The Summer evening sky was like a mosaic celebrating the orange glory of the undefeated Sol. Beneathe it the Plaza was bustling with activity. Everyone was at peace, well, mostly everyone.
The sounds of Vespers mixed with the hustle and bustle of the townsfolk going hither and thither. Somewhere in the crowd, two men found each other; one with pale skin and blue veins, long blonde hair— one with darker skin and wavy black hair.
The pale one seemed utterly unconcerned about having been spotted by the other, although the other began to approach him with great haste.
“Magister Nolia, I challenge you!”
“The bastard of the Moonflower, isn’t it? I’ve been expecting you.”
“How is it that you’ve been expecting me, cur, unless you acknowledge you have reason to? Now, respond to my challenge!”
By this point, a crowd had begun to form, and the magister thought that this was better a private affair.
“It’s axiomatic that I must accept, especially given the spectacle. Let us away to a more appropriate locale.”
“Axiomatic? Spectacle? If it were axiomatic then why did I have to seek you out? Why would you care about the spectacle now, and not when you killed my brother?”
“I was simply doing my job, bastard. There was nothing personal about it.”
“It’s always just business with you people, isn’t it? Why would you suggest that we away from here then?”
“To save your face. Your family, or what’s left of it, has already endured enough shame.”
“Is that pride I hear in your voice, Magister? It sounds to me like you Blue Rose mongrels enjoy looking down on me and mine, and I’ve had enough; now draw your sword!”
“Soon, bastard.”
Nolia immediately turned and began to walk at a brisk pace, and the bastard followed behind him. The two walked for a time in silence. By the time they had made it outside of the city’s fortifications the sick moon was high in the sky.
The clearing outside of the walls was full of tall grass and white feather-like flowers. Not far away from there, a forest began. Zephyr’s wheezing cough was soughing through the trees of that forest like Harlequin howling in laughter.