the otherness came (and I knew its name)

PART 3: WHATEVER HERE THAT'S LEFT OF ME

Rhian stalked after Tedros, trying to look unbothered, but clearly he'd been thrown by the Caliburn revelation. He kept glancing at the sword, returned to Tedros's scabbard, and every time he did his face darkened. If he had drawn it from the stone, then that meant...

Sophie had expected Kei to follow him, but now noticed Agatha had followed Tedros and realised she was supposed to do that. Hastily, she snatched up her skirts and hustled after Rhian over the grass, not sure what she was meant to do. Tedros and Agatha were muttering urgently to one another, faces inches apart. Whether it was a profession of love or a reaffirmation of strategy, Sophie could only guess. Probably both.

She reached Rhian and turned to find him looking at her.

They stood apart, for a moment, facing one another. Rhian's face was unreadable. Sophie could see that hers, in the looming Spellcast, was similarly blank. Neither spoke. Neither made a move to turn away.

Shrieks and cheers erupted from the crowd, and Sophie didn't need to look to know that Agatha had kissed Tedros. Several Ever noblewomen in the front row-- Camelot, Jaunt Jolie, Putsi-- were openly sobbing.

She made no move to copy Agatha, and Rhian didn't look as if he expected her to. His gaze shifted briefly to Tedros and Agatha, but his expression didn't change. He looked back towards the crowd, fidgeting with the lion-headed hilt of Excalibur, and his expression faltered slightly.

Sophie knew who he was looking for.

Of course he was. But the damage he had done to that relationship would not be so easily repaired.

With a smile, she leaned over and pressed her lips to Rhian's cheek. She saw the Captain on the end of the line of Camelot guards tense.

"May the best man win." she said.

----

TASK THE FIRST

STRENGTH
TO FIGHT FOR THE KINGDOM

Tedros and Rhian said nothing to one another for the entire journey.

Tedros found that he had nothing to say, to his surprise. Rhian clearly didn't, either. Petty potshots were useless without a crowd to play to, and there was no use arguing over legitimacy, now. This was the decider. There was nothing to be gained from calling the other man a liar, or a bastard, or a fraud.

And it wasn't as if their old relationship could be salvaged. Rhian had seen to that.

Tedros glanced across. Rhian gazed straight forwards, eyes only visible through the slit in his helmet. As far as Tedros knew, he'd not looked his way once.

They rode on, the Spellcast bubble floating lazily behind them. Presently, they came to an open clearing, several acres wide, surrounded by the banks of an immense lake. Tedros's eyes narrowed. This felt magically altered, unnatural.

"This is where I leave you, my lords." said the herald leading them, turning his horse around. "I wish you luck. Whichever of you slays the creature will win the challenge."

"Thank you." said Rhian. Tedros didn't say anything, scanning the landscape suspiciously. This was clearly going to be a fight, but with what? He half-expected the Lady of the Lake, bald and withered, to burst out of the water.

The herald galloped away, and Tedros slowly put his helmet on, tense with anticipation. They wouldn't want to wait, so...

He counted down from five, as the herald's hoofbeats faded.

Five...

Four...

"There's something in the water." said Rhian, hand drifting to Excalibur. "I can hear it."