Finan’s dark green hair, gathered in a loose ponytail, fluttered in the breeze. His blue eyes stared avidly at Yuriko’s and his lips were held in a coy smile. He was dressed similarly to her travelling gear, dark slacks, button-down white shirt, and a red overcoat.

“Hello, Yuriko. May I come in?”

“Uhm, alright.”

Yuriko nodded and stepped back. As soon as the boy entered, she glanced outside but didn’t see anyone else before she closed the door.

Finan glanced around the living room and pointed at the couch, giving her a questioning glance. She nodded and gestured before taking her place on the armchair. He sat directly across her, with the low table in between them.

“So…not that you’re unwelcome, but I’m surprised to see you here in Rumiga. Don’t you have classes in Realmheart?” Yuriko asked.

“I came here for you, of course,” Finan laughed, which sent a tingle down Yuriko’s spine. He came for her? Why?

When she said as much he grinned and deflected. “Swordmaster Kinohara came with us on this trip. She said she wanted to see your progress. Oh, the Implacable Jade is a quick Chaos Ship and we made it through the Chaos Sea in record time, even accounting for the fact that the Waypoints between Rumiga and Delovine are occupied.”

“Swordmaster Kinohara…” Yuriko muttered. “Why would she come here just for me?”

“Your attendant, Ryoko Mishala, is also onboard,” Finan continued. “She should head over here later.”

“You picked her up in Ulmira?”

A seed of doubt, and suspicion, formed within her heart. The question of why he’d chase after here…there could only be one reason, right? Unless he was so besotted by her Mien that he would throw his life into Chaos just to follow her?

Finan stared at her in silence, letting her thoughts whirl, when she looked at his eyes, he saw that there was a shadow behind it, but it wasn’t the blankness of Aspiration.

“I must apologise,” Finan said before she could say anything. “I…have inadvertently deceived you.”

Yuriko’s heart rose up to her throat. No, it couldn’t be…but…

“I am the 29th Pia’Vasi,” Finan said faintly, his voice quavering with nerves. “I apologise for not introducing myself as such when we first met.”

“The Imperial Prince.”

“And your fiance.”

Silence.

Anger and shame whirled up within her. Why? It was Finan. But…she liked him well enough, and the time she spent playing Shatran with him was a pleasure! If he…no, because he was the 29th…

Thoughts upon thoughts, drowning and flailing. Yuriko shook her head. Her Resistance aura unravelled and her full might billowed out. The chair beneath her trembled and shook. Finan’s hair blasted away from her with the sudden wind. The boy’s eyes widened in alarm, but he took a deep breath and settled himself. Then, he adopted a confident smile.

Infuriating.

“Get out.”

Finan blinked in surprise, but he nodded. He stood up, and gave her a deep bow, as though he wasn’t royalty. The etiquette flashed in her mind. That was the bow of a nobleman to a woman of higher stature. “Forgive me, but I couldn’t keep up the deception.”

Yuriko’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “Get. Out.”

“Yes, my princess.” He smiled, bowed, then backed away. Yuriko stared at him coldly even as her aura and her Mien swirled dangerously. “I will call again.”

Then, he was gone. Out the door and probably back to his ship. Yuriko stood and the chair disintegrated to dust beneath her. All the while her emotions boiled.

All the while he was there beside her, and he sent that engagement request!

Creak!

No, calm. She didn’t want to destroy her house in a fit of pique. It took a few minutes to regain her senses; by that time, she was panting as if she’d run thousands of longstrides.

At least now you know who the 29th Pia’Vasi is. Damien’s treacherous voice whispered at the back of her mind. And didn’t you say you liked the boy?

‘Shut it!’

Her growl was only answered with howls of laughter.

_____________

“Well, Miss Sharine, thank you for filling in these forms. While communication with the main branch is currently delayed, we’ve enough on record to process your requests. Thank you for waiting and here’s your crystal bank card. You may withdraw a weekly limit of one thousand Sovereigns, but the Seasonal limit is only five thousand, at least until the troubles are over.” The Imperial Bank’s receptionist, a young woman who introduced herself as Lisabelle, said with a smile.

Gwendith nodded and accepted the card, a replacement for the one that she lost to the barbarians. “Please withdraw the full one thousand for me please, in nine silver crowns, nine silver marks, nine silver pennies, and ten copper marks.”

“Thank you for your patronage,” Lisabelle said as she displayed the coins in their denominations on the desk before sweeping them all into a purse which she gave to Gwendith.

“Thank you,” Gwendith answered with a smile. With this, her living expenses should be covered for the next Season or so. She harboured the thought to move to a nearby inn rather than staying in Yuriko’s spare bedroom. With Saki and Desire, the Davar household didn’t have enough spare bedrooms as it were. Of course, if she could convince Yuri to let her stay in the same room…hehehe…

She wasn’t that shameless though. And maybe it would be better if she took a room in one of the barracks.

Oh, it was about time for the first set of dresses to be done. The two of them agreed that she would be the one to pick them up, and so she would. Faron’s Crossing was barely bigger than one of Rumiga City’s Districts. In fact, the Sharine estate would have taken a third of Faron’s Crossing too. She spent all day yesterday and part of this morning exploring the town, but other than the town centre and Yuriko’s house, nothing really stood out for her.

Once she wrapped up her business with the bank she walked out into the town centre.

“Gwendith.” A cold voice stopped her and she glanced over her shoulder.

“Asami,” she answered with a slight smile.

Her cousin walked up to her with a glare. The other girl wore civilian clothes, a hoodie and tights, along with a pair of white trainers. While the two of them didn’t have many features in common–Asami’s hair was light green as opposed to Gwendith’s blonde curls–the shape of their jaws was similar. Both of them even had freckles across the nose, but Gwendith’s was light enough that only someone staring intently at her face would see them.

“Is it true?” Asami asked.

“What is?”

“That you aren’t going back to Rumiga City?”

“No. Not right now.”

“Did you really abandon your Heritage?” Asami’s voice rose higher in pitch and her eyes practically begged her to deny the claim.

“I haven’t.”

Asami sighed in relief, but…

“Not yet anyway,” Gwendith smiled. “It’s only a matter of time though.”

“Why?” Asami rushed up to Gwendith and pushed against her. Asami was taller than here by a few inches and when her cousin pressed up against her like this, it was rather uncomfortable across her bosom.

Gwendith nudged Asami back. “Because…” She shook her head. “The Sharine Heritage…isn’t enough.”

“What do you mean? You think it can’t bring you to Knighthood? Are you daft? Every one of our combined family can reach the Knight level as long as we follow the Heritage!”

“Yes, but, that’s where we usually stop,” Gwendith said firmly. “I want to go beyond Knight. I want to reach the heights of power.” She whispered under her breath, “Only then can I stay by her side.”

“Oh? And you think the thing that you’re doing now is better?” Asami continued belligerently, “Prove it!”

Gwendith frowned. “Gladly.”

“Good. Come with me.” Asami took Gwendith’s wrist and pulled her along. For a moment, Gwendith considered resisting. Her Body Forging was enough to bring out twice her old strength and since Asami wasn’t a frontline fighter, Gwendith knew that her cousin wasn’t even close to her when it came to physical power.

But she followed along. She would save more time by indulging her silly cousin than anything else. Ah, she really wanted to see Yuriko in that tight little blue sundress. Those legs should be exposed in all their glory.

Asami took her to a park. There were quite a few older people puttering about, but there was ample space along the manicured grass.

“Prove it,” Asami repeated as she moved back and fell into a bare-handed fighting stance. The wind picked up around her cousin and Gwendith could see a wide disc forming just at the back of her hand.

Shaking her head, Gwendith flared her Anima. The pinkish blue light expanded nearly twelve inches away, though the edge was smooth and even. Asami lifted an eyebrow as Gwendith’s aura repelled the other girl’s Wind Scour.

Frowning, Asami launched a windblade off her hand and aimed it toward Gwendith’s leg. With a smirk, water condensed to ice and created a flat disc a couple of inches wide. It interposed between her and the windblade, angled to deflect. All that without moving a muscle.

Asami followed up with a couple more projectiles, but Gwendith’s ice mirror easily intercepted. Then, the other girl held out her hand and covered her outstretched palm with a layer of wind, in essence creating a blade that extended nearly a pace from her fingertips.

She leaned forward then advanced, her steps tottering from left to right in an attempt to confuse Gwendith’s senses. A layer of wind threw up dust and obscured some of her vision.

But, as soon as Asami came within a pace of Gwendith, her foot stepped on a thin layer of ice and it was all she could do to keep her balance. The skid only pushed her foot out by a couple of inches, but that was enough.

Gwendith stepped forward and brought the other girl within her Anima flare, and from there, it was a simple matter to chill her to the bone.

“Stop! I yi-yi-yield!” Asami’s teeth clacked as she shivered.

“Poor baby,” Gwendith cooed as she returned the heat carefully back into Asami’s surroundings. If she was too hasty, she was liable to set the other girl aflame.

“What was that?” Asami shivered. “How? Your…your Animus control wasn’t that strong before…”

“Hmmm, well, it’s partly thanks to Yuriko’s Ancient’s Way.” Gwendith shrugged. “And I’ve touched on the Ennoia of Cold.”

“What? Really!” Asami grabbed Gwendith’s shoulders. “But that means you’ll be able to advance to Knight Captain and beyond! You don’t need to abandon your Heritage.”

Gwendith grabbed Asami’s narrow waist and lifted her up. Effortlessly. “It’s more than that.”

Her cousin gulped and let go. After a moment, Gwendith lowered Asami back down. “Walk with me?” Gwendith asked.

Asami nodded wordlessly as the two of them headed off. She still needed to pick up their dresses.

“Yuriko Davar…that girl’s strange,” Asami muttered.

Gwendith grinned. “But powerful. She rescued me, you know. From those monsters.” A kernel of anger flared up within her, but since they were quite far from the north, it was easy enough to suppress it. Besides, she knew that she hadn’t seen the last of the barbarians. And if she had her way…well, she was sure Yuriko would eventually return there, and she would be right behind her.

“You mean it wasn’t because of the troops?” Asami asked.

“No. Ouera Bo, the barbarian fortress, is nearly impregnable. The forces of the Frozen Camp wouldn’t be enough to take it over. And, they allied with the Chaos Lords. Also, a Chaos Fortress formed between the Camp and Aegermonth. That’s why it took us so long.”

“What has the world come to?” Asami shook her head. “The Empire’s besieged on three fronts, the Federation, the Barbarians, and the Chaos Lords. I hope we can come through this unscathed.”

“If the Threads of Fate wills it,” Gwendith murmured. “Also, hmmm, I saw you making eyes at Heron Muryh. You like him?”

Asami nodded. “His Heritage complements mine.”

“That’s all?”

Asami rolled her eyes. “He’s also quite handsome and works really hard. A good catch, you think?”

“Uhuh, you do know that he’s smitten with Yuriko, right?”

Asami gave her a side eye. “So? What does love have to do with marriage and Heritages?”

Gwendith sighed. “You’ll only bring yourself to heartbreak there.”

Asami giggled, “I don’t really mind.” She tapped her lips. “Hmmm, I don’t think he has a chance with Miss Davar anyway. I’ve seen the calibre of her suitors back in Rumiga City. Heron’s out of his league there.”

“Oh? You don’t mind if he…?”

“What’s a dalliance now and then? You know as well as I do that matches are made to strengthen the bloodline. There’s no greater reason otherwise… Hmmm, and besides, it would be amusing to watch, hie hie.”

“Hmmm” Gwendith giggled, too. “I guess that’s true.”