The next day was long.

  We woke in silence and ate in silence. I even ended up actually going through some of the drills Laon insisted I should do, just to do something. Still, Cassie and I remained quiet. On the other hand Noren, who I was quickly coming to appreciate, was doing his level best to fill the silence. Unfortunately he was only mortal, and there was a limit to how much one man could do.

  I still couldn’t meet Cassie’s eyes. Every time I tried my mind flashed to the hurt in them when I’d shut her out. I knew I’d made a mistake, but I had no idea what to do to fix it. I wanted to talk to her, but I didn’t know what to say.

  So my mistake festered. Normally, silence between the two of us would be comfortable and open. Now it just felt cold. There was a distance between us now.

  Cassie eventually started talking quietly with Noren, once more with them ahead and me behind. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but that hated jealousy reared its head again when they did so. I did my best to stamp it out, but it was harder than it sounds.

  With nothing else to do I returned to my illusion practice, but my heart wasn’t in it. I couldn’t focus right, not with my brain constantly reminding me of how I’d handled my situation in the all of the worst possible ways.

  I made little progress that day, but fortunately the same wasn’t true of our travel. Noren knew of a byroad which hadn’t been used in decades, which once lead to a village that didn’t exist any more. That meant that it wasn’t on any maps, so we didn’t know about it.

  I didn’t trust him at first, but once again he proved to be helpful. The road was worn down and badly maintained, not to say overgrown. Still, by the end of the day he speculated we’d cut at least a day off our journey. It seemed he wanted it over as fast as possible.

  Making camp went much the same as the day before, with Cassie setting up the fire on one side of our makeshift campsite and me on the other. The only difference was that Cassie was still talking quietly with Noren.

  Whatever they were talking about neither of them seemed to be enjoying the conversation. The fact that part of me was relieved about that made me feel even worse. I watched the far edge of the campsite, toying with a miniature illusion of the campfire in the palm of my hand.

  -----------------------------------

  The fifth day of travel dawned, and I was cold. Not just physically, although I was. No, this was the longest I’d gone without talking to Cassie in years. In my memory, I’d never had to deal with anything like this without her… ever, really.

  She’d just always been there, to joke or comfort or just listen, whichever I needed at the time. Somehow she just knew, and despite the fact that she was metres away from me I had to deal with this alone.

  Alright Lia, that’s enough. It’s time to do something about this mess.

  I spent the rest of the morning’s walk in thought, no practice or conversation or anything. I considered how to handle our distance, and concluded that as much as I wanted to avoid it we needed a serious conversation.

  By the time that we stopped for lunch I had a whole plan for my approach, which I would but into practice once we camped for the night. I had the entire scenario played out in my head as I ate, and I had all of the important points planned out ahead of time so that everything would be covered.

  I was shaken from my plotting by the sound of movement to my side. I turned to see Cassie standing next to me, her posture stiff and her expression grave.

  “Lia. We should talk.” Her tone was controlled, and it held an undercurrent of something I couldn't quite identify. Without another word she grabbed my arm, dragging me out of earshot of a politely distracted Noren.

  As we walked I could practically feel my well-made plans fall apart. This wasn’t how this was meant to go. I was going to approach her. For some reason I was almost indignant about this turn of events, although that was drowned in the relief that she was talking to me again.

  “Cass, I-” I began.

  “No, let me talk,” she interrupted, before coming to a stop well out of our lunching spot. She took her hand off my arm, before giving herself a moment for a steadying breath.

  “Look, Lia. I don’t mind that you didn’t want to tell me whatever it was you were hiding. It would be hypocritical to the extreme for me to be upset about you hiding something from me. I need you to understand that before we get into this.” She stared into my eyes, prompting me to nod my understanding.

  “Good,” she sighed. “You don’t know what it’s like to be around you sometimes, Lia. You can be very… stoic, sometimes. It’s hard to tell sometimes what you’re thinking. And don’t get me wrong, I don’t think you can change that, it’s who you are and who you are is great. Nonetheless, that doesn’t change the facts. But when your eyes started changing colour, it was like a best of both worlds scenario. You could stay the same Lia you’d always been, but I could still tell what you were feeling, at least when it was important. That was important to me, it was something that we shared.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  “I didn’t think you minded me knowing, but if you do that’s fine. Just tell me, okay? Don’t shut me out. That’s what hurt, Lia. It felt like you didn’t trust me enough not to press if you said you didn’t want me to know.”

  “Cass…” I began, but the words wouldn’t come. She waited patiently for my answer, something I was very thankful for because my head had apparently stopped working after what she’d said. If I felt guilty before, well I’d had another thing coming.

  I tried again. “Cass, I don’t mind you using my eyes like that. Truly, I don’t. If anything, I quite like it. You knowing how I feel, I mean. My intention wasn’t to shut you out, I just…” I trailed off, not quite sure how to explain.

  “Really, Lia? I guess your eyes didn’t get the message then, because I saw what you did. Your eyes haven’t been that colour for a year, Lia. The only reason they would be was if you were trying to pretend you weren’t feeling something. What do you call that if not shutting me out in the most literal way you can?

  “And before you say anything, I can tell you feel guilty. Honestly, it’s the most vibrant I’ve seen your eyes in ages. I don’t want your guilt. I want your understanding.” She locked her eyes onto mine again as she spoke, her gaze piercing.

  “I do understand, Cass. Which is why…” I hesitated, before taking a deep breath and pushing on. “Dark green is… well, it’s jealousy. Over Noren, I think.”

  I couldn’t meet Cassie’s gaze for the seconds of silence that followed my declaration. I was taken completely by surprise when she hugged me, squeezing tight enough that I was sure I would need to heal my ribs afterward.

  “Really?” She muttered into my ear.

  “Y-yeah, really. I know it’s stupid, but-”

  “Hey,” she said sternly, pulling away. “It was stupid, you're right. But it's also adorable.” She had a hint of the look she’d given me the day after her birthday in her eye, which had my heart beating fast enough that I was surprised she couldn’t hear it.

  “Honestly, why ever did you feel the need to hide that?” She asked after pulling me into a second, much gentler embrace.

  “I felt… I don’t know, ashamed I guess. I mean, it’s weird to be jealous over you literally just talking to someone. But it’s just been us against the world for so long. I was like an echo of that night when I thought you were leaving without me.”

  Cassie nodded, before laughing quietly “It was us against the world, plus your mum.”

  I nodded as best I could with Cassie pressed against me. “Of course, us and my mum. The dream team.”

  That had us both laughing, and I think it only hit me then that we were okay. I was relieved, which had me laughing harder because suddenly I felt silly for thinking that something like this could tear us apart. It felt so small and distant, even though it was minutes ago. Honestly, I really should have just told her.

  Eventually we pulled ourselves together, with perhaps more effort than should have been needed. When we’d both recovered Cassie tugged on my arm, a sign that said we should probably get a move on. Before we did though, I had something to make clear.

  “Cass?” The serious tone of my voice must have gotten her attention, because she turned back to me in silence. “I just wanted to say that I really do want you read my eyes. It’s… nice, to know that you know. So if you see a new one, just ask, yeah?”

  She nodded, before a mischievous smirk crossed her face. “Well, there was this one time you showed pale purple. I hadn’t seen that one before.”

  I nodded, determined to not to make the same mistake. “When was it, I’ll see what I can remember.”

  Cassie’s smirk widened. “Well, it wasn’t too long ago. My birthday, in the ruins. You’d been all deep in thought, the way you get sometimes. When I finally got your attention you looked at me and your eyes went pale purple, brightest I’d ever seen. They were practically glowing. Not the last time it happened, but it was the first.”

  As Cassie spoke I felt the cold fingers of dread crawl up my spine as I realised exactly what she was talking about. The first time that colour had appeared had been when I came to terms with how I felt for her, which meant that…

  My thoughts were derailed by Cassie’s maniacal laughter. She was fully doubled over, although she thankfully brought herself under control before long.

  “You know what? You can keep that one to yourself for now. Besides,” She grabbed my hand with both of hers and stared directly into my eyes, which had me flushed and sent a shudder through my entire body. “I have my own theories about what that meant.” She held her gaze for a moment longer than necessary before turning on her heel, dragging my paralysed form to where Noren was still waiting.

  ------------------------------------------------

  When Noren saw us return hand-in-hand he grinned, before congratulating us in the most Noren way I could imagine.

  “Ladies! I’m so glad to see that you -ahem- made up!” The implication had my already slightly flushed form red all over again. Cassie wasn’t much better, a far cry from her position of power before.

  “N-no we didn’t…” Cassie began, only to see the too-innocent smirk on Noren’s face. “Oh, you-”

  “Excellent! Well, now that our personal time has come to an end, shall we move onward?”

  Cassie glared at Noren, and I couldn’t help but laugh. For whatever reason I didn’t find myself particularly jealous of the man any more, although whether that was because of my talk with Cassie or because of her glare I wasn’t quite sure.

  Noren turned his amused gaze onto me. “Well, I’m glad somebody has good taste.”

  “Enough!” Cassie said, her voice bordering on a shout. “We just talked, Noren.”

  “Of course you did, my dear. Why, whatever else would you have been doing?” Noren asked innocently. I couldn’t help myself at this point, practically wheezing as they spoke. It wasn’t that funny, but I was so relieved after the last day and a half that it had to release somehow.

  Noren chuckled along with my amusement, while Cassie shot me an aggrieved look and ineffectually tugged on my hand to get my attention. By the time I regained my composure things had quietened down. Noren had actually been helpful while Cassie and I resolved our issues, having repacked our food and set everything up so that we could get going.

  You know what? Just because he killed a bunch of people with a smile on his face, maybe he’s not so bad.

  Extract from 'Memiors of a Priest', written by an anonymous ex-member of the clergy of Fate.

  "Alex came back the next week, and to nobody's surprise he hadn't settled the issue of his faith yet. I was... reluctant, to speak to the boy again. Call me a traditionalist, but it felt strange indeed to possibly end up shepherding the lad to some other religion. Still, I needed to do right by the boy, and by Lord Fate's plan. He knew what was best for young Alex, and He would guide him regardless of the boy's reverence.

  That second time the boy came alone. His mother must have been busy, or at least decided I could be trusted with her son. When he came he was surprisingly enthusiastic. I was expecting to have to lecture him, but he was very much engaged.

  "Rev!" He called out to me as he ran into the room. "Can you tell me about Purity today? Please?"

  I was rather perturbed to hear this request. Purity had a... mixed reputation, both in and out of highly religious circles. I had planned to bring him up, of course I had. I wasn't going to do so this soon, however. Perhaps when the boy had all sorts of options, then I could show him Purity. However, he seemed so excited to learn, and the man of the cloth in me was warmed by his interest, no matter the God.

  "Well, my boy. I was going to tell you about Nature today. Teach you a little about the Old Ways, hmm? No?"

  Alex was laser focused, however. "Maybe next time, Rev. I want to hear about Purity!"

  "Oh, alright my lad. Settle in then, because Purity is a... complicated matter, to say the least."

  And so I began. First I told him what I knew of Purity's overall doctrine, although I couldn't go nearly as in depth about it as I could about the teachings of the Three. I told him of how Purity wished to rid the land of sin, and that only those free of impurities would be allowed into the Lands Above, Purity's domain.

  It was then that I warned Alex that few Purity worshippers were the same. From what I knew from my time as a scholar, the original Temple of Purity had suffered several major schisms hundreds of years ago. By this day and age, there were any number of minor denominations and sects that all posited their ideal of Purity as the superior.

  It was for this reason that so many held a harsh view when it came to Purity. Some of these sects could be... extreme, to say the least. The Church of Dawn's Light was technically a branch of Purity worship, although they were rather beyond the purview at this point. They believed all things that weren't of human origin to be 'Beyond Purity's light', and thus needed to be purged. They were an extremist group, and not an unknown one.

  Other denominations, like the Heralds of the Untarnished Coin were some of the most common Purity worshippers. Their beliefs were also extreme, if less violent than those of the Dawn's Light. The Heralds believed that all things needed tangible purpose to be pure. No food without hunger, no work without pay, no sex without children. Their lives were spartan, and more than one popular joke was made at their expense. They also held a surprisingly large amount of influence, although they failed to penetrate the ever-lavish nobility with their plain doctrine.

  The flipside to these could be said to be the Watchers of the Pure. The Watchers were quite possibly the most benign a church could be without doing anything good. They watched. That was all. They believed that in keeping track of events, they were somehow scrubbing both themselves and the world of some form of potential taint. I couldn't say I understood it myself, but they did no harm.

  There were of course countless tiny sects or cults that had formed around Purity and evaporated, faded to obscurity or been twisted to some malign purpose over the years. In all honesty, if you had to pick one God to use to justify nonsense of any kind, Purity had to be fairly high on the list of suspects.

  This was not to say that all Purity worshippers were extremists or isolationists or just plain boring. In fact, I knew of several worshippers of Purity that were perfectly reasonable folk. Most were, I had to imagine. You could pick up the extreme members of any faith and paint them all as monsters. It just happened that Purity's worshippers had more flavours of extreme member to pick from than most, which had public opinion rather divided on them.

  When I wrapped up my explanation, Alex seemed a little disappointed. "I met a man," he said. "Not too long after last time. I was talking to Mum about it and he overheard, and he made Purity sound really cool. Named a bunch of important people that believed and everything. I just thought it would be less..." he trailed off helplessly.

  "Worrisome?" I tried.

  "I guess so."

  "Well, my boy. You're welcome to look further into Purity if you wish, of course. At the end of the day, I only know so much about it. I'm certain that there's somewhere for you, Alex. If you think it's with Purity, I'll help you look."

  "Really?" He asked.

  "Course," I said. "I have faith that you'll end up where you're meant to be. Why wouldn't I help?"

  I wish I had known what would come of it when I agreed to help. I wish I didn't have to live with it. I just wish I had known."

  Extract End