The night had fallen and the excitement of the tournament had died down, there was much to be celebrated. Drasna had apologized profusely to Korin for knocking out her teeth, but was forgiven. Korin had admitted Drasna was the better fighter, which Drasna found slightly out of character, but didn’t dwell on it for too long. Though she also could’ve sworn Korin had brown eyes and not purple. She was walking Isobella down the mountain, enjoying the tranquility that came with the trip and being alone with her thoughts and Izzy. She had lit the stone lanterns on the way up with Isobella earlier so even in the darkness of night there was enough light to see.

  Isobella spoke her mind, “The trip down is much easier, though perhaps is a bit darker”

  Drasna nodded and remained quiet, she kept replaying the match on her head over and over, Korin had her right where she wanted her, but stopped. There was no reason for her to stop, Korin claimed she felt dizzy and sleepy. They both figured an earlier hit had taken its time getting to her, but Drasna never aimed for the head in their spar.

  “Drasna? Is something the matter?” Isobella inquired.

  Drasna was pulled from her thoughts and looked at Isobella, then she had a thought that made her feel guilty. Could Isobella have done something, she said earlier she had the power to put people to sleep. It would explain why Korin was such a good sport after the fact instead of being a sore loser. She didn’t want to believe it for a second, but the more she thought about it, the more true it felt.

  Isobella grew frustrated, “Drasna!”

  “Huh? Oh sorry! I was just deep in thought…thinking about Korin and…nevermind…”

  Isobella began to scoot closer, “I had a really good time today…I wouldn’t mind taking another trip actually.”

  Drasna frowned, “Is that right?”

  Isobella inched even closer to hug Drasna’s arm, but the monk pulled away. Isobella’s face looked as though she’d been slapped, which made Drasna feel even more guilty.

  “S-sorry, I’m feeling a bit sore, Korin is really strong.” Drasna stated

  The duo approached the chateau and paused at the door, they turned to look at each other, clasping each other's hands. Both sets of purple eyes gazed into each other, one smitten and the other disappointed.

  Isobella brushed the comment off, “But you beat her, that means you’re stronger, right?”

  Drasna pulled her hands back and looked away, “Am I?”

  Isobella turned red and stammered a bit, “W-what do you mean?”

  Drasna hesitated, but snapped, “I’ve sparred with Korin lots of times, she can’t use ki, so she trains extra hard. She also has a lot of pent up stress and aggression, so she can fight rough. The point is, I can tell something wasn’t right.”

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  Isobella shifted uncomfortably, and stared at her toes.

  “Korin had me on the ropes, but then, she looked tired. I didn’t really put it all together at the time, the rush and desire to beat someone like Korin was pretty powerful. Then after the match, she wasn’t acting like herself, she hates losing, not many people can do that either.” Drasna crossed her arms and looked back at Isobella, “Did you use your powers to give me an edge?”

  Isobella looked at Drasna, “What? Why would I do something like that? You beat her all on your own.”

  Drasna was not amused, “Yes or no? Isobella, please…”

  Isobella sighed and paused briefly, “...Yes”

  Drasna clenched her firsts and glared, “Why?”

  “That girl…Korin, she was hurting you…I…I didn’t like it! She was brutal, that was no friendly match, she was torturing you! I know you trained hard and you deserved to win, and you were so happy after you won!”

  “That doesn’t make it ok! All you’ve done is cheapened the victory, maybe I could’ve beaten Korin, but now we’ll never know! People probably think I’m stronger than I actually am too. If people find out that you helped me cheat, I’ll lose credibility, I could be asked to leave!”

  Isobella sniffled, “I…I didn’t mean for that to happen, I wasn’t thinking I…I’m sorry, I just wanted you to be happy”

  Drasna growled, “What would’ve made me happy was winning or losing by my own strength, I don’t even know if I’ve improved or plateaued in the last 3 months. The results don’t matter, Isobella, it's how I came to the results. That’s the purpose of the whole tournament.”

  Isobella struggled to speak through tears, “Drasna, please forgive me, I’m sorry I shouldn’t have done it…”

  Drasna turned around with tears of her own gliding down her face, “I…I need to think…goodnight Isobella.”

  Drasna took off running at a speed Isobella wouldn’t be able to match, especially up the mountain. She forced herself to ignore the heartbroken cry of Isobella calling to her. Through all of her rigorous training, it was the hardest thing she had ever done. She stopped after a few minutes of jogging to sit and curl up on a rock, finally allowing her emotions to spill out and cry.

  Isobella walked into the chateau with a waterfall of tears cascading down her face, she did her best to wipe them away, but more came. Tristan greeted her return but was shoved aside. Isobella ran up to her room and locked the door behind her. She opened a drawer in her vanity desk and pulled out the box of truffles, she had three left. Without hesitation she picked one up and ate it, chewing fast, not choosing to savor it like normal. The taste was bittersweet, the joy and euphoria from eating it was overpowered by her sadness. There was no escape from this emotion, not even Calathiel’s ‘love’ would save her.

  Isobella walked over to her bed and laid upon it, hugging a new green pillow to her chest like it was Drasna. The thought of losing her ran through her mind, endless scenarios of how it might happen. Drasna could stop showing up, she could break up with her face to face, or worse

  Tristan knocked on the door, “Lady Isobella, are you alright in there? You looked quite distraught.”

  Isobella choked on her tears, “Leave me alone, Tristan!”

  “Where is Miss Drasna, did she not escort you home? Did she say something to upset you?”

  Isobella felt her jaw clench, and her eyes began to glow purple, “I said leave me ALONE!”

  Tristan was silent from behind the door for a moment, “My deepest apologies, I will be in the den should you wish to talk.”