“Watch your left,” I mutter under my breath as Griggory expertly disarms an opponent with his signature move. The young man looks at his fallen sword with disbelief and concedes the sparring match.

Griggory, captain of the guard, may be the best swordsman in my father’s staff, but he is predictable. If the new one had paid attention to the previous sparring match, he would’ve noticed the small f...