"You shall have to endure a while, it's my first time doing this," Berevreth said, frowning as she wrestled with my hair.
"I've never done it either," I replied, frustrated, "but at the very least, I know not to pull it so! Can you not feel how it aches?"
"Tell that to the one with barely a single strand of hair! How in the bloody hell am I supposed to know it hurts that much?" Berevreth shot back.
"I believe you have something called skin," I said. "If it's being yanked like that, surely you would feel ache…"
"Nonsense , its just a tiny tug, nothing to warrant such wailing," she said, brushing again. "if you had hold still, we would have through this faster," she said, patiently maneuvering the brushed, but even with that, i still winced and jerked at the pain,
"don't fight it, or we'll be here all night" she warned
"Ouch, Berevreth~" I whimpered, wincing as the brush tore through a knot.
"Are you crying?" she chuckled.
"No, I'm not!" I shot back quickly.
"I noticed you've been a bit of a crybaby lately," she teased. "Have you noticed too?" I rolled my eyes, realizing she would definitely bring up that day.
Our loud banter echoed through the hallways of the Cathedral dorms, groans and complains mingling with the evening air.
---
Night had settled over the Sanctum Knight grounds, the full moon washing everything in pale silver.
Asvran sat on the low stone steps before the Armory Hall. A single boot rested on his knee as he cleaned it, as the moonlight glinted faintly on the polished leather.
With a quiet sigh, he paused.
He lifted his palm, staring at the place where the cut once was, now fully healed. His gaze shifted to the dark, standing g shadow beside him, hovering like a second presence bound to his body. He blinked, unsettled.
This had never happened before.
His body felt different tonight, his senses too sharp in some places, strangely dull in others, something restless under his skin, like a pulse that didn't belong to him. And beneath all that… a pressure in his chest he couldn't shake.
As he sat there, lost in thought, just then he heard a faint sound rustling from the woods nearby.
Asvran froze instantly, head snapping toward the treeline, ears sharpening.
"Who's there?" he called, voice low.
A familiar deep voice answered from the darkness.
"It is I."
Sire Lucian emerged from the edge of the woods, his blonde hair catching the moonlight.
"Sire Lucian," Asvran muttered, returning back to cleaning his boots.
"That's unusual," Lucian said, settling beside him.
"What?" Asvran asked without looking up.
"You usually know who it is before anyone speaks," Lucian replied, nodding toward the woods. "Even from that far. You've never needed to ask." He turned to him "Side effect of staying in isolation that long?" He asked
Asvran paused, thinking.
"You may be right," he said quietly. "The last time I experienced something like that… I was very young. Perhaps too young to remember some of the side effects."
"And that has you worried?" Lucian asked.
"Maybe a little."
Asvran allowed himself a faint smile. He realized, he had been worrying far too much. A lapse in his senses could easily be the cause of the isolation… It didnt necessarily mean something caused by the princess. And the memories of his past that could have helped him understand were gone__Most of his childhood memories were long gone anyway, buried under trauma.
Lucian's attention drifted to the boot in Asvran's hand.
"So " He began "you're already returning back to your routine?" he asked. "I thought it took you longer than this to… regain yourself?."
"I thought so too," Asvran replied. "Perhaps there've been some changes I've yet to understand… or perhaps my body simply grows impatient."
Sire Lucian nodded, releasing a long breath as he leaned back against the cold stone wall. The night air settled around them, quiet and cool.
After a brief silence, Asvran spoke again.
"Shouldn't you be on your way to the castle by now?"
Lucian turned his head, studying him with a faintly amused look. Then a small, knowing smile appeared.
"Seems your senses aren't failing you after all."
"I don't exactly need senses to know that," Asvran replied. "It's rather obvious why Brother Kaius came all the way from the castle just to fetch you."
"You know the king is ill?" Sire Lucian asked.
Asvran exhaled slowly, .
"I am afraid… I may be the cause of the king's condition. I cannot fully recall what happened that night. At first, I thought it was nothing more than a dream, but now... "
He lowered his gaze to his healed hand.
"...it appears it was no dream at all." He said, dissapointment in his voice
Sire Lucian gave a small nod
"Whatever happened, you were not yourself. No man should carry blame for a night his mind cannot command." He said.
During the Shift, Asvran often entered a state of trance, a liminal space between his dark world and reality. In this state, he could not distinguish his actions from illusion and risked harming anyone nearby. To prevent catastrophe, he confined himself to a darkened chamber, with only candlelight, isolating himself entirely. He trained rigorously to maintain control, sometimes forcing himself to confront his own reflection to weaken his body, Any warmth from the sun or the touch of daylight intensifies the darkness inside him, making him lash out without meaning to. Years of practice had honed this discipline, though each encounter with Elowen still threatened to disrupt it.
Sire Lucian reflected silently. The genesis of the current situation was clear, contact with Princess Elowen. That night everyone believed the princess had already been moved to the cathedral for safety. It wasn't until later they discovered she had vanished, Asvran had found her deep in a cave no one expected and rescued her. After delivering her to safety, he retreated to his dark room for days, severing all contact.
"I heard the princess is still dwelling in the cathedral," Said Sire Lucian.
Asvran paused for a heartbeat before quietly resuming what he was doing. He hadn't known she'd stayed there all this time. He'd assumed that after that night, after everything, she would have been escorted back to the castle.
Sire Lucian continued, "I also heard she came by here." He turned to him. "You must avoid her at all cost. Her presence alone could cause you harm… or make you worse. And if that happens—" his gaze returned to the sky, "the church might end up getting involved."
"Aren't they involved already?" Asvran replied. "Isn't that what Brother Kaius signed me up for?"
"You must understand, whatever decisions your brother makes, he makes for your good." Sire Lucian said as silence followed, he glanced over to Asvran who simply kept scrubbing his boots as if the matter were trivial.
Then Asvran finally lifted his head, voice calm as he said
"I'll be sure to remember that… the next time his 'good intentions' land me on a pyre."
Sire Lucian let out a low chuckle and leaned more comfortably against the wall.
"I see your humour survived isolation," He said I suppose I should leave you two to your bonding session," he said dryly.
His gaze drifted to the boots in Asvran's hands.
"Shouldn't you leave that to one of your Squires? You ought to save your strength for tomorrow. We've got training—and you know how that goes." He sighed. "It's been ages since we faced those mad demons."
He rubbed the back of his head with his palm.
"These creatures are getting bolder… and far too clever than they ought to be."