She sat up straighter, trying not to appear startled. The voice was like the ghost of a whisper, like a light touch trailing up her spine.

Why do you run from your destiny?

She closed her eyes tightly, trying to force the presence out, but it did not go easily. A hand wrapping around her arm broke her trance, and she jerked away, nearly stumbling into the water.

‘Sapphire, are you OK?’ Araxia looked concerned.

‘I’m going to lose.’

‘It’s your first duel. No one expected you to win.’

But Sapphire had hoped she would. And the fact that everyone here, including Araxia, had always doubted her stoked a flame inside her.

You cower to beings that should beg to bow before you. It’s sinful, the dark voice whispered in the back of her mind.

The warning flag rose, and she walked to the centre of the arena to meet Kaian.

‘Are you OK?’ Kaian asked. He angled his face away from his parents, hiding his concern.

Sapphire didn’t answer, her eyes finding the Princeps once more. Sadara raised her chin, smiling without a trace of kindness. She arched an eyebrow as if to say, we knew you’d prove us right, and Sapphire bit her tongue to stifle an angry scream.

Let it go, child. Let go.

As she walked back to her position, she met the eyes of people peering through the windows. They averted their gazes.

They thought she did not belong. To them, her royal blood meant nothing. To them, she had everything to prove. Everything to lose. To them, she was an imposter. A fraud.

She had been called many things since arriving in Eriobis. A daughter. A friend. A princess. All labels she had not asked for.

But she was more. She was a force. She was powerful. And she was worth the respect and the fear of those who gazed upon her.

Today, she would prove it.

You will not fail. You will not fall.

As the final flag was raised, she paused.

Show them. Show me, the voice sang.

And then she felt it – the loss of control. A bystander in her own life. And as Kaian sent another sluggish vine her way, she blocked it easily with a shield. As she began to close the distance between them, Kaian looked at her with a confused expression.

But she did not break stride.

Do you trust me, child?

‘I trust you,’ she answered to no one in particular. Kaian furrowed his brow, cocking his head from side to side, trying to understand.

She raised her hands to the sky and with a slight flex of her fingers, the world beneath her feet rumbled.

She felt it all – like raw power splitting her bones. A manic laugh slipped from her lips as her magic came to life around her.

Her magic. Hers.