Suspicion and Improvement
The door closed behind her with a soft click.
Sophia exhaled slowly, pressing a hand to her forehead. Her pulse was unsteady.
‘What…was that? The apology, the composure, the way he spoke her childhood nickname...it should not have shaken her. It should not have meant anything...so why did it feel like the ground beneath her had shifted?’
“Your Highness,” one of her guards stepped forward, concern evident. “Is something wrong?”
Sophia straightened, her expression smoothing into a perfect calmness, the kind she had practiced since childhood.
“…It’s nothing. I’m simply tired from the road.”
She lifted her chin slightly. “Fetch Sven.”
The head butler appeared almost instantly, as if he had anticipated the call. The gentle, reliable presence of House Valemont.
“Sven,” she said, voice steady. “I have been informed there will be a trial of redemption in one month’s time. I wish to remain here at Valemont Keep until then.”
Sven bowed deeply. “Of course, Your Highness. Rooms will be prepared for you and your guards immediately. If there is anything you require, you need only say.”
“Thank you. Also, where is Lady Eira?”
“She is cultivating her aura this morning, as part of her routine. She should be available by the afternoon.”
Sophia nodded. “Please inform her that I wish to speak with her.”
“As you wish.” Sven departed, and Sophia stood alone for a moment in the corridor.
‘I cannot be the only one confused by this. Eira must know something...she has to.’
----
Eira splashed cold water on her face, letting the chill bite her skin. She stared into the mirror, expression composed, but her eyes betrayed a flicker of unease.
‘Kain… what changed you?...and why does part of me… want to believe it?’
A knock.
She dried her hands and opened the door.
Sophia stood there, regal posture, unreadable expression. Eira stepped aside, allowing her in without a word.
Sophia did not bother with courtesy.
“What happened to Kain?”
Eira blinked. “I…want to know that too.”
The princess crossed her arms, waiting.
Eira sighed and leaned against her desk.
“He came back from a walk in the forest saying he ‘found himself’ or something like that. Then, suddenly, he wanted to train. He’s been serious...too serious. No complaints, no arrogance, no excuses.”
Sophia moved to the nearest chair and sat, processing.
“And now,” she said slowly, “you are training him.”
Eira nodded.
Sophia stared. “How?”
“He asked.”
Eira shrugged, though her expression was conflicted. “I refused at first. But during training…he tried. He listened. He adapted. He even...”
Her voice lowered, eyes softening just slightly.
“...praised me.”
Sophia’s head dropped into her hands. “This is absurd.”
“Tell me about it,” Eira muttered.
They sat in silent confusion for several seconds. These two young women who had once known Kain better than anyone, both now realizing they did not know him at all.
Sophia finally spoke “…Whatever this is, I need to see it for myself. I won’t make any decisions until the trial.”
Eira nodded. “Then we watch him. Together.”
Sophia met her eyes and for the first time in years, they shared the same resolve.
----
The training grounds reverberated with the sharp crack of steel against steel, the rhythmic tempo of combat echoing through the cold morning air.
Sophia’s footsteps echoed down the corridor, steady and unhurried. Two royal guards followed several paces behind. The sounds of impact, grunts, and rushing movement only grew louder.
*CRASH!*
A heavy rumble shook the floor.
Sophia pushed open the training hall doors just as a burst of splintered barrels scattered across the ground. Kain lay amid broken wood, dust rising around him. His breathing was ragged, sweat dripping onto the cold stone floor.
She did not react nor blink. This had become the norm.
Without a word, she crossed the hall, the hem of her white winter coat trailing lightly behind her. She settled into the resting bench, her posture composed and regal with her legs crossed. One guard remained while the other stepped out to fetch tea.
Kain coughed once, twice before forcing himself to his feet.
His body was different now. Not muscular yet, not impressive, but clearly changed. His arms and shoulders held some definition, the early shaping of someone who had worked for every shred of progress. Bandages wrapped his palms where old blisters had torn open again and again.
He did not look at Sophia.
There was no nervousness, no embarrassment, as if her presence was not there. He simply tightened his grip on the long sword with both hands, steadying his breath.
Sophia observed him quietly.
For two weeks she had come here everyday and watched this same pattern.
He struggle, he fell, he stood, and repeat.
Kain asked for no praise, no acknowledgment, not even conversation.
Only training.
Eira stood across from him, spear lowered but ready. Her breathing was even, expression focused. But Sophia could see the subtle shift with the respect growing in her gaze.
Kain lifted the long sword again.
“Again,” he managed, voice hoarse but steady.
Eira’s expression sharpened a fraction while reading her spear.
“As you wish.”
Steel rang. Movement resumed.
Kain stepped forward at a pace slower than her, but his stance was no longer clumsy. His blade followed cleaner lines. His footwork lacked refinement, but it worked. And every time Eira adapted, he adjusted.
Sophia watched him get knocked back again, this time only a few steps, not sent flying. She slightly bit her lip as she observe him changing moment to moment.
‘He is changing...not just trying...changing…was he always a genius at fighting? No...but the two weeks I have been watching him has proved otherwise. How can someone change so much in two weeks?’
The Azura Jasmine tea arrived. Sophia accepted the cup and took a slow sip. Its warmth steadied her, though the unsettled feeling in her chest did not fade.
‘His progress is noticeable and Eira is not weak. In fact, I can count on my hand the number of warriors who could match her martial prowess even without aura.’
Kain, still catching his breath, eyes focused on Eira trying to predict her next move.
‘He is persisting, there is little to no elegance in his movements, no theatrics, no attempt to impress. Its like a desperate struggle to survival...yet why do I find it so beautiful? Its like watching a fire that will not go out no matter how much you try to put it out.’
Sophia could not decide whether that made it better or worse.
Eira lowered her spear for a brief pause. “Five minute break...rest.”
Kain nodded once and sat on the floor, leaning against a pillar, sweat dripping down his jaw. He wiped it with his forearm and let out a long exhale.
Sophia’s gaze lingered on him longer than she meant to.
‘Two weeks ago, he was still the person I despised. Now...’
She took another sip of tea.
‘Now, I don’t know what I’m looking at.’
----
Kain lungs still burned, but the shaking in his arms had faded enough to stand again. He slid the long sword back into its sheath and put in the table before picking up the short blade.
Its weight felt familiar now.
Not comfortable, but his.
Eira twirled her spear once, the sound of the shaft slicing the air sharp and clean. Her expression did not change, but he could feel it, the shift and this was the part that mattered.
“Ready?” she asked.
Kain nodded. “Yeah. Let’s go.”
She moved first, disappeared. Eira always moved first.
A thrust from the right side. Direct, precise, meant to test.
He angled his blade in a reverse grip, letting her spear slide along the flat rather than trying to stop it. The force was pushing him back, but it did not knock him down like before. He pivoted, stepping inside her reach where there was an opening, which he had learned to see.
Eira immediately rotated the spear, the end of the spear whistling toward his ribs.
‘She knew. She always knew.’
Kain ducked under the swing, the breeze of her strike sweeping past his ear. He stepped forward again a little too slow. Her knee came up and caught him in the stomach, but at the last moment he jumped back to lessen the blow. The impact forced the air from his lungs, but he still did not fall.
“Good...again.”
Kain did not answer.
She struck and he reacted.
Not because he memorized her movements, but because he watched. Because he had been experiencing each blow and dodge for two weeks straight.
Her stance. Her breathing.
The shift of her weight before each strike. The faint tightening of her grip before she changed angles or the slight focus of her eyes towards the direction of her attack. He saw it all. Her spear darted like a serpent, aiming for his shoulder. He twisted as his blade raised just enough to deflect, then stepped into her guard again. The short blade traced a tight arc towards her throat.
She did not even flinch as she moved back.
He felt the warning, a shiver racing down his spine before her spear swept beneath his feet. Kain leapt, barely clearing it, landing poorly but still standing.
His legs trembled and his arms ached.
But he did not back away. He got into a defensive position and said “Come”.
‘If I fall back now...I would drown again...never again.’
Eira nodded and dash forward as they clashed.
Her strikes were faster now as it was sharper, more unpredictable. She was not testing him anymore. She was fighting him properly.
And though she overwhelmed him in every way. Strength, speed, finesse was all lacking, yet Kain adapted.
One parry became two. One dodge became three. One forced retreat became a counterstep.
His body moved before he thought. Instinct, or desperation. But every time she changed, he changed with her. Eira’s expression finally shifted slightly. A look of surprise.
Not at his strength, endurance, but the way he was reading her.
‘No...at the way I refused to break.’
Her last strike swept wide, blowing past his guard and grazing his cheek as he slipped inside her reach once more. The blade in his hand traced close to her collarbone.
Kain was breathing hard with his vision hazy. But he was smiling.
Eira lowered her spear.
And for the first time since this began she stepped back.
Her voice was quiet, almost unreadable.
“You have improved.”
He let the short blade fall to his side, chest rising and falling as he ran his hand through his hair.
“No talent...no blessing...no advantage,” Kain said, forcing the words out through ragged breath. “So I’ll just keep moving forward anyway.”
Silence.
The kind that meant something had changed and even if neither of us had the words for it yet. From the corner of his vision, he saw Sophia watching with an unreadable expression. But not cold or disgust, rather it was something else entirely.
