For a split second, Sapphire could see herself in Araxia. The fire in her eyes, the hunger in her voice. A charge surged through her.

‘But we’re both water … how will we duel?’

‘Battling those of our own element can be one of the most difficult challenges. They know what to anticipate.’

Sapphire stared at Araxia for a moment longer, hoping she would reveal she was kidding.

She stared back with a flat expression, almost challenging.

So Sapphire stepped deeper into the water.

‘Are you ready?’ Araxia asked.

‘Am I ready to duel the woman who has been teaching me everything I know? I’m not entirely sure –’

That was when she felt something tighten around her ankle, pulling her over. Araxia had water-wiped her. It was a trick she had learned recently – she could mould water into a rope and wrap it around her duelling partner.

When Sapphire broke the surface, Araxia was smiling coyly.

‘I said, are you ready?’

‘I am.’

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Her knees hit stone and a splitting pain surged through her – familiar and constant. She could feel the erratic hammering of her heart in her chest. And every time she went to make a move, the queen was prepared.

Outpacing her, outperforming, outworking. Outdoing her. Sapphire’s bleeding knees were proof.

With bruised elbows and aching muscles, she lost again and again. The queen showed no mercy.

Pushing herself up from the lakebed once more, she wiped the trickling blood from her legs. Her eyes met Araxia’s challenging gaze.

‘Tired?’

The woman’s smile was taunting, and Sapphire pressed her lips together in an effort to swallow the sour swell that was building up inside her. Obviously, Sapphire thought to herself while shakily retaking a defensive stance.

If this was any preview of her upcoming duel, she had half a mind to beg for it to be cancelled.

‘Come on, Sapphire. Dig deeper. It’s inside you – whatever catalyst you need. Find it. Use it.’

She wondered what would happen if she tapped into the magic she had learned from the books she kept hidden, but she feared the repercussions. If she showed what she had learned, would they watch her more closely? She couldn’t afford to find that out. Instead, angry tears spilled over against her will, and she looked away, trying to study the flat stones on the lake’s floor.

Araxia’s entire demeanour shifted in that second. Gone was the fiery look of a smug warrior, replaced by the concerned gaze of a mother.

What would happen if Sapphire just admitted that she was terrified of giving in to it all? That anger was the most consuming thing she had ever felt. Would the queen turn away from her, terrified?

‘What do you feel when you’re duelling? What are you fuelling yourself with?’ Sapphire asked.