Valiance

Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Gage and Sephy both volunteered to take the first shift on guard. They would swap over half way through the night with Jensen and Alec. Sephy had let Gage create a small fire that wouldn't give their where abouts away for Alec and Jensen inside the cave.

"I take it that Brutus beat Alec up." Gage said when he finally sat down beside Sephy. She nodded in response. She had set up a little sitting area for the two of them, using dry leaves so they would be more comfortable.

Sephy had things on her mind. The way her and Gage acted earlier was something she had to change. She wasn't here to like anyone or fall for some guy. One of them would end up dying in the end anyway.

"This isn't going to be like a movie or a romance novel, okay?" She said to him. He seemed to be taken by surprise.

"What?" He smiled. Sephy shook her head.

"No, none of the smiling, Gage. I'm serious." Gage nodded.

"Okay, I'll bite. What do you mean?" He turned to face her. She sighed and gestured the two of them.

"It won't work. This Tournament won't be a love story between the two of us." Gage looked like he was about to laugh. "Earlier when we had a..."

"A 'moment'?" Gage supplied.

"Yes, a moment. No more of that. I'm here for one reason and one reason only."

"To save Faith." Sephy nodded when Gage filled in the obvious.

"Exactly." Their eyes drifted away from eachother.

"Just so you know, I wasn't trying to create anything, if that's what you thought." He assured her. Sephy frowned for a moment but then relaxed her eyes.

"I won't ask you how you got your scar, but-"

"When I was fifteen, I was attacked by a shark." Gage said light-heartedly. They both laughed and Sephy lightly hit him in the arm.

"You are so annoying sometimes." She shook her head.

"Sometimes? So that would mean you like me other times." Gage teased.

"Like being a very loose term in this case." She said.

"Okay." The two of them were quiet for a long time then. Sephy found herself drifting off into a sleep a few times only to be awakened by the sound of Alec's cough or Gage pacing or placing more wood on the fire. She lay on her back, facing the sky then. She heard Gage sit beside her as he returned. Sephy didn't know where he had gone, but she doubted that he was gone long.

"You're awake." He whispered to her. His breath came out in a white puff of air. The coldness had completely replaced the warm breeze that had been following them all day.

"You let me sleep." Gage lay down next to her when she spoke.

"Well I thought one of us should at least get some sleep. I just checked on Jensen and Alec; looks like they'll be out for another day or two." Sephy looked up at the sky and let the stars fill the silence between the two of them.

"How long has it been, since your father died?" Sephy counted the years back before she answered.

"I'm not sure." She admitted. "Five years maybe." As she said it, she couldn't believe that it had been so long. She had lost count. "Six weeks from now it would have been five years, I think. Faith was always better at keeping dates." She told Gage.

"Same here. Joshua would be able to tell you everything about the day my parents died. He'd be able to tell you where they died aswell as the time and cause." Gage let out a chuckle. "For me, it's all a bit of a blur." They faced eachother. "It must be nice though, living in the mansion and having a pile of money for whatever you need." Sephy shook her head.