ERON
I ducked as Leaf's blade whistled above my head, missing my silver-white hair by a finger's width. My heart drummed against my ribs as I spun away, the practice sword in my hand suddenly feeling too heavy, too clumsy. Sweat trickled down my back, soaking into my training clothes.
"Focus, young prince," Roel called from where he stood at the edge of the training grounds. "Your mind wanders like autumn leaves."
He wasn't wrong. My eyes kept drifting toward Lady Meridienne's cottage, where I'd caught glimpses of her through the kitchen window—the mysterious girl with indigo eyes who wasn't supposed to exist. Who shouldn't have survived crossing the Deep Wild. Who I wasn't allowed to speak to.
"Sorry," I mumbled, raising my blade again.
Leaf's expression didn't change—it rarely did—b
