Henrietta stayed where she was long after Gideon's footsteps faded, letting the morning settle around her. The field had gone quiet again, the echoes of steel and breath dissolving into the dawn, but her mind refused to rest.
She squared her shoulders once, easing the residual tension from her muscles, and let out a slow breath.
"Whatever you want most will be what she reaches for first."
The words lingered, haunting in their quiet inevitability. And they brought with them memories she had tried to keep neatly tucked away.
She had been ten, barely tall enough to hold the blade properly, yet already correcting the stance of boys twice her size. The Argenthal instructors had watched from the edges of the training ring, their murmurs low and cautious.
"Extraordinary," one had said.
"Da
