The Tales of a Cursed Warrior

VII

Her farewell to Ares and Lukas was empty after the ceremony. She felt drained, no energy left in her to even grieve.

Ares kissed the top of her head after she finished fussing with all the pins the maids had put in her hair. "Be careful," he whispered, his eyes broken. "I don't want you dead the next time we meet."

He didn't mean it literally.

For his sake, she smiled. "I'll be fine, don't you worry."

He pointed at a black strap around his wrist. "We asked for these yesterday. They're passes for letters so that we don't have to communicate illegally like we did in the military."

"I'll have them bring me one," she said, nodding.

She turned to Lukas who stood a little further, not intruding on her farewell with her brother. 

"This whole thing is really affecting him," said Ares, following her gaze. "He spent the morning locked in the bath chamber and when he came out, he didn't speak to anyone. Did you tell him something last night?"

Asteria nodded stiffly. "A couple of things."

Ares sighed and hugged her tightly. "We'll see you soon, okay? If anything happens, write it in your letters and I want one at least every week, got it?"

She flashed him a crooked grin. "Yes, General."

He smiled, pinching her cheek lightly and walked away. She approached Lukas and followed his line of vision. He stared at the maze in the distance, head tilted slightly as he surveyed it.

"It's kind of sad," he mused, a small grin pulling at his lips, "how things are always different from what you think."

"How do you mean?" she humoured him.

He looked down at her. Something in his eyes, something in her heart, broke. "You expect something but you're only staring at a small detail in a painting. You're leaving the whole thing and watching the golden frame. You don't see the weeping lady shackled to a chair. You don't see the tears on her face. You see the ridiculously expensive chair or the ill-gotten tiara she wears. You never see the main thing first."

"If you're going poetic, then you're doing fine," she offered with a short laugh.

He met her eyes. "I will be fine. And so will you. Even if we both wish things were different."

"I will be fine," she echoed, almost believing him.

"Come here, Star," he murmured, spreading his arms.

She gladly stepped into his embrace, desperately trying to hold onto his warmth. But it was slipping away. Slowly but surely. The warmth she knew was going away.

She buried her head into his shoulder, exhaling shakily.

"When we see each other, we'll both be fine," he whispered. "Maybe not the next time we meet or the next but some day—one day."

She hated how she could never figure out his twisted riddles but she nodded anyway. "One day."

Lukas smiled at her when she pulled back and winked. "Don't get into too much trouble without me, Cap."

"I'll never dream of it," she laughed, hugging herself. This was the first time since they first met—she was thirteen and Lukas fifteen—for them to not see each for more than a couple of days. And it was left them both on edge.

"Don't do anything stupid," she warned.

"I'm supposed to say that!" he said indignantly, gasping in mock offence.