Green Eyes

Selene was awakened by a loud clanging sound. It sounded familiar, but she was so groggy from all her power use that she couldn’t identify it at first.

Then it clicked; it was the sound of swords crossing.

She was fully awake and alert now as she scrambled to her feet, fumbling with her sword even though she had no idea how to use it. Dashing through the snow, Selene followed the noise until she came to a low depression among the hills. There she stopped and watched in awe.

Below her Jared and Mara were dueling. Selene guessed, and hoped, that they weren’t seriously trying to kill each other so soon after reuniting, but that was hard to tell from the speed and ferocity of their fight. She had been watching Jared work for over two weeks now and had never seen anything remotely close to this.

Their swords were blurs of steel as they punched and counter-punched each other around the bowl. Mara double-stabbed Jared who deflected the twin blades away. She let the momentum pull her around 360 degrees, striking high first then low. Jared saw through it, ducking the high strike and blocking the low attack.

Flashing his sister a smirk, Jared drove his elbow into her wide-open sternum, knocking her back a couple of steps. Immediately he followed up with slash at her head but Mara got her blade up in time, deflecting the strike down and right. But he let the momentum throw him around to land a roundhouse kick to the side of Mara’s head.

She spun back a couple of steps. Then without looking, Mara threw up her swords in a cross, catching Jared’s anticipated attack in the crux. Directing the force down and to her left, Mara pivoted around, driving her elbow into Jared’s temple.

Going on the offensive, the slave charged the reeling mercenary. She batted away his defensive stab and swung for his neck. Jared leaned back under the strike. Popping back up, he blocked both blades that came whistling back at him and then redirected them up and over him. Immediately stepping forward, he got behind her and pressed the tip of his sword against the back of his sister’s neck.

“I win,” he declared, “again.”

“Best out of five?” Mara panted.

“That was best out of five,” Jared smirked. “You’re definitely getting your touch back though.”

“It’s like riding a horse,” the slave rolled her neck. “You never really lose it. Looks like we have an audience,” she pointed with her sword up to Selene who was standing on the edge of the bowl.

“That was incredible!” Selene exclaimed as the pair trudged up the hill towards her.

“Eh, still not quite back on his level yet,” Mara shrugged. “Of course while I was playing house, you were off hacking up Malchians.”

“Give it a week,” Jared replied. “Besides, it’s not like you were sitting on your duff the whole time.”

“True,” Mara agreed. “My name is Mara, if you haven’t figured out yet,” she stuck out her hand to Selene.

“I’m—”

“Selene, Max’s little kid,” Mara interrupted. “I know,” the older woman examined her for a moment. “You have your mother’s face, except for the eyes.” Mara commented. “And those eyes are unforgettable.”

“Thanks, I think,” Selene mumbled, feeling herself flush a little under the other woman’s intense, scrutinizing stare.

“It’s a compliment kid,” Mara clarified. “Your mother was a beautiful woman and so are you. Your eyes only make you special.”

“Thanks,” Selene smiled as she looked Mara in the face for the first time. Now that she got a good look at the slave, Selene could definitely see the family resemblance between the two.

Mara had Jared’s unruly mane of sandy brown hair, although Mara’s extended all the way to her shoulders. Like Jared she was neither particularly tall nor short and like her brother, Mara was very attractive but not overwhelmingly so. Instead she had the same regal bearing that her brother possessed. Although her features were more refined and feminine, she had the same athletic build as Jared. She wasn’t rippling with muscle, but Selene had no doubt she could best most everyone in Lakeside in an arm-wrestling competition.

Physically, she looked to be no older than Selene, her face and body still looking in their mid-20s. Indeed Selene would have had a hard time believing that the woman standing before her was 40 years old had it not been for her eyes. Hers were the same as Jared’s: a deep, sapphire blue that seemed to peer right into your soul. And like her brother’s, Selene could see behind them a pool of pain and memory that belied her true age.

“So you are Jared’s twin sister?” Selene questioned as all of these thoughts ran through her mind. Mara inclined her head.

“That would make you 40 years old then?” Selene continued.

“I am,” Mara confirmed. “Forty long and painful years.”

Selene shook her head. “It’s hard to believe,” she said. “You both just look so young.”

“A family curse,” Mara gave a half-smile. “To live on while those you love die around you.”

“That’s a morbid way of looking at it,” Selene wrinkled her nose.

“Perhaps,” Mara shrugged indifferently. “But no less true.”

Deciding to change the subject, Selene tried to replay the events of the previous day, only to find them fuzzy for the most part. “What happened after I passed out?” she asked.

“We picked you up and pushed south for an hour or so, until it got dark,” Jared informed. “Then we hunkered down here for the night.”

“How long was I out?” Selene tried to study the sky for some clues as to the time, but it was overcast and her bearings were very confused.

“Almost twenty hours,” Mara supplied. “Using your power really takes it out of you, doesn’t it?”

“You have no idea,” replied Selene. “So that would make it almost night then?”

Jared nodded in reply. “In fairness to you,” he added, “Mara and I have only been up for a few hours. We were all pretty beat after everything that happened yesterday.”

“What’s next?” Selene queried.

“It looks like it’s going to snow,” Mara answered, “so we’ll probably stay here tonight and get moving when it clears up.”

“What about search parties or something from Jasper’s castle?” Selene anxiously wondered.

Jared and Mara exchanged humored looks. “Don’t worry about that, kiddo,” Mara chuckled. “They have bigger problems than worrying about three fugitives off in the wilderness.”

“I don’t get it,” Selene scrunched her brow together.

“Considering that Lord Jasper, his wife, the garrison commander, and another two or three top ranking officers were all killed yesterday,” Jared clarified, “I’m guessing they’re having enough trouble just keeping order.”

Selene’s eyes widened. “You guys are thorough,” she remarked.

“Eh, could’ve been worse,” the woman shrugged.

Selene felt something tickle her nose. Looking up, she saw dozens of tiny flakes floating down out of the heavens.

“Looks like the snows starting,” Jared pointed out. “Better get camp set up.”