Chapter 25: Book 1-10.2: Trials

"Do you think she tasted it already?" Orrin asked fretfully.

Braden rolled his eyes at his twin. "That would depend on her. She looked quite distracted over dinner."

"Huh. Well, I didn't expect you to lose so badly."

Orrin tossed a ball at Braden which would have gone far above his head except he activated his Facet. A shadowy glow covered his hand as he reached up. The ball swerved in midair and fell into his palm. He tossed it back to Orrin who caught it easily. A soft red glow covered Orrin's hand and the ball shot at Braden who sidestepped. The shadowy glow on his hand flared once the ball was almost a pace behind him and it quickly flung itself into his palm.

He didn't catch the ball this time though; he pulled back this Animus and the ball stopped being attracted to his palm, but the momentum it built remained. Braden moved himself out the way as the ball shot towards Orrin.

Orrin's eyes and hands glowed and he placed his hand in the ball's path. Before it could touch him, however, the ball slowed down and shuddered to a halt, hanging in the air for an instant before it directly flung itself the way it came from.

The twins were in the tower's courtyard near the perimeter walls while they practised their Facets. Under the wall's shadow, they continued their warm-up until Orrin called for a halt.

"You alright?" Braden asked.

Orrin nodded but he was breathing hard. Both of them had made sure to return the ball out of the other's way, so each had to run to catch it. The ball hadn't touched the ground even once.

"I've built up my stamina but it's nowhere near yours."

"That's what you get when you do nothing but read all day," Braden teased.

"Knowledge is power."

"But if you can't use it well, then it's useless."

"If you don't have the knowledge, then you won't know what to do out of your own experience."

"That's what improvisation is for!"

"Ugh!"

"Ugh!"

After a while, Braden and Orrin walked back to the Watchtower. Today was a rest day, though only for the cadets.

"Hungry," Braden said.

"I don't want to go to the mess hall."

"How much do we still have?"

"Enough for today."

Over the past week, both of them couldn't help but indulge in the food hall. Their use of Recovery technique didn't help either as their bodies needed nutrients to sustain the rapid healing and build-up of strength.

The ground floor entrance led to a long spiralling hallway that was a pain to walk through. Braden wished that there was another entrance, but unless they could fly, it was a no go. When they finally reached the antechamber, Orrin was out of breath again. It was already a marked improvement considering, their first day here, both of them were winded following Armsmaster Byrne's pace. Now, at least, Orrin was only breathing hard.

'I wish we'd jogged with Yuriko more often,' Braden thought, feeling a twinge in his heart. Even just the thought of her name had that effect. He didn't know how the other boys could stand it. His peers from Faron's Crossing were considerably relaxed around Yuriko but the other two boys, Callus from Sonsa and Keir from Northwold, could barely keep their eyes off her, too.

'It must be that they're used to her or she wasn't as stunning before as she is now.'

Orrin and his infatuation were purely physical, of course. But he thought he was attracted to her for more than her looks. Maybe it was the way she persevered in her harsh training or even how innocent she was, at least in matters of the heart.

'Either that or something else occupies her waking thoughts.' But mostly it was her looks that lit a fire in him. 'Well, at least thinking of her is making my heart work harder.'

He also didn't expect to lose at Tracer in that wager the night before but he was pragmatic enough to know that one doesn't wager what one cannot afford to lose. Besides, he wasn't addicted to chocolate. Not much anyway. For their family, it wasn't all that hard to acquire. There are other trade routes than through Rumiga City and that box had come through the Confederation of Free Cities of which Haveena was a part. Perhaps, in the territory controlled by the Confederation, was a supply of chocolate making materials?

'Anyway, we only lost about three silver marks in that wager, not gold marks.' He shrugged.

Just before they reached the food hall, they ran into Janus, Zeyn, Maryn, and Danika.

"Good morning!" Braden chirped.

"Good morning!" The others replied.

"Food hall?" Danika asked.

"Yes," Braden smiled, "We really can't stand mess hall food."

"Same here. I don't have much money but since this is our first rest day we thought we'd splurge a bit."

"Huh, tomorrow we'll be out of the Watchtower anyway," Janus grunted. "It's the start of the field exercises and trials."

"How do you know that?" Maryn asked.

"Didn't Leader Yoran tell you girls?"

"Not really."

"Armsmaster Byrne gave us the schedule during orientation. What did Leader Yoran orient you on the first day?"

Maryn and Danika flushed.

"Oh, was it something private?" Braden teased.

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"Nothing, just uhm," Maryn was pressing the tips of her fingers together and looking quite adorable with her flushed face.

"It's mostly about growing up and babies, and stuff," Danika muttered.

"Ah," the boys said in unison.

"Well," Zeyn shrugged, "Armsmaster told us in no uncertain terms, touch anyone without their permission and he'd castrate us. Not that he needed to put that so bluntly. We're not barbarians."

"He also mentioned that if anybody touched us inappropriately, or without our consent, then to tell him and he'll take care of it," Orrin said. "I would wonder why he was so vehement about this. Did something happen in the past?"

"Oh," Danika and Maryn said again.

The six of them arrived at the food hall and fell in line at the counter. It was still a bit early but they could already order any of the lunch set items.

They quickly found a table that could seat all of them and carried their trays there.

"Tomorrow we are going to form teams," Janus said after he swallowed a mouthful of food. The pork cutlets on his tray were garnished with a fragrant white sauce and the bread was white and fluffy.

Braden and Orrin's lunch set was the same. Beef wrapped up in pastry and served with gravy, with a side of buttery mashed potatoes, buttered vegetables, and pickled fruits.

'Well worth the ten Sovereigns,' Braden thought.

"How do you think the teams will be formed?" Orrin asked.

"Draw lots?" Maryn asked. "Maybe we can pick our own teams."

The past week of training and lessons had somewhat determined what each of the kids' roles could be. Braden and Orrin would fit either a Warder role or a Controller. Or both. They would need different gear to be suitable for either specialisation.

Something made Braden glance towards the food hall's entrance just as they were about to finish eating and Yuriko walked in. She was resplendent in her casual clothes, leggings, ankle-high boots, and a white sweater. Her hair was in its usual ponytail, with side-swept fringes that framed her heart-shaped face perfectly. Something was different about her though.

Braden frowned as he stared at her. What was it? For a moment, he thought that the sun was shining down on her, but that was impossible; the windows faced west and there wasn't much direct sunlight now.

Her imperious eyes zeroed in on their table almost immediately and she approached. On her hand was a familiar-looking box.

"Good morning," she greeted.

"Yuri!" Maryn and Danika smiled at her. The other two turned to stare at first but hurriedly called out their greetings.

"Goo-good morning," Orrin stuttered.

"Nice to see you," Braden grinned. "Is there a problem?"

"Yes," she sighed. "I apologise. I was too distracted yesterday. Here." She held out the box. "This is too much, really, and the wager wasn't fair. I can't keep this in good conscience."

Braden smiled while his thoughts whirled. "You've won that fairly."

"I don't think so. I only won one out of three matches."

"That's what we agreed on."

"It's still not a fair wager," she insisted. Her whole demeanour told Braden that she was adamant about this and he thought that if he insisted otherwise, whatever good impression he and his brother may have given her would turn sour.

"Well, you won one out of three, so why don't you have one of them anyway?" Braden offered as he took the box.

She hesitated as she was about to leave then her eyes narrowed. "Does this mean I owe you two-thirds of a favour?"

The other four gasped, Maryn covered her mouth while Danika looked intrigued. Zeyn was frowning while Janus snorted and returned to his food.

"A minor one instead?"

"What is it then?"

"I don't know yet."

"Fine."

"Here, you can take one, as agreed," the others gasped when he opened the box and revealed the chocolate truffles. The other girls' eyes widened and Danika's jaw dropped wide enough that an egg would fit inside.

Her slender fingers hesitantly took one of the balls.

"Those will melt if you hold them too long," Orrin reminded her.

She smiled. "Thank you."

She bit into the truffle, some of the ganache oozed out into the corner of her mouth. Her cheeks turned a delightful shade of pink once the chocolatey goodness exploded in her mouth. "Mnn!" She let out a delighted moan with half-lidded eyes, which made all of their hearts flutter, Braden was sure.

She wiped the ganache off her lip and licked it off her finger, then ate the rest of the truffle. Her delighted smile seemed to make the entire hall brighter. She eyed the rest of the truffles with visible greed but she quickly controlled herself.

"Thanks."

He let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding until after she left, only to realize that everyone on the table had done the same. They eyed each other, wordlessly acknowledging that they felt her radiate joy and satisfaction and that they were indelibly affected by it.

'Well, now I'm addicted to chocolate,' Braden thought. 'Addicted to watching her eat chocolates anyway.'

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