- Silas -
Silas dragged his thin fingers across the gleaming metal of multiple blades. There was something so beautiful and elegant about them. Although he knew how to use every one, he didn't see them as weapons. They were more of a decoration, like the one he wore on his hip. Its crystal blade curved in a menacing way and its handle was studded with stones of midnight and stars. It was a gift given to him by Callisto, and it had never once drawn blood.
"No weapons." Aideen swatted Silas's hand away from the blades.
"Suit yourself." Silas shrugged, he'd always liked hand to hand combat anyways. Of course, so did Aideen. She was a vicious opponent, and one that was not easy to beat.
The two of them were training for the upcoming tournament that the King was putting on in honour for Callisto's return. Callisto wasn't competing, but the rest of The Seven were, and although he had been training for years, Silas knew he wouldn't win. He was not the strongest nor the fastest, and he wasn't ashamed of that. His skills lay elsewhere. He saw this type of fighting as absurd and a waste of time. If he were somehow chosen as King above the others, he would never need to fight. That was because a king never needed to fight. He had men to do that for him.
At least, Silas had never seen Theon raise a sword. Theia – Theon's sister and their trainer – told them that the King was a skilled fighter, even better than she. Silas couldn't see it. If Theon had been better back then – when they were competing for the throne – he wasn't anymore. Theon preferred to talk his way out of nasty situations, and that was something Silas admired him for. The only problem was... No one can talk their way out of every situation. Perdita was living proof of that. Theon hadn't been able to talk his way out of the oncoming war or the circumstance regarding the Ardere.
"Hurry up, I haven't got all day." Aideen bounced back and forth on her toes as Silas shrugged off his fur jacket. Her hair was pulled up and out of her face in a sleek braid and the low cut of her shirt revealed the light patches that crawled up the dark skin of her neck. She stretched her arms and grinned when Silas finally stepped into the ring.
"You sure you can handle this?" Silas grinned back, cracking his knuckles.
"Last more than two minutes against me and I'll introduce you to my friend from the north. He's coming down for the tournament."
"Deal." Silas lunged, knowing that once you were playing defence against Aideen, you were already beat. He fainted a punch to her face as he swept out his leg to trip up her feet. Aideen did not fall, but it worked as well as Silas could've hoped. With the mere second it took her to recover, he landed a blow to her jaw. Unfortunately, when he tried for another, she caught his arm and twisted.
As his arm was being wrenched in the wrong direction, he tried to kick out and separate himself from her. Aideen's grip did not loosen, and her knee slammed into his stomach.
"Done yet?" Aideen whispered in his ear, wrapping her free arm around his neck and pulling him to her chest.
"You wish." Silas drove his elbow into her side at the same time he bit down on her arm around his neck. Her grip slackened instantly, and he pushed himself away from her.
"Did you just bite me?" Her face held that of bewilderment and Silas prided himself in his ability to surprise her. It wasn't easy. Without answering, he jumped back into the fight. After a few hits and kicks, the two of them were grappling on the ground.
Aideen had Silas pinned and although he saw an opening on her left side to drive his knee into, he saw something else that interested him far more than continuing the scrapple. A girl in a white and green maids uniform stood near the doorway, watching them. She did not smile, but there was a glint in her eyes that Silas recognized. Their gaze connected and when he winked, the corners of her lips twitched slightly.
"Giving up already?" Aideen tested when he turned his gaze back to her and tapped out.
"It's been longer than two minutes. I don't see the point of continuing."
"No, of course you don't." She shook her head and rolled off him. "Again?"
"Not today, I'm needed elsewhere." Silas's eyes drifted back to the doorway, but the girl was gone. He pushed himself to his feet, lightly touching the bruise that was surely distorting his beautiful features.
"Fine, but if you see anyone wandering around, send them my way."
"Sure, I'll ask Conan if he'd like to spar. You can beat him up all you want since he won't be competing."
"Oh please no." Aideen rolled her eyes, "I'm not in the mood to deal with a whining child today."
"He's not a child anymore you know." He pointed out with a smirk, already grabbing his jacket and heading towards the door.
"Then he needs to stop acting like one." Silas heard her scoff but didn't stop to answer. He had someone he wanted to catch up to, there was no time to waste on making fun of Conan, no matter how enjoyable it was.
Once in the hall, Silas saw the swish of a skirt disappear around a corner. He hurried in a half run, half walk, half limp to try and catch up. It wasn't difficult, as the girl was walking in purposefully slow movements. He grabbed her by the waist and spun them behind one of the large pillars that lined the corridor.
"Where do you think you're going?" Silas bent low and whispered in her ear. The girl let out a giggle and her cheeks flushed a bright red. Silas knew he should remember her name, but he was never very good with names. It was something like Catherine or Cateline... or... maybe it was Marsilia. He didn't care, not when her lips were so close to his. Not when her beautiful hazel eyes dragged over his face.
Silas tilted her chin up when she looked away, his fingertips lingering on her skin. The other hand he still had wrapped around her waist moved, trailing a path until they cupped either side of her face. Her own arm wrapped around his back, the other gripped onto the front of his shirt.
The girls' lips were warm and hungry when he kissed them. When he finally pulled away to plant kisses up her jaw she gasped for breath. Silas thought he faintly heard her whisper I love you.
He didn't even know her name.
She hadn't been the first person to ever proclaim their love to him. Every time he heard it, the words had less and less of an impact. They meant nothing anymore. They were just sounds that echoed in his ears. Words he had never repeated to anyone else.
Silas kissed her again, if only so that she would not speak those words again.
"Seriously Silas? Right in the open? You have a room for heavens sake, one that's bigger than mine if I might add." A weaselly voice appeared out of nowhere, and still, Silas did not pull away from the girl. Not for a few more seconds. "Silas."
"Conan." Silas hissed back, not even looking at him. He continued instead to stare at the girl, the girl whose eyes were now trained on the ground. "Is there something you need?" he asked after a few stretched out moments of silence.
"Yes, to be able to go for a walk and not want to burn my eyes out."
"Just because you've never kissed a girl doesn't mean I'm not allowed to."
"That's not- I-" Conan stumbled over his words and his eyebrows quickly pinched together in anger. "You, leave." He snapped, choosing to take his anger out on the girl.
"No. Stay." Silas said when she started to move. Her head swivelled back and forth between Conan and Silas, not sure who to listen to. But everyone knew that Conan's commands meant nothing. His inherited status and power were nothing but show. He didn't earn it. He wasn't chosen to have it. He was just lucky to be born, lucky to have as much power as he did.
"I think I really should go." The girl said quietly, her fingers lightly touching the side of Silas's face.
"Fine, I'll see you tonight." Silas said, even though he was sure he would not. He didn't know her name, let alone where to find her.
"It appalls me that-"
"Conan, I really don't care-"
"That you might somehow become king over me." Over the years Conan had been less and less subtle about his disgust for the way things were run. He thought he had a right to the throne just because it was his father who sat on it. Even though he had no skill and had not worked a day in his life for the things he took for granted, he thought he could rule a kingdom.
Conan didn't know what real life was like. He had never been abandoned on the steps of an orphanage that was too full to take him in. He didn't spend the first few years of his life on the streets. He had never lost someone he cared about.
Probably because he cared for no one but himself.
"Aideen was looking for you by the way." Silas pushed past Conan, hiding the small satisfactory smile that crept to his face. He knew that the prospect of someone actually wanting Conan around was rare, and something he craved.
"She was? Why?" He asked, suddenly eager.
"She's training and wanted someone to spar. She thought maybe you could help her get ready for the tournament." Silas knew it was cruel, and he didn't often like being cruel, but it was different with Conan. It was easy. He knew how much it would hurt him when Aideen would tell him to leave her alone. That she didn't want him. It's what Conan deserved for ruining Silas's moment.
"Right now?"
"Right now."
Conan's steps were quick as he turned to walk swiftly in the other direction. Silas made sure not to laugh until the sound of his steps had disappeared around the corner.