As strong and as fierce as Lacuna's rare rage was, it was done just as quickly. At least it was buried under common sense as soon as possible.
"I'm sorry. I—I need to go check on him."
Lacuna spoke with her head to the ground as she hurried away from them. For a moment, everyone was shocked. Seeing such emotion from one so gentle was a rarity.
"Lacuna! Get back here!" Lilium said.
Lacuna didn't turn, but walked faster. Aureum hid her evil smile behind her hand.
"I think I'll go to," Aureum said.
"Did you put her up to this?" Lilium asked, quite unkindly.
The real rudeness was how she grabbed at Aureum's arm.
"Far less than you did yourself," Aureum snapped back, pulling from the woman's grip.
"Ah!" Lilium let out a gasp of outrage.
Neither had time to be too focused on the other. They needed to follow Lacuna.
Fibra and Radix watched this from their seats. Radix twisted his tunic in one hand. He turned to his father.
"Should we go too?" Radix said.
Fibra looked at Radix like he was stupid.
"Nah," Fibra said.
The two women rushed after Lacun. Neither was too graceful to the other. Their little argument had gotten in the way of looking, and they shortly found themselves in the thick crowd, unaware of where exactly she was.
"Lacuna?!" Aureum shouted.
There was no reply, and Lilium scowled.
"Tch!"
Aureum scoffed as she shoved through the crowd around the arenas. She didn't have a rope of wind to follow Lacuna with, but she did have a vague idea of the layout and where Sitis was headed. Lacuna would end up where Sitis would be. That was for sure.
Lilium either had the same idea or thought Aureum knew where Lacuna was. The two were shoulder to shoulder as they pushed through.
"WOOO!"
A loud cheer went up around them. Aureum jumped in surprise, but the crowd quieted down nearly as quickly. She couldn't have said what was so exciting about the duel they were watching. She could hardly see the two contestants.
Once she broke through that crowd, she entered a thinner one. It felt like a struggle, but within minutes she was at the arena Sitis had been.
A few panicked glances and she spotted the lovers at a distance. Lacuna had her hands cupping Sitis' face.
The tender moment not only made Aureum jealous but also like her concern had been worthless. Relief also came over her in a wave.
She had expected something to go wrong.
"She doesn't understand that life is more than just daydreams. If she had grown up watching me, she wouldn't have chosen such a man."
Unfortunately, Aureum was in the presence of a rain cloud.
"What is wrong with him?" Aureum said. "What more could he possibly give her?"
"Stability, if you must pry into matters that are none of your business."
Aureum made a noise.
"Pffft! As if anyone can guarantee that. Besides, as long as he graduates Viadelux, he'll have a set future. It might not be glamorous, but she wouldn't starve. What you're doing is too much for these worries."
"You might be satisfied, but, my daughter deserves more—
"Lacuna is the one who gets to decide what she deserves," Aureum said.
"She doesn't know what could go wrong! I know that young women like yourself think love will triumph over all, but love is a decision, not an emotion."
Aureum took a moment and let the words reach her.
She's bullseying a target, but it's completely the wrong one to convince me.
"But, since Lacuna will suffer the consequences, it should be her decision. You can't marry a man for her. So she should get the final say. And how does fighting and backbiting your own daughter help change her mind? You'll just end up pushing her away from you."
Lilium bit her lip and looked to the sky.
Aureum waited. She expected insults, shouting, or other such tantrums, but Lilium was sterner than that. The woman almost shook off the weight that seemed to pull at her entirely, like her heavy dress. Almost, but not quite.
Aureum didn't know what was going on with this older woman. She just knew something was off.
Lilium turned away from Aureum, and she got the message. This conversation was done.
Fine, I don't need to waste my time.
Aureum turned back to Lacuna. In their own world, the couple didn't see either of them. Aureum broke from the crowd, heading towards them slowly.
She could make out their murmurings if she pulled them to her. And she did, in the short moment she didn't take to consider the morality of eavesdropping.
"It's all right, Sitis," Lacuna said. "I still think you're the best. You'll make it far soon. You just need a little more time. Making it to represent the university in your first year of study is already impressive."
"One day, I promise I'll show you something worthy of praise."
Lacuna smiled up at him, and Aureum didn't pull any more words they spoke than that. They kissed.
Lilium stormed past Aureum on her way to her. There wasn't even a chance to give them a warning, for Aureum had thought her fight extinguished. She should have known better.
"You two!" Lilium said. "Shouldn't there at least be a chaperone for your dates?!"
Lacuna jolted in Sitis' arms as she turned around.
"Mama! At our age?"
"As if age has anything to do with it," Lilium said. "I don't see how having a kid would help him in his goals."
"MAMA!"
Lacuna let a mortified cry out as Aureum mentally gave flowers to the last of Lacuna's dignity. Sitis held Lacuna a little tighter, but he tried to smile.
"Mrs. Cymba, I'm not going to do anything that would harm your daughter. I swear."
The stare off was intense. Neither Sitis nor Lilium were willing to back down. For once, the first to volunteer as peacekeeper was absent.
"I could be—
"You expect me to trust you? First, I have to get to know you. Come to my home and have dinner with us, my whole family. And maybe. Maybe I'll let you continue to date my daughter."
Sitis looked pleasantly surprised.
"He'd be delighted to come," Lacuna said.
Look at that, Aureum thought. Although Lilium might just be trying to figure out a more sophisticated way to break this relationship.
Jibes against Lilium aside, Aureum wondered how her own family would receive her if she returned. Probably a mix of relief and gratitude, with a side of wrath fed by concern.
She took a few steps back. Now it felt awkward to be here. Rather, it felt so nice she just had to leave right now.
A little like an unnecessary accessory in a planned outfit. What wasn't needed could just go.
There was a problem that people might notice her absence soon, so she headed for the outhouses. That would give them time and her an easy excuse. Nothing would go wrong.
Aureum headed back to the outhouses. They were by the entrance, because the planner must have known a thing or two. It was as she headed towards the exits that she saw him.
Dirty, with a lot of red on him.
Mendax sat on the ground.
At least, Aureum thought it was Mendax.
It looked like Mendax, if Mendax had spent weeks in the swamp of Bonumbas without shelter, perhaps. There was no one else with a face like his.
The many people in the crowd avoided him as they hardly spared him a glance. It was like he was a rock in the ground.
His coat, which was always rough, looked closer to rags than ever before. It wasn't cut. It looked more like it had been scraped into pieces. Scrapes that had torn into his skin, when she looked closer.
His eyes were the only thing that she saw moving. Flitting from one face to the next.
Within the time it took to think it, she stood before him.
"By Malum! What happened to you?"
Mendax looked up at her and slowly blinked.
"When did you get here?"
"Just now. Are you all right?"
A few rapid blinks.
"Yes…"
"Let me get someone to help," Aureum moved to pull away, but he grabbed her hand.
"I'm fine," he said, pulling himself up. "Most of it's not mine…"
Aureum pulled him to fully lean on her, but he gripped her arm with force as if he escorted her. Half-sagged, of course. It was not a very coordinated gait, but they suffered through it.
"Did you kill someone?" Aureum urgently whispered.
"…"
"Don't tell me it's a yes?!" Aureum looked desperately for a place to hide him.
"Don't panic."
Even with a smaller crowd, people just passed them by without saying anything. They made faces of judgment, shock, and awkwardness, but his state drew no questions. Just made it easier to cut through the crowds.
Not if we run across a guard, though.
She doubted an event with this many fighters had no guards. Even if she hadn't seen them, and the ones by the entrance must have been sleeping on the job.
Finally, she just ducked into the dark, shallow line between the two short lines of outhouses and shoved him ahead of her. It was dark, it smelled terrible, but it was hidden from plain view.
"Why…?"
"You want to be found out by the guards?!" Aureum urgently whispered.
"This is more suspicious," he said, but he didn't fight it.
Aureum refocused. She couldn't clearly see him, but on the way there, he hadn't trailed blood behind him. She assumed he was relatively fine, despite his shocking appearance.
"I need to tell you a few things," Mendax said
He still had that death grip on her arm, but his face looked at the ground.
"Yes."
She expected him to tell her what had happened.
"I wasn't just sent here by your father," Mendax said.
Aureum opened her mouth, but the pause Mendax gave wasn't enough.
"I was originally sent to follow you by Flos, and I knew not why. Then I was told to kill you—
He cut through her attempt with precision and speed.
"Wha—
Aureum jerked and pulled away. He tightened his grip and clamped a hand over her mouth.
It was difficult to move in the cramped space. She felt the bottomless pit of fear begin to open up.
"I will let you go after I am done talking. You need to know at least some of this."
Aureum shivered, but finally stopped moving.
"When?!"
She didn't bother holding back her voice.
"It doesn't matter now!"
Mendax kept his an urgent whisper.
"It does!"
"Let me get through the basic points. I was told to kill you, but I didn't!"
Aureum waited quietly. Far too patiently.
Mendax expected her to ask.
"I don't know why I didn't kill you," he finally said.
"I don't care," Aureum said.
This was not entirely true. It was just that in the list of things Aureum cared about in that moment, figuring out how bad this would turn out was much higher on the priority list than the feelings behind his decision.
She let the fear of the fact that she'd completely rejected any connection to the man who held her sink in. She felt him swallow.
"All right. After not killing you, I eventually met up with Nivis, and that was when I learned you were engaged to him—
"You said you learned it from my father!"
She struggled to turn around. Maybe she could get a glimpse of his eyes and figure out some of where this was coming from. His voice was strained and angry, but that wasn't enough to know.
He held her tight and kept her from looking.
"Forget what I said! I knew you had been engaged, but not the details. I was using your father as an excuse instead of conducting an honest search."
He sighed.
"I'm a liar. I've been lying to you."
"I got that already. But why even lie about that—
"He also led me to seeing you at the auction house. And… Well. After helping you a little, I decided to go all the way."
"Do you need me to say thanks?"
"No, I need to finish talking."
Saying that, he still took a long breath.
"There is a problem with me protecting you. As I disobeyed orders, I will be hunted. So, it is counter-productive."
"You're leaving?"
Aureum didn't know if she felt outraged or relieved.
There was no reply. Aureum tried to look back again.
"Yes. There shouldn't be any problems for a short time. But. Anyways, you need to know that you've gotten Lord Nix's attention."
Aureum felt her stomach plummet.
"So?" She squeezed out.
"So, I would suggest you don't go back to Nix."
Aureum broke free from his arms, ran the few steps into the light, outside of the two rows of outhouses, and turned around.
"That's it?"
"Yes."
"You told me everything just to tell me not to go back home?!"
Mendax took a few tired steps. Aureum stepped back.
It was no longer a concern for her if people saw her or this. This mess.
He hesitated.
"I haven't told you everything," he said. "Just the bare minimum that you need. I can tell you more—
"I'm fine," Aureum said.
She didn't trust him anymore.
She turned and took a few steps forward. Looked back. Saw him halfway stuck between the outhouses, hideous and pitiful.
She turned away and kept going, this time not turning back.
Her legs felt shaky. Her stomach heaved. She had thought she felt uncomfortable with Lacuna's family, but now she felt physically ill.
Did he poison me?
Her breathing escalated, but she tried to calm down and keep walking.
It wouldn't make sense for him to tell me all of this if he still wanted to kill me.
I'll figure it out quickly enough if he did.
There's not a lot I can do against poison anyways.
But between these thoughts were even more. Incorporeal, more like realizations than rows of ordered words.
He wanted to kill her?
Since when?
When had he decided not to?
I should have asked him.
But if it was early on, she would have gone through every memory, wondering how close he'd been to killing her.
It was that night, the spooky night, when he woke me up!
She was going to pick apart every moment anyways.
That night made no sense. The conditions for murder were perfect. He couldn't have passed up on such an opportunity so early on. It had to be later.
When the duel happened? When he'd seen her at the auction house? He said that was a no, but now wasn't the time to trust what he said.
Stumbling back to the Cymbas, Lacuna's family, Radix saw her first.
"Here she is! We were getting worried, almost started a search. You doing good?"
"I'm fine."
She sank into her seat with peace completely robbed from her.
"I'm completely fine."
They hadn't asked. Lacuna and Sitis sat next to each other, with Lilium eying them.
She wanted to be fine. Desperately.