behind all this pretence? It’s so frustrating knowing that I’ll never truly understand you.”
His expression softens from anger to something raw, vulnerable. For a heartbeat, I think he might apologise. But instead, he clenches his jaw, his voice thick with restraint. “Everything I do, I do for the good of the realm.”
The tension snaps like a taut string, sending us spiralling. “Oh, well then I guess that makes it perfectly acceptable!” I bite out, my voice thick with sarcasm and pain. “Who cares about what an actual person living in your realm wanted for her own life!”
Rylan’s face hardens, but the anger in his eyes is tinged with something deeper—something close to desperation. “That is not what I meant. I have to make difficult decisions! You think I wanted to take you from your home? You think I wanted to be responsible for you? I did what I had to do! And you talk about secrets—what about the one you’ve been keeping from me?”
“What secret? I’ve answered every question you’ve ever asked me!” The accusation strikes me like a slap.
“Fine. Then tell me about the deal you made with my father.”
My heart stops. “I already told you about that. My friends...”
He steps closer, grabbing the back of my neck, tilting my face up to his, eyes blazing with unbridled emotion. “Notthatdeal. The deal aboutme.”
