Okay. Brace yourself to shiver. I did, writing it.

"I was thinking of how wrong it is to carry a grudge.." Elyon watched the Prince Phobos, as his eyes swept over a silver-handled boar brush that Elyon dared him to ask about. Miranda had been happy to invite her to the room; it was bigger than Phobos'. The little girl was blathering happily; gushing about something or other of a compliment to Elyon's sun.[0] Elyon hadn't been listening. And she watched her brother, who'd been terribly happy, and Lord Cedric had been missing until earlier, when he'd inquisited on the whereabouts of Miranda, but Elyon had only shrugged and he'd assumed she hadn't seen the black haired girl. But Elyon had shrugged 'who cares'. And now she watched her brother as he watched her brush her hair. She was the sister, after all. And if the brush hadn't been given brotherly, then it was only just as appropriate. "Especially on this day of peace."

Elyon brushed long strokes, and felt his eyes following the brush through her hair. She might've felt guilty; she certainly didn't feel humane, but she might've felt guilty, only if she hadn't caught him in the act. Whether his girls were sisters or something to be frowned upon, Elyon didn't feel guilty for doing this. If he was distracting himself, she could fix that.

"I've decided to forgive my friends."

"Elyon." Elyon put the brush down, just watching something flicker over him that she couldn't discriminate as pride, but she felt herself sit straighter as his fingers ran through her hair in a brushing moment; she let him braid her hair with ease as she watched the gentle smile; somehow even realer than his other smiles, though she didn't much like this feeling. Too close. He was too close.[1] "I wish you'd met our mother."

Elyon wish he would stop then. She didn't like him touching her like this[2]. She wish he'd stop it. Stop it. Get off her. Go away. She didn't want this at all. She'd only been playing by the rules; his rules. Why did he have to treat her this way? Why did he do this? He hadn't touched her in days; she was sure; he'd been keeping a distance from her, and now this? Her heart beat faster and her head pounded and she found that she couldn't look at him anymore. She looked down. Down at the brush. She'd give it back if he'd just stop it.

"I wish you'd met our father."

...

It was a surprise to everyone, and silence had filled the room when Aldarn made it before Caleb. And then the arena had been filled; danger of being found forgotten, everyone stood. Everyone cheered. No one had ever thought that Caleb could be beaten, and Julian's breath stilted as he heard someone near by shouting a comment that the chump had chickened out. Caleb was no chump, and Caleb was no coward. But Aldarn had become more important, apparently. Aldarn had dug his nails in and refused to let go, until Caleb was holding on too. It might've seemed funny once; it had seemed funny when he'd arrived back at the rebellion, and Aketon had told him that women had brought Caleb to ask Aldarn. Because Caleb didn't much like women, though he knew now the child had soft spots.

Aldarn was one of them, and the guardian keeper another. Caleb had had to get the worry stone from somewhere, and Julian had found the boy raking into Aketon's things. When Caleb asked - and the boy knew exactly what he was looking for - Julian had thought it for Caleb. He'd got one from Sandan; a woman far too old to hold possession to Jewels as meek as a worry stone. A cheap thing; millions covered beaches in Scallidon, a few thousand miles south-west. But Caleb had dropped it into the Mage's waters, and then he'd given the bracelet to the Keeper child. And then he'd ran into the forest and Julian wondered if he'd gone the course, or strayed. To run.

Rationality didn't apply to Caleb; the uncaused event. And Julian wasn't sure if he wanted Caleb to have run the course. He half expected a riot if Caleb won; if Caleb killed another rebel. They might tear him to pieces; no one saw who was the monster if they ripped his limbs and tore out his heart. And some stayed quiet; very few other than himself, Vathek and Aketon. Some were afraid that if he died, his soul would be released, and Prince Phobos would be worse than before. Drake looked like he was going to throw up. To faint. Julian had never understood what Drake thought of Caleb. There had been anxiety. But Drake must trust something in him, if he'd told Caleb.

Aldarn flipped the enormous sand-timer, and the crowds were filling with an anticipating chatter. Even after the Mage; the Mage predicted Caleb's beating Phobos, and still no one wanted Caleb. Caleb had built them up, and Aketon had noted that they were crumbling without him. Slowly, they were running out of food, and everyone was desperate. And even Aketon knew that Caleb didn't have much holding him here. Even Julian knew that Caleb was certainly becoming less and less tied to the cause. Caleb was going soft, and Caleb had nested on Earth.. Would he come back this time? The guardians weren't here.

[0] Elyon's greed obvious - taking the brush; claiming possession of the sun.

[1] To brotherly; she's getting freaked out because he's actually doing something brotherly rather something that could be either brotherly or.. Y'know ;)

[2] couldn't resist the irony of her preference to him doing something disgusting, and she's making something very clean and innocent (brotherly) seem dirty and distressing.