As the evening came and the light from Rahimateh’s Gaze crested on the horizon, I finally stepped out of the Emporium and sighed in relief. Today was much more tiring than usual, and it wasn't from the customers themselves. After the talk with Phaedra, I tried to move on with the day’s work with my usual charm and jubilance. I had only found partial success in that, though thankfully not enough to negatively affect my work.

I knew that I would eventually have to face her and these feelings at some point, but the desire to hold off was too much for me. Phaedra and I are friends and that's all we will ever be. Repeating that lessened the ache in my heart.

“Are you still thinking about her?” Master Nizian lightly strode next to me, his face passive but his eyes gave away the concern and sympathy he was hiding.

I shook my head at him, giving a wry smile, “I’m completely fine. Phaedra and I have already talked about it, which you can attest to.”

My mentor frowned at me, seemingly both disappointed and unconvinced.

“I won't put my nose too far into this, mostly because it doesn't concern me,” I felt my body tense as he started, “Take this advice to heart though, talk to her and clear out any bad feelings you have between each other.” He paused for a moment, and I could tell he was letting those words sink into me. I only nodded in acceptance, but I wasn't sure I could follow them.

My mentor stared at me for a long moment. I could tell there were some choice words he wanted to say but was holding them back.

“Lukyanos,” he calmly stated, and I winced as he used my full name. I knew the conversation wasn't turning in a good direction, “I've known you your entire life. Your father, one of my closest friends since I was a child, invited me to witness the moment you and each of your brothers were born. I've watched you grow as the seasons pass, so don't even try to fool me with the Divines-damned act you constantly have on to save face.”

I couldn’t help myself, I looked away from him in shame and embarrassment. Master Nizian had an uncanny ability to discern a person’s thoughts just at a glance, even when it was the first time they met. This was developed further by his profession as a merchant, and it was completely arrogant of me to think I would be the only person who had escaped that sort of notice.

I straightened my posture and put on the most radiant smile I could manage. I didn’t want to admit it, but my mentor was right. The longer I put this off, the worse it would affect my relationship with Phaedra.

“That’s the spirit,” my mentor beamed with exuberance, “The rest is up to you, I won’t do anything else. But thank you for not leaving this off, my head feels faint at how this would’ve affected the reputation of my business.”

He laughed with the force of his entire body, and I held back a groan of indignation. I am grateful to Master Nizian for taking me on as his apprentice, the jokes at my expense were a small price to pay for it.

“I think it would’ve improved it. Having a few more people come by just for the gossip and rumors.” I smiled at him cheekily, which was reciprocated by a raised eyebrow.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself, boy. You still have much to learn to be even half as good as I am. Now get going, I don’t need you causing any more trouble for me.”

Even though his tone came off as complaining, I could see the faint smile he was trying to hide. I gave a sly smirk to him and ran off. I needed a plan for how I was going to speak with Phaedra.

Thoughts and ideas floated through my head, but so were many worries and fears. There were plenty of ways the conversation could go down, and as I imagined them my resolve started to crumble. I had no prior experience with this exact situation, and I didn’t know what to do.

One possibility suddenly came to mind, but it was equally as stressful as working things out with Phaedra. Still, though, it was a good idea. Who better to get advice about this than her twin brother? With a few turns down the street, I made my way to the garrison where Aristo was stationed.

The building itself used the standard architecture that was common throughout the rest of Khasain, with a few additions to make it sturdier. The two-story compound covered almost half of the entire street, and a few guards were leaving for the end of their shift.

I waved at one of them and asked where Aristo currently was. Recognizing me as one of his friends, the guard pointed me over to the garrison’s training yard. After striding over there, I caught Aristo in the middle of talking to another guard. He was an exact copy of Phaedra, except he was much more muscular, and his eyes were a shade of blue instead of purple.

He saw me and gave a surprised but friendly smile, “Anos, good to see you. I didn’t expect you to come here.”

I returned the smile, though inwardly I dreaded what I wanted to talk to him about. Aristo was a good and honorable person, but he also had a small temper to him.

“Can’t I just come by and talk to one of my closest friends?”

“Maybe, but you don’t usually come here unless either for a favor or the rare times you want to spar with me. Besides, it’s the end of the day. You always like to keep to your own schedule.” he gave a disarming grin, my mind momentarily faltering for words.

“I won’t deny any of that, but can I have a word with you? In private.”

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Aristo’s face froze at my words, and I could see him resorting to his guard training to keep composed. This reaction confused me, but after thinking about it I couldn’t fault him for it. The way I asked about it made it seem like something serious and possibly troublesome was happening.

My friend’s shoulders slumped, and emotion returned to his face. I didn’t expect the resignation he showed to me, and also the hurt and betrayal that came with it.

“So, my sister talked with you.”

It wasn’t a question, just a statement. One that both surprised me and made me tense up. Aristo told the guard next to him goodbye, leading me away by my hand. I barely resisted as we moved.

“Get to the changing rooms and put on some gear. I’ll talk to the commander and have him approve our spar.”

Those words left me with a terrible feeling forming in my gut.

----------------------------------------

I quickly raised my shield at the incoming sword strike, trying to deflect rather than outright block it. I countered with the tip of the staff, but Aristo saw it coming and parried. For the fifth time in the last minute, I almost let go due to the force of the blow.

I wasn’t in any true danger, the curved sword Aristo was wielding wasn’t sharp and had a covering of leather on the edge. I was also equipped with typical training gear, including light leather armor and a skirt fitted with leather strips that fell to my knees. Even so, I was putting my all into the duel I was forced to participate in.

I was never considered to be sluggish, even as a young child I had mountains of stamina to call upon. I also kept up with the exercises I learned when my brother Orion was still here, giving me a very fit and athletic build. That barely did me any good as the man I was fighting used the full amount of force available to pummel me.

What was the most disorienting to me was that Aristo didn’t look angry or furious. His face was a perfect mask of calm determination, and that scared me to my core. This was a side of my friend I never wanted to be on the receiving end of.

I did my best to dodge and block his attacks, old training infusing into my muscles as I maneuvered around him. But we had sparred against each other a few times, and we already had a decent sense of each other’s styles.

Aristo was pure aggression and efficiency, with little energy being wasted in every movement and attack. Each swipe of his sword was angled to provide the most amount of damage while still keeping it in place to parry a counterattack. I couldn’t find any easy openings, so I improvised.

I spun over to his left and feinted with my staff. He parried again and I responded with a shield charge to his shoulder. He saw through it and sidestepped the attack, catching my ankle and making me trip. I quickly recovered my balance, but my attempt to block the sword glanced off the rim of my shield.

I ducked under, just barely avoiding a blow to the head. I took advantage of the opportunity and speared my friend in the gut. I thanked the gods as it succeeded and was rewarded by Aristo being stunned and recovering his breath. Instead of going in for another attack, I backed away and looked straight into his eyes.

“I think we’ve had enough,” I panted, “It’s been almost two hours since we’ve started.”

A moment of tense silence followed, and I relaxed once Aristo lowered the sword. We were both pretty tired by now and were sporting several bruises on our bodies. Myself more than him.

We walked to a bench together and rested. Wiping the sweat from our bodies, we stayed there in tense silence for several minutes.

“I’m sorry for forcing you to do that, but I needed something to release my frustrations.” Aristo looked regretful, and I couldn’t say anything to dispute his words, “It’s not that I disapprove of you and my sister being together, I just didn’t like how you kept it hidden from me.”

I nodded along, some regret forming in my own heart. “I didn’t mean to hide it from-”

“Yes, you did, Anos!” my friend proclaimed in frustration, “You always do things like this, you hide what you are doing from the rest of us and we have to find out after the fact. We know that it’s never about being malicious, but it still hurts every fucking time.”

I lowered my head, everything my friend was saying was correct. Whenever I had some sort of idea or inspiration, I would always go off without consulting them first. It’s gotten me into some trouble in the past, but luckily nothing too bad. Still, it’s a problem that the others constantly get tired of.

“Like I said, I don’t hate the idea of you and Phaedra courting each other. You’ve become like a brother to me-” I winced at the comment, but he didn’t seem to notice, “-and I would love it for it to become official. Ever since our mother died, it’s mainly been the two of us helping each other at home. Phaedra has been putting too much stress on herself in her alchemy, all so she can help provide for us.”

My lips pursed together in trepidation. Aristo and Phaedra’s father died in battle shortly before they were born, and their mother passed away from illness several years ago. My parents tried to offer them a little money to help support them, but they both politely declined. They both didn’t want any sort of charity, especially from people they considered family.

Phaedra somehow managed to gain an apprenticeship as a coveted alchemist not long after, and Aristo had already joined the town guard before then. They’ve been doing decently well for themselves, and both were extremely dedicated to their chosen professions. It was something I both admired and was pleased with, and I admit it is what partially led to my feelings towards Phaedra.

“I didn’t know she was pushing herself so hard. She looked fine to me earlier, at least physically.”

“She’s not working herself to death, I am at least thankful for that. Even that Divines-damned old man she has for a mentor isn’t able to put her down.”

I gave an amused grin at that, ruefully thinking about how that man constantly failed in his endeavor to prove Phaedra incompetent. That man just doesn’t seem to comprehend that she is a force of nature all on her own, one that had captured me in my heart.

I hastily shook out the thought, not wanting to be distracted, “Good, I’m glad. It will be stressful enough for me, I don’t need to worry about her health on top of that. I wish to have your help with that. I want to have a proper talk with her and clear out the feelings we have. The one we had earlier, wasn’t what I would say was comfortable for us.”

My friend nodded along, though I could see a little hesitation from him, “I completely understand. I’ll be there to support you from the sides.”

We shook hands and stood back up. Aristo leaned in to sniff me, immediately turning away and waving his hand over his nose.

“Gross, you should take a bath before you meet her. You smell just as badly as horse manure.”

I jabbed him in the side, but we both laughed at the bad attempt at humor. I was still worried about how it was going to go, but not as much as before. I had good friends and family by my side, and Khasain was a town I felt safe to live in. It all felt perfect for me, and that was why I never considered that it would be destroyed.