The Classic Tale of You and Me

Chapter VII: Two Fates

Chapter 7: Two Fates

The night never felt this anxious.

From his small room, Len waited for Rei to come. The unexpected rain fell hard at nightfall, soaking the young man on his way home. At least, he couldn't contain the knowledge he obtained from their brief encounter with the chieftain of the highwaymen, and he was decided to relay it to the aspiring knight. However, learning such history from a considerable defiant gentleman almost put his young life and his lady's dark one at stake. If it wasn't because of that fact...he and Miku could either be a hostage or their slaves.

The lightning struck the fields, illuminating the endless stretch of land for a brief moment. The young blond, cold and shivering, walked out of his room when he heard Rei's arrival after the lightning. The raven-haired boy was soaked with rain himself, his dark fringe fell straight at the tip of his nose, and his hair garter was loosen. The glee spreading on his youthful face told Len what story could his friend narrate for that stormy night.

"Len!" called Rei the moment he laid his eyes on the blond wrapped with his blanket. The lifeless expression of his comrade puzzled Rei as he approached him, the blond's gloomy demeanor dissolved Rei's good news. "I bet something bad happened."

There was no response at first other than Len's blue orbs boring through Rei's vibrant ones. The stand still was shattered by the thunder roaring, the wind sneaked through the door opened ajar. Candlelight flickered at that instance, and when the flame became stable, Len turned and went to his room.

"More than bad, Rei. More than bad."

Such brief statement from his fellow interested the still dripping wet young man, following the sullen blond. The way Len's face frowned at the orange burning light was a confirmation that it was, indeed, a bad day. Rei wished that Len's sour countenance was not a result of his project undone -- or if so ever he continued it without Rei's help, but with no success -- because that disappointed Rei as much.

"Pray do tell me what happened today," Rei spoke amid the rumbling noise of the windows being slapped by rain and wind. He occupied the seat near the doorway of Len's room and pulled over his wet linen shirt, grumbling his disgust with the sudden thunderstorm, even though 'sudden' is not appropriate to describe the present weather.

Len watched Rei as he dry himself with the cloth settled on the table adjacent to his seat. He wasn't mistaken of what he saw for his room was relatively small and the candlelight was more than enough to illuminate it. There was a dark blemish against Rei's pale skin, it was noticeable at his back. Like an ink blot on a clean paper, Len could not be mistaken. His face puckered and crinkled in dismissing the thoughts forming inside his head, and along the process, he did not notice that Rei was watching him wince to himself.

"Len--"

"Leave as soon as you can, Rei. Be a knight and come back here with glory, bringing the Queen's emblem on your flag." Len's eyes were not looking at Rei but the raven-haired boy could see that those eyes were fiery. "Highwaymen are posing a dangerous threat on both kingdoms."

A smile lit Rei's face, might be because he was not used to hear Len talk about highwaymen with seriousness. His sly smile soon faded as he asked, "what makes you say, Len? You are the last person I expect to tell me that."

"I met their chieftain this afternoon. I was with Miku."

Silence fell between them as Rei stared at Len in disbelief.

The heavy rain had ceased by the time Rei had his hair dried. He was sharing Len's bed as they sat in silence, watching the flickering shadows casted on the small wall. He was itching to hear Len's tale about the chieftain of the highwaymen, not because he was into this matter but this should concern him how Len was changed to be this downcast, or annoyed. Highwaymen were after aristocrats and Rei was sure that Len couldn't be mistaken as a noble, unless he was dressed his best when he was caught with Miku.