“You didn’t have a choice,” Lyrassa said, riding her horse next to Geruke’s. Soil splashed into the air, and dust clouds billowed behind Madrily as she galloped onwards, a dozen paces ahead of the two of them

The noon’s sunlight glimmered on the hilly plain’s green grass; dappled with patches of yellow and brown. It was hot that day, so in order to stop themselves from tiring out, they took off their plate armour and stored it in their supply carriage. If there were any enemies that would attack them, they’d have plenty of time to get ready, considering how far and wide they could see on the grassy plains. Despite that, Geruke wished he could take his gambeson off as well, but Madrily said that they should keep it on, just in case.

As they rose up an incline, the peaks of the distant vellion mountains peeked over the hill’s summit. The mountain’s faded and ghostly grey contrasted the stark blue sky.

“I would’ve left me for dead as well,” Lyrassa said, smiling at him. “It’s my fault for running into such a hopeless situation.”

“You wouldn’t have done that if I didn’t run in initially,” Geruke said, frowning. “Not only did I endanger you, but I also endangered myself. I got nothing out of it.”

“That’s true.” Lyrassa rubbed his back. “But you shouldn’t feel bad. At least you learned your lesson quickly afterwards.”

“Did I?” Geruke chuckled and shook his head. “I ruined my best chance at hitting it big, Lyra.”

“We’ve just started our mission and you’re saying you’ve ruined your chance?” Lyrassa poked his cheek. “You need to lighten up.”

“I’m not talking about this mission,” Geruke pushed her hand away. “My best chance at getting tons of money was Maddy.”

“That was going nowhere.” Lyrassa rolled her eyes. “Barsanna did you a favour by exposing you.”

“What’re you talking about? Maddy was madly in love with me before her mother snitched.”

“No, you’re just full of yourself,” Lyrassa giggled. “She never liked your facade, and even if she did, it was just a facade.”

“I can make her like the real me.”

Lyrassa’s laugh rumbled the air. “If you worked as a jester you wouldn’t have even needed to get a loan from the Templaga; you’re a natural.”

“I’m being serious,” Geruke flushed and chuckled. “I can make her love me again.”

“The two of you are night and day. Trying to put your dick in her is like trying to shove a square peg into a keyhole.”

“We’re not that different. And please don’t use that analogy ever again,” Geruke grimaced and his cheeks reddened."It’s bringing up some disturbing mental images."

“Name one thing that’s similar between the two of you.”

“Um,” Geruke paused and stared at the sky. “We-“

“-have nothing in common.”

“No, we do. We…” Geruke cupped his chin in his palm as he paused and thought." We… both hate the Fralil!"

“I’d be the one fucking her if that’s all it took,” Lyrassa snorted. “Next.”

“Uh… We’re both kind to ou-.”

“That’s just a straight up lie.”

“Ok, fine.” Geruke sighed. “We have nothing in common.”

“And there’s nothing wrong with that.” Lyrassa rested her palm on and rubbed his shoulder. “There’s a lot of other people out there.”

“That’s true,” Geruke said, turning back to Lyrassa with a slight grin. “There’s lots of other nobles out there I could marry.”

“That’s not what I’m saying.” Lyrassa’s eyes narrowed.

“It could work. I could even exploit my being a member of the Righcas family.”

However, the problem with that would be the Queen. If she found out he was alive, she’d send assassins after him again to kill him. Maybe he could only contact members of the nobility who thought negatively of the Queen? How would he know which ones did and which ones didn’t? He somewhat had a connection with Barsanna, who was a member of the nobility, albeit quite low down in the noble hierarchy, but she was certainly in it, at least. He could have her try to connect with and gossip with nobles to get information.

“Regardless of who you were,” Lyrassa said. “What you are isn’t desirable to the nobility. You’re not even a blacksmith apprentice anymore; you’re unemployed.” Lyrassa’s hand fell and slid down his arm to squeeze his bicep. “Go for someone lower down the hierarchy; someone who would actually be interested in someone like you.”

“I could change,” Geruke said, clenching his fist, and staring passionately at the horizon. “I’m not desirable to them now, but If I get richer, then they’d have to acknowledge me.”

“That’s just silly,” Lyrassa giggled “You want to marry rich people to get rich and you want to be rich to marry rich people. Just settle for someone who’ll make you happy,” Fluttering his heart, her hand fell to his, and her fingers squeezed through the gaps between his fingers to press her palm to his knuckles. “Settle for someone closer.”

Geruke paused. Silence spread between them. The wind’s rustling and caressing of the plains grass tickled his ears. He tried to ignore it and deny it, but he couldn’t. He on some level wished his earlier worries of her hating him for abandoning her on Snakard’s ship were true, but on some level was glad that it wasn’t. Why?

He wanted her, but there were other things he wanted more. Life would be easier if he just denied his and her wants, but it seemed like she refused to let that happen, especially when the events of the earlier night brought a chance to strike. And why shouldn’t she?

Her cheeks reddenned.

Why should he resist?

His heart thumped against his sternum.

He flipped his hand to wrap his palm around hers. Warming his cheeks, he squeezed her soft skin, and the touch struck his hand with thunder. Lyrassa leaned towards him.

“W-why would I settle for someone similar to myself?” He stammered, pushed her hand away, and swerved his horse away from hers. “I need to ascend, not settle.”

“Is that so?” Lyrassa muttered.

What sort of face did she make? Geruke couldn’t bring himself to turn and check. In a conversation where she tried to ease his guilt and worries, he ended it by hurting her. He was an awful person, and sorrow squeezed his heat, but he didn't have a choice.

They rode for several more hours and eventually the sun fell. The vellion mountains obscured it. The world gleamed orange as if on fire. Yellow glints sprinkled across the fields of grass that stretched as far as he could see.

Galloping down from a hill’s peak and down a slope, a lake, sparkling with the golden glimmer of the sunset, greeted Geruke’s eyes. Madrily told them they should take a break by the lake in order to give their horses some rest, feed them, and eat some food of their own.

So they rode up to the lake, hopped off of their horses, tied them up to some trees that huddled in a small bunch next to it, and re-filled their water satchels by the lake. They grabbed loafs of bread from their supply sacks and walked over to the lake’s edge to eat and drink.

However, Madrily tripped over a large rock and dropped her loaf to the ground. Underneath the rock were a ton of ants that swarmed the bread and smothered it. Madrily snatched the bread, dappled with dirt and rancid life, and whacked the ants off it. But she sighed and threw it away, knowing that it was irredeemable at that point.

So she sat by the lake, far from Geruke, and ate nothing. All she did was stare at the water, drink from her satchel, and pour some dried and flaky purple leaves, some kind of smoking substance he’d regularly see her smoking, into a pipe and smoked, puffing swirling purple clouds into the air.

“Why don’t you just grab another loaf?” Geruke asked, shuffling towards her.

“It’s my fault that I dropped the bread,” Madrily said. “So it makes little sense for me to waste extra bread just to compensate for my mistake.”

“We don’t need to waste bread,” Geruke tore his loaf in half and handed a piece over to her. “You can have this half.”

“You’re an idiot,” Lyrassa said with a shake of her head.

“I appreciate the sentiment, but I’m fine,” Madrily said, waving him back. “I won’t make you starve.”

“I’m not that hungry.” Geruke scuttled across the grass and sat next to her. “Just have it.”

“I’m not hungry either.” Her stomach rumbled. She flushed and turned away.

“Are you sure?” Geruke wagged the bread in front of her.

“Yes…” She stared at it, reached for it, but then pushed his hand away. “I'm sure.”

“Fine,” Geruke rose the bread in the air and swung his arm.

“Stop!” Madrily jumped into a crouch and snatched his wrist. “What’re you doing!?”

“I thought you said you didn’t want it?” Geruke chuckled.

“I’ve seen a lot of things,” Lyrassa said. Her face fell to her palm, and she groaned. “But this is the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”

“I don’t want it,” Madrily said, grimacing. “But I want you to want it.”

“The world is cruel, Maddy,” Geruke said. “You can’t always get what you want.” He flung his arm again but-

Madrily snatched the bread out of his hands and sat back down. “Fine,” she grumbled whilst furrowing her brows and aggressively chomping down on the bread. “If you want to starve that badly, then go ahead.”

“Gladly,” Geruke began eating the other half.

After some silence and hesitation, Madrily swallowed. “Thank you anyway,” Madrily muttered with a smile. He smiled back.

“I think we’ve rested long enough,” Lyrassa said, stomping to her feet. “So long that I think you’ve forgotten that we’re on a mission where lives are at stake. Threatening to waste food like children - ridiculous.” She turned to Geruke. “Come and help me untie the horses.”

Geruke clicked his tongue, wanting to continue sitting next to Madrily. When would he get another opportunity like this? He needed to use every opportunity he could get.

But Madrily looked at him and jerked her head towards Lyrassa. He nodded, sighed, dragged himself to his feet, and pushed himself over to Lyrassa as she stood by the trees that they tied the horses to.

As he began untying the horses, she stood next to him and leaned towards him. “She’s not gonna let you shove your dick in her ass because you gave her some bread,” Lyrassa whispered, and quietly cackled. “She’s not a swan. Her thanks meant nothing. Give up on her.”

“I agree I haven’t won the war,” Geruke grinned and hopped onto his horse after he finished untying them all. “But I’ve won the first battle.”

“Assassinating the enemy’s pet squirrel means nothing,” Lyrassa said as she swung up onto her own horse.

“It’s a step in the right direction,” Geruke rode his horse back up to the road.

“It’s really not,” Lyrassa chuckled as she followed Geruke. “You're delusional.”

Madrily finished her bread and walked up to her horse. Gazing around the sky and the plains, Geruke saw something in the distance, from the peak of the hill that they rode down from.

A crowd of something rushed towards them.

Dust clouds billowed up into the sky and obscured the sun from behind them. As they got closer, Geruke understood what they were; huxkrana horses. Was it a noble’s travelling party? If so, why didn’t he see a carriage?

They got closer; it wasn’t a noble’s travelling party.

It was the Templaga.

“The Templaga have followed us here!” Geruke shouted to Madrily as he and Lyrassa rushed off of their horses to run to their supply carriage and chuck their plate armour on themselves. Madrily ran over as well and did the same.

Chucking on his breastplate, gorget and helmet, he heard the huxkrana horses batter the dirt.

Throwing on his plackart, pauldrons and rerebraces, he heard the horse's low-pitched, bassy and ground rumbling neighing.

Shoving on his couters, vambraces and gauntlets, the horses' dust clouds obscured the entire hill they rushed down.

Hurrying on his fauld, tasset, cuisses, poleyns and fan-plates, the horses’ galloping pummelled his ears - they were louder than he thought. Even the carriage rolled towards him, making him trip, due to the huxkrana horses inspiring fear in their own regular horses.

“Don’t move!” The Templaga roared, rushing towards them.

As they got closer and closer, Geruke rammed his greaves on.

By the time they towered over him, he squeezed his last sabaton on.

The three of them stood in full plate armour before the twelve Templaga’s muscular and green huxkrana horses. Their swords swung by their hips, and daggers laid in their belts.

Friedroth slid off his horse and sauntered towards them, halberd resting on his shoulder. Geruke shivered and dread wormed through Geruke’s stomach to claw into his chest at the sight of his black plate armour.

But images of his dead dog and the Templaga beating him down in the streets and the sight of the wide open and empty plains slammed metal together against the charcoal of his heart and lit a fire. The shine of Geruke’s own plate armour and knowledge of Lyrassa’s and Madrily’s power threw fuel onto the fire until it grew into a raging inferno.

Whilst Friedroth’s strength was worrying, the silence and emptiness of the wilderness filled Geruke a chuckle-forming excitement.

His fingers stroked the pommel of a sword.