Disclaimer: Blah blah blah, I don't own Fable, blah blah something witty.

Whisper's spear made a satisfying noise as it slid into Arachanox's fleshy eye. She pulled it out just in time; the giant insect dissolved, leaving scattered ashes and an unpleasant odour in its wake.

The crowd drowned out the trumpet's blaring notes. Whisper closed her eyes, surrendering herself to the tumult of raw noise – raw emotion directed at her. She could feel it like the thunder of a powerful storm: the vibrations thrummed through the soles of her feet and in her chest. They made her heart sing.

So this was why her brother loved the Arena.

Behind her, someone cleared their throat.

Whisper turned to find Sabre watching her curiously. Leave it to Farmboy to ruin a perfect moment.

"What?"

The harsh tone seemed to surprise him. "Nothing. Just that you were standing kind of still – too still – and I thought you might be..."

She flicked her spear, sending scorpion slime flying at his boots.

Sabre didn't answer, but his brow scrunched together the way it always did when he had something to say. Whisper had always teased him, even when they were just children during training. Some things never changed.

Still, she supposed he deserved some credit; he'd proven his worth in every round. Prior to the Arena, everything they'd done together had been a competition. But here, in the team rounds, they needed each other alive. Knowing that he had her back was almost comforting.

The whole experience was kind of nice.

"Wow! We have two winners!" the announcer declared. "Incredible! Well, as you know, we have a special guest here tonight: Jack of Blades!"

"Whisper, I –"

The heroine turned her back on him, facing the balcony where Jack of Blades stood. She hid a smile. Infuriating Farmboy never got old.

"After an eternity away from you all, Jack of Blades is back," the red-cloaked warrior said. "And I have a special proposal to mark the occasion: a fight to the death between the two heroes left standing."

The crowd roared with approval and Whisper saw the noise for what it really was: a grisly call for blood.

It wasn't right. She couldn't kill someone in cold blood. Not Farmboy. Not anyone.

"I'll put on a good show," she told him, "but I won't kill you."

"Neither would I," he replied, but she doubted his words.

The final battle began. They exchanged furious blows. Both of them worked hard to keep the match a stalemate. Whisper had forgotten how much stronger her rival had become over the years. Between parrying and launching a deadly counterattack, she wondered if this was the last thing countless bandits had seen. Before they lost their heads, that is.

His sword came at her skull and the changed direction without warning. The flat side of the blade caught her in the ribs with an audible thwack.

Whisper staggered sideways. She swore at him, but the curse was lost in the howl of the crowd.

Sabre's eyes widened. "I'm sorry, I –"

He could have ended the duel right there. Then he humiliated her further by apologizing. He was playing with her like a balvarine cub played with its food.

"Shut up!" she screamed, throwing herself at him.

Her vicious onslaught, fuelled by anger, drove him back. With a thrill, she realized she could actually win this. She could make her brother proud...

And then her hopes were cut brutally and abruptly short. There was no valiant comeback or fatal mistake she saw coming. One moment she could taste victory, the next she was laying on the sand with a bleeding gash in her abdomen. She bit back a cry of pain.

Farmboy had bested her again. First at melee training in the Guild. Then twice at Orchard Farm. And now. She was so close, but he would always be better.

She rolled on her back. Sabre had removed his helmet. At least she could look her killer in the eye.

"Just get on with it," she hissed. The pain wouldn't let her say anything else.

Slowly, he shook his head. "No. No one else dies today. We agreed."

Whisper glanced at her brother, who was sitting in the stands. Amidst a bloodthirsty mob, Thunder remained tight-lipped and impassive. But the disappointment in his eyes tore open a new wound and poured salt in it.

She remembered his words the day she first lost to Farmboy. Her brother said that she had it all wrong. That she needed to practice more. While Farmboy slept in his warm bed, Whisper was still perfecting her technique. She woke up the next day excited and confident, only to be beaten back down. Her rival received an A+ and she was left with the fact that Thunder hadn't even shown up to watch.

Whisper spat a mouthful of blood at his face. "Kill me."

"No. I'm getting you out of here."

He tried to carry her, but she struggled. He settled for dragging her into the Arena Pit. The noise faded behind his back, shut off by the doors.

"You idiot!" she screamed. "You ass! Why didn't you just take the money? Let me die, damn you! Damn you to hell! Just let me die..." Her screams trailed off into sobs as he laid her on one of the filthy beds.

He placed his hands on her stomach. She was too weak to protest.

Minutes later, Sabre collapsed against the wall, exhausted after the healing process. He even dared to give her a smile. "All better."

Whisper snorted. Things would not be "all better" with her brother.

"Why would you want to die?" The question wasn't meant to be rude or intrusive.

"Because I can't look my brother in the eye ever again."

A pause. "Why not?"

Whisper had never discussed this with anyone before. Under normal circumstances, Farmboy was the last person she would tell. But he was the first to ask and she just didn't care anymore.

"All I wanted was for him to say he was proud of me. Just once. He trained me to fight, to survive at an early age. When I told him I'd been accepted into the Guild, he just nodded and said 'good.' I spent my entire life trying to impress him." An entire life wasted.

"You looked up to him that much?"

"We had no parents. Of course I looked up to him; he was all I had."

"But you graduated from the prestigious Guild of Heroes. You earned a Guild nomination for the Arena. You made it to the final round. Doesn't that make you even a little bit proud?"

"Yes," Whisper started to say, then she realized that the reason she had never been good enough was that her best was only mediocre compared to Farmboy.

"You," she snapped. "It was always you! You're the reason I was always second-best. You had to ruin everything. It's your fault!"

Sabre didn't even flinch. "Whisper, it wouldn't have mattered if I was the clumsiest, stupidest oaf alive. You'd still have beaten yourself up trying to earn Thunder's approval."

Damn him for being so right.

"I always admired you, you know." His eyebrows furrowed. "You seemed so strong and sure of yourself. And you had so much more experience. Unfortunately, you were annoying. Very annoying. But I was always secretly glad that you were my roommate."

"Likewise, Farmboy." And she was. Whisper grinned. "But this is the only time I'll admit it."

He flashed her a smile, then was serious again. "What will you do now?"

"I don't know," she admitted.

"Then things will be just like they were before," he said softly. "We'll go off on different adventures. Travel all over Albion and never see each other. And when we finally do, you'll call me Farmboy and I'll pretend that I don't mind."

"Would you have it any other way?"

"Yes." His intense stare sent shivers down her spine. It was like he was trying to see her thoughts. Or show her the depth of his. "I know that we never spent much time together, apart from training. But that fight out there, that was something else. Maze always told me that you can tell what a person is really like when they step on the battlefield. And you – you were amazing. You moved so gracefully. It made me feel something I thought I'd forgotten."

It was impossible to doubt the sincerity in his eyes. For the very first time, Whisper noticed their unusual colour: deep blue with a touch of green, like the seas of a far-off paradise. She noticed the way his lips dimpled when he smiled. How had she missed all these things before?

And she realized the real reason why he had protected her so eagerly in the Arena ring. Why he never talked back to her no matter how many times she goaded him.

"I love you."

The phrase hung in the air between them. Whisper didn't know who had said the words, but it didn't matter; they were just as true for either hero or heroine. They were a symbol of something they shared, not something to compete for.

His brow scrunched together and she smoothed it out with gentle fingers. Nothing more needed to be said. As he kissed her blood-flecked lips, Whisper realized that there was more than one way to save a life.