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Clemencia squealed, and though my heart was thundering, I let out a laugh. Mistake or not, it felt amazing to work my magic.

Like I was a full fae.

When the air cleared of snow, I twisted toward Clem and noticed someone walking toward us.

Clem noted my distraction, turned, and waved. “Caelo! Good morning!”

“Good morning to you too, Lady Clemencia. Princess.” He moved through the snow with strong legs, his pace faster than ours had been. When he reached us, he gestured to the snow. “Impressive work.”

“It wasn’t intentional,” I admitted. “I’m flexing my powers, seeing what I can and cannot do.”

“We have a good idea of what you can do.”

“On purpose,” I amended. “I’d rather not nearly die whenever I need to work a feat so impressive.”

“That would be preferable, wouldn’t it?” He paused. “I heard from the others that you’ve been sparring regularly. Considering your circumstances, you need to maintain your current physical strength and prowess. Ideally, continue to build on it too. So I came out here to see if you wished to train with the sword today?”

“Yes,” I said, lighting up inside. I’d enjoyed my daily physical training sessions.

Caelo’s blue eyes took me in with interest. “You enjoy sparring practice?”

“I do. It makes me feel . . .” I trailed off, considering exactly what sparring did for me, “As if I’m no longer a weak slave. Like I might actually be able to defend myself against any threat that comes my way—one day, at least. And I liked just doing something active too, moving my body, learning what I could do, pushing myself.”

Caelo nodded. “Your ancestors were great warriors. So great that Queen Sassa unified the many kingdoms of Winter into one before taking on the Shadow Fae. I can see you being a part of her Valkyrja.”

“Valkyrja? What’s that?”

I’d heard a little about Queen Sassa, but never that term.

“An elite group of fighters, all of them female.”

“But females serve as soldiers here, right?” My eyebrows pulled together, unsure why one would need an exclusive group when anyone could be in the army or the Royal Nava.

“It wasn’t always that way,” Caelo said. “When the kingdoms were separate, things were different. Back then, females weren’t always fighters, but in Queen Sassa’s court, they were. Her Valkyrja weren’t her queensguard, but they were a unit the queen often deployed in battles. Always to astonishing effect.” Caelo grinned in a way that made him look much younger than his twenty-something turns. “Reading the accounts of Valkyrja flying into battle on their pegasi was what pushed me to take up the sword.”

“Interesting.” I made a note to find books on the topic. Perhaps Riis Tower had some. For now, though, I needed to return to practicing. “Can we delay sparring, Caelo? If I can handle it, I’d like at least an hour of magic work. I have to build those muscles too.”

“I’ll plan for a session after lunch. Thantrel wishes to join too. That’s fine with you?”

“Of course. I’ll see you then.”

He turned to go back to the tower.

“Uh, Caelo,” I blurted.

He faced me again. “Yes?”

“How is Vale?”

“Hungover as a dwarf after the Winter Solstice.”

I didn’t understand the reference, and yet, I still cringed. “I see.”

“Not all because of what you told him.”

“What do you mean?”

“He had a talk with Lord Riis last night—one that left him in a foul mood. Before they spoke, he’d already downed many horns of ale, but after . . . Well, I’ve never seen Vale drink quite so much.”