Chapter 36: Unsteady Control
786 Words
The courtyard felt different today.
Not quieter—just heavier.
Diana could sense it before she even stepped fully into the training circle. The air carried a strange tension, like something unseen was waiting to snap if she pushed too far again.
She rolled her wrist slightly, flexing her fingers.
“Don’t tell me you’re already tired,” Kaelen’s voice cut in.
Diana didn’t turn. “Don’t tell me you’re already talking.”
Kaelen scoffed, stepping beside her. “I’m serious. Yesterday wasn’t exactly stable.”
“That’s why we’re here,” she replied.
Theon approached more quietly, his gaze already fixed on the faint markings beneath Diana’s feet. “Your control improved yesterday,” he said calmly. “But the fluctuation remains.”
Diana glanced at him. “You mean I’m still a problem.”
“I mean you’re unpredictable.”
Kaelen added dryly, “Which is worse.”
Diana exhaled slowly. “Great. Love that for me.”
A faint shift in the air made her senses sharpen.
She didn’t need to look to know he was there.
Dylan.
He stood near the edge of the courtyard again, exactly where he had been the day before. Silent. Watching.
Her chest tightened—just slightly.
Annoying.
“Begin,” Queen Maltida’s voice came from behind them.
The seal beneath Diana’s feet lit up.
She closed her eyes.
This time, she didn’t rush it.
She remembered what Dylan said.
Don’t force it.
The energy rose slowly—controlled, steady, almost calm.
The markings glowed brighter.
Kaelen raised a brow. “Well… that’s new.”
Theon didn’t speak, but his focus sharpened.
Diana felt it building.
Smooth.
Stable.
For a moment, she thought she had it.
Then—
A shift.
Subtle.
But wrong.
Her breath caught.
The energy twisted slightly, like something beneath it had woken up again.
Not violently.
Just… present.
“Hold it,” Theon said calmly.
“I am,” Diana muttered, jaw tightening.
The pressure increased.
Her body reacted instinctively—her control slipping just enough for the energy to spike.
The seal flickered.
Kaelen stepped forward instantly. “Diana—”
“I said I’ve got it!”
But her voice wasn’t steady anymore.
The energy surged again.
Too fast.
Too sharp.
The air around her distorted slightly.
And then—
A hand closed around her wrist.
Firm.
Grounding.
Everything stopped.
Not completely—but enough.
Diana’s eyes snapped open.
Dylan stood close. Too close.
His grip wasn’t tight, but it wasn’t loose either. Just enough to anchor her.
The energy around her steadied almost immediately.
Her breath hitched.
Not from fear.
From something else.
Something sharp and unfamiliar.
Like a current running beneath her skin.
⚡
Dylan’s gaze held hers, calm but focused. “You’re pushing again.”
Diana swallowed. “I wasn’t—”
“You were.”
The quiet certainty in his voice made something in her chest tighten again.
But she didn’t pull her hand away.
She couldn’t.
Because the moment she even thought about it—
The energy flickered again.
And his grip adjusted slightly.
Stronger.
⚡
The reaction this time was worse.
Not pain.
Not fear.
Just… awareness.
Too much of it.
Diana’s fingers twitched slightly in his hold.
“…You can let go now,” she said, her voice lower than before.
Dylan didn’t move immediately.
Then, slowly, he released her.
The absence was immediate.
And noticeable.
Diana stepped back before she could think too much about that.
Kaelen’s gaze moved between them, sharp and suspicious. “What just happened?”
Diana crossed her arms quickly. “Control.”
“That didn’t look like control.”
“It worked, didn’t it?”
Theon stepped closer, his expression thoughtful. “Your energy stabilized faster with external contact.”
Diana frowned. “I don’t need help every time.”
Dylan’s voice came quietly from behind her. “Not every time.”
She turned slightly. “Then why step in?”
A pause.
Then—
“Because you were about to lose it again.”
That irritated her.
But she couldn’t argue with it.
Silence stretched briefly between them.
Then Queen Maltida’s voice broke through again. “That’s enough for today.”
Kaelen blinked. “Already?”
“You’re not the one recovering,” she replied calmly.
Diana exhaled slowly, stepping out of the circle.
Her body felt fine.
Stable.
But her mind—
Wasn’t.
She could still feel it.
The moment.
The contact.
The way everything inside her had responded to him like it recognized something.
And that made no sense.
Across the courtyard, Dylan had already stepped back into the shadows again.
Like nothing had happened.
Like he hadn’t felt it too.
Diana frowned slightly.
Liar.
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