𝐂𝐎𝐒𝐌𝐈𝐂 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 ! [ rhysand ]

𝐯. rita's !

𝐂 𝐎 𝐒 𝐌 𝐈 𝐂   𝐋 𝐎 𝐕 𝐄   !

𝙲 𝙷 𝙰 𝙿 𝚃 𝙴 𝚁   𝙵 𝙸 𝚅 𝙴   !

( 𝔯𝔦𝔱𝔞'𝔰 ! )

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ ⬩❖⬩ ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

          𝐂𝐀𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐀𝐍'𝐒 𝐅𝐀𝐂𝐄 𝐌𝐄𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐄 𝐅𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐑 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆. Standing above him, star-blonde hair glittering in the sunlight, was Ana, who wore a wide grin that paired well with her shining eyes. Her shadow fell over Cassian like a blanket of impending doom, leaving the Illyrian to groan at his obvious defeat.

"Give up yet?" she asked, tilting her head while offering a hand to the older faerie. 

Cassian took Ana's hand, momentarily admitting defeat. However, he gripped her hand tighter and pulled her down, flipping them so he was over her, his fist raised and ready to strike. His smile was shit-eating and his eyes glimmered with triumph . . . until he realized that Ana was still grinning like a madwoman. 

"Why are you smiling like that?" His voice was filled with nerves⎯rightfully so, since this was his first time sparring with Ana and seeing such a look on her face. "Stop smiling like that. It's terrifying."

Ana only giggled and before Cassian could blink, he found himself landing face-first on the ground across the ring from her, his hands tied behind his back by a golden rope of magic. Through squinted eyes, he watched Ana stand up and dust herself off, looking unharmed and relaxed. 

"That's why." She flicked her wrist and the magic dissipated, freeing him. "You did good for a beginner, if I'm being honest. Don't feel bad about losing, though. My fighting style isn't easy to follow for a reason."

This time, when Cassian accepted her hand, he allowed her to pull him to his feet. The male glared at her playfully. "Using magic on me was foul."

"But there was no rule against it. Honestly, you could've used your syphon, but you didn't. Maybe then you would've won." She patted his arm, which was sore from when she twisted it behind his back earlier in the morning.

The sun was in the middle of the sky, the two having been on the roof of the House of Wind for four hours, sparring and bonding over war stories. Cassian nearly lost his shit when he found out that Ana had been in two wars already despite only being nineteen (almost twenty even though she was permanently stuck at nineteen for a long while.) He'd listened to her talk about the wars with fervor and then spilled his own stories, the two talking while fighting to better their skills at multitasking.