THE SHADOW BOUND CROWN

Beneath the great halls of Ravenshade Keep, in a secluded training chamber forgotten by time, Lysara stood panting, sweat rolling down her back. Before her, Ser Kael, her mother's former bodyguard, lowered his sword and studied her with a quiet intensity.

"Again," he said.

Lysara gritted her teeth and raised her blade. For years, she had trained in secret with Ser Kael, the man who had once sworn to protect her mother and had, in the years since, become her silent guardian. He had been the one to teach her how to fight, how to think, and—more importantly—how to survive in a world where she was little more than a pawn.

As they clashed again, Ser Kael's voice was steady. "You fight well. But you're reckless."

She parried his strike, her body moving on instinct. "You sound like Evelyne."

"No," Kael said, pushing her back. "I sound like your mother."

The mention of her mother sent a jolt through Lysara, but she masked it, just as Kael had taught her.

He lowered his sword. "She was like you. Stubborn. Defiant." His gaze darkened. "And she never should have been forced to marry your father."

Lysara swallowed hard. "Then why did she?"

Kael hesitated. "Because her kingdom was conquered. She had no choice."

The truth settled over her like a weight. Her mother had been a prisoner, just as she was now, only with fewer walls. And just like her, she had burned with power she was never allowed to use.

Lysara's magic stirred beneath her skin, the familiar pull of the elements calling to her. She had struggled for years to master it—healing, teleportation, telekinesis. She could do all of it, but only in measured doses. Overuse left her weak, vulnerable. And weakness was not something she could afford.

Kael stepped forward, resting a hand on her shoulder. "Control your emotions, Lysara. The court will use them against you."

She met his gaze. "Then teach me how to control them."

He nodded. "That is the true battle. Not with the sword, but with yourself."

And so, as the years passed, Lysara trained—not just in combat, but in the art of deception, of restraint. She learned to mask her fire behind a cold, unreadable exterior.

The court a place full of deception needed no emotions but wits and strength, any weakness whether of the body or the mind and the rest of her half siblings most who hated them would pounce on it.

Sometimes she'd grow tired, sometimes she'd want to give up, but the thought of her sister and brother all who depended on each other made her get up with every fall and strike even harder with every cut. Determined to at least provide a fight her up and be the shield for them a promise she had sworn at a very young age.

And today was no different, as they trained together, she come to grow close to Ser Kael and so her more thana mentor but also the father she never had. 

"Well, that's enough training for the day ,you've improved on your footwork but you need to improve more on your patience and know when to strike your opponent you wait for an opening," Ser Kael said after their training for the day came to an end.

Lysara who was still catching her breath while seated on the ground could not help but retort, "but you were on your down i had to strike then i thought that was an opening you know ," "You're still hasty an enemy could pretend to be going down to pull you in, a cornered enemy is even once and may choose mutual destruction so that's why you have to be patient and keen." He answered back patiently, aware of his student's attitude and thoughts.

After a few wordsmithery parted ways as they both left discreetly back to their lives. Lysara quickly freshened got to her room, her court was connected underground to the underground chambers she had no hard time sneaking in especially now that her father the King had placed a trail on her.

She quickly freshened up and put on her royal attire and left her room to go visit both her sister and brother