I walked back to my chamber, the rush of power still coursing through my veins. It curled the corners of my lips upward and left me smiling for the rest of the day. I didn’t fully understand how the energy inside me worked, but I’d tasted it and now, I craved more.

What made it even better was hearing Gosto say he was proud of me. That warmth lingered in my chest, effervescent and unfamiliar. No one apart from my parents had ever said they were proud of me. I grew up feeling like a ...