At that point it time, I don't think we were "in love" with one another, so to speak. I mean, we did share a hug and the occasional kiss (on the cheek, of course) before missions, but even the men sometimes do that to one another before and after a battle, and everyone knew we were siblings. So nobody really said a thing.
What did happen though, was that Minerva and I began to spend more and more time with each other. Again, had the circumstances been different, father would have suspected something and probably intervened. As it was, both of us were in the military, and both of us were wyvern lords, so our closeness was overlooked as just circumstance.
It happened during one of our training sessions. Contrary to popular belief, not all training involves mounted combat. Quite often a rider may be unsaddled on the battlefield, in which case his competency in footbound combat may make the difference between life and death.
Of course, we noticed it was raining. In fact, it had been raining so heavily that most of the soldiers had been give the day off, simply because it was impractical to perform military drills with muddy patches dotted all over the assembly grounds. Two people sparring, however was a different story. And besides, the mud added another variable into the practice session, which is never a bad thing.
Minerva had gotten considerably better since she joined the military, and sometimes I found myself on the defensive. She thrust forward with her blade, and I sidestepped to avoid it. I retaliated with a slash from the right, but she was faster, and parried the blow. While her parry didn't shake, I could still feel that she had a long way to go in terms of matching my strength, if she ever could.
The sparring match went on. Slash, parry, slash, slash, sidestep, thrust. And then it happened.
While neither of us had scored a point yet, Minerva had gained some ground. Getting a little overconfident, she attempted to lash out with a risky lunge that had I blocked, she would have no way to defend against my counterattack. As it turned out, I didn't need to block.
As she lunged forward, she slipped in the mud patch I had just jumped to avoid her previous attack. Normally there would have been enough time for her to twist away, or for me to catch her. Unfortunately the slip in the mud had added to her momentum, and neither of us was able to react fast enough.
She landed on top of me.
And our lips met. Accidentally, of course.
Immediately, I pushed her off, because it was the right thing to do. But there was a look in her eyes, just for a split second, that told me I'd hurt her feelings. "Misheil…" she began, but I cut her off, pressing my lips to hers again.
In that instant, everything had changed. Something… carnal had awakened inside both of us. We wanted to be lovers.
But, as fate would have it, we were also brother and sister.
