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We tried to work on the same meditation and focus as the previous day, but I was upset, and it was hard to sink into my center. When Nylah threw her magic at me, I didn’t only stagger or stumble. The magic rolled me, threw me against a wall, tossed me across the arena, or slammed me into the ground.
“Focus, Ellie!” Nylah encouraged.
“I’m trying!” I shouted. “You’re using too much!”
“It’s the same as yesterday. You just need to focus.”
I tried, but the magic beat me every time—physically and mentally. The more the magic whipped me around, beating me up, the more upset I became, and it was like a vicious cycle.
“This won’t work,” Nylah said, and all the power sucked out of the arena as if it had never been. “You’re too upset.”
“I wonder whose fault that is,” I snapped.
She raised her eyebrows.
“I’m sorry,” I muttered.
This was my fault. I was the one that didn’t know what I was doing. I was the one who had screwed up. I’d been late, and now everything spun out of control.
Nylah walked to me. She took my hand and led me to a spot in the shade. She handed me a water bottle, and I drank.
“Maybe this was a mistake,” I said, wiping my mouth with my sleeve. “Maybe I should have gone back home. Who am I kidding, trying to be something I’m not?”
Nylah studied my face. “Everything happens for a reason, Ellie.”
“Yeah, a reason no one seems to understand. Not even you, who talks to the Goddess yourself. Seems like I’m not the only one that needs to try harder.” I was snappy. I knew it and couldn’t help myself. My frustration had a life of its own.
Nylah regarded me, her face closed. Another one of those masks everyone wore. She held out her hand. “Let me help you.”
“Why?”
“You can fight me, Ellie, or you can let me help you.” Her voice was hard, her eyes fiery, and her power swirled close to the surface.
I didn’t want to comply, but I’d already disappointed Dex. If I drove Nylah away, too, I wouldn’t get my answers.
I took her hand. Nylah closed her eyes, and her magic hummed. It sighed against my skin, and, like tendrils of fog, it penetrated my frustration and anger and slowly dissolved it. When it was done, I took a deep breath and let it out, and I saw clearer.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
Nylah shook her head. “Don’t be sorry. You’re still new. You’ll learn. If you don’t give up, you’ll get where you need to be.”
I nodded. She was right.
The King appeared from a side door, and I stiffened. He was handsome as ever, with his dark hair and icy eyes, tall and powerful and commanding. I shivered. I looked awful. I was sweaty, and my hair was a mess. Then again, he’d seen me look worse. Not that it mattered either way. He was Fae. He was engaged. And his face was solemn.
My stomach turned. Was he here to reprimand me for being late? I was sure Dex had gone straight to him to tell him how terrible I was. He was here to tell me I wasn’t fit to be a warrior; I was sure of it.
“How are things going?” he asked.
“Good,” Nylah said with a smile. “We’re working on countering magic.”
The King nodded. “It’s the basics of being a warrior. Dex tells me you trained hard yesterday.”
I nodded, waiting for the axe to drop, but he said nothing else.
“It’s going to take a bit of time for me to get fit and strong,” I said when I wasn’t being admonished. “But I promise I’ll work hard.”
“I’d expect nothing less,” King Rainier said.
