Ash's POV

I am practically floating when Finn comes to collect me at the end of the dinner. A smile seems to have permanently etched itself onto my face. Xander offers me a quaint goodbye, with a promise to see me again tomorrow. Xander also shakes Finn hand and thanks him for escorting me back to my chambers. I think Finn returns the gesture, but I was too focused on Xander to really notice.

Finn wordlessly offers me his arm which I gratefully accept, feeling unsteady on my feet as if I have had too much to drink. I am not drunk; I am just dazed from the dancing and kissing and conversing with my soon-to-be husband.

Once we are out of the high hall and slowly wandering back to my room, Finn speaks up. His voice is low but sure as he says, "You had a good time."

My smile seems to impossibly grow, and a new blush stains my cheeks, "I did. Lord Canmore is wonderful."

"I'm glad," is his only reply.

Our silence stretches between us like a chasm, both breaking and steadying my heart. I can't marry Finn, even if he is who I would choose. I am marrying Xander and the sooner I let go of these feelings I have for Finn, the sooner I can be happy. Xander can make me happy. And Finn will still be here when I am married, so I don't have to worry about losing his reassuring company.

"Finn?"

"Hmm?"

"Does it upset you?"

He gives me a sideways glance but continues escorting me, "Does what upset me?"

"When I enjoy my time with Xan...Lord Canmore?"

He abruptly stops, swivels, and places his hands on my shoulders. I stare into his bright blue eyes that are brimming with an emotion that I can't quite place.

His voice is serious when he says, "You being happy would never make me upset. Even when I am not the reason for your smile."

"Oh..." is the only word I can make come out of my mouth as we continue to hold eye contact.

Then he breaks the tension with a flashy grin and a wink. He removes his hands from my shoulders, dramatically wiping them on the front of his vest, as if to rid them from the feeling of me and I shake my head at him. He sticks out his arm for me to take again and when I do, he starts walking. It doesn't take long for us to reach the door to my bedroom, and I turn to face Finn as he bids his goodnight.

"Lady Locklynn, I am glad you had a good time tonight. I expect Lord Canmore will want to see you again tomorrow, but he will have to wait until the evening," he pauses at my immediate frown and rolls his eyes with a smile, "You have magic training in the morning. You are required to be there at 8 a.m. sharp. I will be here to collect you then. Please be ready."

I sigh dramatically and flick the back of my hand up to my forehead, "If I must..."

"You must. And please don't use me as part of your demonstration this time. You know I prefer to have my feet on the ground."

"You deserved it last time," I reply, shrugging my shoulders.

"That may be so, but still, I would like to remain on the sidelines tomorrow."

"Fine."

"Goodnight, Lady Locklynn."

"Goodnight, Sir West."

He smiles at me again as he turns to leave, and I offer him a small wave before entering my room. As soon as I am ready to sleep, dressed in my silken pajamas, and laying in my bed, my hand touches my lips as the memories of Xander's kisses flood my brain. I can feel myself blushing again as that stupid smile snakes its way back onto my face, but I can do nothing to stop it and I realize I don't want to stop it.

Thankfully, all of our dancing has made me fatigued, and sleep seems as eager to greet me as I am at the thought of seeing Xander again tomorrow. Tonight, my dreams are filled with a certain hazel-eyed man who I just might be able to fall in love with.

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I have eleven more days as an unmarried woman.

While mornings are my least favorite part of the entire day, I didn't even have to wait for my alarm to go off today. As soon as the sunlight started to stream in through my window, I was awake and determined to be ready as soon as Finn knocked on my door. I declined Dahlia's help this morning and asked her to come back for this evening instead.

I am dressed in a simple gray skirt that, of course, goes all the way down to my ankles, and a matching gray short sleeved shirt. Both are common clothing for magic training. I slip on my flats and anxiously await Finn. He only knocks once before I open the door and greet him. He looks at me in amused shock, his fist still raised to rap against the door again.

"Good morning to you too, Lady Locklynn. Are you feeling alright?"

I grab his arm before he can offer it to me and enthusiastically nod my head, "Yes, I am feeling great. I am just excited to get to training this morning."

He digs his heels in, forcing me to stop walking.

"Sound the alarm! Someone has replaced Lady Locklynn with an imposter!" He calls dramatically, keeping his voice below the level that would actually cause someone to sound the alarm.

I send him a glare and he chuckles in response.

"Are you sure you are feeling alright? You are never up on time, and I don't think I have ever seen you excited to go to training."

My magic must be excited too because it starts to flicker in my hands. Finn notices and clamps his hands over mine making it gently return to my body, "Not yet. But we should probably get going in case you might actually explode from all this excitement."

I grabbed his arm again and started dragging him down the hallway. He laughs and easily matches my stride before slowing us both down.

"Save your energy. Training always tires you. We are right on schedule this morning so there is no rush."

"Fine. I just want to get there."

"Why the sudden change?"

"The sooner I get training over, the sooner I can see Lord Canmore again."

Finn playfully scoffs, "Ahh the truth is out."

"Maybe..."

We navigate through the halls of the castle until we reach the back door and exit into the crisp morning air. I breathe it in deeply, trying to soak it in as much as possible on this short walk outside. The birds are chirping, the sun is shining, and today is going to be a good day.

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"This is the worst day ever!" I shout, sending my frustrated feet stamping into the dirt.

"Stop whining. Do it again," Aiden chides, while aimlessly playing with his magic in his hands. Mira decided to pair me up with my brother for today's training with the intention of me being able to master flickering.

"I. Can't. Do. It," I growl out and Aiden laughs at me. Actually, laughs at me.

Fine. If he wants to be an arrogant pompous jerk today, we can have some fun. Aiden still has his head tipped back in mock laughter, so I use the opportunity to send a wisp of red magic flying toward him. It hits him directly in the throat and he sputters, coughing before pinning me with a glaring scowl.

He claps his hands together causing long lines of dark purple strands to flicker up his arms, and around his body like horrifying snakes.

Maybe this was a bad idea.

He turns his hand over, and the strands focus their attention on me. I swear I hear them hiss. I bounce a ball of white condensed magic back and forth in my hands. If he intends to turn me into his puppet today, I intend to do everything to stop that from happening.

The strands launch themselves at me and I create a cloned image of myself before teleporting away and up into the rafters of the training arena. Using just my mind, I control my clone and pretend to be fighting the strands away. One wraps itself around my clone's hand, forcing it closed and stifling the magic on that side. Aiden smirks and I want to slap him.

My clone reaches her hand out as if she intends to do just that and I mentally curse myself, which makes my clone curse aloud. Aiden pays no mind, and the strands easily overtake the clone's other hand and then her feet, rendering her immobile. I cringe at the memories of Aiden making me into his puppet when we were younger and I can almost feel the pain that comes with having your brain controlled by someone else.

My clone responds to my thoughts by thrashing around, attempting to escape the clutches of Aiden's magic but he just continues to stalk toward her, slowly, wanting to cause the most terror he can before he tries to complete the last step. If it was actually me down there, all Aiden would have to do is touch my forehead with his fingertips and I would be completely under his control.

He clicks his tongue in annoyance and closes the distance between himself and my clone. His nimble fingers reach out to touch her forehead but as soon as they do, she disappears into a cloud of mist. Aiden swears and frantically looks around for me, the angry frustration seeping from his body in waves of red magic.

I teleport myself directly behind him and when he goes to take a step forward, I catch his ankle with my foot and send him sprawling into the dirt. He flickers himself out of my vision and I instantly put up a green forcefield around myself, preventing him from touching me but allowing me to see through his magic. If I had been half a second later, he could have grabbed my hands because I am standing face to face with him with only a thin green barrier between us.

He scowls, the muscles in his jaw twitching and I smirk at him with amusement. He suddenly switches his scowl to a smirk, matching my expression and his eyes glint with dark satisfaction. Before I can comprehend what the look means, he snaps his fingers and my entire forcefield crumbles like broken blades of grass to the dirt floor.

I retaliate by levitating him into the air and creating a black shield around him, preventing him from using his magic. He curses again and I start to lower him down to the ground in a show of civility but when he is still several feet off the ground, I teleport away, and he falls to the ground with a heavy thud.

Before he has the chance to catch his breath, I teleport on top of his back and force his arms back behind him, keeping his fists closed. He writhes under me, and I pull his arms back harder until he...

"I..quit...You...win," he grumbles between pants.

Satisfied, I threw his arms down and climbed off his back, dusting the dirt off my skirt with elegance. It would probably be more elegant if I wasn't also panting and profusely sweating from almost every pore in my body. Using magic is exhausting.

Regardless, I turn my palms up to the ceilings and let swirls of green magic dance through the air, highlighting my victory. I pump my fist in the air and a laugh escapes my lips when I see a pouting Aiden being fussed over by several female servants. I continue to flaunt my green winning magic across the room, making sure at least one of the swirls caresses the back of Aiden's neck.

Two of the servants have the audacity to glare at me, as if I injured my brother. The only thing injured is his pride. I can guarantee he will be fine. He shrugs my magic off him and storms out of arena, the servants trailing him.

A slow clap starts from the other side of the room, and I turn on my heel to see Xander standing there with a beaming smile as he continues to clap for me. I curtsy for him and do a little spin while he responds with a whistle.

I brush the sweat-soaked escaped pieces of hair back from my face as I walk over to him. He produces a bottle of cold water from thin air and hands it to me as soon as I am close enough to grab it. I greedily gulp down the cool liquid while Xander watches me with a quirked eyebrow.

"I didn't think you would be here," I say, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand.

"I am not supposed to be."

"Yeah?"

"Yes, I am supposed to be sitting in a meeting with my eldest brother but when Sir West told me where you would be, I decided that it would be much more interesting to watch you practice your magic instead."

I laugh at him, "If I had known you were going to be here, I would have worn something nicer."

"You look as wonderful as always."

"Right..." I roll my eyes at him and grab a towel off the rack beside him and start striding toward the doors. Xander matches my pace.

"Your magic is very impressive, Ashlee."

"Thank you," I say, pausing in my step to call my magic to the surface again and it reluctantly springs to life in my palms, only a faint green sparkle now.

Xander eyes my magic with intense curiosity and when he reaches his hands out toward mine, my magic turns red and rushes back into my body.

I don't have time to consider why my magic changed color without my emotions changing because Xander interrupts my thoughts when his hands land on my waist and he pulls me into him, capturing my lips in a searing kiss.

The kiss is not nearly long enough, and I look up at him with confusion, but he just smiles, "You told me to kiss you more, not-yet wife."

I purse my lips as if in consideration before matching my smile to his and leaning my face back toward his, "I do vaguely remember saying that, not-yet husband."

He huffs out a laugh and kisses me again, filling my head with only the feeling of him. 

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Author's Note: Writing the magic scenes has been very fun to do! This chapter was more of a filler chapter but I think it turned out okay. Let me know your thoughts!