“I see you didn’t do all that bad.”

ZaiWin stopped emptying his backpack and half-smiled.

“You too. Not bad at all,” he replied, but the moment he raised his head his smile immediately faded away.

NimRen held both her hands behind her back and blushed timidly.

“Won half, lost half. I guess I got lucky with who I picked,” she was saying and immediately froze in place when he carefully raised a hand to touch the huge bruise on her face.

“What happened?”

“Oh! That …” NimRen stepped back, covering her injured face with one hand, looking even more embarrassed. “You know … Bad things are bound to happen when you fight someone stronger than you. I was actually very lucky …” she added, her face going pale, her delicate shoulders shivering a bit.

“Who did you fight?” he asked, though the question in his head was, who had had the courage to injure an El’Lin like that, CalWan’s little sister at that, and she took a deep breath, raising her head.

“That hardly matters now. We all knew what we were signing up for by attending this Gathering. Even though the rules strictly forbid it, there are always injuries and even death. A bruised cheek can hardly compare to any of that,” she declared, obviously wanting to look strong, but nothing could hide the fear in her eyes. “I was … really lucky … If I weren’t who I am …” she shuddered at her own thoughts and ZaiWin frowned.

Though NimRen was right and the Gathering could become considerably violent, it was still rare that kids like them would knowingly and deliberately try to kill one another.

Firstly because there were no real reasons to go to such extremes. Wen’s Provinces might have their misunderstandings and their Governors might disagree with each other regarding certain internal policies. But they were mainly at peace with each other, any bad blood between them was easily solved through peaceful understanding and negotiation.

And secondly because they all belonged to noble Clans, and no one wanted to be tagged as belonging to the Clan that had produced a crazed teenage murderer. That was more than clear just by looking at that day’s chart. Though they had faced each other one to one wielding real, sharp swords, and although there had been five unfortunate deaths, the perpetrators had only been three, the last three names at the end of the list. GinWan, LinWan and, surprisingly enough, CarFan.

No one had been surprised to see GinWan and LinWan at the very bottom, with minus two points each. They were both of royal blood, after all, which meant they could pretty much do just about anything and get away with it. They also didn’t seem to care about things like public image, the way their brothers and sister did.

But seeing CarFan’s name also there, with only four points, and knowing he was a rather good swordsman that couldn’t possibly have lost all four of his duels, had led to many whispers and antagonizing glares sent his way. The only justification to his poor results had to be the minus five points of penalty for having killed one of the other participants. And since there were five victims it was clear in everyone’s mind that the twins had somehow killed two each, and that CarFan had killed the fifth kid that had lost his life that day.

Since besides CarFan the only two surviving members of his group were MaoZao and MinNur, and since MaoZao was rather unapproachable, MinNur, even with his broken leg, had been quickly surrounded by inquiring and scared faces who wanted to know exactly what had happened.

ZaiWin hadn’t needed to join them. As far as he was concerned everything made sense. And he could now understand the deranged expression on CarFan’s face. For although he had killed someone he was no cold-blooded murder like GinWan or LinWan. He had probably never even seen a dead body from up close, much less be the cause of someone else’s death. He could still clearly remember the first time he’d felt his sword slide into someone else’s chest, the warm blood flowing over the blade, coating his fingers in that red, warm substance. He had thrown-up for an entire morning and then been sick the rest of the day, his belly hurting from the useless effort of gagging on an empty stomach.

“Was it CarFan?”

It had to be, right?, ZaiWin considered and the way NimRen went immediately rigid told him that he’d hit the mark. It was the only reason he could think of why NimRen would count herself lucky for getting just a bruised face.

“Please don’t tell my brother! I don’t want him getting anywhere near that person!” she pleaded urgently and ZaiWin nodded, though he couldn’t help feeling it ironic that she would fear CarFan this much, while completely ignoring the much more dangerous and deranged GinWan and LinWan. Really, blood ties were such a strong thing …

Still, it kind of annoyed him, knowing that an idiot like CarFan had had the nerve to hurt such a gentle, frail-looking girl. He should have smashed his head against that hard wall a few more extra times just for good measure, he thought bleakly.

“That apart, from your points, you only lost one duel!” she declared, obviously aiming to change the subject, and he sighed.

“Yeah … I was paired with one of the Calzai’s men. There was no way I could beat him.”

Her beautiful eyes went alight with admiration.

“I knew it! I knew it had to be that! Everyone lost to them, even with the handicaps. They were at the top of the list. If not for that I am sure you would be there as well.”

“Hardly. There are many kids around here stronger than me. Your brother, for example. I doubt I could beat him.” Not to mention FeiWan, but that he would never admit out loud.

“Bah! I still think you would win!”

ZaiWin smiled, knowing she was only trying to comfort him in the same way she used to do when they were younger.

“FeiWan also did rather good,” she went on, now sounding excited. “He won all his combats. Well, he has been training like crazy,” she added with a sigh that made ZaiWin raise an inquisitive eyebrow.

“He has?”

Somehow he just could not see it. That cruel, pampered kid being serious about something.

“That’s right! Ever since he became a Haenin he has been practicing every single day! And his Tien’Elhar is so cute! Of course, brother’s Tien’Elhar is cute too,” she quickly added, obviously feeling as if she had betrayed her older brother by singling out FeiWan’s Celestial like that. “But I still prefer HenWan. I really wish I could be chosen by a Tien’Elhar like her. But mother … she says that that will probably never happen, that I’m too old for that now …” NimRen lowered her gaze for a moment, looking really depressed. “But your mother was also chosen when she was fifteen? Right? So maybe I still have a chance!”

And that was why gentle people could be thoroughly and utterly cruel just like that, he thought, making his best to keep his smile in place. For how could he reprimand her, or even get angry at her, or even tell her to piss off just by mentioning the word Tien’Elhar in front of him? And that happy, hopeful smile on her face when she’d mentioned the fact that his mother had also been a Chosen One …

He forced himself to take a deep breath and went back to repacking his backpack.

“You should probably go,” he told her, not wanting to look at her again, fearing she might notice the bitterness beneath his smile. “It’s getting late and CalWan is bound to worry.”

NimRen looked up at the darkening sky and nodded.

“You’re right. And he even specifically told me not to wander around, before he went out to play with one of those girls,” she added with an obvious critical tone. “Well, I just wanted to make sure you hadn’t been hurt. Since now I know you’re fine I can rest assured.”

ZaiWin nodded and she gently patted his shoulder.

“See you tomorrow for another long hiking?”

“Sure. See you tomorrow.”

The sound of her footsteps moving away finally allowed him to relax the aching muscles of his face, but that word still echoed persistently in his head, reopening wounds that had never completely healed. Tien’Elhar. He would kill the whole lot of them if he only could!