When night had fallen, Fleur had spent a few minutes asking around where on earth her roommate could be.
It was unlike her to skip training for the day, despite the fact that she knew better than her how much she disliked training. Who would think of Vihrea as lacking in discipline? She was the top knight in the castle, one of Lord Ragnell's most loyal subject, and a top ranking soturi that could rival those in the capital.
But she was getting fed up of covering for her at a moment's notice when the seniors would look for her. Fleur was only thankful that the Lord never sought this woman through her. She could hardly think of an appropriate excuse that he would accept.
When she arrived at the door of their room, a voice greeted her. "Unlike of you to be late in bed."
Fleur rolled her eyes and snorted. "Like of you to be missing when someone's looking for you. Where on earth have you been? The library?"
"Yes. Daniel had informed me that there was a new batch of books that arrived early in the morning and thought I'd be curious."
She sat down on her bed and removed her boots. "You've been gone for hours. And I never saw Kassis after he told me he was going to go look for you."
Preoccupied with a lot of things, Vihrea did not feel like telling her about what she had discovered in the books, which weren't much if she was really being honest.
"Can we talk about something else?"
Fleur sighed. She knew that tired look in her eyes again. Avoiding the topic again because she could not be bothered to explain.
"Fine. The instructor who is not very much of an instructor, don't you think it's strange?"
"That a man from the capitol has arrived in the castle as an instructor when we never particularly had one, is strange?"
"Yes. You just repeated what I said."
Vihrea shrugged her shoulders. "I don't really care. I mean, I do think it's strange, but Lord Ragnell has always been a little strange, right?"
"I suppose so..." but Fleur couldn't shake the feeling that there might be something more. There were many qualified people that could be an instructor. One of their seniors, a friend of Lord Ragnell, at least a somewhat familiar face that they've met once.
But it had to be one of the knights from the capitol with a strange reputation as a nomad. She was from a prominent family herself, but Kapfem has always been a little strange. As if they knew a secret you didn't.
She shook her head. "Nevermind that. But you have an expedition soon, right?"
"Yes, I'm thrilled to be leaving again."
"You don't sound thrilled at all."
"Because I am not."
"And why not?"
Vihrea lied down on the bed and heaved a deep sigh. "Because for the past few months, the Lord has only sent me to either an errand to a faraway village, ancient ruins, or deep valleys filled with nomads. I've not used my sword skills for anything else except hunting."
"Isn't that nice? You get to relax and see the world. What's wrong with that?"
"You know that's not how I relax."
"I do but, come on, you lock yourself in the library every off chance you get. You don't even look like you read!"
"That's insulting."
She had always seen herself as an avid reader with a fascination for history, but people see her as a cold and heartless brute. Vihrea did not want to look this way either. Should she get glasses to get more of a scholarly look?
"No, don't get glasses." Fleur knew that look on her face, she was getting strange ideas again. "You'll just ruin what good eyesight you have."
"Let's just get some sleep. We need to be up early tomorrow."
"Suit yourself."
The next day was anything but pleasant. Not that mornings in the barracks were good, just that today was particularly worse. Shouting in the halls woke the two women up as the voices grew louder.
"Who's making such a ruckus this early?" Fleur yawned as she threw off the blankets and got up to open the door.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Vyron shouted as he held a broken sword in his hands.
"Your incessant chattering about my origins gets exhausting. Don't you have anything else to talk about?" Orphan this and orphan that. It was not as if he chose to be an orphan.
"You're going to pay for this, Kassis." Vyron pushed him, or at least tried, and stormed off.
The guilty party did not seem to care as he rolled his eyes and glanced at Fleur peeking out the door.
"What happened?" Fleur padded out the door in her pajamas as she stretched her limbs. "Did you make him cry again?"
"I broke his sword again because he kept calling me an orphan."
"Still? That man never tires. And does he not know that Vihrea is also an orphan?"
Kassis shrugged. "I don't think he does."
"Who's an orphan?" Vihrea rubbed her eyes as she walked out.
"You are," they both said.
Vihrea blinked. "Haha, very funny guys."
They looked at each other and laughed. When the fight had died down, everyone resumed to doing their morning routine and acting as if it never happened. Of course, this was one of the daily occurrences in the barracks, so everyone just ignored it.
In the training grounds, while the knights were busy clashing swords, brushing up their techniques, or tempering their body, the Lord once again made his daily rounds in the castle.
Vihrea always trained in a quiet corner away from the open grounds, opting to train behind a swathe of tall grass just a little outside the grounds. It was near the lake and the sounds of cicadas helped put her mind at ease.
Unfortunately, today would be anything but peaceful.
"Vihrea!"
She knew the familiar voice and inwardly muttered, "Damn it!" as she stopped swinging her sword and stabbed in on the ground. When he approached her, she already had a frown on her face.
"What's got you so grumpy in the morning?"
"Ever since you woke me up with your annoying voice."
"That was Kassis' fault and you know it."
"What do you want, Vyron?"
"Help me train."
"No."
He frowned. "Why not?"
"Because I don't want to."
"No I'm serious. Why not?"
Vihrea picked up her sword and approached him until they were three feet away from each other.
"You bully people you deem beneath you and you are as stubborn as a mule. I don't want to teach someone who can't admit when they're wrong."
Although she didn't harbor a hatred for him, she still disliked him. There were hundreds of knights in the castle, with a handful of soturis that included him. There were many different people here in the castle.
Rich, poor, noble, commoner, men, women, young, elderly, disabled. They each had their own strengths. But Vyron? Even though he was the exiled second son of the Langston family, he had not learned in the five months he has been here.
Maybe it was because he came from a prominent noble family, but he disdained the weak and hardly had any empathy in him. If he saw someone struggling, he would not help. He was simple a neutral piece, someone who did not act if it was not to his benefit.
How many people must've suffered in his hands?
She hated to think about it. So she pretended he didn't exist. But after everything he still came to her.
"When was I wrong?"
"You called Kassis an orphan."
"That's because he is! And I hate that condescending look on his face whenever he beats me in a duel."
Vihrea stared at him.
"W-what?" Vyron furrowed his brows.
"I'm an orphan."
There was a moment of silence between them as a strong gust of wind blew through them, the grass fluttering.
"I- I didn't know."
"You never do. Now go away. I'm training. Go bother someone else."
Vyron didn't know what to say. He frowned and turned around to walk back. When he got far enough, he glanced back as he saw her swinging her sword flawlessly, the ground full of indents of her footwork.
He thought about the past few months he's been here and felt embarrassed. Maybe his sister was right. He deserved it.
When the sun hit the highest point, the soldiers took a break. Vihrea spat on the ground and walked further to the artificial lake, where hardly anyone comes.
She spotted the familiar dead willow tree and sat down, removing her shirt to change into a new one.
"Just so you know, I was here first."
"Eos! You scared me." Vihrea tsk'd as she looked up at Kassis lounging on one of the thick branches.
"I didn't know this was your spot. My tree got cut down yesterday so I had to find a new one." Kassis explained as he stared at the barely clinging to life tree.
"You mean the almost dead willow? It's fine."
"A rude thing to say to something clinging to life."
"It's the natural cycle of nature. Life and death are inevitable." Vihrea unpacked her bag and took out a sandwich.
"You say that with such as straight face as if it doesn't concern you."
"It does. But when my time comes, it comes. Neither you nor I can fight the tides of time."
Kassis stared at her, too busy eating a sandwich to care about the weight of her words.
"You're saying depressing things again."
"Whatever you think of it."
"You leave in three days, don't you?"
Vihrea paused, almost letting the sandwich fall out of her hands.
"Yes, how did you know?"
"Hm... Fleur might have told me."
'Fleur that chatterbox...' Vihrea thought as she chewed her food. It wasn't a big deal. She's been in and out of the castle for a good, few months now. It's not like she'd die. Whatever Porte had told her, that was simply nonsense.
"Just don't tell Albright and Porte. I cannot handle another of their constant nagging."
Kassis chuckled. "I won't. So where are you going?"
"...I'm not sure."
"You don't know?"
"No. Lord Ragnell never tells me until the day of."
"That's odd. He usually tells the other knights."
"Yes well, I guess I'm special."
And she did not mean that in a good way. She was never really sure where she stood in Lord Ragnell's head. Was she like an adopted child of his? One of his loyal retainers? Or simply just another knight in his castle?
Sometimes she could never tell. And sometimes she didn't want to know.
"Uh-huh..." Both her and Kassis were 'adopted' into the castle. There was never a formal process to it. They were just integrated like an employee that was hired. Except there was no contract and no explicit agreement. They were just taken in one day and became a soturi before they knew it.
Was he raising soturis for an army they didn't know of? Was he bored because he raised no children of his own? Because there was only two of them. No one else. Just them.
And maybe it was all the stories. Kassis had always been a bit of a daydreamer. He was just bored of it all. Becoming a knight was not much of a choice, it felt natural considering where they grew up.
Was becoming a knight something he actually wanted? Was it because he was special? Like Vihrea? Did she think about this like him?
There were so many questions he wanted to ask, but he could not bring himself to because Vihrea always felt so far away.
"Hey Kassis."
"Yeah?"
"Have you ever thought about your parents?"
Or at least until now, that is.