Rogue Firefury

DUEL

The next morning's training was plagued with mishaps, minor though they were. Tiene's mind, apart from her still fuming at Dar'Khan, was thinking about her brothers returning from Ghostlands. The battle against the trolls had taken longer than she thought it might, and she had missed Duthan and Lor'themar so much.

She had painstakingly planned what she was making for dinner but had gone over it about a dozen times or more. She so wanted to do something special for them, and so her decision reached, she had prepared much of it before coming to the guildhall.

After another bout of naming various attacks and duelling, as it were, with the target dummies under Zelanis' supervision, they stopped for a break.

She sat near the doorway and quietly munched on a goldenbark apple while burying her nose in one of her books. She didn't notice someone coming over until they sat down beside her with an audible "oof!" when they hit the floor. She turned to see Camnath. He looked a little awkward, so she offered him an apple.

He accepted with a smile. "Thank you," he said and took a bite. Tiene went back to reading her book while she heard him crunching away on the fruit. She guessed he was back to continue their conversation from the day before, but she would wait until he broached the subject.

"What are you reading?" he asked after a few moments.

"Poisons and their Properties. I borrowed it from Darlia." She showed him the book.

He nodded then commented, "We are not ready for the use of poisons though." 

"I know, but it's good to understand them in advance." She smiled and waited for him to say something else. He seemed to be more interested in his apple again. She sighed quietly.

"About yesterday..." he said suddenly.

"Yes?" she responded, hopeful.

He fidgeted a little and looked around as if checking no-one else was in earshot. "That man. The one who came over when we were talking."

"Dar'Khan. What about him?"

He took a deep breath before continuing. "Is he - your - your..." He took another bite of the apple.

Unless she was gravely mistaken, Tiene suspected that he was trying to deduce if she and Dar'Khan were courting. Camnath looked embarrassed and, it seemed, somewhat unsure how to broach the subject. Tiene was not going to make a fool of herself, however, and blurt things out. She wanted to be sure about what he was inquiring. "My what?" she coaxed quietly.

Camnath met her eyes briefly then stared at the space on the floor between his feet. "Your suitor."

Tiene smiled inwardly. "No, he is not," she said then for good measure added,  "Nor will he be." 

Camnath looked up, this time maintaining eye contact. "Good! I mean...okay." He managed a nervous smile.

Inexperienced though she was, she surmised that Camnath was in the same boat. Innocent. Pure still, though it would be unusual for a boy his age, or so she had been led to believe. Perhaps she should try to make him feel a little more comfortable. That, in turn, might make the butterflies in her stomach quieten too. "Yesterday, you asked about the magic I use for stealthing. Was there something specific you needed to know?"