Chapter 5 - The Lesson in Steel
Vane began to train Emer. Not in boxing—that was for sport. He trained him in awareness, in the mechanics of a room, in how to read a person’s intent before they even moved.
"You think you’re a protector," Vane told him, watching as Emer disarmed a sparring partner twice his size. "But you’re thinking in a straight line. Life is a circle. You have to anticipate where the person is going to be, not where they are."
Emer was a quick study. He learned that fear was a tool, like any other. He learned that his anger, which he had spent his life suppressing, was a source of power if channeled correctly.
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Meanwhile, Sve was finding her own path. She spent her days in the conservatory, where a tutor taught her piano. She found that the music was like the stories she told Ren—it was a way to construct a world where they were safe. She was brilliant, her hands moving with a grace that surprised everyone.
Prosper, too, began to change. Away from the pressure, his stutter began to fade. He became obsessed with the mansion’s security systems, showing a genius-level aptitude for technology. He could look at a circuit board and understand it better than the men Vane hired to maintain it.
