Starve This Sin

{ Chapter Seven }

Metal slapped metal. Ringing bounced it's way through skull. Hands, flesh, kept moving to grind against the other.

Eva and Ben were in combat, a training session. Their first one together since Winter Solstice.

Ben had been leaving instructions with Edana for Eva each day, apparently he had taken a trip. They were light instructions and after two weeks, Eva's body had begun to heal and grow stronger again after being so worn down.

To prove it, Ben actually worked up a sweat fighting her. Her swiftness had improved, her strikes more calculated and confident. The hiatus had seemed to pay off.

One last lunge and Ben had her in the cross hairs, play striking her ankle and forcing her to surrender on the floor beneath him.

Despite the obvious improvement, Ben stayed quiet. He needed to be more careful with his praises, with his softness. He could only be cruel and demanding from here on out, that was his choice after days of debating while he was away. Being so close to her, pressed so tightly, his mind could not grasp letting her go. So he had to rip her away.

Eva could sense his hesitation with her from the moment he called for her. He was sucked in, his emotions turned off. She would do all the same.

She knew her feelings for Ben had been nothing but purely physical desperation. She collected herself and her pride quickly, trying to burn alive the butterflies that fluttered in her each time she thought of his words. "Every single second of every day."

She needed to believe they meant nothing, that they had been a lie to push her. He must be playing a game thus she wouldn't fall into his traps any longer.

Ben offered a hand to help her stand and Eva ignored it, rolling to stand on her own.

"Again," he ordered.

Eva went for her bowl of water, splashing her neck before sipping from the lip.

"Now," he ordered. Eva ignored him, continuing to sip slowly, lightly tipping the base in her palms.

Due to his attempted resignations, his anger was quick to flash, as usual.

He stormed over and flung the bowl from her hands, splashing it over the two of them.

"You couldn't stand to give me a moment?" She glared, her anger popping off to match. The tension between them was boiling to it's top.

"You will follow my orders," he argued, asserting his authority.

"It was just water!" Eva sneered, pushing his chest to force him back from her personal space. "Get out of my face."

"You can't just do what you please. I said again."

"And I said, water break!"

"You'll drink when I tell you to drink."

"What next, do I need permission to use the bath too?"

Ben's face scrunched into clear aggression.

"You want me to leave you locked away for days? Is that it?" He stepped closer again, kicking the bowl across the room.

"It's better than seeing you!" She exclaimed. She returned his glare, as she usually managed. Eva held up to his anger, always. "You should've stayed away, gave me more time!"

Ben shook his head, "you didn't need any more time. I am over it, as are you. We must move forward, there is no time to dwell on foolish thoughts and-"

"Nothing about what I said to you was foolish," Eva defends. "Youre the fool for treating me like this over and over. You're immature, self righteous and unlovable, Ben. You'll be miserable and lonely forever, you did that to yourself!"

Eva's words went dramatically south, as they usually did. She always went for a deep cut when she felt cornered.

"I may be unlovable. But atleast I have purpose, atleast I know what my life is for. Before I came to you, before I swept you up to search your ability. What were you doing with your life? Brushing horses and picking flowers for your dead mother over and over? With no suitor, no life besides your sisters and serving my father. It was sad, pathetic. So before you rail me for being the man I need to be, remember the privilege I gave you."

Eva screamed then, a volture to the wind, mind blackening with disgrace and pain.

"You forced me! You threatened my family and cornered me into being your second hand. You gave me nothing. You stole everything."

Sword met sword. Another fight began, with far more passion.

They raced around each other, throwing dirty punches and trips, swords clattering, both screaming and grunting as red anger sizzled their spirits.

"If I'm the villain, why do you harbor these feelings for me, Eva? Why can't you let them go?" Ben paced across the room, as they broke from an interlock.

"I want to," she admits. "I want to hate you with all of me so badly."

"And yet?"

"And yet you plague my soul like a black cloud. Floating, never ceasing to remind me how I could want you. It's disgusting, putride, and it holds onto me like a leech."

Ben faulters in his step, the heat draining from his face. Guilt washed him. He knew why this was and yet he could never validate that for her, it would become too real.

"Did you find magic to rid you of this curse, Ben? Is that where you went? Because if so, I want it right now."

Eva had stopped her pacing as well, lowering her weapon to point to the floor, feeling the emotional exhaustion take hold.

He answers with a voice hard and distant. "I have looked into it."

"And?" She was hopeful.

"No such luck." He sighed loudly then, letting his own weapon fall. "Eva, we must agree on something. We need to move on from this, forget what happened in the hall. It's not good for either of us and should be ignored at all costs. We can't let these emotional outbursts rule your training. Do you understand?"

With a gulp of confusion, chest heaved in protest, Eva nodded slowly. "As you wish."