Much to my dismay, I woke up remembering I had a medical appointment to check the progression of my bruises.

The sun warmed my skin as the wind wisped my hair over my shoulders on my walk. My heart thumped loudly in my chest as I approached. I hadn’t seen Raydir since we decided to take a break. I hadn’t told him yet about needing to make my decision and I wasn’t sure I could. What would he say? What could he say?

The medical cabin was nearly empty when I arrived with just some of the healers mulling around. I smiled when my gaze landed on Raydir. Maybe I could easily slip it into conversation. Maybe if I told him I still loved him. I would always love him.

“Hey, Ar,” he greeted me.

“Hey.” So far so good. Maybe if we kept the conversation casual, this could work.

An awkward silence then fell between us until Raydir spoke again. “I’ll go get Izel.”

He walked away and a minute later, Izel joined me.

“Good morning, Arwyn. How are you feeling? Any pain?” she asked.

I shook my head. “Not really. I think the daily swims have helped.”

“That’s to be expected. As an acquator, the water speeds up the healing process. Can I see the bruises?” Izel closed the curtain around the bed then tucked her short black hair behind her ears.

“Yeah.” My fingers fumbled with the buckles of my top. I pulled it open so Izel could see the bruises.

“Looks like they’re fading nicely.” She hesitantly reached out to palpate. “Any pain when I do this?”

I shook my head.

“Good. You should be ready to resume your usual activities now, including modified combat training. I’ll make a note in your chart.”

“Thank you.” I re-clasped my top.

“You’re all set.” Izel’s gaze scanned the room. “But it looks like Raydir might want to speak with you before you go. I don’t know what happened between the two of you, but I hope things work out. He’s sweet.”

I nodded, keeping my eyes fixed on Raydir as he walked over. “He’s been my best friend for twelve years. And I couldn’t ask for anyone better to take that role.”

She gave my arm a squeeze. “Come back if you have any issues, okay?”

“Yeah. Thanks, Izel.”

“She cleared you for training?” Ray asked, taking Izel’s place.

“Yes." I tucked my hair behind my ears. "But I’ll continue to take it slow. Fletcher knows the extent of my injuries so we’ll modify as needed. And you don’t need to worry about Darius.” I winced at the way that sounded. “I mean, he knows my limits too.”

“It’s okay, Ar. I understand. And you’re sure you have no pain?”

Only emotional, I thought to myself, forgetting we still had our mind link for now.

His eyes flickered up to meet mine.

“No pain,” I settled on responding, swinging my legs. “Are you preparing for the next Alignment?”

“Arwyn, we don’t have to do this.” He sighed.

“Do what?” I asked.

“Pretend to make small talk just because we’re taking a pause from us. We are still friends, we will always still be friends, Ar. We can still talk. We’ve always been good at that.” Raydir looked up at me, his green eyes shimmering with a twinge of sadness. “And I hope maybe we still have a chance.”

“I hope so too,” I said. “I just need to figure things out. We both do.”

Raydir ran a hand through his hair. “Maybe we can talk about something other than the Alignment? The last two, well, we’ve had each other to lean on. This time, we’ll have to learn how to cope differently.”

In more ways than one, I thought to myself. “Right. Do you have the recipe for the ibisco tea?”

Raydir chuckled. “That’s not exactly what I meant, but yeah. Rosie gave it to me, so I can bring it over to Cae’s later."

“Thanks.” I winced at how pathetic this all seemed. I used to be able to tell Raydir everything. Where had that confidence gone?

He kicked the toe of his shoe on the floor. “Listen, are you free at all tomorrow? There’s something I wanted to talk to you about."

I froze. "Yeah, maybe lunch. Why, what were you thinking?” I walked with him to the front entrance of the medical cabin.

“Sure, I can do that. Meet me on the porch of the Grand Cabin tomorrow at noon?" he asked.

“Why there?” I asked.

Raydir shrugged. “I’ve been dabbling in the culinary arts and thought maybe we could test something out together.”

“That could be dangerous,” I teased. “Yeah, I’m in. See you tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow.” He gave me a nod and we stood awkwardly at the door to the medical cabin until Izel cleared her throat behind us.

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“This is the part where you hug,” she said. “Twelve years of friendship and you just clam up? C’mon, you two are better than that.”

Raydir laughed then wrapped his arms around me. His hands tangled in my hair and my nose scrunched against his chest. I inhaled deeply, wanting to memorize the wonderful woodsy scent that lingered on his skin.

He pulled away. “Bye, Arwyn.”

I watched him walk away. Things between us needed to stay as normal as possible under the current circumstances. But sooner or later I would have to accept that a part of my heart would always belong to Raydir.

With plans made, I walked toward the lake hoping I’d be able to get a few minutes to myself. The wind whipped through my hair and the sun warmed my skin as I walked. The sound of the rushing waterfall called out to me, urging me to come in for a swim.

If only I had the time.

Just as I was reaching down to unlace my boots, I caught sight of someone walking swiftly toward me.

Darius. As he approached, he smiled then froze upon seeing the look on my face. "Hey."

I crossed my arms over my chest. “Hi. Before you come any closer, I want to establish some ground rules.”

His lips twitched into a smile. “Okay.”

“Rule number one: We will always keep a six-foot difference between us during this and any future lessons. Rule number two: there will be no teasing, flirting, taunting, or kissing. We are to keep things strictly professional.” I took a step forward, he took a step back. “Rule number three—”

“How many rules are there?”

I narrowed my eyes. “Four. Rule number three: You are to remain fully clothed at all times. I will remain fully clothed at all times. You will train me from here while I immerse myself in the water when and if needed.”

“So what’s rule number four?” Amusement glimmered in his eyes.

I glared at him. He was having way too much fun with this. “Rule number four is you will not, under any circumstances, bring up the impending deadline of when I have to make my choice between you and Raydir. Is that all understood?”

Darius dipped his head in agreement. “Yes. Are you ready to begin the lesson?”

“I’m always ready.”

“Good.”

He instructed me on creating a tidal wave and focusing my energy on it. After a few failed attempts and several misdirections because Darius just couldn’t seem to grasp the ‘remain clothed’ concept, we decided to take a break.

“You’re distracted, Arwyn,” Darius said.

I narrowed my eyes. “I have a lot on my mind right now. The next Alignment is coming soon, my head is a mess—”

“Then use that to your advantage." He waved his hands in front of him. "Focus on everything—your anger, your fear—when manipulating the water. The power draws from your emotions. And these rules work both ways, right? So you’re breaking rule four.”

I sighed and prepared my stance to try again. “How’s this?”

“Good. Now focus your energy on lifting up the water.”

As the water began to curve into the shape of a wave, movement by the woods caught my eye and my expression shifted. “Darius. Get in the water. Now.”

A deep growl sounded from the woods as the rogue emerged from the brush, just as it had done when it showed up for me and Caesaria. Just as it had done when Raydir and I were together. Except this one had a spot of gold in its eyes.

“Dar—”

“I know.” Darius slowly slipped into the water. “Use your powers to keep it at bay. That’s all we can do right now.”

“Uh huh. How exactly do you recommend I do that?”

He rested a hand on my shoulder. “Conjure a tidal wave again. Aim it at the rogue and wait.”

“Wait for what?!” I squeaked, my throat going dry.

Trust me. He brushed his lips over the top of my left shoulder.

Rule number two, Darius.

That’s not what I’m doing, Ar. Focus on the water.

I raised my hands shakily, the water coming with them as it mended itself into a tidal wave, arching toward the wolf. The rogue bared its teeth, clearly angered by the water. “What now?”

“Keep going, you’re doing great.” He rubbed his hands on my shoulders, and I felt a new surge of energy flow through me.

Dammit, Darius—

Yell at me later. I promise this will help.

It better. I urged the water forward so it hung dangerously close over the rogue’s head. He let out a deep, guttural growl and spread its wings. Crap, what now?

Ease back just a bit.

I followed his instructions. The rogue seemed slightly calmer at my retreat, retracting its wings but still keeping them close to its body.

“So what do we do?" I asked. "It’s not attacking us.”

“We can stay here until it leaves,” Darius suggested. “Or we can swim away and hope it doesn’t follow us.”

I cocked my head to the side. “I have an idea.” My fingers delicately drew up small bubbles of water and floated them toward the rogue. The wolf regarded the bubbles carefully then snapped his jaws at each in succession, popping them on his snout. He shook his head in surprise.

My lips twitched into a smile. “Darius, I don’t think it is a threat. Look.” I repeated the gesture, and the rogue jumped at each of the bubbles this time. “He likes it. Like a game.”

“Careful, Arwyn,” Darius warned.

“I know what I’m doing.” One more round of water tosses, and the rogue seemed satisfied, slinking off into the woods with paying us another speck of attention. “See? It’s gone now. Should we continue with our lesson?”

Darius gaped at me. How did you do that?

I raised my eyebrows. I just had a feeling. “So, the lesson?”

He shook his head. “We can call it a day if you’d like, actually. That was really impressive. Not many people would be able to engage a rogue like that.”

“Thank you. I’m not sure how much of that was me, Darius. You lent me your strength again. And you broke almost all of the rules I just established.”

His lips twitched into a smile. “First of all, I retracted once you changed your course. You controlled the water all by yourself. And in my defense, breaking those rules probably saved our lives.”

“It doesn’t matter Darius. I put those rules in place for a reason.” I ran a hand through my hair and waded to the water’s edge, lifting myself out so that my feet could still dangle in.

“Arwyn, how long are you going to keep me out?” he asked. His blue eyes searched my brown ones for answers.

“As long as I need to, Darius. I made those rules for a reason, okay?” I don’t trust myself around you. “I need this to be an objective decision and I can’t have you on my mind like this.”

He nodded. “As you wish. But just so you know, planning lunches with Raydir doesn’t seem so objective to me.”

I glared at him. How did he know about that? “You have no right to judge the way I do the things that I do, Darius. Just go. I don’t want to see you right now.”

"Fine." He dipped his head below the surface of the water and swam away.

Sighing, I stood up and trudged back to Caesaria’s cabin, hoping that Rosie had found us an extra cot by now. No Raydir. No Darius. This is the way it has to be.