The walk where Mendax led Aureum was easy. It was little over half an hour away from the university. Maybe Aureum should have dropped herself back off at the inn, but she was feeling stifled.
Besides, with Mendax tired, she might be able to help. She kept her senses sharp.
Their path led to an elegant street. Many streets in Fluentem were elegant, but this one was cleaner, and the darkened carvings of horses and waves had pale spots where they had been restored. Even the plants were better watered, or better trimmed, or just the fact that there were flowers at all spoke volumes.
The building they stopped before was also elegant. Grand too, in the way a true lord might be. Not overly loud or gaudy, just refined with attention to the details.
She didn't even realize it was an inn until they stepped into the small garden before the door. The sign was a metal piece placed in the middle of the walls that bent into the entrance. It looked like it was for a monument, not an inn.
Its owner apparently didn't feel the need to advertise.
"Stay here," Mendax said.
"What?" Aureum said.
He strode in before she could say much else. Standing there, she thought through it. Then she shrugged and took a few steps forward.
She was half unsure if she should go. Mendax might have a very good reason for keeping her back. Even if he was just tired and wanted it done faster, she didn't feel the need to make things difficult.
She stayed out there, walking a few steps back and a few steps forth.
Now I can come in and say he took too long, right?
Not really, but close enough. She strode in.
"So you want me to just give it to you, for free?"
"That is what you said you would do."
Aureum recognized Nivis' voice immediately. She may not have had the closest marriage with him, but the few years they spent together hadn't evaporated. Not for her, anyway.
Her footsteps quickened as she looked for them. She spared a glance for the man at the door who nodded at her in greeting. He looked like a servant. The two arguing weren't directly in sight. She had to pass the entryway and turn a little to see the fancy dining hall.
It was tiny for a dining hall, really, but too many small tables for a dining room.
Mendax stood over Nivis as he sat there.
"I don't remember saying that," Nivis said.
"Really? I thought we both had some time before you started forgetting promises? Are you begging over some loose change then, oh heir of Nix?"
Aureum stormed towards them.
"It's you!"
Despite the past months, the anger hadn't diminished. It felt like an unassuming pot of oil. Unnoticed in the corner until a small spark set it ablaze.
In this case, just an unexpected meeting was enough.
"Hello, Aureum," Nivis said.
His charming smile seemed stiff. She wanted to spit.
Aureum turned to Mendax.
"Is this why you told me to stay?"
"Did you want to come in?"
Aureum shook her head at the evasive answer.
How much does he know?
She hoped it was nothing. Not that it should have mattered.
"It could be a coincidence," Nivis said. "Why assume conspiracy?"
"Why are you in Fluentem?" Aureum said. "Don't you have a whole city as your playground back at Nix?"
"Well, because of somebody, I can't show my face around there for a while. It's embarrassing. I didn't expect to run into you here either."
"…"
Aureum clamped her jaw hard, grinding her teeth.
One day, what I will do to you!
She pulled herself from the fury. The quicker it was over, the quicker she could go back to not thinking about him.
"I overheard you two talking about the cloak," she said. "I can pay, if that's what you want."
"But I'm not interested in selling," Nivis said.
"You always were a brat," Aureum said.
"Is that why you broke off the engagement?"
Aureum wanted to punch his stupid face as the embarrassment of it all heated hers.
"Why does it matter?" Aureum said. "You couldn't figure out why if you had a hundred years to see it."
Nivis stared at her as one might observe a strange object. He was trying to figure it out.
Again, she'd been too aggressive for what he had done at this age.
But the moment he spoke, the way he sat, all of it. All of it made her convinced it was the Nivis she knew. Who had known what he had done at least.
His confusion over her fury felt like a cut cord. She hated him, and hated him more that he had escaped from their future without knowing of it.
She took a breath.
Not now.
She needed the cloak, after all.
"What can we offer you to make you give it up?" Mendax said.
"It's not really convenient for me to give you anything," Nivis said.
Of course, Aureum thought. Of course. Unbelievable.
It was completely believable. Mendax was entirely sure Nivis was serious. Not willing to lift a pinky if it crossed certain lines.
Mendax gave his most menacing smile.
"This can go an easy way, or you can make it difficult."
Nivis eyed him.
"Pfft. Your answer is to threaten me? We know who you take after."
Both their mother and their father had been threateners, but Nivis hardly knew that. Nivis glared up at Mendax.
"I'm sick of people thinking they can bully me. I'm the son of Caducus Nix, and she—he pointed at Aureum—can dip from the marriage if she wants. But that doesn't mean you get to throw it in my face and act special."
"I'm not trying to insult you," Mendax said. "What can I do if you're this easily flustered?"
"Fine. I'm the easily flustered one. How about this? We have a fair fight. I'll kick your ass and then you can stop bothering me."
"And how are we going to make it fair?" Mendax said.
"If you want your cloak, then you won't hold back. Or make excuses of that kind."
Mendax peered down at Nivis in curiosity.
"Aren't we a little old for this sort of game? You can just give it to me if you want to. I won't mock you for it."
"Am I going to prove it when we're both old men?"
Doesn't he have any ambition to become ascended?
Aureum scoffed at Nivis, sniveling Nivis, in her mind.
"Ha! We don't have time for this," Mendax said. "Get her cloak and follow me to the university."
"…Are you going to lecture me?"
"It's the best place for an education. I'll fight you. My word on it."
Mendax was already walking for the door. Nivis looked a little shocked. Aureum wouldn't withhold one last disgusted glance as she went to follow.
They exited with the warm sun hitting their faces. Mendax looked at her. Aureum looked away.
"I was only engaged to him because he looked nice," Aureum blurted.
Of all things—!
Her internal screaming helped with nothing.
"Oh," Mendax said, "I thought it was because he was rich."
"That too," she admitted.
"Not his charming personality?"
She glanced at him in surprise. Then a nervous chuckle leaked out.
"Heheh, no. Never that. Not him. He doesn't—heh. Yeah."
She shut up.
She wanted to bash her head into the stone wall she was looking at. She opened her mouth just to lock it shut again.
They stood in the awkward silence.
Nivis appeared, sparing her one mercy, but he was wearing the article of clothing in question.
"I think it looks nice on me."
The cloak was unisex, and it was always a little big on Aureum. On Nivis, it was a little small. Whether it looked good or not wasn't the problem.
Both Aureum and Mendax scowled. Aureum's expression was as obvious as thunder clouds.
They didn't talk to him as they walked ahead. He wasn't bothered.
"Seriously, you've been dressing down since we last met, Aureum. Is this what you wanted?"
"Hmmmm. Yeah, it's fun."
I hope Mendax rearranges your pretty face.
Aureum tried to suppress the rage, but she was already boiling. A little bit more poking and she'd start to really whistle.
"It's sometimes easier to move once you drop things that are pretty but useless," Mendax said.
The slow neck turn Aureum did in his direction. She covered her mouth with her hand, grinning.
"Hmmm, is that the new and improved ball and chain talking? Aren't you a little old for her?"
Nivis didn't get mad in response, as Aureum expected. His broken engagement must have been a pretty light topic for him.
"No, that's not what I—
"Don't think she's too young for you? She's twenty, that's like a decade's difference—
"We're not doing anything like that!" Mendax said.
Nivis cocked his head.
"I never said anything about doing? What have you been doing?"
It seemed Nivis could actually fluster Mendax. Aureum hesitated. She didn't even want to know about Nivis.
She asked.
"So, are you two old friends?"
"We're not friends," they both said.
"Sure," Aureum said, unconvinced.
"We knew each other when we were growing up," Nivis said.
"What kind of background does Mendax have for you two to know each other?" Aureum said.
A grin like a knife spread across Nivis's face. It had an eerie sense of familiarity to it.
"You want to know? It's a real interesting one—
"Your lordship," Mendax said.
Nivis shrugged and straightened up.
"If you want to learn his story, you'll have to go through a lot of nonsense afterwards. It's just history anyway, nothing that'll change much. Ask him if you want to know."
From the look on Mendax's face, Aureum was certain he would not answer any questions about it anytime soon.
Guess that explains the job.
Getting on the wrong side of the ruling bloodline was an easy way to make employment difficult. It also explained some other things. Mendax didn't act uneducated, so if he was some kind of fallen bloodline, it lined up.
"We're here," Mendax said.
The abandoned old training grounds stood before them.
"This? This is where we're going to fight? Hardly worth it."
"It's convenient," Mendax said.
Aureum walked to the steps at the foot of the door. It would do.
"Mendax!" Aureum said.
He turned his head.
"Make him eat dirt!"
Mendax nodded.
"Now, that's not very nice," Nivis said. "What did I even do? It's a mystery."
"A mystery you're not interested in solving," Aureum pointed out.
"Is that what this all was then? A test? To see if I cared?"
"No. Nothing you could do would bring me back to you."
Aureum could have growled. Nivis lifted his arms in surrender.
They lined up some distance away from each other.
"Are you really expecting to beat me so easily?" Nivis asked.
Mendax said nothing, but gave a closed smile. Aureum agreed with his confidence. Nivis might be Nix's heir, but her trust in Mendax's abilities was from results.
Somebody who'd never seen real combat wouldn't have that edge.
"To first hit?" Mendax said.
"To surrender," Nivis said.
"Aureum, you'll have to tell us when to start, so it's fair," Nivis said.
"Fine. On three."
Aureum stood up as she spoke.
"One!"
"Two!"
"Three!"
Mendax rushed Nivis. That was the best strategy for a warrior versus an elementalist.
Nivis's pale-blue pearl shone on his forehead. He did not reinforce his body.
Unlike other noble scions in Aureum's recent memory, Nivis acted fast. He sent out sheets of ice in Mendax's direction that jutted up at the last second.
Is he trying to kill Mendax? I thought they were on reasonably good terms—
Mendax twisted out of the way at the last moment, only a scratch on his face showing anything at all. Now, he was before Nivis.
Nivis shot backwards into the air, flung by his own pillar of ice.
Aureum had to give him credit. He knew what he was about more than she'd expected. That just made her fury worse.
If he'd been this capable, would it have been so hard for him to try and help me back then? He could have done something.
"Heh, did you see that—
But Mendax could also jump. Nivis broke off his sentence as he saw Mendax rushing him. And when Mendax reached Nivis in the air, his upright posture gave him the advantage.
Aureum saw Mendax's fists raised for a moment before she heard Nivis struck down.
A crack echoed out.
THUD.
Aureum realized Mendax hadn't even bothered to put on his swords.
The cloud of dust settled, with Mendax standing over top of Nivis. The latter was obviously winded, but he either had some precautions or spent time training his body on some reinforcement. He wasn't seriously injured.
Which was a miracle.
Nivis finally wheezed.
"…Again… I wasn't ready."
"…We're not doing a best of three this time," Mendax said. "Do you surrender?"
Nivis blinked rapidly. With all the dust, he must have gotten something in his eyes. He nodded.
He reached out a hand. Mendax hesitated before pulling him up.
"Thank you for the experience," Nivis said.
It was the usual words after a duel. The polite response was, "May we not see each other again as enemies."
"…"
But Mendax only stared Nivis down.
Nivis looked at the ground and turned away. An expression more than shame showed up on his face. An expression Aureum had never seen Nivis have.
For the few years they'd been together, what were they really?
Nothing.
It was what she wanted, but it was also the truth. Nothing was ultimately what the Nivis of the past had given her, and so nothing is what their relationship had become.
It was a bitterness to accept that. That even her hatred was a waste of her time. The dirt that stained his charming face did make it easier to swallow.
"Well, if that's all, I guess I'll be going—
"Hold up," Aureum said, cutting Nivis off. "Don't you still have something of mine?"
It might have been covered in dust, but the burgundy butterfly cloak was still on his shoulders.
"Of course, of course," Nivis spoke as he pulled it off. "Here, take the archaic thing."
Mendax caught it as Nivis unsteadily walked away. Aureum approached Mendax. He just stood there for a few more moments. He wasn't watching Nivis leave. He was observing the cloak's condition.
"We'll need to wash it," he said.
"And you'll need to sleep."
He shook his head. Aureum nodded slowly with emphasis.
"Thanks for getting this back," she said, as they did their own slow walk back.
"Of course," he said. "Should have done it sooner."