Quoted By:
You regard the two young men with a weary gaze. You're not sure if word of your father's death has already started to spread, and this is their way of taking your mind off it, or if this is all a tremendous coincidence. You're not sure which one would be better or worse either. The silence seems to draw out forever as you consider the proposal, Daniel's smug smile never wavering for a second while Jan, almost hiding behind him, fidgets nervously. You feel pulled in two directions, caught between the prophecy and the new sword.
“Fine, you win,” you decide at last, your answer causing Daniel's grin to grow that much wider. “I could certainly do with the distraction,” you add cautiously as he slaps you on the shoulder, watching his reaction.”
“Studies getting you down too, huh?” he replies casually, “Well, it's like I said. It'll do you good.”
So he doesn't know. Or he's pretending not to know. More likely the former, knowing Daniel. Grabbing your new sword and buckling it to your belt, you curtly nod for him to lead the way. As he takes off, you have a moment to consider your two... associates. Daniel, of the Teilhard family, is every inch the perfect young soldier – handsome, righteous and brave. You really ought to find each other intolerable, yet he seems to have made it his mission to befriend you.
Jan, of the Martense family, is another anomaly. He never seems particularly comfortable around you, or anyone else, yet he seems terribly fearful of the Solitude that his family is known for. He's inoffensive enough, you suppose, but soft. You highly doubt he'll be throwing any punches tonight.
“Now, you know how this works,” Daniel asks as you're leaving Coral House, “Don't you?”
“Of course I do,” you assure him, “We find the local boys, then spend a few moments on insulting each other. When that gets tiresome – which, I imagine, won't take very long at all – we have a nice civilised brawl.”
“You have such a way with words,” Jan murmurs, the faint smile on his face softening the sarcasm.
Pausing at the top of the hill, you look out across the town below and focus on the lights twinkling from the Distaff – the Coral House Young Ladies' College, to give it the proper name. Until that damn letter arrived, you had assumed that Gratia was safely cloistered within the school. But now...
“Keep up!” Daniel chides, gesturing frantically for you to hasten your steps. Shaking off the dark thoughts, you hurry after him.
-
“There they are,” Daniel mutters, pointing to a handful of gaudily dressed young men lingering on the street corner, “From a merchant family, I suppose.”
“New money,” Jan agrees, sadly shaking his head, “No taste at all.”
[1/2]
