So far in Morgianna's life there had been so many unexpected variables that she had had trouble keeping up. Everything she thought she knew of the world was flipped every time she got comfortable. The people she once feared would be her end, became her allies. The family she did not think she would have seemed to grow with each person she brought into her circle. All the things she had kept locked within her heart that seemed to eat her from within was now something that they handled as a group. Was she still scared of dying? Yes, but with her friends by her side she felt as if she could survive this.
"I am sure you are all very capable of fighting due to Sir Bart and Sir Silvus, but I will judge you myself. Line up and I want you to attack me. Do not hold back or I will break you only to put you back together again. I know you will all hesitate and for that reason I will have Fafnir demonstrate." With those words, Morgianna and Fafnir got into a fighting stance. True to what she wanted Fafnir did not hold back, using his claws and magic at every turn. They had spared so many times before that they could guess their opponent's next move before they even thought it themselves.
All of the princes, Felix and Olive all watched in awe. Sure they had seen her spar at the school a couple of years prior but never even to a tenth of this extent. It was like she was a whole different person. After several minutes of neither of them landing a blow they separated quickly. "I want you to try your hardest to land a blow on me. I promise you will not stand a chance against anyone that Eltarr sends unless you can, and even then you may still fail."
Reluctantly they each formed a line, Alaric being the oldest went first. Even after seeing her fight against Fafnir his heart was thumping dangerously fast. When he saw her get into stance his mouth went dry and his palms started to sweat. Before he could even send out a blast she was upon him, cool steel pressed against his neck. "If I were an enemy you would be dead. Once you are against someone there is no count to three, nobody asks if you are ready. You will have to be able to react before you even think."
...
All-day she worked with each of them and even did some hand to hand work against Olive. They were not as bad as she feared, but they were far from where they needed to be. Every one of the Princes was a sweating heaving mess by the end of the day, none of which landed a blow on Morgianna. She was as cool as a cucumber sitting back in a lounge chair she had created. "Honestly, you would be efficient against normal people. I am sure you are all probably considered the top of the class, but here you are nowhere even close to being ready. As far as fighting goes there is nobody in my group that you would be able to beat and I will not fight you again until you have bested each one of my four guards. The order you go in doesn't matter, there are advantages and disadvantages to each fighter."
...
Weeks turned into months that passed in what felt like a blur. Every time Morgianna felt like she was about to catch up to Angeline the slippery snake would evade her grasp.
In the world around them each country was experiencing a spike in missing person cases and Morgianna had a bad feeling on why. With the help of the Princes her information gathering had become quite easier, but still there were things she just could not figure out.
Soon her 17th birthday would be upon them and Morgianna felt nervous. That was the age she died in her previous life and it felt almost surreal to once again find herself in that awkward stage between child and adult. She stared off into the field they had been destroying all morning before her thoughts were interrupted. "Are you thinking about me?" Morgianna rolled her eyes at Thadeous as he plopped down onto the hard-packed dirt beside her. He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively before casting her a smile and looking out into the distance as she had just been doing. "Don't worry so much, we will make everything okay. Your battle is our battle, and as the crown prince of our kingdoms we have a duty to fight. Even if I wasn't the crown prince I would fight for you though." That last sentence was barely a whisper. A normal person wouldn't have been able to hear it so Morgianna pretended she didn't.
She worried about each of them, whether she would be able to protect them when the time came. She wondered if she would find herself in a position where she would have to watch their clocks tick to zero and it made her skin turn clammy. Each of the Princes had shown significant improvement from their fights but still they had yet to land a hit. There had been a couple of close calls but their excitement was their biggest enemy while fighting.
"I was thinking of you." At her admittance Thadeous head swiveled in her direction almost at the speed of light. Or at least that's how it seemed. His wide eyes filled with hope until her next words spilled from her lips. "I was thinking about all of you and how you still aren't ready. You should go run a lap around the field and then get in line to fight next."
He gave her a small smile, already used to her pushing them away. It was like that from the very beginning, yet they all still chased her anyway. Standing up he dusted his pants of any dirt that clung to him before casting her one more look and jogging away. 'Stay away Morgianna, they may not kill you themselves but caring for them too much just might.' She hated those thoughts but lately they had been like an everyday cloud hanging over her head. They were preparing for the end, and they were not ready.