Sweat glistened from Laurance’s forehead. He pushes rogue hairs from his soaked skin and sheaths his sword at the sight of his sister coming towards him. In his eyes, she looked to be a mess. Perhaps that was what she was going towards when she dressed that morning.
“Are you alright?” He asks, rubbing the sweat off of his hands and onto his pants. He had been training with a dummy, advancing the skills he already possessed. Laurance feared he was rusty.
“If anyone should be asking that question,” Alex says, adjusting the way her hair falls along her shoulders. “It should be me. You have gone through so much lately.”
Laurance only rolls his eyes towards his sister. He extends a hand towards her but retracts it when he comes to the conclusion she wouldn’t touch it. His tan skin was covered in dirt. This differed from the pale sheen of her hand. “Let’s sit by the shade. It’s hot out today.”
Changes were occurring within Phoenix Drop. Some people were on edge, and Phoenix Drop was building onwards. A new guard tower was already in place, and new walls were in the process of being constructed. The population was slowly increasing.
“You’re not training with Garroth, today?” Alex asks. There had been a new guard during the time Laurance was without sight. He took over Laurance’s patrol so that Garroth wasn’t overloaded by himself. Alex didn’t have the chance to truly meet the new guard while this happened.
“Garroth is with the new guard,” he responds. “Besides, he and Kandi have been off lately since Zane left.”
Zane had left during the night of the party. Alex remembered watching him walk off during the party. She thought he was retiring for the night, but he wasn’t seen again in the morning. Garroth confirmed the same day Zane left, and people were left on high alert.
“Kandi was having a hard time with Zane before he left,” Alex admits. “She told me about it.”
“So you know what happened.”
Alex furrows her eyebrows together in confusion. This could’ve gone in different directions. “I would assume so.”
“So you know that Garroth and Kandi are Ro’meaves.” This causes Alex to freeze. Laurance’s eyes widened, realizing this was something she clearly didn’t know. “I just learned this myself! I’m sure Kandi would’ve told you sooner or later.”
The pure shock conquered the slight hurt Alex felt in that moment. She couldn’t believe this was something Kandi didn’t feel comfortable telling her about, but it also annoyed her that Laurance knew before she knew. She fakes a smile, standing from her seat in the shade.
“I should let you get back to training. I know how worried you’ve been about it recently. I, um, I think I’ll go and take a walk in the woods.”
Laurance wanted to reach out to her and object. He didn’t mean for her to find out the way she had, but he thought she knew. Laurance didn’t know of the twisted truth Kandi had told her. Garroth told him the news out of confidence. Instead, he just let her walk away.
°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°
“Are you alright? You've been staring at that flower for at least five minutes now.”
Alex looks up from the plucked flower in the hands. She drops it to the ground, little cares for it. “Why do you watch me?”
“Why would you stare at a flower for so long?”
Alex only shrugs her shoulders. She watches Vylad crouch down next to her, slowly seating himself down. He reaches for the flower, ripping off part of the stem and tucks it with her ear.
“I was thinking.”
The two had met several times that week. It hadn't been very long ever since their first meeting, but Alex already felt comfortable with Vylad. It was like a confidante. Besides, no one knew of Vylad, and Vylad tried his hardest not to be known. He failed when it came to Alex.
“Clearly. Something is bothering you. What's going on?”
A frown casts against Alex's lips. “Meteli is. . . very small. It takes a little while for us to receive information about what is going on with places that are farther. Um. . . A few years ago, I heard of great grief in O'Khasis. You know the High Priest came as of recently, and he left fairly quickly.”
Vylad was skeptical as to what Alex was trying to communicate. He watched her with careful eyes, analyzing every expression or tone of voice. She couldn't look him in the eye, so she was deeply bothered by the topic.
He stayed silent, not wanting to upset her more. Alex looks up at him, narrowing her eyes.
“Vylad, how did you know he wasn't who he presented himself to be?”
“I've traveled the world. You see people.”
She tries to swallow the lump in her throat. “You spoke like you knew him personally. . . at least, to me you did,” Alex stares down at her feet. Everything was beginning to click to her. Details were starting to piece together. She reaches up to touch the flower, gingerly. Her eyes lock with Vylad's. “Do Kandi and Garroth know that you're alive?”
