“So how do you fight against someone with magical abilities?” Faira questions, gaze sharp on Nova. Her hand permanent on the hilt of her sword much to Nova’s annoyance.

“These training sessions aren’t about fighting a witch. They are about surviving a fight outside the castle,” Nova points out, gritting her teeth to stop herself from insulting her. It is a constant struggle but she reminds herself that this is for Haze. While Haze is getting Princess Aziza to warm up to witches, Nova’s part has to do with the guards.

Nova is beginning to think she got the short end of the stick.

“I never said witch.” Faira smirks like she got her so good with that comeback. Closing her eyes, she lets her eyes roll. Then when she opens them, she matches Faira’s face.

“I know I grew up in the forest, but I’m not stupid enough to miss your implication.”

Some of the other knights laugh. Some of them look uneasy.

“That’s news to me.” Nova really wishes that she could shut Faira up. But she needs to play nice. For Haze.

“Ok, no need to argue amongst ourselves,” Ward intercepts, ever the peacemaker. “We are here to learn from our guests.”

Nova pretends to not see Faira’s scoff.

Continuing on with her lesson, she thumbs at her knife but doesn’t pull it out. That’s not needed for today. “Truth is, you don’t need powers to win. While Haze’s abilities have helped us in some…less than ideal situations, we have survived this long on our wits.”

“So survival can be taught?” Some random knight questions.

“Allow me to demonstrate,” she says steadily. “Faira, join me in the training circle.”

To her credit, she doesn’t falter and steps up immediately with no fear. Out of the corner of her eye, Ward tenses. He probably thought she would use him in this exercise. But it may get a little bloody, and Nova would rather not hurt Ward. Faira though? She would very much like to.

Withdrawing her sword and her knife, Nova tosses them outside the lines that makes a circle at Ward’s feet. Faira already has a hand on her own but pauses in befuddlement when the weapons are no longer within Nova’s reach.

“Take out your blade and attack me,” Nova orders.

She can hear Ward starting to protest. Ever the soldier, Faira doesn’t hesitate, acting upon the command. Lunging towards Nova, she dodges to the left, the sword missing her by a large margin.

“Come on, you are supposed to be one of the best,” Nova taunts, the sword swiping at her again and not hitting its target. Again.

Faira keeps her cool. Even with Nova’s attempt to mess with her head, she stands strong. It almost impresses her. Almost.

Bouncing on her heels, always in motion, Faira feints right and pivots to the left. But Nova saw this coming. She didn’t have the intention in her movements. Her body, her hips and her eyes, weren’t following through with going right, so Nova articulated that wasn’t the intended direction.

The many dodges does get her worked up a bit. Faira’s breathing is heavier, eyes glare at her with more malice than usual.

From this fight, Nova’s biggest observation of Faira is that she shifts her eyes before her body. When she tries to trick her, going in one direction, her eyes are revealing the true attack.

In one swipe where Nova micalcuated the distance, she does manage to nick her in the thigh. It is a thrumming sting but not horrible.

“Nova!” Ward shouts in concern. He breaks the match by stepping into the training circle. Faira backs down, wiping the red from her weapon and then putting her blade back into its sheath.

It is truly only slightly bigger than a paper cut. Nothing to be worried about. It won’t even inhibit her walking or anything. Placing a bandage that Ward hands her on the wound (more so for his benefit), she stands upright and faces the rest of the knights.

“Did you notice anything about this fight?” She asks them, hoping they weren’t just watching for fun.

After an awkward silence that made her uneasy, a guard, Lance, she thinks, answers. “That you dodged a lot.”

Not the most detailed response she was hoping for, but she can work with it. “I dodged because I knew what she was going to do. Do any of you know how I knew that?”

A glower was shot her way by Faira. Nova stares directly at her, done with pretending to ignore her. “Faira? Would you like to take a crack at it?”

“Magical abilities?” Faira guesses, with venom dripping in her tone. Nova’s glad that Haze isn’t here. Those words would cut deep in her.

“I have no magical abilities. I am just incredibly perceptive. The key to winning a battle is anticipating. If you can anticipate your opponent’s next move, you don’t need to be the biggest, strongest, or magical person. You just need observation and anticipation.” To her right, Ward proudly smiles. It feels…oddly nice. For someone to be proud of her.

It makes her wonder if she’s becoming too dependent on him and his…affections.

Even with Faira’s negativity, the rest of the guards appear to be receptive to her lesson, nodding in understanding and even taking notes.

When she dismisses them, some of the running more than others, it is just her and Ward left in the area.

“We should find Haze, so she can heal your wound,” he suggests, eyes settling on her cut.

She waves his advise off with a flip of her hand. “She’s having fun with Princess Aziza. Let’s give her a bit more time. She deserves it.” Understanding fills his face. Good. She’s not the only one that has noticed Haze and Princess Aziza’s closeness.

“You do too,” Ward pauses, mulling over his thoughts in his mind. “You know you don’t have to sacrifice your own skin to earn their respect, right? You don’t have to hurt yourself or get yourself hurt.”

Sacrifice? For a training session? That must be how he sees it. But to Nova, it is just how she had to learn. By example.

“It’s just the way I do things, I guess. It’s not a blood free profession. Being a knight. They should know that before they go out in the real world outside these castle walls,” she counters. Shielding the guards from what is ahead of them will only hinder them in the long term. She will never understand their training methods here in the castle.

She can still picture Ward when they first met. He was running away from a bear, so out of place in the Wild Thicket. No way prepared for the persistent dangers in the forest.

None of the knights know anything about it. If they are protect the kingdom, they should be aware of true survival tactics. Not these foolishly naive, fancy skills that have no place for real world application.

Without realizing it, they had begun walking towards the lunch room, in step with one another. “You’re wrong about one thing,” Ward says, interrupting her thoughts.

“And what would that be?” She asks, amused. Stopping in the middle of the hallway, she crosses her arms across her chest as she awaits for an answer.

Ward is all smiles. “You do have a superpower. I saw it when you were challenging Faira. In the fight, you were shining. In your element. You move like a dance. Fearlessly.”

There’s something in his voice. It’s different than pride. Softer. More personal.

Adoration.

“No I wasn’t,” she feels her face heat up. Maybe they closed all the windows. It feels weirdly stuffy all of a sudden.

“You always say that Haze is the sun. Well if she’s the sun, you’re a star.” As the words leave his mouth, his eyes become brighter and Nova could almost see the epiphany reach him. “That’s your power, Nova. I’m going to call it Starshine.”

Nova’s gotten a lot of names in the past. A witch’s associate. At least that one is diplomatic. An enemy. An animal. A witch bitch. Every insult under the sun.

But she has never gotten star. And certainly no one has called anything she does Starshine.

When they resumed strolling to meet Haze and Princess Aziza, if their hands were conjoined, Nova would deny it.

And she would definitely deny the warmth in her heart.

Maybe she truly is shining.

———

(I am having a bout of writer’s block, so I am going to do the draft selection again! The last one I did gave me motivation to finish ones I haven’t touch in months. Say a number between 1-60 in the comments and I will do my best to finish that draft!)