Rowan strained as she neared the end of her reps. Tyris was working her hard, and the floor was glistening from her sweat. Even after almost a week of training under her brother, she could feel the burn.

Fortunately, things were improving, especially compared to the first day. Rowan and Alena ended up staying overnight as Rowan could barely move a muscle, and Talia insisted. The second day, in contrast, was devoted almost entirely to rest. Even so, Rowan did make sure to do some stretches and light dancing in the evening.

She also spent that night alone as Alena was going to be busy shopping with Ædarik and the others. On the one hand, Rowan was sad that she wouldn't be there, having fun alongside them. On the other, she was thankful for the chance to focus on her training. Seres also joined her on the third day for training under Tyris, which led to a significantly smoother introduction with Talia.

Overall, the third day was much less hellish, and it also established the routine that Rowan would be following for the next month or so. Tyris would spend the mornings of every other day training her in person, with or without extras. The exception here being the Day of Rest which would always be skipped.

As for the days in between, Rowan was free to do whatever she wanted, though Tyris did give her some exercises for her to do as part of her daily routine. In addition to socialising and studying, Rowan decided to dedicate at least a couple of hours on these days to weapons training and dancing.

With all that said, by the end of her training on the fifth day, her core was eating fire as muscles she didn’t even know she had were aching from the intense workout.

At first, Rowan was surprised when Tyris said that he wanted to focus on her core for a bit, as she had been fairly confident that she was doing okay in that particular area. Now she was convinced that Tyris was going out of his way to prove just how wrong she was.

"You're doing great," Tyris encouraged her.

"You say that, but I know you're enjoying this," Rowan retorted through clenched teeth. Ten more seconds, and she could rest again. Thirty more minutes, and they'd be cooling down for the day.

When Rowan lowered herself from her hold, Tyris responded. "That may be true in part," he admitted, "but it's also true that you've been making really good progress. I don't know if it's because you're an Ardent or something else, but your muscles are recovering a lot quicker than normal."

"I just wish we could switch things up a little bit," Rowan sighed.

"With your progress, we should be able to diversify a little more when you next visit. Have you been doing the exercises that Talia suggested?"

Rowan nodded. Talia had been a massive help, having approached Rowan's predicament with the eyes of a doctor. She had provided Rowan with a set of resistant bands of elastic material and a list of stretches for her to try. It was less intensive than what Tyris had her doing, but they did seem to help.

Tyris smiled in acknowledgement of Rowan’s nod. "Excellent. She wasn’t sure how effective the exercises would be for you as they haven't exactly been tested on Ardents or Stoics."

"I think they're effective," Rowan said with less confidence than she intended. Seeing the questioning look in Tyris' eyes, she continued. "It's difficult to say for certain," she clarified. "Especially with you muddying the waters with your own exercises."

"Fair. Speaking of muddy waters, we've rested enough. I've got a new variation for you to try, so I'll give you an example first."

*****

When the end of the first week rolled up, Rowan was treated to the ecstasy of Alena’s fingers and a selection of aromatic oils. After seeing how much work Rowan was putting into her training, she had snuck off to learn all about massaging from Davra. She was still a little clumsy in certain areas, but Rowan didn't care. For her, it was heaven.

When it was time to massage Rowan’s back, however, Alena hesitated, the tips of her fingers quivering on Rowan’s scars.

"What’s the matter?" Rowan asked sleepily.

"Are you sure it's okay for me to, you know?" Alena’s question trailed off, but Rowan could hear the concern in her voice.

"Why wouldn't it be?"

"I don't want to hurt you," Alena admitted, only for Rowan to respond with the silence of incredulity.

"You said they used powdered crystal in the making of your scars," Alena clarified. "What if I push the crystals around, and they scratch away at you or something?"

"Where was that concern last night? Your nails are surprisingly sharp."

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Rowan could practically feel the blush radiating from Alena. The real prize for her teasing came next, however, as Alena tried to respond. "Th-that was completely different," she stammered.

Rowan half twisted to look at her and smiled mischievously. "It's completely fine, Alena. My scars can be a little sensitive, but they don't hurt from just touching even when the touching is aggressively intimate in nature. With that said, I'm going to turn back around because I'm way too stiff to twist like that right now."

After a few moments of waiting for Alena to start messaging her again, Rowan cleared her throat to get her attention. "Just so you know, Alena, that was an invitation," she teased.

"Right, yes. Sorry."

*****

Later that same afternoon, Rowan went to visit Amran. He was getting his prosthetic fitted, and Rowan wanted to be there for him. She still felt responsible for his injury, even with his insistence that she wasn't.

Ever attuned to his Gift, he told Rowan to enter as she approached his door. He didn't even give her a chance to stop at the door, let alone knock it. To then add insult to injury, Rowan walked in on him exercising. Namely by way of a one-legged squat, and he was doing it with a practised elegance that had Rowan’s jaw hitting the floor.

"You're drooling, Rowan," Amran said plainly, his eyes closed. "Please stop."

Rowan clamped her jaw shut in an instant, ready to object, when she felt the slight wetness on her chin. It took a couple of flustered attempts to wipe away the drool. Once she was done, however, she gave Amran an accusatory look. "You're doing this on purpose," she said with the accidental vagueness of a cold reading.

Picking up on the lack of direction in her accusation, Amran responded in his classic deadpan. "And what is it, pray tell, that I'm guilty of?" he asked.

"Exercising!"

"So it would seem, though, I fail to see why my fitness is an issue."

"Someone must have told you about my training!"

The questionable logic behind Rowan’s line of thinking had Amran opening his eyes in disbelief. He stood up from his squat, swung over to a chair, and stared at Rowan so that she could see the full extent of his deadpan incredulity.

Rowan staggered slightly in the face of Amran's baleful stoicism, but she stood firm and held his stare.

Unfortunately for Rowan, Amran was an expert at staring, and she folded before the contest began in earnest. Amran sighed dryly as she relented. "Seres had informed me of your training, yes," he admitted. "My own exercises, however, are completely unrelated."

"But…"

"Think about it, Rowan. If I really wanted to tease you to get a rise from you, I wouldn’t need to go to such lengths."

From the embarrassment and mild outrage that was welling up inside her, Rowan knew he spoke the truth.

"So it really was just for the sake of exercising?" Rowan asked.

"Not exactly," Amran replied. "I was doing it as a form of meditation to prepare myself for what is to come."

"Oh."

The awkward silence that followed was palpable. Rowan felt like a right fool for making the situation about herself when she was meant to be there as support for Amran.

"How are you feeling about it?" Rowan went on to say after the silence became unbearable. It had only been a second or two, but even that was too much for her.

Amran just sighed. "Honestly, I'm somewhat anxious," he admitted. "Walking is a luxury I never thought I would miss."

"Most people don't really expect to be in a position where they would have it taken from them." Her voice was marred by guilt as she recalled how Amran had been crippled whilst coming to her aid. She couldn't help feeling at least partly responsible for his injuries.

"Stop that," Amran scolded her. His voice carried an uncharacteristic bite to it. "Your misguided guilt is uncomfortably heavy."

"Sorry," Rowan apologised, her eyes downcast. She was at risk of spiralling in the same direction as her mood went for a dive. The only thing that stopped her from crashing was a flick to her forehead that had enough force behind it to send her reeling.

"What was that for?" she asked painfully as she rubbed at the fresh welt that Amran had placed so perfectly in the centre of her forehead.

As for his answer, he returned to his usual deadpan. "You weren't stopping," he said plainly.

"Huh?"

"Do you still feel like you don't deserve happiness and everything is your fault?"

Rowan had been so distracted by the flicking that she had forgotten about her guilt and only through Amran's question did she recognise what had happened. Furthermore, her shifting expression gave Amran the answer she was looking for. Even so, he made it clear through his own expression that he was waiting for Rowan to re-initiate the conversation.

This time the silence lingered as Rowan decoded what Amran probably considered a blatant cue for her to speak. Unfortunately, his stoic features made for a nigh impenetrable cypher. Fortunately, the awkwardness of silence was enough for her to do what he wanted anyway.

In her attempt to re-establish small talk, Rowan went on to say, "So, what are you going to do when you get the foot?"

"Besides giving you a good kick?" Amran remarked sardonically.

"You'd have to catch me first," Rowan laughed. With the shame and guilt quite literally flicked out of her and her ego shattered by shame and guilt, she was able to slide back to their usual dynamic, and her confidence returned.

"Is that a challenge?" Amran asked, his question punctuated by the slightest rise to his eyebrows. Rather than wait for an answer to his largely rhetorical question, he went on to answer Rowan’s own question in earnest. "What I really want to do is go for a walk."

"Do you want me to go with you?"

"No, not this time. I need to do it alone so that I can prove to myself that I can rely on myself."

Even with his level tone, Rowan could feel his vulnerability. For a second, she thought such feelings were uncharacteristic of him, but she realised that she had no way of knowing either way. It also didn't matter if it was, as it wouldn't change how he was feeling in that moment.

With that in mind, she didn’t try to change his mind or suggest he have someone there at first. Instead, she offered him a simple thing. Time.

"I can stay with you until you're ready to take that first step."

"Thank you."