In the middle of the clearing, Silas shifts back and forth uncomfortably. The afternoon breeze, warm for once, shifts the dark strands of his wavy hair, curling out at the shoulders. I've only been here for a few days but this is the first time I haven't seen an immediate, goofy smile on his face. That's because he's a pawn in this little game Renit likes to call training.

The cranky prince didn't fail to notice I was kind to Silas, who in return, was kind to me. Every morning at breakfast, we discuss one subject to the next since I always strike up the nerve to sit with them in the first place. Not only is the conversation worthy, but it irks Renit so much that I'm trying to make friends in the castle. Silas is the calm side of the coin, the prince not afraid to laugh and have a good time. More often than not, actually. And he takes pride in it. Renit can barely offer a smile. The only time he did was because I made a joke about Silas's rat nest (his hair) after a rough night of drinking.

If I hadn't been looking at him already, I would've missed his smile because it was gone quicker than I could blink.

Standing in the clearing, there isn't a hint of a smile on the crown prince's face as he looks from me to Renit, standing with his arms crossed a few feet away. I walked out here to find this; they were arguing over something—likely Renit's attitude—but the bickering turned hushed before I could fully understand what was going on. If only my father were here to figure it out, he heard anything and everything.

"One of the most important measures of your power is learning how to use it in small bursts," Renit instructs. "You can't always use it at once, otherwise you'll drain yourself quickly. So what I want you to do is move the chunk of ground Silas is standing on. Only that. Nothing else." Renit gestures to the ground beneath his brother.

Silas's eyes grow wide at the same time I stutter over my own words. "Can't we use a servant instead? I don't want to hurt the crown prince of Esaria," I object.

"That's the reason I brought Silas out here instead of a servant. The stakes are high and if you kill him, there will be consequences. If you want to ruin the kingdom's future, then let that power of yours loose. If you want to be in the king's good graces and finish with this Grounding, then control it." Renit brings his fists to his chest and clutches them tightly.

I swallow. This is a terrible idea, one of the worst he has had and one of the worst he will ever have. The crown prince of Esaria is standing in a clearing, a pawn for testing power. Every part of me wants to keep arguing so I can avoid this but Renit is faster than I am in comebacks...and he is more dangerous. Facing his wrath for backing down against one of his challenges when he's beginning to learn my abilities and tendencies is the way to set us back to where we started.

"You can do it," Silas encourages. "Unlike my asshole of a brother, you don't want to hurt me. Right?" His voice is cautious and I nod.

I can do this. I know I can do this because I've slowly picked apart my power, day by day. Renit's training leads to exercises of only using a small amount of my power, whether it's moving a single rock or creating a crack in the ground big enough to stick a finger through. The strain to control it causes so much exhaustion but...it's working.

"If it looks like things are going sideways, then bail, all right?" I order Silas.

He nods quickly; whether because he's nervous beyond belief or because he understands the desperation in my raised eyebrows and shaking fingers. "He will not bail. Silas isn't scared of your power, are you, Silas?" Renit chimes in.

Silas raises his eyebrows at his brother. "Why aren't you standing here then? I'm scared!" He flashes me an apologetic look but I shrug. If I was in his position, facing a witch with absolutely no control, I wouldn't want to be standing there either.

"I'm not standing there because if she kills me, she's content. She won't hurt you."

Silas shrugs. "I don't know, we don't know her that well."

"Be quiet," I snap. "I need to focus."

Like every time before, Renit unlocks the titanium band from my wrist and shoves it into the pocket of my jacket. If I was out to kill him, he would keep the bracelet for himself but his trust in me must grow enough to let me keep the one thing that will stop my power. If I need to bring myself back, the titanium will be there.

In case I think about acting out or can't stop the power with my personal titanium, Renit keeps a band of his own. My power hasn't pushed me that far over the edge and neither has his persistence but if he keeps snapping at me like a turtle, I can see myself attacking him.

The power waits for me to greet it, just underneath my skin. After these years, my magic has learned to stop asking to come out and play. I kept the power of ground wound up so tight that when it finally got attention; the excitement turned cataclysmic like an over-excited child until it drained me and I came close to collapsing.

Now my power expects me to welcome it. The excitement is still there but the feeling of it pressing against me is more subdued. I allow the power out and do nothing, just let it breathe in the surrounding air. Renit told me to let the power breathe, let the sense of the world grasp onto the air before the magic is bent to my will.

With the faint twitch of my fingers, I shift the pebbles on the surface of the ground and allow my power to adjust. A witch of ground, I am a witch of ground. There is nothing I can't do. The solid foundation underneath my feet is mine to command.

The clearing quiets and all that's left is the rustle of branches in the nearby trees. Two princes watch me carefully as the ground rumbles with recognition but stops once I shove that part of my power away. At least all hell doesn't break loose anymore when I try to use the power so deeply rooted inside me.

Once the clearing is still again, I turn to Silas. He nods reassurance and I lift both my hands to where he stands, feet planted firmly in the grass. All I have to move is the small space around him; that's it. In my mind, I map out what I need to do, what I need to take from the ground and what doesn't. Give him a solid foundation but don't take up too much. Security and simplicity.

Security and simplicity.

My power travels up and down my arms, skin spiraling with dust and pebbles as I raise them slowly. Silas wobbles as the ground shakes beneath him, only him. I note Renit of out the corner of my eye to check if he's moving, but he's not, Renit is standing still.

The ground pops and groans as I lift, higher, higher, until roots are tearing and pebbles are dribbling away from the elevated surface. The thin layer of grass shivers and turns to a solid column of rock and dirt and my entire body shakes with restraint to not send the crown prince flying into the air.

Tears prick at my eyes and my teeth grit together, grinding bone on bone but I don't stop, I keep lifting. Silas kneels slightly, so he doesn't fall as the small circle of ground fully breaks away from the solid foundation of the world like a giant scooped a handful out and tossed it away.

A small crater in the world, small enough for me to climb in and out of is what I leave behind. Silas beams at the accomplishment. But the uncertainty of my power fills my mind with fear. How do I put him back down so there isn't a risk hurting him? Anxiety swirls with an answer but none of them work.

I taste blood. My nose is bleeding.

"Roux, stop," Renit warns. "You're straining too much." I can't stop. The power is too strong and my arms are too numb. Dirt and rock cake my arms, locking me in an eternal shield with weight to spare. What will the power do to Silas if I completely let go? Will he shoot into the sky, never to live again, or will he fall, unharmed to the ground only a few feet below?

"Control it," Silas comments eagerly.

My ears are ringing so loud I can barely hear those muffled voices. Keep the prince alive. I must keep the prince alive. Because he is kind and with him on the throne, this kingdom will change. No one else will behave like his father or his brother to ruin the lives of innocents. Keep Silas alive.

The blood streams from my nose and dribbles down my chin.

"Roux, if you don't stop—" Renit shouts, already gripping onto the pommel of his sword.

"I can't," I whimper. "I don't want to hurt him." And my worst fear happens. The ground quakes underneath my feet and splits in two, the sign I'm losing control. If I lose control, Silas will die.

"Silas will be fine, set him down easy." His voice is much softer, almost reassuring. I see him out of the corner of my blurred vision, eyes going from the blood trickling down my neck to my eyes. Renit's brows are furrowed and in one hand, he clutches the titanium band. If I don't stop now, he'll kill the power entirely and nothing will remain inside. Nothing left to hurt Silas.

The power I can't understand wakens inside me and begs for more. There is not enough for me to give or share with it—everything I do seems to be enough but it's not. I've tried to find common ground with it, literally, but nothing works. And Renit knows. There is such disappointment in his eyes but I can't focus on him. Not when the life of the crown prince is in my hovering hands.

"Do the exact opposite of what you did," Renit orders. The kindness in his voice is gone. A familiar cold whips through me at the sound of him. Defeat. Failure.

"As soon as you're down, I want you to run, okay?" I demand from Silas. Instead of objecting this time, he agrees. He doesn't want to get launched into the sky either.

Forcing more strain, I shove down on the power. I want to scream as the pounding in my head increases and the ache in my bones like they're about to snap weighs on me. My arms drift lower and lower towards the solid ground. They're thick and heavy, they shake as that chunk of ground I pulled up before stitches back together, knitting into one.

Immediately, Silas jumps back and takes a few steps as I finally slide off of that force, off of the lid I was keeping on the power. As my body slumps back, falling, the chunk I just put back shoots into the air, reaches the height of the tallest pine tree and explodes. I shield myself and so do the princes as small rocks, dirt, and pebbles litter the sky and fall back into the clearing.

Renit sighs. "Add that to the list as well. Now we have to learn how to stop your power effectively."

He isn't the one to come over and see if I'm all right. Not the man I'm supposed to marry, the reason there's a ring on my finger. Instead, it's Silas who picks me up underneath my arms and hands me a handkerchief to wipe off the blood soaking the bottom half of my face. I smear the blood onto my jacket.

Mani will be pissed.

"Are you all right?" Silas asks awkwardly.

"She's fine, she just lost control," Renit snaps.

"I'm asking her, not you. I think you've done enough." I'm so used to the kindness in Silas's voice that when he shows the smallest bit of authority, I shrink away. He really sounds like a king. I picture a crown on top of his head, a beautiful, bejeweled crown, and see it fitting. Renit backs off immediately whether because of his brother's power or because he's actually scared—that's when I know Silas will be the king this kingdom needs.

"I'm fine," I say hoarsely. The power even drained my ability to speak.

Renit finally steps forward and blocks out the sun with his towering frame. "We're done for today. We'll continue tomorrow." And that's it. He leaves the clearing, ditches me and his brother standing there alone.

I watch him go, watch the powerful way he walks like he's out to kill someone wherever he goes. Through all the searching, I find nothing I like in that stalking gait. For the first time in my life, I realize I hate someone for being themselves. The least he could do is try to be nice, to be the smallest fraction of his brother. Renit is nowhere close and I'm so pleased to know he will never be king.

And I will never be queen.