As Travars

How it began, their rivalry.

The answer, or answers were quite straightforward, despite Kell’s inability to properly define their current relationship.

Their mutual status as Antari.

Her ambition for power, but perhaps more importantly, her burning desire for recognition.

His flippancy; his refusal to see her as an equal magician (which of course, infuriated her)- simple arrogance on his part.

Because at that time, Lila was fifteen, and in his eyes, a small girl from the streets, who albeit clever, was just that, a child. But now?

The easy answer was that they were rivals. But the term was somehow too much and too little. And frankly?

It was outdated.

Their latest spar had been interrupted, but Lila knew that they both knew what the outcome would have been if they had continued undisturbed.

Kell would have won. Again.

Her frustration had her wandering the streets of Red London with no real direction. She might have walked purposely into a fight if she wasn’t intercepted by Calla, who somehow not only managed to garner Lila’s help in shopping for fabrics, but prodded her consecutive losses out of her.

Everyone had a weakness. Kell was no exception to it. Defeating him was just means of finding it and exploiting it. Calla’s response- silence- to her explanation wasn’t much encouraging.

Aggravation driven beyond limit, Lila was seriously considering what would be the best method to make a run for it, when Calla finally spoke.

She suggested seduction and in hindsight, she supposed the older woman had said this more to startle Lila out of her dark more than anything.

Her reaction was a tad embarrassing (blushing simply wouldn’t do), and Calla looked on bemusedly as Lila attempted to sort herself out.  

“Kell?” Lila snorted; (more so as an attempt to regain some normalcy) her imagination couldn’t quite procure a decent scenario in which Kell was manipulated by the charms of anyone, lest of all her. Besides, using her womanly wiles on a man never had crossed her mind. Not really. Because she had never needed it. Her cleverness and whatever resources she managed to make use of had always been enough.

And it should be enough.

It wasn’t enough.

A tie. Lila’s fingernails bit into the skin of her thumb. It somewhat alleviated her frustration. A drink was tempting, but she needed a clear head.

In the boisterous, constantly moving tavern, Lila caught Kell’s eye. The Antari was by Rhy’s side, as usual.

She jerked her head, a gesture for him to follow her, and she began to walk to the very back of the establishment without looking back. Because she had full confidence he would.

And he did.

The backdoor of the tavern opened to an alley. Light cut through the gloom, briefly illuminating Lila’s face before the door snapped shut behind them.

“We tied.”

Kell briefly considered the chances of Lila resuming their open-ended brawl by pulling a knife on him here. He determined it would weigh on what he said. Then he notices a slim brown package in her hand.

“What’s that?”

Lila slipped it into a pocket of his coat. “A gift. I am leaving tomorrow, after all. You’ll miss me.” She said this all with such confidence that made Kell slightly wary.

“Hm.”

Lila lifted her chin. A challenge.

“What makes you so certain I’ll miss you hounding after me for a spar you’ll inevitably lo-”

Lila surged up on her toes and pressed her hands against his cheeks and pulled his head so close to hers that their lips grazed. The words died in Kell’s mouth.

“I think I won this won,” she whispered, not quite close to muffle what was being said, but close enough to register that she was probably smirking. She pulled back, leaving him dazed. What was once warmth between them was cut off by the icy breeze of Red London’s winter.

“Kell!”

Rhy’s drunken slur. At first he didn’t register it, and by the momentary blankness in her expression, Lila hadn’t either.

And then that mischievous smile curved her lip again, the one that made him wonder what her next move would be. And like always, it hit him, and furiously too, because the thoroughness of it all made him pause. Because the moment Rhy barged in on them- and he would, by the sound of it- Lila would slip off into the shadows of the jubilee that only Prince Rhy could bring. He wouldn’t see her in the morning either, she would make certain of that.

“Kell!”

It wasn’t fair. The thought startled him by its immaturity, or more likely, his desperation. She was going to make him sit on this for seven months.

He didn’t think he would be able to stand it.

Kell closed the distance between them, because at the very least, no matter the outcome, he was going to have the last say in this battle. And with the way her breath hitched and the way she tensed against him, she hadn’t expected this. But she also didn’t pull away. He braced a hand between her shoulder blades, and propped her chin up towards his face with the other. The world fell away.

“Kell!”

They jerked apart. The door burst open, and the light was blinding. Kell’s hands fell back to his sides. Rhy stood in the doorway, silhouetted by the tavern’s light.

“Ah.” Rhy grinned broadly, in a way that made Kell want to punch him. He could hear voices calling after the prince and soon enough, Rhy’s entourage had crowded behind him. “So this is where you’ve been hiding.”

Not alone, was what he wanted to jab back with, but he knew without looking that Lila was already gone. Slipped off when his attention was diverted by Rhy.

But did she win today? Tricky question.

There was one thing for certain, however, things have transcended above a conventional competition, and Kell wondered if even a winner was possible at this point. Kell’s lips twitched into a smirk at the thought.