“Reset your stance and go again!”

  “Yes, instructor!” Humphrey called back as he moved to the center of the arena and looked across at the other young boy, who pushed himself up off the dirt floor.

  Thadwick Mercer was covered in a fine layer of dust, having found the ground several times in short succession.

  Humphrey could see his small hands clenched into fists.

  “Mercer, stop dawdling and reset.”

  The young boy glared at the Geller instructor but still moved to face Humphrey as he held out his hands in the first stance of the surging storm technique.

  It wasn’t the best stance to start a fight; Humphrey knew that well. It’d been drilled into him multiple times now, by Thadwick’s own mother, in fact.

  Shouldn’t he know better? It was his family’s style after all.

  “You should start with stance three,” Humphrey corrected, assuming the stance and awaiting his sparring partner to do the same.

  “I know what I’m doing!”

  “You obviously don’t! You’re in a meditation stance!”

  “You can’t trick me!”

  “I’m not trying to trick you!”

  “Both of you stop bickering and proceed,” The instructor called across the arena, making both boys go quiet.

  Humphrey moved first, using the flow of his stance to carry himself into close range with Thadwick, who barely got a hand up in time to block a palm strike.

  He didn’t block the second, nor did he manage to avoid the kick that sent him back to the ground.

  Humphrey stopped his foot, lowering it as Thadwick coughed and sat up on his knees, frustrated, tears brimming in the corner of his eyes.

  “How…” Thadwick’s voice quavered.

  “I told you that wasn’t the best stance,” Humphrey lightly chided as he held out a hand, only to feel the sting as it was swatted away.

  “This isn’t even your family style. This isn’t fair!”

  “How isn’t it fair, we have the same teacher?”

  “My mother taught you!”

  “Of course she did, our mothers are both adventurers, they’re supposed to teach us.”

  Thadwick stood from the dirt and glared up at Humphrey, who was slightly taller despite being a year younger.

  “You think you're better than me, cause my mother taught you, and won’t teach me?”

  “What? No, that’s not what I—”

  Why wasn’t his mother teaching him? That wasn’t what was supposed to happen…

  “I’m leaving.”

  “Wait, why? We’re not done.”

  “I’m done.”

  “Don’t go, Thadwick, we’re supposed to be friends,” Humphrey said, catching the boy's hand, who snatched it away as if burned.

  “Why would I want to be friends with you, Humphrey!”

  “Our mothers want us to be friends, so—”

  “Do you always do what your mother tells you?”

  “I… Let’s go again; you just need more practice, that's all. I can teach you if you’ll let me.”

  Thadwick stared down at his scuffed and bleeding palms before looking back at Humphrey, his eyes narrowing as he took in the pristine training uniform.

  He turned on his heels, walking towards the maid waiting for him at the side of the arena.

  “You can’t just leave training; you haven’t even won once yet.”

  “Who’s here to stop me?”

  Humphrey ran in front of his wayward friend.

  “Get out of my way, Humphrey.”

  “No.”

  Humphrey watched as Thadwick’s fist clenched, his eyes on the ground. A long silence filled the arena.

  “I hate you.”

  It was barely above a whisper, but venom coated it.

  “What?”

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  “I hate you!” Thadwick spat as his fist connected with the other boy's jaw, sending him to the dirt.

  Humphrey stared up at the angry young scion whose frustrated tears had escaped and trailed down his face, leaving clean tracks in the dust.

  “There… I won. Are you happy now, Geller?”

  “No.”

  “Good, have fun training with my mother.”

  It’d been over a year since Humphery had returned to Greenstone. He’d hoped it would mean a clean slate to make friends… or maybe something more. He’d been surrounded by his own family, of course, but friends his age had been few and far between, with either his mother not approving or obligation to participate weighing down the interaction. It’d been lonely.

  It was still lonely despite his best efforts… though he knew who to blame.

  Thadwick Mercer was pressed against the wall of the study, as a young man, whom Humphrey had been talking to only an hour earlier, kissed him with abandon.

  He’d done it again.

  Humphrey cleared his throat, causing both men to look back.

  One with surprise, the other with a smug expression.

  “Geller, I didn’t… I um, you see—”

  “Just get out,” Thadwick commanded, pushing the other young man away from him, who stumbled back with surprise, only to quickly leave.

  The air was tense as both men looked at each other, before Thadwick laughed and took a drink from a glass within his reach. Humphrey could smell the booze from across the room.

  “Why do you keep doing this, Mercer?”

  “Doing what?” Thadwick asked with a grin as he poured more drink into his glass from a decanter on the desk.

  “You know what I… this is the—”

  “Oh, I know how many times it’s been, Geller… What, haven’t won once yet? That’s got to sting.”

  “Won… What are you? Wait, is this still about that day in the arena?” Humphrey asked, moving closer to the other young man who just leaned against the desk as he took another sip. “Are you saying you still hate me?”

  “Did you think you’re little trip would make us buddy-buddy when you got back, Geller? Still trying to be friends with me because of your mother? You’re so fucking pathetic.”

  Humphrey stopped as he saw the venom in Thadwick’s eyes.

  “It doesn’t have to be like this. I know you have some complications with your family, maybe if we—”

  “Geller, you want to know something?”

  “What?”

  “I don’t care. Not about how my mother likes you better; not about your perfect face, and I don’t care about these people.”

  “Then why are you—”

  “Because I want to see you lose. I want you to watch as I win. So, if I must play pretend, fine, I know how to smile and be nice, and, man, do people love that.”

  “You can’t fool everyone. I know what you’re doing.”

  “That’s the funny thing, it’s not some secret… everyone already knows, yet here I am, and people just keep coming back. Maybe it’s the money, the name…” Thadwick’s eyes lightly trailed up Humphrey’s body before meeting his eyes with a smirk. “My pretty face.”

  “You’d let people use you like that?

  “Why not? At least they want me, unlike you,” Thadwick said with a laugh as he took another drink.

  “They don’t really want you, Thadwick.”

  “You think I don’t know that?”

  There was a small laugh, sounding more sad than sharp, as the noble looked away, the drink gripped tightly in his hand. Silence fell on the room as Humphrey took the drink from Thadwick.

  “Why don’t we start over?” Humphrey said, placing the glass on the desk. “You don’t have to live like this, you know. We’re more than our families.”

  “Wait… do you want me too, Geller? You know that would make our mothers really happy,” Thadwick said, his hands taking hold of Humphrey’s shirt and pulling him closer.

  “That’s not what I— You’re such a mess, Thadwick!” Humphrey exclaimed, though he felt his heart rate quicken as the young noble leaned in close to his ear.

  “Astute as always, so insightful… Want to see what else I can be?”

  “No, stop. Gods, I’m saying I’m worried about you!” Humphrey said, pulling away from the other young man, who scowled back at him.

  “Worried about me, please! No one's worried about me. Stop pretending to be such a gentleman. You don’t care about me, Humprey… you’re only here cause your mother told you to be my friend. Well, guess what? People like us don’t have real friends, only obligations, and your sympathy’s a knife.”

  “Where’s Kettering?”

  “Best guess is he’s already at the Geller Estate,” Neil said as he walked past Cassandra. “Is Thad not ready?”

  “He’s stalling... Wait, by the Geller Estate, do you mean him and?”

  “Yep.”

  “Well, I bet his parents are ecstatic. Getting an in with both us and the Gellers is quite the feat.”

  “Should I go get him?” Neil asked, crossing his arms as he looked towards the stairs, only to catch sight of Thad, his eyes going wide with surprise.

  “What did you do to your hair?!”

  “Wait, do you think it looks bad, Cass?” Thad asked, his hands going up to his noticeably shorter hair.

  “I mean, it’s different,” Cassandra answered, walking closer to look at it. “Who cut it?”

  “You’re not instilling me with confidence. I thought I did a good job!”

  “You cut your own hair? I mean… it doesn’t look bad. But what were you thinking?”

  “I couldn’t sleep!” Thad said, rubbing his hands over his face. “Neil, do you not like it that much?”

  “What?” Neil asked his thoughts, finally coming back to him as Thad glanced at him nervously.

  “You’ve just been staring for the last minute.”

  Neil tried to pull a coherent string of thoughts together as Golden eyes looked at him expectantly. The short hair was different, in a surprisingly fitting way. It made his eyes stand out far more.

  “It’s nice.”

  “Is it really that bad?”

  “What? No, it um… suits you, I like it,” Neil said, walking over to look closer, his hand lightly touching a lock that still had golden highlights running through it, only to stop as he noticed both Thad and Cassandra staring at him. “So, are we going then?”

  “Oh, um, yep…” Thad said, looking away rather quickly.

  “Well, at least your hair won’t get in your way during the fight,” Cassandra said, walking to the door.

  “Do you think if I just apologized to Geller that he would call it off?”

  “I think Geller’s willingness to forgive and forget ran out years ago,” Neil said as they walked out onto the Mercer estate. The weather was perfect, with the gardens in full bloom.

  “You’re right… He did offer on several occasions. Wish I’d just swallowed my pride then, huhh,” Thad said with a small laugh, almost as if to himself.

  “Well, this time you can offer the apology, be the one to reach out. Probably would mean more anyway.”

  “Yeah, nothing sells an apology more than a battle to the death,” Thad said, his hand lightly brushing against Neil’s.

  He wanted to take it. It felt like an invitation… one made on the Mercer Estate in broad daylight, no less. Was Thad interested? Had the other night meant something to him? Feeling bold, he let his hand brush back against Thad’s.

  “Neil?”

  “Yes?”

  “Do you—”

  “Oh, look who got a haircut!” The strange outworlder accent halted both men as Jason walked up with the Magic Society Official tailing him. “You look rather dashing.”

  “Jason, don’t flirt with me in front of my sister.”

  “That’s not flirting, it’s stating a fact. Like me saying Neil has beautiful eyes, or Clive’s hair is gorgeous.”

  “Are you going to state a fact about your girlfriend?” Cassandra asked with a raised eyebrow, to which Jason took her hand and lightly kissed it. “How many hours do we have?”

  “Well, it takes a while to get to the Geller Estate, so you might as well get started,” Cassandra laughed as they walked ahead of the group.

  “He thinks my eyes are beautiful?” Neil asked, looking at Thad, who smiled.

  “Well, he’s telling the truth, your eyes are very striking, though green is my favorite color. So, I may be biased.”

  disaster Bisexual Thadwick being a menace to society, and especially himself.

  Sympathy is a Knife" by Charli XCX.

  character design. People cutting their own hair always reminds me of .