An arrow flew through the air, and hit its target, a six feet tall pole with some hay tied to it. The pole had a couple of arrows stuck on it already. Two men - a black-haired one who was holding a bow, and a dark blond, holding a quiver - walked to the pole to study the results.

"Darn," Alen swore. "Too low."

Grenseal smiled. "Hey, I think it went pretty good... Except for that last one."

"We need to take a test on this tomorrow, and all I can do is this? I'm going to fail..." Alen shook his head. "What is the point in this, anyway? Archery! We're swordsmen, not..."

Grenseal patted his friend's shoulder. "I know. But, if they say we must to do this, then... We do it. We have some free time after lunch before the Strategy class, let's practice some more."

"Easy for you to say, you're good at mainly everything. I'm not."

"That's because you're too hot-headed."

Alen folded his arms. "Don't start that again, will you? I know... I should calm down and so on. But... Well, just don't start the lecture again, okay?"

"Alright... I won't."

The brown-haired man smiled to his best friend. Alen was 19, a year older than he was. They were both in the Officers' Academy in the Scarlet Moon Imperial Army. They spent most of their time together, as they shared many things from the room they slept in to the fact that they both served General Teo McDohl. General Teo was watching over them personally, and they both did their best not to let their guardian down.

"It's almost lunch time. Let's go," Alen said. He glanced at the pole. "I guess we have to come back to practice later... can't help it."

"Yep. Well, shall we go, then?"

The two young men walked towards the army buildings. Grenseal looked up to the sky. It was mostly cloudy, but at least it didn't rain. He wished the weather would be better the next day - they had that archery test in the afternoon. Of course, if they wanted good scores... they'd have to practice more.

They returned the bow and the arrows to one of the warehouses. "You know, Gren..." Alen said as they headed to the main building, where the dining room was. "I heard yesterday that General Teo is going to check some troops up north. It's a week's trip for my knowledge. He'll be leaving in a few days."

"Yeah. So?"

"Think he'll take us with him?"

The younger man shrugged. "Maybe. I don't know. He expects a lot from us... But I think he trusts us. If he thinks we'll be of any use... then he will take us with him."

"Well, I do hope he does."

Grenseal smiled. He knew that his friend practically worshipped the ground the general walked on. "Me too."

After lunch, the young soldiers went back to practice archery. Alen still found it very frustrating, but there was nothing he could do. At least Grenseal, who was pretty good at this, could give him a few tips.

"You're holding the bow the wrong way again," Grenseal stated.

"I know! It's just... Help me out?"

"Sure. Let's see..." The light brown-eyed man walked behind his friend and guided him. "Your left hand should be like this... You always forget it. If you keep it that way, you're going to hurt your arm with the string - again. Then, you have to hold the bow a bit higher, then aim..."

Alen blinked and swallowed slowly. He was seldom this close to his friend... He found Grenseal very attractive, but could probably never tell that to him. Grenseal had no idea that he liked men, anyway.

The black-haired swordsman sighed and moved forward a bit, away from the other man's arms. "Okay... Let me try again."

He looked at the pole further away for some time, then raised the bow and aimed. Just when he was about to release the string, he was interrupted.

"Practicing hard, Alen, Grenseal?"

Alen shot the arrow, although his concentration was lost. The arrow missed the pole.

"Of course, Lord Teo," Grenseal replied.

The older cadet turned, lowered the bow and looked at the dark-haired general, smiling. "Of course we are, my lord," he echoed his friend. "We are just practicing for tomorrow's archery test."

The tall general looked at the two. "That's good to hear. You two practice quite a lot, I presume, since you both get good scores from the tests."

"We do, Sir. Well, we are trying to do our best, so..."

The general studied some papers he had with him. "Excellent scores from last week's magic fight test, too... I made a good choice when I selected you two as my personal cadets. Good work."

Grenseal glanced at his friend. They were both flattered - it was unusual of General Teo to speak so highly of them, especially directly to them. Alen was almost blushing.

"So. How's archery?"

Alen sighed. "To tell you the truth, Sir... Not that good."

"Something wrong?"

"Uh, no, I just... need to practice more, my lord. Nothing to worry about." Alen replied.

"Well, Sir. Did you come out here just to tell us that you're pleased about our test scores?" Grenseal asked. "You must have much more important matters to take care of."

General McDohl smiled. "I wouldn't mind doing that. But, actually, I have something else, too. You should have heard by now that I'm going out of Gregminster again in a couple of days."

Alen swallowed, trying to keep himself calm. "Oh... Yes we have, my lord."

"I checked your timetables. There's nothing that would prevent me from taking you two with me. There is the archery test, but that one is tomorrow afternoon. You'll only miss a couple of Strategy classes, and the other classes are nothing I couldn't teach you myself. So..."

Grenseal tried not to smile. "Sir?"

The general smiled. "We'll be leaving the day after tomorrow, sometime after sunrise."

Alen couldn't hide his excitement. "Yes, Sir!"

"Good." Teo glanced at his papers. "Hmm. Looks like the two of you have missed three of your free evenings last month... What for?"

The two cadets looked at each other. "Well..." the younger one started. "We were on guard duty, for Commander Loge. We sort of volunteered, if I remember correctly."

"All three times?"

Alen nodded. "I think so."

The general's eyes narrowed. "But why? Three of your free evenings? I hope this isn't... You two should know that if someone tries to misuse his authority... You do trust me, don't you?"

"Of course, Lord Teo," both young men answered.

"Then, if anything like that is going on, I do hope that you'll come forward and let me know about it."

Grenseal sighed. "Naturally, Sir. And those three nights... It wasn't really... As I said, we volunteered. Sort of. So, we weren't forced to do it or anything. But..."

"Yes?"

"...Of course, we could've said 'no'."

The general looked at the cadets. "Next time, just refuse. I want my soldiers to rest once in a while, too. You two are working hard already." He smiled again. "I'll make some arrangements. You are going to get the next two nights off. And those will not be counted to the three evenings you are still going to take off later, when we get back. How does that sound?"

Alen looked down, a bit embarrassed. "You're too kind, Lord Teo."

"Maybe. But remember to go to bed early tomorrow, because you'll have to get up before the sun rises. We have some preparations to make before we set off."

"Yes, Sir."

"That'll be all, then. I'll have to mention Commander Loge not to ask you two to do anything when it's your night off. I do expect you to rest, too, not just work and practice."

"We will, my lord," Alen said. "And... we were not complaining, if..."

Teo nodded. "Don't worry. The commander won't most likely even ask. You two are my men, after all. And so is he. If I tell him something, I expect him to follow orders, without question."

The two young men glanced at each other again. Then Grenseal looked at the general again and nodded. "But of course, Sir."

"Well, continue where you left off. I'll see you two tomorrow afternoon, most likely." The dark-haired man nodded at the two and left.

Alen and Grenseal watched him leave. Finally, Alen turned to face his friend. "He'll take us with him! He will!" The dark-eyed young man hugged his friend, overjoyed.

Grenseal laughed. "Yes! We'll miss some classes, but... He hinted that he might teach us himself..."

"That would be great!"

"Yeah. Well. Let's not forget what we were doing here. We still need to pass that test tomorrow..."

"Aww, do we have to do this now..." Alen let go of the dark blond and sighed.

"Unfortunately, yes."

"I guess so. I may just be too excited to concentrate..." The older cadet took an arrow and raised the bow again.

Later that afternoon, the two were lying on their beds in their small room. The Strategy class had just ended, and they would have the rest of the evening free.

"Hmm... What should we do tonight," the dark-haired young man wondered aloud.

Grenseal grinned. "What, you have to think about it?"

"No. Let's go to check out the city, then get some wine and forget that we have that stupid test tomorrow."

"Sounds good to me..." Grenseal got up. He opened the chest that held most of his possessions and looked for his civilian clothes. "Of course, we'll have to be back here by midnight, as always..."

"Doesn't matter," Alen mumbled, while his eyes studies the younger man who started to change his clothes. The dark blond was pretty to watch... especially when he was undressing.

The other cadet threw some pieces of his military clothing to the bed. He was half naked, when he suddenly stopped and looked his friend. "Darn, you're doing it again, aren't you?"

"What?"

"Watching me change clothes. I've noticed that you do it all the time... You get some perverted pleasure from it, or what?"

Alen smirked. "Oh, yes!"

Grenseal glared at him, then burst into laughter. "Damn you, Alen."

"Okay, to make it fair, you can watch me change."

"Ha." Grenseal stripped the rest of his clothes off and put on the civilian ones. "What are you waiting for?"

The older cadet grinned, took his other clothes and started to undress himself. They had to change into normal clothes, because if they would go out in the military uniforms, they would be considered to be on duty. He glanced at Grenseal. The other swordsman was actually looking at him... but his eyes lacked certain kind of interest. Alen didn't care. The younger man wasn't interested in him that way, anyway.

But, he could've sworn that there was something. The way that Grenseal looked at him... it was more than just a normal friendly look.

"I'm done. Let's go, then."

The two future knights walked on the busy streets of the beautiful city of Gregminster. There was nothing special to see tonight, but the two just liked to walk around.

An hour later they headed to the pub where they always spent their free evenings. The place was crowded as usual, but that didn't matter. They bought a bottle of wine, and found themselves a table near the wall.

Alen filled their glasses. "Now what?"

The younger man sipped his wine. "Ah, this is good." He smirked. "What do you mean, 'Now what'? Now we sit here, talk and look around, as usual."

"Fine with me." The older man smiled and leaned back in his chair.

They spent the next hour talking about General McDohl and the upcoming trip to the north. Alen filled their glasses again, while Grenseal was looking around.

"Hey, check out that woman over there," he whispered to his friend and nodded towards a brown-haired young woman who was at the counter with some men.

Alen glanced at her and shrugged. "Very pretty."

Grenseal smiled. "Hmm. I think she's part of the mercenary group that came in earlier... She's carrying a sword on her back. Scary. Not the kind of woman I'd try to seduce... Would probably kill me."

"Heh. Sure would. She looks strong."

The younger man took a sip from his glass and looked at his friend. "Okay... Where were we? So, we're gonna miss some fighting classes next week. Who cares? General Teo said he would teach us himself..."

"He's great. The way he handles a sword... I'd like to learn to be like him."

"Yeah. And..." Grenseal wasn't able to finish the sentence, when something caught his attention. Actually, someone. A very handsome young man walked into the pub and stopped next to the brown-haired warrior woman and the mercenaries with her. He was most likely part of the mercenary group, although he was only about 15 years old.

"Dear gods... look at that, Alen."

The other cadet was already looking. "Oh... my."

The boy talked with the woman briefly, then left the pub. Grenseal turned to face his friend again.

"Whoa. Probably half of the people in here must have stopped to look at him. But can't blame them. Damn, I've never seen a man that... beautiful."

"Indeed. Me neither," Alen agreed.

The younger man shook his head slightly. "Hey, I don't usually look at other men that way, but... he was just... You know. If he'd agree to sleep with me, I'd go to bed with him, right away."

"So would I," the dark-eyed cadet replied. "Well, of course I would. He's way too pretty for me, though..."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Someone as pretty as he can surely find the company he wants... That being, someone much more good-looking than I am. The boy is way out of my league. Well, doesn't matter. He was too young for me, anyway."

Grenseal raised an eyebrow. "...Alen?"

"What?"

"You...?"

"Yeah. I like other men," the dark-haired man confessed. He had had a couple of glasses of wine, so he didn't really think twice before telling this to his best friend. Grenseal knew almost everything about him already.

"You do, eh." The dark blond shrugged. "I actually had some idea that you might... Well, the hell with it. Who cares."

Alen looked at his friend. "You're okay with it? Well, that's good to hear..." He smiled. "Now, we were talking about General Teo, right?"

Grenseal nodded. "Yep. And about sword fighting. I was about to say that..."

It was almost midnight when the two left the pub. They walked towards the castle area, talking and laughing.

"Ack... Gren, I'm drunk," Alen stated, with a weird smile on his face. He stopped and leaned his back on the wall of the nearest house.

His friend giggled. "So am I. Hope they'll let us back to the garrison. Although I do remember one time when we were so drunk that you almost had to carry me... They still let us in."

The black-haired man laughed. "You're not drunk enough, if you can remember something like that!"

"Well, if you are, I can carry you home..." Grenseal grabbed his friend and lifted him up. Alen laughed again. "Hey... let me down..."

The other man grinned and let him go. Then the dark-blond swordsman rested his back on the wall. "I'm tired, I feel dizzy, my head hurts, and you have that look in your eyes again. What's with you?"

Alen stood still for a while, studying his friend's face. "Nothing... I just..."

Suddenly, he leaned close to his friend and kissed him. Grenseal didn't resist. He was too shocked for that, mostly. He blinked and looked at his friend, who stayed close after their lips parted.

"...Huh...? Alen...?"

The older man blushed and turned away. "I... I'm sorry, Gren. I shouldn't have done that."

Grenseal took a deep breath. "Erh... doesn't matter. Let's go back home now, it's getting late."

"Yeah..."

The two young cadets returned home. They were both silent. Grenseal wasn't sure what to think, and Alen avoided looking at him.

The younger man got undressed quickly and lay down in his bed. "Good night, Alen."

"...Night..." The older cadet mumbled.

Grenseal closed his eyes. That wouldn't help. He was still awake half an hour later, unsure if his friend was asleep. Probably was. He sighed. He felt tired, and his head hurt. They would have to get up in about six hours... But he just couldn't sleep.

Alen... he thought. Why one earth did you kiss me? Were you just too drunk, or... Is there a reason for the certain look in your eyes...?

He couldn't figure out the answer before he fell asleep.

Grenseal shook his dark-haired friend, who was still sleeping. "Alen! Wake up!"

"Mmmh?" The older man opened his eyes slowly. Grenseal was getting dressed.

"We're almost late... Get up and fast! Come on, Alen... We're supposed to be on duty in about ten minutes... Ack, we'll be late anyway." The younger man moved the curtains that covered the small window and looked outside. "Oh great, sun's been up for some time already..."

Alen sat up. "Aw, damn...! We overslept...?"

"Almost. We have a couple of minutes... but we're still gonna be late. Luckily, not that much."

"Oh great..."

The black-haired swordsman started to get dressed as well. They would have to stand guard till lunch today. After lunch... more practice for the archery test.

A couple of hours later they were sitting in the dining room. Lunchtime was almost over, but it didn't matter. They had just spent almost four hours standing in the bright sunlight, and were happy to get inside.

They haven't talked much the whole morning. Grenseal wondered if Alen remembered anything from the previous night. Probably not... So, he decided it was better if he didn't mention it.

"I'm beat... Do we really have to go practice after we've eaten," the older man muttered while eating.

"Yes, if you want to get good scores from that test."

"Oh, right... We'll go, then..."

Grenseal concentrated on his food, trying to ignore the fact that his head was hurting. It didn't matter... It was probably from the sunlight. He glanced at his friend and continued eating.

An hour after lunch, the two stood on the practicing field again, gazing at the target pole. Alen still had difficulties with the bow, and they didn't have too much time before the test.

Grenseal shook his head. "Too low. You know the targets they use in the test. That would've missed. Try again."

"I'll fail the damn test," his friend grumbled and took another arrow. "You'll see."

"No you won't. You'll see."

"Yeah, right."

"You give up too easily, Alen..."

The dark-blond man watched as his friend shot another arrow. He closed his eyes for a short period of time. He wasn't feeling too well... His head hurt, and it wasn't the same kind of headache he had had in the morning. He was feeling a bit weak and sick, too. But as long as it didn't cause him to lose his concentration, he was fine.

"About an hour more, then we have to get ready for the test... Let's get the arrows. Just some more practice, that's all it takes..."

The older cadet sighed. "Let's hope so."

The two walked over to the pole to collect the arrows.

Alen felt nervous as he watched Grenseal shooting another arrow. It would be his turn soon... He was sure that the results wouldn't be too good. He hated it. And to make it worse, General Teo was watching.

He looked at the target and blinked. Grenseal's last arrow had just missed. Otherwise, his friend's total score was great, but... he hadn't exactly expected this.

"Well, your turn, Alen." The younger cadet handed him the bow and took a deep breath, temporarily closing his eyes. He was feeling somewhat dizzy.

"Gren? You okay?"

"Yeah... Well go on, you'll do just fine."

The dark-eyed man gave his best friend a bit worried look, but took the bow from him. It was unlike Grenseal to miss the target like that.

He walked to the shooting place, swallowed and tried to concentrate. Just remember what Gren said... he thought. Then he raised the bow slowly and aimed.

When Alen had finished his turn, they noticed that the dark-haired general was standing further away. They walked to him.

"Alen, Grenseal."

"General Teo," they both greeted him.

"It went fairly well, for both of you."

The younger of the cadets tried to smile, even though he felt tired. "Thank you, Sir. We could've done better, of course..."

"Well, my lord," Alen interrupted his friend. "Grenseal is right. We could've, but... Well. To be honest, I don't think it is really that important for us to be good archers. We are both skilled with sword, and with our runes, so..."

General McDohl smiled. "That is true, Alen. You are swordsmen. And one day, you'll surely get stronger runes, too. That is, when you graduate and will be permanently joining my troops."

"I do hope so, my lord."

"Well. I have some work to do now, but I will come to see you two this evening. I need to give you some instructions for tomorrow."

"Yes, Sir."

"I'll see you later, then." The general nodded at the two. They nodded back.

"Later, Lord Teo."

Grenseal lay on his bed, eyes closed. They had returned to their bedroom soon after the test and had now spent about an hour there. Alen was packing for the trip, but the younger cadet wasn't feeling like doing that. He felt tired... and the headache he had had the whole afternoon was getting worse, so was the dizziness. He was also feeling very weak now... All he wanted was to rest.

"Shouldn't you be packing, too," asked his friend. He put some things on his bed and looked at Grenseal. "Gren?"

"...I guess..." the dark blond sat up slowly, holding his head.

Alen glanced at him. Something was wrong. "Hey, Gren?"

The younger man didn't reply, so he took the few necessary steps across the small room and knelt down next to him. "Gren, look at me."

The light brown-eyed man lifted his head. "...What?"

Alen touched his forehead. "Huh? Hot...? Gren, you've got fever. Lie down."

"I'm okay... just... need to..."

"No you're not." Alen pushed his friend down on the bed and started to undress him. "So this is why... in the archery test... What could've caused this? You haven't been feeling sick lately, have you?"

"No..."

"Should I get a doctor?"

Grenseal shook his head slightly. "Won't be necessary... I think."

"Alright..." The older man stopped to think. "But will you be alright tomorrow? I mean..."

"I will. Just... would you pack my things?"

Alen nodded and got up. "Rest. I'll take care of everything. No doctor, but I think I will go get you some herb tea later."

"Whatever..."

"But... What should I tell General Teo? He said he'd come to meet us later."

The younger man was too tired to reply. He mumbled something unclear, rolled over and drew the blanket over his head.

Alen sat on his bed, trying to read a strategy book. He kept glancing at the other man, who was asleep. He had been away for about half an hour earlier, when he had gone out to get some herb tea for Grenseal. The tea was on the nightstand, in case that the younger man would wake up and want something to drink.

He sighed. He was just about to get up to check his friend again, when someone knocked on the door. He went to open it.

"Oh, Lord Teo..."

"Alen... You look worried. What is it?"

"Can we talk in the corridor, Sir?"

The general gave him a bit inquiring look, then nodded. Alen slipped out from the room. "Sorry about this, my lord. I just don't want to disturb Grenseal. He's sleeping."

"Oh?"

The cadet looked down. "He's... a bit sick. He's got fever."

General McDohl folded his arms. "I see."

"Sir?" Alen lifted his face. "I've packed our things for tomorrow... But... If Grenseal isn't feeling better in the morning..."

"Yes?"

He took a deep breath and looked at the general's dark eyes. "Then I'm afraid you'll have to manage without us. Because if Grenseal has to stay here, I'll stay, too."

General Teo looked at him. "You will?"

"Yes. I... I'm sorry. I can't just leave him here alone. Grenseal is my best friend. He's like a brother to me... or even more than that. If I'd go without him, I'd spend most of my time wondering if he's all right... Besides, if he's sick, someone has to take care of him."

The general smiled gently. "Alen. One of the reasons I like you two... You care for each other. That's a good quality when you're fighting together."

Alen looked at him, eyes wide. "Sir?"

"Well. You said you have your things packed... I'll explain all the things to you then. Tomorrow morning... Just send me a word if you decide not to come along. Otherwise, report to me when the sun rises. "

"Yes, my lord," the cadet replied, then listened carefully as the general gave him the instructions for the next day.

It was getting late. Alen put down his book. He wasn't able to concentrate on reading... He turned his head and looked at his friend.

To his surprise, Grenseal had opened his eyes, and was staring at the lantern blankly. The older man got up and moved next to the other bed.

"Gren...? You awake?"

The dark-blond man lifted his head a little, just to see Alen who was on his knees beside the bed. "What?"

"Drink something." The older man offered his friend some cold herb tea. Grenseal tasted it, then let his head fall down on the pillow.

"Alen... how... late is it? Did... General Teo...?"

"Well, it is late, but I wasn't sleeping yet, so... And yes, he did. I talked to him. Here, try to drink some more of this." He helped Grenseal to drink some more of the tea.

"Mmnh. Uh... I'm so... tired."

The dark brown-eyed cadet stroked his friend's hair. "Try to sleep."

Grenseal looked at him. "You know... If I'm not better in the morning..."

"Gren..." Alen whispered softly. "Don't think about it. And it doesn't matter. You'll feel better, I know you will. And if you don't... well..."

"What...?"

"I told General Teo that we'll both stay here."

Grenseal stared at his friend in disbelief. "You're crazy."

"Am not." Alen took a deep breath and smiled. "Who cares? You'll get better."

"I still say you're insane... Why would you..." The younger man sighed and closed his eyes.

Alen stood up, then hesitated. Then he raised the blanket that was covering Grenseal, lay down next to him and wrapped the blanket around both of them. He put his arms around his friend's naked body.

"I may be insane, but it's just because I care for you. You just sleep now. Okay?"

Grenseal didn't reply. Alen was warm, but... much cooler than his own body. And lying there in his friend's arms... he felt himself quite comfortable.

It was still dark, when the dark-blond young man opened his eyes. He blushed a bit when he realized that Alen was in his bed. He had been sleeping head on the older man's shoulder.

He reached for the lantern on the nightstand. After lighting it, he sat up. He was feeling thirsty, so he drunk the rest of the herb tea.

"Mmh... Gren...?" Alen lifted his head from the pillow.

"Oh... Sorry. Did I wake you?"

The other man smiled. "No... Well, rather, I don't know. I think I woke up because you weren't in my arms any longer..."

"Ha."

"Really." Alen sat up and put his hand on his friend's forehead. "Hmm... not hot anymore. Are you feeling better?"

"I guess."

"Seems that the fever is mostly gone... Good." The dark-haired man massaged his friend's shoulders. "Have any idea what caused it?"

"Probably the sunlight... I don't know. Well, aren't we supposed to go somewhere?"

"Yes!" Alen grinned. Then he looked at his friend, a bit worried. "But... maybe we shouldn't go. I think you should rest some more."

Grenseal smiled. "Maybe. But... not now."

The older man got up and looked out from the window. "Still quite dark outside... but I guess sun will be raising soon. Let's get our clothes on... Are you sure you want to go?"

"I am."

"Absolutely sure?"

Grenseal nodded. Alen looked at him again. "But what if you start feeling weak again...?"

"I trust that you'll take care of me. Well, as you said, let's get dressed. We wouldn't want to keep General Teo waiting, would we?"

The black-haired swordsman smiled at his friend. "No... Well, we have plenty of time."

The two cadets started to get dressed. After a while, the older man paused for a second and looked at the other cadet. "Listen, Gren..."

The younger man turned to face him. "Yeah?"

"What you said... About trusting... I'll make you a promise. I swear it; I will take care of you. If anything ever happens..."

Grenseal smiled. "I know that. Well, same here... If something would ever happen to you, that is."

The older cadet smiled back, then walked to his friend's side and kissed him on the cheek. "Well. Weren't we supposed to get our clothes on here?"

Alen smiled, went back to his side of the room and started to get dressed again. He was ready before his friend, so he took the things he had packed last evening and checked through them quickly.

"Ready," the younger man informed, peaceful look on his face. "Are we going, or what?"

"Yes, we are." Alen took their bags.

"Hey, I can carry that myself," Grenseal objected. His friend smiled and shook his head.

"Oh, but you won't. You need to take it easy. I'll take care of things like this. Well, off we go then..."

General McDohl was on the castle yard, giving some orders to the small group of soldiers that would be accompanying him on the trip, when the two cadets showed up. Sun would rise in about half an hour.

"Good morning, Lord Teo," they greeted the general.

"Ah, good morning, Alen and Grenseal." He smiled slightly. "I assume that you're feeling better, Grenseal."

"I am, Sir."

"That's good to hear." The dark-haired general smiled warmly now. "You know... I actually mentioned it at home - that one of my men was sick. When Gremio heard that... He mumbled something about the army food being of very poor quality, and that it makes young men sick. And before I left home this morning, he made me take some food with me so I can give it to you two. Ah, Gremio is like that. Always worried about everything..."

"Oh? Guess so..." Both young men smiled. They knew about the general's overprotective manservant. Gremio was the one who took care of Lord Teo's son.

"Well, anyway. I'll have to give the package to you later... Now, put your bags there." The general pointed at a small wagon further away. "We still have several things to take care off before we can leave, so... Follow me, gentlemen."

The cadets looked at each other.

"Yes, Sir!"

Author's notes:

I've never written a fic this long in such a short time; took me only about a week after I first started writing.

Well. Several people seem to like this pairing. Besides, I couldn't care less if no one liked the pairing - I do! Heh. And no, the idea of this fic is not Alen and Gren ending up together, but hinting that they might, or will, sometime later. They care about each other very deeply, and all that.

- Elmina (July, 2001)