Time passes quickly when I'm by myself. I have no distractions to listen to, nobody to entertain. Mother and Father rarely come into the gym, having taken the advantage of old age to be an excuse not to exercise. They've become too reliant on their abilities. I take a break around the afternoon to attend a meeting and find some food to fill my system. Everyone avoids speaking to me as best as possible, for the topic of Elane coming up is sure to set me off. And they know I'm needed at these meetings. The most significant event coming up is a ball to display the fact that the Samos family are truly a source of power for Norta. We go over the details and what's needed. I'm required to be there, according to Mother. After years of attending balls and dances, it's a surprise even to me to find out how much I don't want to attend. But I must.

I return to the gym after dinnertime and find the usual people working out there. Placing my bag of spare clothes down on the bench, I notice Cal and Mare have gone back to not speaking. I'm in a daring mood and to see Mare both frustrates and pisses me off. Perhaps fighting with her would make that feeling go away, for old times sake. It also gives me a chance to spite the future king of Norta. Dream be damned.

I relax into my warm up routine, making sure nothing feels out of place. I nod a greeting to Ptolemus who is rather surprised at me initiating. He nods back, relieved that I must be recovering from my heartbreak. Oh, Tolly. This is only the beginning.

After only half an hour, I let one of my blades go singing past Mare to gain her attention. It turns some heads, but not all. Cal doesn't even look our way. Mare turns to me, annoyance creeping on her face at having to deal with me again. I can't say the feeling isn't reciprocated.

"What do you want, Evangeline?" she asks, wiping the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand. Has this girl ever heard of a towel?

"Would you like to spar, lightning girl?"

At this, her face lights up. I know Mare's been itching for a true fight, one to challenge her. Even if it is me. There's no one here more challenging than the Samos heirs, and Cal surely isn't budging on the no speaking rule with her.

"Sure."

We make our way to the sparring mats on the other side of the room, drawing attention from the others. They watch us stretch and warm up. Cal remains focused on whatever he's doing, and Ptolemus looks puzzled and curious. I take a long drink of water, prepared for Mare's quick movements and agility.

"Purely physical attacks," I tell her. "No powers, no abilities. I don't want to ruin our expensive sparring mats, or have you bleed to death on them."

Mare raises a brow, sarcastically. "What's the point of having a mat if you don't actually use them?" She stretches her legs, and I fight back the memory of my dream.

Forcing a grin, I say, "I won't hold back then."

I lunge toward her, catching her off guard. She narrowly side steps from me and yells out, "Hey!"

We face each other now, circling one another. Trying to predict the other's movements. "You never said when to start," Mare frowns.

"In actual battles, you never know when they'll start," I state nonchalantly. "This way, it keeps you in practice for surprise attacks."

"Leave it to you to fight dirty," she mutters. Then she charges toward me and we throw punches and kicks at one another, matching our paces. A blow for a blow, a kick for a kick. She's quick and uses her height to her advantage. She tries to throw me off balance by side sweeping her legs under me, but I dodge it in time. I aim a punch at her, but she grabs my arm and twists me forward so that I lose my balance.

"You're quick," I pant, as I catch my footing. Without hesitation, I throw punches at her, and she blocks them with her arm.

Mare actually grins at me. "That's what being a thief does to you."

"Or you could just be Silver-born."

In the middle of a punch, I grab her wrist that she's using to block and, with a technique I learned in Training, use the momentum of her body weight to flip her. She's on the ground in an instant and tries to sweep her legs underneath me again to make me fall. I'm on top of her, holding her down with all I can while she struggles and tries to wiggle her way out of this.

"Have you ever thought about practicing with that boy?"

Mare's eyes flash toward Kilorn. "He's not a fighter."

"Not that one," I say as I block a flying fist. "The other lightning one. The one with the white hair."

"Tyton?" she asks, surprised. Her eyes look over at Cal who seems to be hitting those bags a little harder than usual. I have the upper hand now. A distracted Mare is a slower Mare.

"Yes, him," I answer, holding back my strength. "He seems pretty strong."

"Oh, well, uh…" Mare stammers. "I don't know." She uses this opportunity to flip me onto my back, so now she's the one on top. She's lighter than I thought she'd be, but she has a lot more strength than I imagined. We're wrestling to be on top, and I'm all too aware of how close we are in proximity. The very same lightning girl I hated back when she was under the fake identity of Mareena Titanos is the same girl that I'm sparring with in my own home right now.

We continue like this for about an hour, fighting on and off just to tire ourselves out. The feeling of actually fighting someone else and having to stay alert is a more fulfilling training than doing it by yourself. At some point, we call it a truce and collapse on the mat. Sweaty and out of breath.

"Thanks Evangeline," Mare says as she downs water. I do the same, nodding at her.

We both glance over at Cal who is getting prepared to leave. He normally doesn't leave so early. I'm amused at his obvious display of jealousy.

"Leaving so soon, Calore?" I call out. He doesn't turn to look at me. "Tyton isn't actually here, there's no reason to end your training early."

Mare looks over at me, glaring. Wanting me to keep my mouth shut. I shrug.

Cal is calm, still putting all his sweaty clothes into his bag. "This has nothing to do with him or Mare. They can do whatever they want. Just getting ready for an early mission tomorrow."

Smirking, I take another drink of my water and watch Calore practically scurry out the gym. A little more than half of the people here have left now that I've observed the room. Kilorn isn't even here anymore. I grab a towel from off the bench and wipe away at my sweat, having gotten used to the aches and sores. I sit down and lean back against the wall, taking deep breaths in to slow down my heart rate. Mare gets up from the mat and sits next to me, using a towel to wipe away her own sweat. I can smell her body odor, which isn't an unpleasant thing. It's a mixture of sweet and salty. It reminds me of the smell of rain after a thunderstorm.

"Do you like seeing Cal irritated at me or something?" Mare asks, messing with the cap on her water bottle. Her face is neutral and unreadable.

Shrugging, I tell her, "Does his jealousy bother you? I find it more amusing than anything."

Her face scrunches up in thought. Shaking her head, she says, "Not really. He's made his choice. There's no point in him being jealous."

"Emotions are difficult to ignore," I state dryly, thinking of my own feelings when it came to Elane. If I could cut out all the bad feelings she gave me, I would.

Sensing my thoughts, Mare asks, "How are you handling it?"

I blink. We don't turn to look at one another, allowing some sense of privacy when it comes to our former relationships. Of course, Mare has heard what happened. I haven't been too subtle about it. I vaguely watch the others train, coming up with snarky responses to her question but settle on something more acceptable. "I've been too busy with other matters to care."

Mare snorts, catching me off guard. Looking at her, she's got that sarcastic expression on her face again. "Basically, you're avoiding it."

I bristle at that statement. It makes me sound like a coward. "I've spoken to Elane about it. It's over between us. There's no forgiving her."

"Just because two people talk about something, doesn't mean it's ever truly over," she says quietly. "You can talk about how things are meant to be, but the feelings don't ever really go away."

We don't say anything for a few minutes, letting what's been said sink in. I want to keep my guard up for as long as possible, but the truth is, it's been days since I've spoken to anyone heart to heart. Elane and Ptolemus were the only two people I'd confide in, but after recent events, I've felt alone. I've pushed everybody out and away. Maybe Mare and I aren't too different after all.

"I'm hurt," I find myself saying, ready to unleash the thoughts I've held onto for weeks. "I'm angry. I feel betrayed. Confused. But most of all, angry."

Mare stays quiet, letting me go on. When overcome with emotions, I've learned to still myself. My body is tense as I speak.

"I don't understand why she would cheat on me when all I've ever given her is love and affection and loyalty." I put emphasis on the last word. "I'm hurt, and I don't know how to cope with it because I've never been betrayed by the one person I never thought would betray me. She was my only escape from my parents. I thought I could trust her." Tears well up in my eyes, and my hand itches for alcohol. To feel that sweet burn down my throat is all I need to forget about what happened for a short time.

Mare nods, probably relating to how I feel but with Cal. "I thought the same when he chose the crown over me."

I blink back the tears, not wanting to show vulnerability. "Was I not good enough for her? If only people were brave enough to say the things they truly felt. I'd rather her break my heart in the open than sneaking around." Knowing that I myself, am a hypocrite, for not saying how I truly feel. For not being able to truly be myself around my parents.

Sighing, Mare leans back against the wall. "I think we should stop blaming ourselves for not being good enough for people who haven't been loyal to us."

I laugh. "Easier to take that advice when you're drunk."

She looks at me with no judgment in her eyes. "Hey, if that's what it takes to get you through this heartbreak."

Lightning girl has caught me by surprise. I was so sure she would be condescending towards me, even smug about my hurt considering how many others I've hurt. I've been inconsiderate toward her feelings and a ton of other people's feelings, Red and Silver alike.

"Are you actually sympathetic toward me? How unexpected from you."

"Why? Because we're supposed to be on opposite sides?" Mare sits up straighter, readjusting her ponytail. "I guess I'm just letting you know that I relate to what you're saying. Even if our goals don't align."

"Granted, after the war is over, this conversation never happened," I remind her, going back to my roots.

Mare grins at me, brown eyes sparkling. "Deal."

It's odd to be allied with Mare sincerely in something so trivial as relationships. I suppose nothing really changes when it comes to something humans have been struggling with for years. Whether Red or Silver, poor or rich, relationships have always been a challenge for many in prior years of court. Secret affairs, forbidden feelings, a desire for people you can't have. I never thought anything like that would happen to me.

"I've also felt pretty lonely." Her voice brings me back to the present.

"What about fish boy?" I ask, forgetting to properly address him by name in front of Mare.

Instead of reprimanding me, she laughs. "I can't confide in Kilorn about stuff like this. I hate seeing him bothered knowing that he once had feelings for me."

Had? He still has feelings for you, Mare. The whole world knows it.

She continues. "I never thought I'd be sitting here talking with you about relationships, Evangeline. The world must really be screwed up as we know it."

"Ever since Maven became King, that's how I've seen it." Ever since then, my life has been one disaster after another despite how hard the Samos family has been trying to survive. It's nice to know that I'm not the only one who feels alone though. Suddenly, a crazy thought enters my already chaotic mind. The words are out of my mouth before I can stop it.

"Are you going to be at our ball that's coming up?" I want to bite my tongue immediately, but it's too late. I don't know what compelled me to ask. A random act of kindness, I suppose?

"You mean the ball that's going to be celebrating the alliance between the Rift and Norta? No thanks."

"That's just what we tell everyone to get them to show up. It's truly about the Samos bloodline stepping into power and being a royal family."

Mare rolls her eyes. "A display of power then? That's even better than what everyone thinks it's for!"

"It'll be fun," I try and convince her. Why am I trying to convince Mare to come to this Samos ball that I don't even want to attend? Maybe to provide a tool for me to entertain myself by messing with Cal. He probably won't be expecting any of the Scarlet Guard members to show up, especially not Mare. "I'll even let you wear some of my fancy dresses. We'll do your hair and makeup, and make you look like less of a peasant."

She glares at me for making that joke but doesn't call me out on it. Is this what it's like to be friends with Mare? To be able to get away with saying rude things and not trying to start a fight all the time?

"I refuse to wear any of your handcrafted dresses though," she says, referring to the metal dresses. "If you have any regular ones."

"None of my dresses are regular," I scoff. "All are made with the utmost quality and care."

She stands up, bag in hand, ready to call it a night. I stand up with her, grabbing my bag as well. "Is that a yes to coming to the ball?"

"It's a maybe," she says, gauging my reaction. She shifts her weight from one foot to the other, thinking.

"Allow me to walk you to your bedroom while you contemplate coming."

"You're going to try and sell this ball to me, until I say yes, aren't you?" The corners of her mouth twitch into a grin. I can't help but smile at our back and forth interactions. I suppose Mare can be bearable at times.

"Maybe."