Page 318 of Elemental Becoming

She leans in, her voice dropping to a venomous whisper. “Hear that? Your friend wants to save you.”

Her smile is all teeth and cruelty.

And gods.

Fish.

With her hot breath in my face, I can smell what she likely had for lunch.

“Because she knows. They all know,” Ardyn continues.

At this point, I am having a difficult time focusing on anything except the scent of fish. Her gaze flicks briefly toward the crowd gathered around the mat before returning to mine.

“They see exactly what I see,” Ardyn continues. “A frightened little farm girl pretending she belongs.”

Instead of taking the bait, I wrinkle my nose. “Why do you smell like a fishing boat?”

From somewhere off to my side, I hear Lyra cackle. Even Rowena, sister to the Warlord and therefore expected to maintain some degree of decorum among the soldiers, makes a strangled noise.

For half a heartbeat, the training hall falls completely silent.

Then the soldiers lose it. Laughter erupts from every side of the mat. A few warriors double over. Someone whistles. Another mutters something about seafood before dissolving into laughter again.

Ardyn’s expression twists with rage.

Years of discipline snap back into place as she smooths her features, but the damage has already been done. Her breathing is a fraction faster. Her jaw is tighter. The effortless confidence she’d carried into the fight has been replaced by something far more dangerous.

Emotion.

“If only they knew, Amara. Knew how unsure you truly are. Knew the truth.”

Her voice drops, almost a purr, laced with poison.

“I see it in your eyes. That doubt. That hesitation. You wonder if I’m right.”

She lets the words linger between us, and for a moment, something inside me wavers. Because she isn’t entirely wrong. The months of struggle. The fear of failing. The question of whether I truly deserve this power, this place, this bond. None of it has ever disappeared. I’ve simply learned to carry it.

And if Ardyn can see it, who else can?

For the briefest moment, doubt slips through the cracks in my resolve.

Ardyn sees it, her smile widening.

“There you are.”

The words are soft. Satisfied. Like she’s finally found exactly what she was looking for.

The statement lands harder than any blow she has thrown.

No.

The thought cuts through the doubt before it can take hold. I am not the frightened farm girl she wants me to believe I still am. I am not a lost child searching for someone else’s permissionto belong. I have earned my place. Every bruise, every failure, every lesson, every sacrifice has brought me here. The doubt is still there, buried deep where I suspect it always will be, but it no longer has its hands around my throat.

I shove Ardyn backward and meet her gaze. Without breaking eye contact, I spit blood onto the mat and smile.

It’s not the response she’s expecting. Surprise flashes across her face before she buries it beneath years of practiced composure, but I catch it. She expected her words to break me. Instead, they’ve reminded me of everything I’ve already overcome.

I cock my head, my breathing finally evening out.