Royal Reboot: Level up, Your Majesty!

The Handmaid’s Tale 

1

Natalia’s stomach turned as she ran. Exercise wasn’t new to her. Gifted training included plenty of core strength work. They had to get their bodies ready to handle arcane energy, after all.

Which made it even more frustrating that she was out of breath chasing Eydis, of all people. Eydis, who used to barely survive warm-ups.

“Wait up! Slow down!” Natalia called. “Since when have you… been training… for the Olympics?” 

Eydis glanced back over her shoulder. “Training? I like to think of it as adapting.”

“To what? Marathon-running cheetahs?” Natalia said between gasps.

Eydis slowed a little, amused. “You’d be amazed what carrying three centuries of historical trauma can do for your arms.”

Natalia scoffed, rolling her eyes, though a grin tugged at her lips. “Right. You mean the books at the library? Does anyone even read those?”

“They’re required reading,” Eydis said.

“And you read them… for fun?”

Eydis gave her a sly smile. “I enjoy history. It keeps the brain sharp.”

“Apparently the legs too,” Natalia said breathlessly.

That stopped Eydis. 

Literally.

Natalia, who hadn’t seen it coming, stumbled forward and just barely avoided eating dirt thanks to a hand catching her at the waist.

She looked up.

Eydis looked down, clearly amused.

Natalia's heart skipped. Probably just the running. Yeah. That was it.

“Not quite.” Eydis smirked. “The proper term is adaptating.”

The words were vague. Maybe even a little smug. Natalia wanted to be irritated. Her heart disagreed. 

But exercise? Adaptation?

The Eydis Natalia used to know would be tucked under a tree right now, lost in a book and avoiding exercise at all costs. But this version, confident and grinning like the sun had always been hers, was different.

Attractive.

Natalia blinked and tried to shake the thought loose.

They ended up under an oak tree, the shade cool and full of rustling sounds. Eydis grabbed Natalia’s water bottle without asking and took a long drink.

Natalia stared at her throat. Not on purpose. Just… it moved in a way that caught her attention.

“Didn’t you used to avoid the sun?” she asked, a little too casual.

Eydis smirked again. “Desperate times.” Her expression shifted, just slightly. Softer. “Actually, I don’t think I ever hated it. I just never really got to enjoy it.”

There was more there, something Natalia could’ve pulled on, but before she could, Eydis was back to her usual self.

“You, though? You could use some sunlight. I’ve seen ghosts with more colour.”

Natalia rolled her eyes and snatched the bottle back. “Pfft. Fire magic is its own form of cardio. Who needs the sun when you are the sun?”

“Fireballs are great until your magic decides to take the day off,” Eydis said. “Speaking of… What exactly is ‘sexercise’? I keep seeing it on the bird app.”

Natalia choked on her drink.

“First of all, it’s Tweeter. Second, stop treating it like a dictionary!”

“How else am I supposed to stay informed about the giant ominous eye in the sky?” Eydis asked, gesturing vaguely upward.

Natalia squinted. “Did you stay up all night scrolling through conspiracy threads?”

“Let’s just say something… captivating has kept me up.” 

She removed her glasses and cleaned them with her sleeve. 

Natalia’s breath caught, then looked away. Fast.

God. Girl removes glasses, becomes a moment. Cliché. And yet, somehow…

It worked.

A question rose in Natalia’s throat. She dodged it.

“What could possibly be that interesting?” she asked, pretending her heart hadn’t just flipped upside down. Definitely didn’t say Astra’s name in her head. Nope.

Eydis looked at her. “Overwhelmed, are we?” she said. “Maybe you should head back.”

Natalia scoffed. “Me? Please. By what?”

Eydis reached out and rested her palm gently against Natalia’s forehead, then leaned in a little closer.

“You look exhausted.”

Natalia’s heart jumped. “I’m not!”

And she wasn’t. Not tired, anyway. There was just something else messing with her head.

Jealousy? No. 

Absolutely not. 

Ridiculous.

Eydis stepped back, frowning at her fogged-up glasses. “These again. Any tricks to stop them fogging?”

Natalia let out a breath she didn’t realise she’d been holding, relieved at the space, but slightly annoyed that she missed the closeness.

“Contact lenses. Or, knowing you lately, maybe a royal monocle would suit you better.”

Eydis only smiled. The kind of smile that never came with an explanation as she rose to her feet.

Natalia followed in silence.

“Let me see what Tweeter says about contact lenses,” Eydis said over her shoulder.

Natalia couldn’t help but laugh. Only Eydis could go from mystical to meme-addicted in two seconds flat. Still, as they made their way back toward the dorms, Natalia felt it that flutter in her chest again. That question in her head.

Why did a single glance leave her breathless?

We’re just friends, Natalia told herself. That’s all.

She focused on the garden they passed through: earthy autumn scents, the crunch of leaves. That was what she wanted. 

Normal.

But that feeling of peace shattered easily, like a soap bubble.

*

The class before lunch was always set aside for Gifted training. Natalia reached up and adjusted the small metal pin on her collar, turning it slightly. It was a gold-trimmed badge bearing the symbol of St. Kevin’s, but it was only given to Gifted students, colour-coded by rank.

Most wore theirs like a badge of honour, all the time. Unlike them, she only clipped it on when she didn’t have a choice.

Like now.

Natalia swiped her keycard at the reinforced door leading into the Sanctuary, and the wall split open immediately. She followed the staircase down to the underground training ground, expecting the usual pre-training chatter.

Instead, it was quiet.

Students were spread out in little groups, murmuring in hushed toned. As she passed, Natalia caught pieces of the conversation.

“She’s already back?”

“I thought she got kicked out.”

“Since when is Tiffany a Gifted?”

And then Natalia saw her, and stopped in her tracks.

Tiffany Blackwood stood near the center of the room, smiling smugly, eyes scanning the gathered students.

“Tiffany?” Natalia asked, not bothering to hide the disbelief. “What are you doing here? I thought you were—”

“Expelled?” Tiffany cut her off. “Please. Don’t you know who I am? But you…” She narrowed her eyes. “You’re the real surprise. Who knew you were Gifted?”

“It’s not something I advertise like a new handbag.”

She wasn’t sure what was more surprising, that Tiffany was still enrolled or that she’d somehow made it into the Gifted ranks. That wasn’t supposed to happen.

The scent of her perfume was as overbearing as the rest of her when she stepped closer. “Natalia,” Tiffany purred, “I challenge you to a duel.”

That did it. 

The room fell silent the instant Tiffany issued her challenge. Heads lifted, whispers died. Everyone knew what a duel meant.

Natalia started to answer, but Astra arrived first. Her loose ponytail swung as she crossed the floor. She had that same unreadable, distant look about her… but something in her eyes had changed. Concern.

“What are you trying to pull?” 

Tiffany pasted on a sweet smile. “Oh, Your Highness. I thought mingling with us un-Gifted peasants was beneath you.”

“Just you,” Astra replied. “Your antics are as predictable as they are tiresome.”

“Back off. This is between me and Natalia.”

“A formal duel, Tiffany?” Natalia asked. “On your first day back?”

“What, are you scared?” Tiffany taunted. “I don’t make the rules. Hand over your pin or fight to keep it.”

“I am not stopping at C-Class, either.” Her gaze flicked to Astra, but Astra had already turned away, finished with the conversation.

Natalia felt the stakes settle on her shoulders. Lose, and she dropped to D-Class, losing her slot in the advanced fire-affinity program. And Lionel… would he be disappointed?

More importantly, Tiffany would walk around thinking intimidation worked.

Natalia clenched her fists. “Fine. We duel. Hurt Eydis again and you will regret it.”

Tiffany laughed, irritatingly and loud. For a heartbeat her eyes flashed violet.

It was on.

*

From the stands Theo watched Mr. Grant weave a protective barrier around the platform. His jaw stayed tight.

“Another round of Tiffany’s games,” he muttered.

Athena, his fiancée, seated beside him. “The Blackwoods are a major patron of this academy. Dean Saito didn’t have much of a choice, not after what Tiffany… displayed.”

“Government ties are not enough. Now they want the academy too.”

Athena kept her voice low. “Of course they do. This place trains power. That’s exactly what they’re after.”

He glanced at her. “Do you have a plan, Thena?”

“Not yet. But watching Tiffany closely might reveal what she’s really after.”

Theo hesitated. “You’re planning to use your Gift?”

Athena didn’t deny it.

“I thought you hated doing that,” he said.

"I crossed a line with Eydis,” she admitted. “Her aura forced the intrusion. I touched her surface thoughts, then hit something else.”

“A wall?”

“A void. Vast. It pulled. Another step and I might not have come back.”

Theo absorbed that. “And Tiffany?”

“Something my brother should hear,” she said, eyes on the platform.

Theo gripped the armrests. “Can we stop this? What if—”

“It’s alright, Theo.” Athena cut him off gently. “Natalia accepted the challenge. Intervening now wouldn’t be wise.”

She paused, her gaze drifting toward Astra, who stood still near the duel platform.

“Besides,” she added, “I think Astra sensed it too.”

Astra’s face revealed nothing, but her wooden training sword creaked in her grip. A small detail. Athena never missed small details.