Prelude To:

“In all seriousness, there was something I wanted to talk to you about, Xentros.” Sheila waited for him to give her his full attention, and as such he sat on the edge of his bed fixated on her. Her face reddened ever-so-slightly at the intensity of his gaze. “Here goes nothing.” She thought to herself.

“I heard my youngest pupil is in the market for a fight!” A man burst into the room. Xentros looked up from his spot on the bed and Sheila turned her head around to face the man. “You want to test your mettle against our King! Or so the rumours go.”

Sheila hid her anger and frustration well. “Just as I mustered up the courage to tell him, and someone interrupts. It’s like some force doesn’t WANT me to tell him how I feel.” Her thoughts went to the same pattern as she half-heartedly paid attention to the conversation the two men near her were having.

Xentros nodded his head. “Yeah, I was going to fight dad to see how long I could go before I lost control. I suspect you heard about the newest problem, right Thee?”

Thee was the swordsman King Vexus chose to train his son. He came from Lunaria to try and escape some of the colder weather. He hoped the southern forests of Illius would provide a warmer climate, and he was not disappointed. To this day, he stays around and works a lesson into Xentros’ schedule. Through-out training Xentros saw this man as his friend, and the two got fairly close.

“Staying awake through the thick of it must have been awful.” Thee could be direct when he wanted to. He could also beat around the bush as he saw fit. “If you’re ready now, we could have that spar now.”

Xentros was about to seize the opportunity when remembered he was talking to Sheila. “Perhaps later, I was in the-” Sheila interrupted him with a shooing motion.

“Go ahead now. It isn’t so important that it can’t wait.” She said out-loud. She then thought to herself: “And I don’t know if I can get it out of my mouth anymore.” She mentally sighed before dragging the protesting Xentros off of his bed. “Go on, go on. I’ll be right there with you, we can talk after.” She tilted her head and smiled at him. It was finally enough encouragement for him to walk over to Thee on his own and accept the offer.

“Great! I shall meet you on the training field in ten minutes!” With that, Thee left the room, pumped for his fight.

“I’ll leave you alone so you can get ready.” Sheila said as she walked out after the man. She left Xentros alone as his thoughts started to wander.

“What could she want to talk to me about?” Was amongst one of the first things he thought about. “Is it something bad? I hope she isn’t leaving, she’s my best friend.” Xentros began to prep for battle as his thoughts wandered down a path of negativity. “Heh, maybe she wanted to say she had feelings for me.”

He reached for his sword before stopping and smacking himself. “No! No thinking like that. She is your best friend, you can’t fantasize about her.” He grabbed his sword and headed down to the field.