"Jonah. Jonah!" Xiao was trying to rouse his brother. "Jonaaaah!"

Jonah shifted to look at him through his squinted eyes. "What?" he asked groggily.

"Get up," Xiao ordered. "We are leaving."

Jonah sat up and rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand. "Where to?" 

"Well," Xiao began hesitantly. Cole entered the room and watched, leaning against the door frame like knights weren't supposed to do. Unfortunately, he had gotten that bad habit from Xiao. "Cole and I are going to Roche," Xiao said. "And you are to go back to Mount Huai."

Jonah stood up indignantly. "No! Mentor will kill me if I go back now!"

"He's going to kill you any time you go back," Cole said quietly. Jonah didn't seem to hear but Xiao did, and he controlled the urge to laugh.

"You are wounded," Xiao told Jonah. "You can't keep on journeying, especially at my and Cole's pace. I suggest you go back and tell mentor what is happening. The Gudu-Xue Alliance needs to know about this."

Cole's brows furrowed but he didn't say anything. Jonah, on the other hand, was throwing a tantrum. "Xiao-ge, you can't let me go back! I've already come down and I'm good enough to be off the mountain! Look at the good I've been able to do! Let someone else tell mentor."

"Jonah," Xiao said calmly. He was feeling quite mature and serious. "I need you to tell mentor about Bradley."

The sentence calmed Jonah down and he deflated. Sinking back onto the bed, he nodded solemnly. "Okay."

Seeing Jonah wasn't going to object anymore, Xiao smiled a little. "I wrote a letter to mentor for you to deliver. That will make sure you don't get punished too severely."

"As if he will listen to what you say," Jonah muttered under his breath. But knights all possessed extraordinary hearing and the sentence did not escape Xiao. Jonah didn't mean it to be ignored either.

Xiao clucked his tongue. "Jonah, if I remember correctly, you were the one complaining about Steph being annoying."

"Yeah, so what?" Jonah demanded, his whole face puffed up in anger.

"You are acting exactly like him," Xiao said, smiling. "Don't be too hard on yourself and compare your sixteen year old self to me, who has always been incredibly talented and precocious and dare I say it experience, alright?"

Jonah rolled his eyes but a small smile gradually appeared on his face. "I'll do what you say, Xiao-ge," he promised.

Xiao took out Yunchang and handed it to Jonah with two hands. Jonah's eyes glossed over at the sword and didn't move at all. Then he looked at Xiao and shook his head. "No, Xiao-ge, I can't take it. It's rightfully yours."

Xiao shook his head with a wry smile. "You need a sword on you, Jonah," he said. "And you are worthy of Bradley's sword." 

Reluctantly, Jonah took the sword and carefully hung it by his side. Xiao clenched his teeth so his chin wouldn't tremble. It was his goodbye to Bradley.

When Jonah left for Mount Huai, Xiao and Cole left for Roche. It was a big city in the south west of Xenon, while Tajfel was in the mid-east. Not wanting to delay, the two walked fast.

"You have a good relationship with your brother," Cole remarked to Xiao once they set off.

Without knowing it, his face lit up. "It's hard not to get along with them."

Cole watched him. "I think it's also because it's not hard to get along with you," he said, pausing every one or two words as he wasn't used to complimenting people.

Xiao looked at him and his eyes gleamed. "Oh yeah? Explain Mount Huai to me then."

"You didn't want to talk to me." Cole said as he pushed away a cart that was left in the middle of the street.

"You looked at me in such a way that it was impossible not to get intimidated," Xiao protested.

"I ... " Cole trailed off. "I'm sorry, I suppose."

"Why?" Xiao asked. He looked at Cole and waited for a very much wanted response.

"I suppose I just thought that you and Bradley... the way you guys looked so in love ... " Cole trailed off.

"So you were judging me!" Xiao accused. "You said you were fine with it last night!"

Cole shook his head vehemently. "No, I just ... I think I was more jealous of a brother-ship than I was judging it. I'm not against it, I swear. It's not like I don't get my share of criticism."

Xiao narrowed his eyes. "But you looked like you were planning my murder," he said.

Cole's mouth twitched. "I was wondering how good you were," Cole admitted.

Xiao wondered what he thought, but didn't ask. "When did you start genuinely liking me then?" he asked smilingly.

Cole looked down shyly. "After getting to know you a bit."

"So when's that," Xiao pressed.

"The day at the clearing."

"The second day?" That day was a rarity for Xiao - he had, for the first time, felt happy sharing Mount Huai with the other disciples. He was so filled with the joy of being with his brothers and new friends that day, a joy only tainted by Cole's presence back then. It was such a surprise, therefore, that Cole had felt friendly towards him at that moment.

Cole nodded once curtly. "I was impressed with your martial arts skills."

"Really? That's how you get to know someone?" Xiao asked, incredulous. He had taken Cole to be a very smart individual.

Cole smiled. "Why are you digging for compliments?"

Xiao blushed. He was barely aware of it. "Why are you so reserved about complimenting me?" he quickly responded so as to not lose face.

"Only because I'm scared you will become even more arrogant and reckless after getting compliments," Cole responded mildly.

Xiao pouted and looked like Cole accusatorially. "So now you decide to point out all my flaws, fine."

"Don't forget who saved you," Cole reminded him. "More than once, mind."

Xiao hit him on the arm, smiling ruefully. "Thank you for that, thank you for saving me," he chanted again and again coquettishly, while swinging Cole's sleeve around like a kid would his guardian or idol. "Cole-ge, you're so amazing."

Cole let him pull the joke for a block before pushing him away. With a blush, he said "be more proper, Xiao."

Once they got on the road for real, like before, Cole and Xiao slept during the day and ran at night. The third afternoon, they have reached the coastal city of Jonas. The excessive amount of humidity and vegetation of the outskirts of the city led to an unbearable amount of mosquitos and other insects to fly about the two farmers residing in bad guesthouses. The posters of Xiao still greeted them in every city to Xiao's displeasure.

"We should have revealed who we are in Tajfel," Xiao complained as he waved away the flies flying about where he was passing.

"We should have," Cole agreed. "But who knows what those officers would have done. They are quite unpredictable. Besides, they were of a corrupt government."

"I'm tired of wearing these grubby clothes," Xiao muttered. But then he glanced at Cole with a grin. "But I don't think I've ever seen you in clothes that weren't white. It's rather refreshing to see you in brown."

"Haven't you gotten tired of me in brown then?" Cole asked.

"No," Xiao said. "Seeing you in untidy things never gets boring."

Cole rolled his eyes. "After seeing people around you roll their eyes for so long on Mount Huai, I have finally understood why."

Xiao grinned but it turned into a yelp as a fly came at him. Agilely, he ducked to avoid it. Beside him, Cole was laughing hysterically. "You are scared of flies?"

"Shut up," Xiao said. "I was taken by surprise by it, that's all."

Cole smirked. "How are you even a knight with your poor observation skills?"

"If I say that you're too distracting," Xiao said slowly, watching with triumph as Cole's face reddened. He had discovered that Cole gets flustered with compliments.

Cole quickened his pace. "Come on, we are almost getting to the city gate."

Grinning smugly, Xiao kept up. But soon, his face fell. Construction workers were carrying wood beams through the city gates and soldiers were carefully checking everyone entering Jonas, often manhandling the civilians. Red and gold banners were in the process of being hung on the city wall, beside the posters of Xiao.

"Shit," Cole muttered.

Xiao pursed his lips nervously and felt extremely guilty. It was all his fault that Cole had to go through with this crude lifestyle. "You can go ahead," Xiao said. "I'll get in another way."

Cole thought about it. "Here," he handed their bag to Xiao and took over the rake. "I will go and ask someone what's happening."

Xiao wanted to come along but didn't want to cause any problems. "Be quick." Then he went off into the woods. He decided that dealing with insects were better than dealing with the heat. He sat leaning against a tree and closed his eyes. Judging by the line of people waiting to get in, Cole would take a while. 

On the other hand, Cole was agitatedly waiting for the line to move forward. He wished Xiao wouldn't get caught wherever he was. Beside him was a middle-aged man. Cole cleared his throat and asked him whether he knew why there were construction workers.

The man shrugged dismissively. "How would I know? I'm just passing by." Then he moved up the line to many people's protests. He then proceeded to ask a few others, but none of them knew anything either. Resigned, Cole watched as the soldiers patted everyone down and was glad he had put all his hidden weapons away in the bag. After a while, it was his turn. 

"Name?" the soldier asked gruffly.

"Stephanus White," he replied assuredly. 

Before he was done speaking, the soldier was already patting him down, making him feel very uncomfortable. While checking him, the soldier resumed the questioning. "Occupation?" 

"Farmer."

"Why are you here?" the soldier asked.

"My brother lives in Roche and I got a vacation so I am visiting him."

The officer backed up after finding nothing. "Why are you carrying a rake around?"

Cole tried to channel Xiao's effortlessly affability and he smiled. "Officer-ge, it's for protection. Who knows what might happen?"

The officer spat. "What - are you saying Xenon isn't safe?"

Inwardly, Cole cursed all of the officer's ancestors and descendents. But outwardly, he laughed apologetically. "Sorry, officer-ge. I didn't mean it that way."

The officer huffed and looked Cole up and down. Suddenly, Cole understood. He took out a tael of gold. "Officer-ge, my boss gave me this. I didn't want to use it, but you can have it. You do very essential work, we all know. Buy yourself some new shoes, or something."

Finally, the officer's face broke into a smile. He snatched the gold away and stuffed it into his pocket in case Cole changed his mind. "Alright, get inside then."

Cole didn't move. "Officer-ge, can you tell me why there are so many construction workers?"

The officer had a complete change of attitude now that he had some gold and smilingly replied. "You are passing by, so you don't know, but the king and the queen are coming for vacation here in Jonas."

Cole found that absurd in so many ways. His impression of this place was humid and filled with bugs. 

"The king and queen?" he repeated.

"Yeah. We are building a cooling, summer palace for them so once they enter the place, it will be as refreshing as a cold spring in the middle of a desert."

Cole nodded. "Thanks officer-ge." Then he entered the city, even though all he wanted to do was to go back and find Xiao.

The city was filled with soldiers trying to get everything in order, resulting in the trampling of civilians under horse hooves and running over of many small businesses. Cole avoided the commotions and looked for the construction workers he and Xiao had seen outside the city wall. It wasn't too hard as they were abundant. Cole wondered whether they were all taken forcibly out of their homes because he saw that some of the workers were at least sixty years old and were trembling under the weight of whatever they were carrying.

Hurriedly, Cole ran up and relieved an old man of his wood beams. "I'll carry that sir," he said. 

The old man smiled up at him gratefully and in a out of breath fashion, uttered a thanks. 

Cole followed the other workers until they reached the centre of the city, where a large plot of land was cleared out and a lot of work had already been done. A rough outline of the palace was already in place.

A supervisor of some sort was sitting with one leg over another in the shade of an umbrella, drinking wine. Cole wondered if it was Jaridino, the local delicacy as deemed by Xiao. When the supervisor saw Cole carrying a large rake and a bunch of wood beams and the old worker walking beside him with free hands, he came over with his whip and swung the whip down.

Quick as lightning, Cole grabbed the whip. "Supervisor, stop! Please, hit me instead."

The supervisor stood there, shocked by Cole's reflexes and his willingness to protect the old man. "Who are you?"

"I'm Stephanus White, sir, I'm a discharged farmer. And when I saw an opportunity for work, I was hoping that I could get a few coins," he said, placing himself on a level below that of the supervisor's to appease him.

"Stephanus White," the supervisor mused. "Alright. You can go with the others to the woods and pick up more wood. But leave your rake here."

"Yes sir," Cole said. Excitedly, he left for the woods where he hoped he could pick up an outlaw.