I was eleven now, and the sun felt different on my back than it had when I was seven.
Or maybe it wasn't the sun that had changed. Maybe it was me. My muscles ached in ways I never knew they could and yet, I craved the burn.
My arms were roped with strength, thick from four years of grueling training, and I could arm-wrestle ten men without even breaking a sweat. I could drag whole boats across its tides without blinking. And yet… the damn boulder hadn't moved even a meter uphill.
Lilith said it would take six years. I had two left. I didn't want to think about what would happen if I failed. I didn't plan to find out.
But today wasn't about the boulder, or the training, or how every part of me wanted to collapse and sleep for a week.
Today, I was heading to town, which—lately—had become a circus of sorts. Not because of me, although I seemed to be some kind of rising star among the village boys. No, today, the drama was all about Leuven.
My big brother was fifteen now. And in Morowind Haven, that meant only one thing: the betrothal age had begun.
And Leuven? He didn't just hit it. He exploded into it.
Gone was the lanky, teasing older brother who used to flick my forehead whenever I sulked. Now, he was all jawline and broad shoulders, his dark hair curling in just the right way, and his emerald eyes had that calm, stormy look that made girls literally trip over their skirts in the market.
I'm not exaggerating.
It was disgusting, really. But also? Kinda hilarious.
I could barely step into town without hearing whispers. Girls who wouldn't even look at me a year ago were now calling my name, waving like we were long-lost best friends. They all had the same story.
"Verdamonaaaa, can I walk with you?"
Or "Verdamona, let's get juice at the vendor's!"
Or "Hey, sooooo… is Leuven into loud girls? Or maybe quiet ones?"
It was obvious. They were crawling their way through me to get to him.
To be fair, it made sense. Our parents had told everyone what they were looking for in a future daughter-in-law. Not beauty or status—though let's be real, most of the candidates had both. What they wanted was someone who loved not just their son, but his siblings too.
Which meant me. And Thea.
Thea was six now. She was a bright little light with mischievous blue eyes like me and caramel curls that bounced when she ran. She was already sharp-tongued for her age, and any girl who tried to fake kindness toward her got swiftly rejected.
One girl brought her honey bread and tried to braid her hair—Thea pulled away and said, "Why does your smile look like it's lying?"
Icon.
Still, I played nice. Morowind Haven was all about connections. That's what my mother always said. I couldn't afford to push them away, even if I knew why they were here.
Plus… I wasn't blind to how people saw me lately.
I had changed. I wasn't the wild little girl running on the shore anymore. I'd grown taller and stronger. My hair had gotten longer and thicker. My skin glowed with sun and sea and strength. And I'd noticed the way the boys looked at me now and how their conversations always slowed when I walked by.
I wasn't stupid.
But beauty was a double-edged sword in our village. It got you admired. It also got you hated, especially when you were powerful.
The elemental girl and the psyche boy—both children of chiefs, both born to status and reverence—still didn't like me. Not even a little. It didn't matter that we'd trained side by side for four years. Didn't matter that we all collapsed at the end of every week with the same pain in our legs and dirt under our fingernails.
They still saw me as the "village girl." The anomaly. The one with too much power and too much attention.
It's not like I hated them. But we weren't friends. So here we were, four years later and none of us had made it to the halfway point. Not even close.
The elemental girl—her name was Xaessira, by the way—could barely get her boulder to budge more than a few meters per month. Her Flux could call forth wind but when it came to raw strength? She struggled.
The psyche boy—Rivene—was smarter than both of us combined, but he spent more time brooding than actually pushing his boulder. Still, I'd seen him manipulate the slope subtly, almost like he was bending the angle with his mind. He'd never admit it, though. Too proud.
And me?
I had the raw strength. I had the will. But the hill was a monster. It was slightly steep, slick with moss after every storm, and just unforgiving. My hands were covered in calluses. My back was a map of aches. But I never stopped.
Which was more than I could say for Xaessira. She'd taken two whole days off last week to get her nails done. Seriously?
So when I went into town that day, clothes sticking to my back from sweat, arms sore from yet another failed uphill push, the last thing I wanted to deal with was another girl trying to win me over with kindness she didn't mean.
And yet, there they were, four of them this time, all dressed up in embroidered tunics and gold-threaded sandals like they were royalty. One of them even brought a basket of fruit.
"Verdamona!" she called, her voice sugar-sweet. "We were just talking about you! Your arms look so strong today. You must be the strongest girl in Morowind Haven by now."
"I am," I said, not even trying to hide the flatness in my tone. It was true. I was sure no one here would even try to pick a fight with me.
That didn't stop her smile. She nudged her friend. "Told you. I mean, who wouldn't want a sister-in-law like her?"
They laughed like they were including me in the joke. They weren't.
"Have you seen Leuven today?" Another asked. "I heard he helped the smithy lift a whole beam by himself. Gods, his arms…"
"Still just arms," I muttered.
Thea came running up behind me then, barefoot as usual, holding a seashell. Seems that my brother was around if she is in town.
"Look! Look what I found!"
I knelt and took it from her hand, turning it over in mine.
"That's a moon shell. They wash up when the moon's high and the tide's fast. Good find."
She beamed. One of the girls crouched down, trying to act casual.
"Do you like seashells, Thea?"
Thea squinted at her. "Do you actually care or are you just trying to make me like you?"
The girl blinked. I smirked.
Eventually, they left. They always did.
But as I watched them walk away, I couldn't help but wonder what would happen in four more years, when I turned fifteen. Would I be the one people begged to marry? Would boys' parents line up outside my door the way they did for Leuven?
I didn't know. I wasn't sure I cared.
For now, I still had two more years to get that boulder to the top. Two more years to prove I was worth being taught. Let the girls chase betrothals.
I was chasing something else entirely.
"Thea. Let's go visit dad."
"Yaay!"