I helped Roland in the kitchen and then went upstairs to change. I slipped on one of Theo’s loose-fitting shirts and met him outside the castle gate.

"Don't," Théoden said as he stepped behind me. "Not now. I know you mean well, but I don't want to discuss it now. Let me process it."

He knew I wanted to discuss what happened with Jasper and how this was the second time I had overstepped the Council, and I did not regret that. "Okay. But I want to talk about it at some point."

"I know, I will talk. Just give me tonight to process."

The remainder of the walk to the training area was silent as I could sense his thoughts through the bond. I knew he was torn up a bit about today's events. How he almost lost an Elite Guard, let alone finding out that the guard in question was expecting a child of their own—something he had yet to experience. He mainly focused on the fact that he did lose a guard, but I allowed him to bring Jasper back to life. He knew that was a challenging choice for me to make as I had to worry about what the Council would think. But I knew he was grateful that I did allow it.

He sighed heavily. I can sense you. Maria, please let me comprehend all of this first by myself. I promise I will talk to you eventually.

I'm sorry, I said. I want to make sure you are okay.

I am. I need time. Thank you for checking up on me. You'll know when I am ready to talk. I pulled from his mind, completely giving him his space.

As he entered the arena, he stopped me. I turned to look at him, and I could read the grief across his face. He may not have technically lost one of his guards today, but they did die. "Look, sharing things like this, you know, is tough for me. I know I can be open with you."

I softened my gaze on him, wrapped my arms around him without hesitation, embracing him with a warm hug. "You can tell me anything. You know that."

"Then, here it is. I felt guilty, looking at Jasper. It was my fault. I told him to follow you to the castle. I pulled him from his home. From his wife. If I could not have brought him back, his death would have been my fault."

I lightly brushed his hair back and rested both hands against the side of his face. "Look," I breathed as calmly as possible. "His death was not your fault," I told him, kissing his forehead softly.

"But it is…"

"But it is not," I told him. "You did not beat him, you did not stab him; it is not your fault." He smiled softly, and I could feel his mood shift slightly, not for the worse but for the better.

"But he did follow my…" I cut him off with a gentle kiss on the lips.

"He followed orders, yes, but he decided to follow the orders. He decided to become an Elite Guard."

He sighed heavily. "You're right. I need to remember that accidents like today are bound to happen. It has happened. I just can't let it get to me as much as it did."

"If that is what you think," I said, kissing him gently again, "just don't lose all of your humanity."

He hugged me tightly one more time before stepping back. "Training?"

"Only if you are up for it," I said, watching his body language for any fault in his behavior.

"You are not chickening out on me now, are you?" he asked. "I saw you with that incubus. You handled that fight quite well."

"I could have killed him…" I crossed my arms with disgust.

"But you hesitated. That simple hesitation on the battlefield could easily get you killed." He reminded me that I could have just yanked that incubus's heart out, but I didn't.

"It would have been my first kill… I don't know how I will be in battle with Marcel if I can't kill an incubus."

"Maria, you will be magnificent in battle. I've seen and felt your magical capabilities. I know you will do well. Now focus on training." He took his stance ten feet from me. I saw a shimmer of magic around him as he used the channel on his shield to make a more substantial barrier. "If you break this, I'll be even more impressed." I knew how powerful his over-channel shield could be. I had seen him face many enemies with it, and it would only fall after sustaining significant damage. "Full charge on spells, I'm ready."

"Brace yourself, then." I looked down at a yellow gem on my ring, shimmering with magic. I brushed one of my fingers against it to activate the charge and stretched my arm towards him. A brilliant beam of radiant energy burst from my hand, impacting his shield. He seemed shocked as the magic danced around his shield, though I was unable to break the barrier. I felt the power drain from my ring as the gem dulled, and the spell faded for about six seconds.

"Impressive." He examined his barrier. “It did decent damage. It could be useful against the devil. What else?" He crossed his arms, patiently waiting for my next spell. “Or do you want me to hit you with something next?"

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"No." I knew he had used quite a few of his abilities today. I did not want him drained too much in case something happened while we slept. I glanced at my ring and randomly chose an orange-colored gem this time.. A lava-like substance burst from my palm and smacked his shield dead center. This seemed just like an overcharged fireball, as the lava seemed more potent than what the red gem did. "Should I continue?" I asked as he checked the status of his shield.

"Yes," he said. "Half down. Throw another spell."

I glanced down at the ring and brushed my fingers against the storm I threw at him the other day. I felt the gem's power, and I knew that if I used all of that, I might be able to break his shield. That almost seemed too easy, but that may be what I needed here. I brushed my finger lightly against the gem, activating it. "You better brace yourself then," I said as a line of acid shot up above him and rained on him, followed by four bursts of lighting. His facial grew a bit nervous as the spell seemed more potent than the first time I used it.

The acid started eating away at his shield, weakening it as time went by. At the first lighting strike, the shield shimmered at the damage it took. The second strike was worse as cracks started to form across his shield. The third one seemed to break it, not yet striking him. But then came a fourth strike, which appeared to be the worst of all four. The bolt impacted his right shoulder, going through his entire body. I even felt a bit of a strike through the bond.

He stumbled backward as the bolt left his body and collapsed to his knees, breathing heavily, "For fucks sake." He felt the wound on his shoulder with his other hand. He glanced up at me with a proud smile on his face. "Every time, you get more powerful. Each spell is more potent than the last. Impressive." He brushed his hand against his wound again, releasing a brilliant light of radiant energy healing it. "I'm going to feel that one tomorrow." He stood back up. "Again." He made the same gesture he had made before, summoning his shield again.

I sighed. "Haven’t you had enough tonight?" I glanced down at my ring. There were still quite a few gems left to test.

"Please, Maria. I can handle it." He reassured me with a smile.

"I know you can, I just don't want you to wear yourself out."

"Let's have you break this shield, and then we can call it."

"Fine…" I sighed and randomly chose a brown colored gem. I had no idea what it did, but I made my arcane movements, and to my surprise, a strong wave of force moved at an impressive speed from my palm and struck the shield. It seemed to rock him, but did not appear to do too much damage despite being charged.

"Interesting… Might be useful to push enemies back."

I sighed and looked down and activated a pretty aqua blue gem. I knew this was more than likely a cold spell gem and wouldn't damage him, but it would damage his shield. I was unsurprisingly correct as an intense burst of snow and ice pummeled the shield, causing it to shimmer and flutter.

"That type of spell won't harm me, but it did a number on the shield," Théoden said, nodding in approval. "Again."

I randomly chose another gem, felt a burst of necrotic energy leave my body, and watched it envelop his shield in a black and green goo. It started eating away at the shield, causing more cracks, but it failed to break it completely.

"Hmmm…" He studied the goo slowly eating away at his shield. "Necrosis could be nasty if it hits its target. Just like acid, it can eat away at a person's flesh, but necrosis can also eat away at a person's mind." He then examined his shield to assess how much strength it had left. "Close. we can call it if you want, Maria."

I breathed a sigh of relief. If I were to activate another gem and use its full strength, I would have destroyed his second shield and probably harmed him again. He dismissed his shield and walked towards me with pride on his face. "Your potential seems endless." He pulled me in for a hug. "I know you will be glorious in battle," he said, kissing my lips firmly. I glanced over at his shoulder as he kissed me, worried I had seriously hurt him. "Oh, that?" He shifted his eyes to his shoulder. "It's nothing."

"It does not look like nothing." I could feel my energy shift from attack to healing, and I kissed the wound softly, producing a burst of radiant energy that healed the wound the rest of the way. "Better," I said and moved back to kissing his lips.

"Mi…" said between kisses. "Amor…" Pulling back for a second, he finished, "I don't need you healing me every time I get hurt. It would help if you used that on yourself.

“But…” I tried to protest, but he cut me off before I could even finish by kissing me forcefully. He pulled away momentarily.

"I mean it." he said, and then continued to kiss my lips. After a moment of locking lips, we decided it was time to head back to the castle. And after today's events, he followed me closely. It was getting close to 9 p.m. as we returned, and all I wanted now was bed. But as we stepped into the castle, a familiar voice echoed in the hall.

"Princess!" We both turned and saw Cedric coming up from the downstairs chambers.

Fuck. I said through the bond, causing Théoden to chuckle.

"What is Cedric?" I asked as he approached us rather quickly.

"We were just discussing today's events, and it was noted that someone was resurrected today?" he asked, looking between me and Théoden.

"And what about it?" I crossed my arms. I was annoyed that it hadn't even been a day, and they were already asking me about it.

Cedric focused on Theo, saying, "We can not bring back everyone from the dead."

"I understand that," I began. “But under certain circumstances, I believe if he feels the person has the right to live, then he can bring them back."

"But how can you be sure his reasons are justified?" Cedric switched his focus from him to me.

"Because I trust him with my life, Cedric. If I trust anyone to decide who can come back from the dead, it is him." I pointed back to Théoden. "I trust him more than I trust all of you on the council with that decision," I spat out.

"Princess Maria!" Cedric said, more frustrated. "That rule is in place for a reason. Rules have to be followed."

"Rules can change," I told him angrily, "If it weren't for that stupid rule, my parents would still be here."

"Please, rules are rules," he said again. "I urge you to follow them."

I rolled my eyes. "I am the Head of The Council now. If I want to make changes, I can. And that rule is going to be one of them." I moved past him and started to go up the stairs before turning to look at both of them. "I don't mean to be harsh or rude, Cedric, but things are and will be changing. And they will be changing for the better." I stormed off to my room.

I felt a tug through the bond as his voice rang through. I am proud of you, and I'll see you tonight. I closed my bedroom door, locking it behind me.

"Stupid Council," I sat on my bed, crossing my arms, "Rogue… More like plain stupid." I remembered King Alaric's words about the Council. I knew he was right, as he always was.