The One

TWENTY

" Oh great, you again! "
Said four as she stood in a room that was all pillars with white vails dancing in the light breeze.
The councilors had been allowed to play match maker and it appeared Morten had been set up with five.

They had tried to do something nice looking but Morten couldn't help but squint at the pillars, making sure there weren't any body painted guards hiding among them.

" It seems so." He said.

He could see her eyes wonder.
Morten had taken a note from Agnus's book and armed himself by putting his weapons back in his waist belt. Not all, but, anything that wouldn't immediately alarm people.

She scooted over the moment, "isn't that a little warm?"

He had opted for fabric pants this time, he felt like Kur in them, with bare feet to suck in the cool temperatures of the floor. He was wearing a pretty thick shirt of his own with the top buttons open, it was mostly because the light fabrics kept brushing his healing stiches that had been feeling quite awful the last few days. Becoming tight and itchy.

" Are you trying to get me to take off my shirt?" He said before he could stop himself.

She grinned, " Ah! You caught me!"
She said dramatically.

She had apparently been stood on a little plateau, the Land of Lords seemed to have a thing for them. But he guessed it was done to make her seem taller.
She stepped off, half tripping over the flowy white contraption she was wearing.

"If I had known it was you I wouldn't have agreed to this showy portrayal."
She grunted, flailing an arm around the room.

He gave a nod, "I'm sorry ma'am. "

The formality made her look up from trying to untangle her own leg from her dress.

" May I propose we take a walk? Instead of staying in one place?" He asked.

She squinted at him, "Why?"

"Because the floor heats up under my feet and I lose my cooling features." He said looking down at them.

She laughed, "Alright, I can't sit in this without killing myself anyway."

Apparently it was show an tell on his side.
She asked about the arrow he took. An injury that had bothered him little to his own surprise.
She was also surprised to hear Morten had no man on man combat experience.
Seeing his moves in the wrestling match.

He just shrugged it off, telling about his older brother that liked to do wrestle and fight him every step of the way.

" So, why leap? " She asked as Morten confessed he had never wanted to win.

Morten looked around them as he thought.
They were on a solid stone slab walkway between two garden area's.
Lush, green, covered in soft moss. Nothing like home, he noted, while realizing this had been where Agnus's wolf had scared the maids.

He shrugged, " I think.. I saw it? That it probably could be done, I wanted to do it and did."

"So, why keep going?" She asked.

"Well, I was actually scared of being trampled by the others. But at some point I might have found some motivation in winning something, I am not the sort of guy that ever wins." He looked puzzled into nothingness.

" You never won... anything?"

"Well, I ehm- " He had to think about this, no he hadn't.
He always liked to think it was due to his brother. But was it?
"Winning was never important to me, but it was for others. I was always the youngest, I was used to losing.. So I might have not tried winning?" He said, realizing that he thrived in mediocrity.
Seeing others win.