Ayling's Parthian Shot

"I won. Isn't that enough?"

A rhetorical question, of course. If victory were enough, then I probably wouldn't be standing here getting reamed out by a pouting Arisa. She didn't comment specifically on the result, but she did make it quite clear she wasn't happy with the manner in which I had fought. Unsportsmanlike, she said, or something to that effect.

"Why are you getting on my case? To begin with, he didn't have any right to..."

"Any right to what?"

"To propose! I should be focused on finding a Jewel of Lazarus, not fighting pervy princes!"

"If you're jealous you can just say so, you know..."

"Tch."

Our conversation slowly began to drop off, and soon enough we were merely standing side by side outside the stadium, staring off into the distance. Prince Ayling was currently being treated for his injuries; there was unlikely to be any permanent damage, but the beating was severe enough that he was likely to know it was more than just a little personal.

When the silence became unbearable, I ventured to shatter it.

"You know, I think the prince will probably make his move soon."

"He couldn't even leave the stadium without his retainer's help," Arisa replied in a disgruntled tone. "I don't think he'll be making any moves any time soon."

"Not that prince," I corrected her. "I'm thinking about the other one. The one that's been the source of your problems since you got to Avalon."

Arisa made a face.

"Prince Lorenzo?" she looked dubious. "How do you know that?"

"A little birdie told me," I grinned.

That little birdie's name, of course, was Trajan Araya. Despite everything, he couldn't betray his employer's trust fully, and any attempt on my part to get details pertaining to the prince's plans were rebuffed. All I knew was that the wheels were already in motion, but hopefully my catch-all plan would be able to handle him.

"I really hate dealing with that guy," Arisa groaned.

"You might not have to," I replied. "One of our friends is coming down from the southwest to help us with our little princely problem."

"One of our friends?" Arisa raised an eyebrow - her face suggested that she was mentally going through a checklist of all our mutual friends, and turning up very little results.

"We're the same age, right?" she asked. "Could there be somebody that we both know? Like a teacher that transferred from Nagano to Hyōgo or something...?"

Before I could respond, the sound of solid but unsteady footsteps could be heard and we both directed our attention to the source - it was Prince Ayling staggering his way towards us, his arm draped over the shoulder of one of his retainers. A second retainer followed closely behind him. I eyed him shiftily, but the look on Arisa's face seemed to me a sympathetic one.

That made me unhappy, for some reason.

"Ayato, Arisa," Prince Ayling greeted in a sombre tone. "A word before I return to the capital, if you please."

"If it's only a word..." I answered sarcastically, for which I earned a side-eyed glare from Arisa. Don't be a sore winner, it seemed to suggest.

Surprisingly, the good prince laughed at my comment.

"You're the most dishonest hero I've ever come across," he spoke breezily. "I only came to offer my congratulations. Not on the fight, although I suppose that too. On your engagement, I mean."

Arisa flushed, and it almost felt as though I could feel the heat emanating from her reddish cheeks. She was stuttering something that might have been ''t-t-t-thanks'', but the words caught in her throat and she was now stammering an equally inarticulate denial.

"I told y-you we're not like that!" I countered angrily.

"Again with the dishonesty," Prince Ayling chuckled, rubbing his chin with his free arm. "That's not what your uppercut told me, Ayato. You were practically screaming ''this is my woman, so back off!", weren't you?"

"I did no such thing," it was my turn to flush. I looked away, self-consciously.

"Don't think that your crown prince is a cheap man, Ayato," he chided me in what probably passed for a good-natured manner in the royal courts. "I brought a gift to celebrate your engagement. I heard it was something that the bride desperately wanted."

The bride desperately wants for you to go away. As do I...

"Me?" Arisa pointed at herself, confused. "Something that I desperately wanted? What could it be...?" her curiosity had clearly been piqued.

"Ah, Rollson, if you please..." the prince gestured towards the retainer he wasn't leaning on for support. The man in question produced something from his back pocket, squared up to Arisa and presented it to her.

"For the bride," Prince Ayling smiled - I noticed he was missing a tooth.

Arisa seemed baffled by the gift, but I knew immediately what it was. Her eyes began to glisten with realisation, and instinctively, she turned to face me.

"Is that...?"

"It's a Jewel of Lazarus."

Our dumbstruck reactions elicited a grin from Prince Ayling, and even the retainer Rollson couldn't maintain his neutral expression when Arisa's trembling hands took the jewel from him. Seemingly satisfied, the prince and his entourage disappeared wordlessly, leaving us with the object that had eluded us at the Grand Bazaar.

We spent some time, perhaps a full minute or so, admiring the treasure in Arisa's hands before she asked the eventual question:

"Do you think it's real?"

"We'll have to ask Misane to have a look at it."

"Well, it fits perfectly in the palm of my hand so..."

What she just said reminded me of the counterfeit that we obtained at the Grand Bazaar - seemingly a perfect replica in almost every way, Misane could discern it was a fake from the way it rested in her hand. Arisa didn't have the same talent for appraisal, but her words did seem to me to be encouraging.

The sensation which coursed through my body now was a curious one. It's entirely possible that my expectations had been tempered by the disappointments of the previous week, or perhaps I was too acutely aware of a much more pressing matter - Prince Lorenzo's scheme.

Despite the disappearance of a significant obstacle, it seemed as though the distance between me and Japan hadn't lessened in the slighest.

"Let's go back to the embassy for now," I suggested. "We can get Misane to look at the jewel for us and..."

"And...?" Arisa looked expectantly at me.

"We'll be safe."

My gaze flashed towards the tunnel which served as the stadium's exit, where a solitary figure was slowly making his way out. I knew at once that he had nothing to do with me or Prince Lorenzo, but for a second there I wasn't sure. If he had been an enemy, however, then anything could have happened. 

As we began to make our way back, I clicked my tongue in frustration.

I would have to deal with Prince Lorenzo soon, because this was no way to live - having to constantly be on your guard lest some beast appear from the shadows.