The training dummy had survived exactly three swings.The fourth split it down the middle. Wood cracked. Straw exploded across the training yard.

A nearby stablehand took one look at the remains and quietly turned around. Smart man.

I lowered my sword and exhaled through my nose. The yard stood nearly empty this late in the evening. Most knights had already retired. The remaining few had wisely decided to keep their distance.

The broken dummy slumped sideways. I stared at it. Then at the sword. Then back at the dummy. A faint voice somewhere in the back of my head suggested I might be overreacting.

I ignored it.

The voice was wrong. The dummy had known what it did.

A breeze swept through the training grounds, carrying the scent of damp earth and rain-soaked grass from the gardens beyond. Summer was beginning to fade. Three months remained.

Three months before the kingdom lost its collective mind more than it already had.

My grip tightened around the hilt. The announcement had happened six months ago. And somehow every day since had become progressively worse. Not because of the princess. The princess had done absolutely nothing wrong.

That was the problem.

She couldn't walk through a corridor without someone staring. Couldn't attend a banquet without someone whispering. Couldn't speak to one of us without some noble deciding they'd uncovered evidence of her future husband.

The court was exhausting. I hated the court. Always had. Always would.

At least swords were simple.A sword either cut you or it didn't. Nobles preferred smiling while sharpening knives behind their backs.

Another strike. The remaining half of the dummy lost an arm.

Good.

A memory surfaced uninvited. Six children crowded around a dining table. Ellian laughing so hard he nearly fell from his chair. Rian arguing. Alder trying to stop Rian from arguing. Sorren pretending not to listen while absolutely listening. The princess rolling her eyes at all of us.

Something tightened painfully in my chest.

Damn it. Four years. Four years and it still happened. One memory. One careless thought. And suddenly it felt like yesterday.

The sword lowered. For a moment the training yard disappeared. I could almost hear him. Almost see him. The way he smiled. The way he somehow convinced everyone to get along. The way he always seemed certain things would work out.

A bitter laugh escaped me. Ellian would've hated this. The rumors. The pressure. The entire ridiculous spectacle. He would've found a way to make everyone laugh about it. And somehow we'd all feel better afterward.

That had been his talent. Making impossible things seem manageable. The silence he left behind was still louder than most people.

I looked down at the practice sword. Then toward the stables beyond the yard. The horses shifted quietly inside.

A familiar ache settled low in my chest. The princess still rode when duty demanded it. But not like before. Not comfortably. Not freely. I'd noticed. Of course I'd noticed.

I noticed everything where she was concerned.

The hesitation. The tension. The way her hands tightened around the reins. The way her smile never quite reached her eyes afterward.

Something twisted unpleasantly inside me. Four years. And I still couldn't fix it. Couldn't fix any of it. Not Ellian. Not the grief. Not the future barreling toward all of us whether we wanted it or not.

A curse slipped beneath my breath. The training yard suddenly felt too quiet. Too empty.

Three months.

Three months before she made a choice, everything changed, and one of us stood beside her. And the others didn't.

I hated thinking about it. Hated how often the thought appeared anyway.

The sword came down harder than intended. The remaining half of the dummy collapsed completely.

Wood scattered across the dirt. Silence followed.

Then—

Footsteps. Soft. Familiar. Immediately recognizable.

My entire body stilled. For a moment I simply stood there staring at the wreckage I'd created. Broken wood. Straw everywhere. A completely destroyed training dummy.

Fantastic.