Nerluce missed a step.

He was thankful he didn't fall or stumble all that much. It didn't even seem to be noticed by anyone. Anyone but Aristide with his all-consuming eyes. He did not react. His face seemed more like a statue than the Empress's had. Nerluce sat down in his seat. A seat that was only outranked by his own sister. A seat that was above the High Priestess's. A seat that put him right beside Aristide of Ethera.

Gods save Nerluce. It was a miracle he hadn't been stabbed straight through by Kōttaiki or frozen into a statue already. It might be a good question as to why that was. Maybe Aristide didn't want to cause a scene. Nerluce shuttered at the thought of Aristide slipping into his room and assassinating him while he slept.

Nerluce did not doubt that Aristide was capable of it.

Food was brought without a word spoken between any of the people at the four highest tables. The food was eaten in a similar sort of silence. Even when Princess Yume took to the Flower Stage and began a beautiful dance that could not be performed by anything less than someone who had trained her body for half her life no one said a word.

Nerluce shifted in his seat. And then he scolded himself as that was very rude. But he could not help it. He didn't understand how people were able to sit still, even Aristide. He was like a beautiful jade statue, eating and sitting as though he was born to Itorohian royalty.

That old jealousy coursed hot through Nerluce's veins. A jealous he had long muted by friendship but it was very clear that Aristide no longer considered them friends of any kind. The only time he even so much as looked at Nerluce, he seemed to be trying to figure out the best way to make Nerluce's death look like an accident.

When the meal was almost over and after the whole hall had finished their applause for Princess Yume's dance - never once breaking the thick tension - the High Priestess turned to Nerluce. "Young Lord Hebikoti," she said, "would it be possible to have a moment of your time after the meal?"

"Unfortunately not," Nerluce said. "This young lord is very tired from his travels and would like to rest."

"It will not take long," the High Priestess persisted. "And it is of the utmost importance."

"High Priestess of Ethera," Coam said, cutting in with a tone as sharp as a blade, "my brother has already refused. Do not pressure him any further by preying on his youth and inexperience." She lifted her chin. "If it is a matter so important, I will be happy to meet with the High Priestess of Ethera in his stead and relay the High Priestess of Ethera's message."

"This matter does not concern Young Lady Hebikoti," the High Priestess said. "There is no need to bother her with it. Young Lord Hebikoti can meet when he is recovered."

"This Young Lord fears that is impossible," Nerluce said. "This Young Lord's health can be frail so it is best he rests until the competition and rests after it as well for the journey home."

"The reason," a new voice, Aristide's voice, said, the sound of it after all this time sending a prickle down Nerluce's spine, "that Young Lord Nerluce's health is frail is because of the kind of Magick he practices." Aristide lifted his drink to his lips. "If he were to meet with the High Priestess and me, we may be able to help."

"This Head Disciple Aristide," Nerluce said.

Nothing followed and Aristide looked at Nerluce. He was forced to. His eyes were wide and his lashes batted innocently. "Pardon?"

"If he were to meet with the High Priestess and this Head Disciple Aristide, they may be able to help," Nerluce said, correcting the entire sentence.

Aristide's eyes widened a bit more and then he turned away. Gods, Nerluce already missed the burning of his gaze. "This Junior Priest Aristide would like to remind Young Lord Nerluce that his help, while appreciated, is not always appropriate."

No, it probably wasn't.

If Aristide was a stranger to him, correcting his formal speech wouldn't be appropriate in the slightest. Nerluce would be expected to say nothing, only judge in silence and snicker behind Aristide's back. But, of course, they were not strangers and Nerluce was not going to let a chance for himself to correct Aristide slip through his fingers. It wasn't out of a sense of superiority or mocking just a simple correction. A teasing reminder that Aristide would never forget.

Every time he said his name in formal Itorohian, he would have to taste the memory of Nerluce on his tongue.

"This Young Lady thanks the Head Priestess of Ethera and the Junior Priest Aristide of Ethera for their concern over her brother's well-being," Coam said, "but while their assistance is appreciated it is neither needed nor appropriate." She smiled, turning Aristide's words back on him. She really was his match, both in word and in battle.

"This High Priestess understands, she was only expressing her concern," the High Priestess said.

And with that, the meal was finished and they all were led to their chambers.

Nerluce and Coam were staying in the same hall and the Hebikoti disciples were in the hall just beyond theirs. Nerluce bid Coam goodnight, figuring that if he was going to lie about needing to rest, he best keep up the lie just to make sure that the High Priestess didn't catch him wandering through the gardens and decide he must be feeling up to her... chat. Or assassination. Nerluce wasn't really sure and he did not want to find out.

Instead, he tried to make himself comfortable in the unfamiliar rooms. They were nice, perhaps even nicer than the rooms he lived in at Hebikoti Palace. The bedsheets had gold woven into them and the walls were decorated with a couple of ink paintings of bamboo by a famous painter Nerluce was pretty sure he'd heard Coam talk about before.

Just when he was about to go to bed - several of his outermost robes removed from his body - there was a knock at his door. Nerluce, figuring it was either a servant, Coam, or an assassin - none of which he needed to look particularly presentable for - he went over and opened the door.

Lyana and Eko were on the other side.

"I should have put my robes back on," Nerluce said.

"Two extra layers of fabric are not going to save you," Lyana said, crossing her arms. "Over a year and nothing! You don't even bother to say goodbye!" She thrust her hands into the air and stormed past Nerluce into his rooms, Eko following at a distance, looking mildly amused. Nerluce figured they probably weren't here to stab him and resigned himself to the fate of having them in his room. "No letters, no nothing! And then we have to find you!"

"To be fair, I did not know you were here," Nerluce said with a half-smile. Between seeing them again and both being able to hear and speak informally again... it was so nice Nerluce felt like he was going to burst into tears.

"Surprise," Eko said. "The High Priestess brought a lot of the lower- to mid-ranking disciples to show that even Ethera's worst can outshine Itoroh's best."

"I thought in a year you two would have already become Ethera's best," Nerluce said. "Elder Priestess Lyana and Elder Prie... Preist? Priestess?" Nerluce frowned.

"Priestum Eko," Eko said.

"Idiot," Lyana grumbled. "You're such an ass."

"Sorry," Nerluce said.

"Sorry?" Lyana asked, her eyes wide with disbelief. "You disappear without a word to anyone - like seriously we did not even know you had left until we the ceremony and Aristide refused to tell us anything!" She threw her hands up again. "I wrote you letters! Multiple letters! But you never responded!"

"I... never received any letters," Nerluce said.

"Probably because you were off somewhere... fighting!" Lyana screamed. Her eyes were only getting wider and her gestures wilder. "I didn't even know Itoroh was at war with Tilica until we were all informed that Nerluce Hebikoti is a heretic and second, only to the Wolf Woman - the god damn Wolf Woman - in who we suspect Darkest Shadow is!"

"Oh," Nerluce said. "I... really seem to have upset the High Priestess." He chuckled but it was... kind of pathetic even to his own ears. "Sorry."

"I am so pissed!" Lyana said, whipping around and turning to look up at Nerluce. She had never seemed smaller. Her hands bunched into fists. Her entire body trembling with rage and a bit of fear. And then she leaned forward, resting her forehead on Nerluce's chest. "I am so, so pissed with you. And so, so glad to see you again."

"I'm glad to see you too," Nerluce said, bringing his darkened fingertips to her head and stroking her bushy red hair a couple of times. "You going to yell at me too, Eko?"

Eko shrugged. They never were one for loud words or strong emotions. "You still owe me a round of cards," they said. "And probably several more for keeping your stupid secret for years only for you to go blow it on your own."

"Sorry," Nerluce said again. "I'll play you to until you're sick of me."

"You will," Eko said and pulled out a deck.

Oh, they were playing now? Nerluce looked down at Lyana, her head still resting on his chest. She seemed to be muffling small sobs in the folds of his cloth. He stroked her head a couple more times. "Lyana, do you want to play cards with us? I think if you kick my ass a couple of times, it'll make you feel better because far warning, I haven't played... since Ethera."

"Good," Eko said. "I want you to lose every round but if you dare go easy on us, I won't let you hear the end of it."

"I wouldn't dream of it," Nerluce said. "Lyana?"

"I wanna play," Lyana sniffled, finally pulling away from Nerluce's chest and rubbing the tears from her eyes. "I'm going to kick Nerluce's ass so bad."

Nerluce laughed and Eko dealt them each a pile of cards.

Nerluce's hand was shit, but he didn't care. He tried to bluff his way through and when that failed, he tried good old fashion cheating. It didn't work either. He laughed and Eko and Lyana scolded him. They played again and again and again, all night until the three could barely keep their eyes open anymore.

And they played one more round after that, just for good measure.