Weeks later Herom walked through the manor in search of Amenah. His search ended when he located her in the weapons hall. He took his usual seat across from her. “Are you hiding out here to avoid the gossip?”

  Amenah sat the blade she was engraving down, and picked up a cloth to clean her hands, then poured him a cup of tea. “You mean the news about Senior Kemal?”

  Herom chuckled. “You do not need to call him that, he is your soon to be betrothed."

  Amenah poured herself a cup of tea. “It is because of me that we cannot call him scholar,” she noted sadly. “Many people are spreading the rumor that the Aljehnis are losing favor with the king.”

  Herom took a sip of his tea. “I am aware. There has been a lot of unrest within the kingdom. Did you hear about the fights outside the capital gates?”

  Amenah held the tea cup in her hands. “Yes. A group of men were caught funneling weapons into Cabimal. When caught they were asked why they were sneaking weapons and they said-”

  “In the name Aljehni.” Dharam finished her words as he walked in to take a seat next to Herom. “They call themselves Stilits. They claimed that the Aljehni family needed weapons and out of faith and loyalty allotted them for us,” he scoffed, and took Amenah’s cup to drink from.

  Amenah took her cup back and poured Dharam one of his own. “What is strange about the situation is that he is right. Mother has been saying for moons that the military weapons are not good enough. That suddenly the weapons they were getting were of bad material, and poorly crafted.”

  “And the weapons that were caught at the border were top grade weaponry. The kind of weapons that mother has been asking for,” Herom finished. He recalled that Amenah had spoken to her mother and her troops about forging new weapons with their own funds to help, but her mother said no.

  Dharam made melodic taps on his tea cup. “Mother was able to prove that she, and her troops had nothing to do with it with the help of grandmother.” He finished the tea. “King Sammun’s intelligence got him to where he is at and he would have to throw that wit away to have complete trust in us after that scandal.”

  Herom hid his grimace from his siblings. If he was captain maybe he would have changed things, but his parents said no.

  “A royal never trusts.” Amenah picked up her blade.

  They sat in a comfortable silence both his and Dharam’s eyes stayed on Amenah. Surely she has more thoughts on the gossip within Cabimal than what she said.

  Amenah sat her blade down, wiped her hands and refilled her cup with lukewarm tea. “People are talking. The problem with Stilits, father losing favor with the king; people say that is why Kemal did not get the position in the King’s court.” Amenah gripped her cup. “They say I stole the job away from him. The worst thing of all, is that they are not wrong.” She sucked in a breath, her eyes shining. “Since Kemal courted me things have been going awry.”

  Herom heard Dharam kick Amenah’s stool leg under the table. “Do not talk like that. This is not your fault, you are not the one to blame. Things have been going awry before Kemal courted you.” He tapped his fingers on the cup. “Do you not remember the banquet? Aaleyah ended up on the floor. Father has been different since.”

  Herom nodded. “Since the banquet the young princes have not been here, and we have not met with High Prince Hammaan.”

  Dharam nodded, leaning closer to the table. “Maybe the king wishes to separate Dlumaeni power and Aljehi power.” He snapped his fingers in front of Amneah. “What is it we always say?”

  “A wolf is only overcome by sheep when it loses its faith in the pack.” Amenah rolled her eyes. “I know.”

  Herom chuckled at Dharam’s dropped jaw.

  “Not the saying I was thinking, but that is great!” He gave her a small applause. “I was thinking along the lines of, ‘Never show others they have caused you pain, to conceal your heart is to achieve the win.’”

  “The king is not wrong.” Herom pointed out, returning to the original conversation.

  “Neither are we,” Dharam argued. He reached out his hand to touch Amenah’s blade and she pretended to punch him.

  “Nor is Kemal he has spent Blue Moons studying to become the best. He graduated with the highest honors, his scores the best within Cabimal. No,” Amenah shook her head, a curl falling by her face. “within the kingdom,” she corrected, and Herom caught the look of pride in her expression. The young scholar’s intelligence was touching her heart after all.

  “He is not to blame. He went from a gentleman with the highest potential, to a gentleman who will find no profession within the capital. The light of his path is blocked by clouds, and I am the greyest one! Who else is to blame but me?”

  “Enough!” Herom stood from his seat. “What did you do wrong? Did you not also excel in your studies, have you not also made a name for yourself? Are you not a female weaponsmaker and designer? Your path also has a bright light, so stop fighting to take the villain’s manure.”

  Dharam pursed his lips, no longer was he leaning on the table. His back straight and dark gold eyes glinted with anger. “Well, he has not cancelled plans of courtship, so he does not blame you. Thus, you can stop blaming yourself. If you will not trust your siblings then think of yourself. It is not like you to look down on your assets, you are supposed to be my twin. We are never in the wrong, others are.”

  Herom rolled his eyes. “Are those the words you both have been choosing to live by?”

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Amenah rolled her teary eyes and scoffed. “It has barely been a day but, maybe I should be the one to cancel the courtship. It is possible that if he has no ties to our family he can receive the light he deserves.”

  “Amenah this is not your fault,” Herom told her withholding his groan.

  Amenah fiddled with her blade. “I am aware. This is not about blame, this is because the king believes we hold too much power. It is logical to pull away. It has been a moon since any of us saw the royal family. I heard High Prince Hammaan took his sons to visit Trovplah.” She sat the blade down and lifted her foot to the stool to rest her chin on her knee. “Maybe this is the way things are supposed to be. I was not rushing for marriage,” she whispered softly.

  Herom looked up. Growing up they were all taught to uphold the Aljehni legacy, to walk as a reflection of the Heavenly Lord himself. So why are they being punished for it?

  Dharam shook his head. “No. Father would never do anything that would endanger the kingdom.” He kicked her stool again. “Nor would he do anything to endanger his students.”

  “My first engagement did not even last a moon.” Amenah tapped her fingers on her tea cup. “I am sure Kemal feels terrible, he most likely blames himself for not receiving the job; or for choosing me. Either way, today was not easy for him.” She cleaned the tea cups and picked up her blade to finish the engraving. “I hope the Heavens smile down on Kemal again. A man of his stature must not live in shadows,” she stated in a neutral tone.

  Herom caught Dharam;s look.

  “Man of his stature?” Dharam mouthed silently.

  Herom frowned. Never had his sister spoken highly of any male’s stature. Instead she pointed out rules, and who broke them.

  Dharam stood from his seat and leaned his hands on the table. “What do you know of Kemal’s stature Mei Mei?”

  Picking up her engraving tools she did not spare him a glance. “I do go outside. I hear plenty about Kemal. Besides he is the same age as Herom,” she motioned to him.

  “He has been taught by the same teachers. Kemal excelled in every task he was given. He comes from a good family and is of marrying age. How could I not know of his stature? I will break this courtship and he can find another.”

  “The sun will still shine on him even if he leaves the capital. Breaking it off does not mean he will immediately be hit with other offers,” Herom told her.

  “Exactly, what happens if you break the courtship and rumors spread that there was something wrong with him. Then no one will want to marry him. And if he does not marry within a Red moon his time will be done. He will be alone forever, all because you gave up on him,” Dharam pointed out, chuckling at Amenah’s glare.

  Herom crossed his arms. “Do you wish to break the courtship? Even when you know he wishes to marry you?” He asked her seriously. “Have you thought about Kemal’s feelings at all?”

  Amenah set her tools down a bit too harshly. “Of course I have. Did you both only come in here to brother me?”

  “Really?” Herom asked, unaffected by her outburst. “The way I see it, a top scholar loses a position that he was never promised, but because of that he loses the women he wished to marry. The loss of his future wife would be a final straw. How cruelly unfair.”

  A pained expression appeared on Amenah’s face, and her lips formed a tight line.

  “You think like this because you are unaware of Kemal’s heart,” Dharam said. “For you he appeared less than a moon ago and asked to court you. However, that is not the case. I have shared classes with him, I have heard him speak. There was a lady he kept in his heart the entire time he studied. He said that he wished to be the best scholar so she could have no reason to deny him. He strived to be the best so that she could find no fault in him. When I learned that he wished to court you I realized,” Dharam tried to maintain an annoyed expression but his eyes smiled, “the lady he was doing all those things for was my own sister. He spent many Blue moons with you in his heart. Will you just throw that away?”

  Amenah refused to lift her eyes from her blade.

  Herom leaned on the table. “Samira said you went to the marketplace to buy dresses and he helped you.”

  Dharam’s eyes widened in shock. “Helped you how? How come I heard nothing of this?”

  “It is embarrassing,” Amenah muttered.

  Ignoring that comment Dharam turned to Herom. “How did you hear about this?”

  “My sister was almost swindled in the marketplace, of course I heard of it,” Herom said, rolling his eyes.

  “I am her twin and I heard nothing!”

  “You are not a good twin,” Herom surmised obviously.

  Amenah dropped her face on her knee. “I do fancy him,” she said, Dharam held back his rebuttal to look at her.

  “He is very intelligent. His way of thinking is something I did not know I could care so much for. I also did not expect him to have combat skills. But he told me that he wished to know enough to stand by my side.” She lifted her face, a soft smile on her lips. “He truly is amazing.”

  Dharam crossed his arms. “Am I the only one who did not realize that you were this close?”

  Amenah shook her head. “No. You are not the only one. I did not realize it either. After he helped me in the marketplace he promised to come with me every time. He escorted me, and when he could not he sent guards to watch over me. It is not as if I am unable to watch over myself. Everyone knows of my skills in weaponry. I have the skills to guard others. I need not be guarded. However, he has a way of making me feel like a lady.”

  Dharam slapped his forehead. “You are a lady, Mei Mei. You should be escorted to places. You are the one who always puts up a fight and refuses the guards,” Dharam pointed out.

  Herom shoved Dharam off the stool to shut him up. “You twin is too dumb to understand, must be because he skips too many classes,” he snided.

  Amenah snickered. “Either way, I somehow found myself enjoying his company. I had hoped that we could build more together. But instead, with all that has happened, he would be a fool to stay close to me.” Her smile faded.

  Dharam rose from the floor. “I hear many become fools for love.”

  Herom smirked, agreeing with the fool’s words.

  “I pray Kemal never becomes a fool. The kingdom must not lose a great mind,” Amenah said and focused back on her blade ending the conversation.

  Herom pulled Dharam to leave whilst he recalled the days where his little sister terrorized him and threw apples at his head. Who knew that she would grow to become a beautiful lady ready to build a family with another. “Lucky Kemal.”

  Dharam moved out of his hold. “I am confused, is she going to cancel the engagement or not?”

  Herom tapped the side of Dharam’s head. “Fool who shares my blood,” he muttered. “She thinks she should cancel it, but is torn because she likes him. Hopefully we convinced her not to.”