The heat of the day had let go by the time they finished.
Lita sat on a stone bench near the garden's edge, letting the cool evening air work on the tired heat in her muscles. The moon was just beginning to show at the edge of the sky, pale and early. Everything felt very quiet.
Flare appeared from the side and held out a flask of water. "Here."
Lita took it gratefully. "Thanks."
They sat together in the kind of silence that didn't need to be filled. After a moment, Lita pulled her knees up and watched the last traces of gold fade from the horizon.
"Do you think I'll actually be ready?" she asked. "For Ardent Peak."
Flare considered the question properly, the way she always did before she answered anything. "You have the determination," she said. "That's the part that actually matters. The rest comes with work, and you're already doing that."
Lita smiled slightly. "You sound very sure."
"I am."
The quiet settled back in. Somewhere in the mansion behind them, lamplight moved behind a window—her mother, still working, the same as always.
A servant stepped out into the garden and bowed. "Miss Lita. Your mother requests your presence in the dining hall."
Lita and Flare exchanged a brief look. Lita stood, brushed the grass from her clothes, and followed him inside.
The dining hall was still and formal, the long table mostly empty. Her mother sat at the head of it, a few papers to one side but otherwise giving the rare impression of having set the work down for the moment. She looked up when Lita entered.
"Sit."
Lita sat. Her hands folded in her lap without her quite deciding to.
"Your training has been progressing well," her mother began, her voice measured. "The progress you've made with the hilt, the control—it's visible. But Ardent Peak is not simply a school." She paused, as if weighing each word before using it. "It will push you in ways that have nothing to do with swordwork or spellcraft. It is designed to find the places where people break."
Lita kept her gaze steady. "I understand."
Her mother looked at her for a moment—really looked, the way she didn't often do in the middle of the day when there were documents to review and things to manage. Something in her expression shifted, just slightly.
"I've been in contact with several of the academy's heads," she continued. "They know of your potential. They will have expectations." A brief pause. "I am not telling you this to put pressure on you. I am telling you because you deserve to know what you're walking into."
Lita nodded. "I won't let you down."
The corner of her mother's mouth moved. Not quite a smile. Close enough. "I know. But tonight, rest. You've earned it."
Lita stood, bowed slightly, and left the hall. Flare was waiting just outside the door, as she always was.
"Well?" Flare asked quietly, falling into step beside her.
"She said things are about to get serious." Lita thought about it for a second. "I think I knew that already."
"And?"
"And I'm ready." She said it simply, without the bright bravado she sometimes used to cover up nerves. She just meant it.
Flare glanced at her sideways. "Good. Get some sleep. Tomorrow we start early."
Lita laughed softly. "I figured."
"Goodnight, Lita."
"Goodnight, Flare."
She walked to her room through the lamp-lit corridors of the mansion, her body tired and her mind strangely calm. Outside her window, the moon had fully risen — bright and steady above the Valliere estate, the garden silver and still beneath it.
She didn't know what Ardent Peak would be. She didn't know what Sylana was planning or when the shadow of the Valliere matriarch would finally reach their door. There was so much she didn't know.
But she was getting stronger. Every day, a little more.
She closed her eyes.
Outside, the moon shone brightly, casting a peaceful glow over the Valliere mansion as the night deepened.