Chapter 196: Seeds of Something

Chapter 196: Chapter 196: Seeds of Something

The training ground had mostly cleared by the time Kai found Persephone near the pond, still watching the fish with the same delighted fascination she’d shown the first time Penelope had introduced her to this corner of the space.

"You’re going to fall in one of these days," he said, settling down beside her. "Staring at them like that."

"Worth it," Persephone said, not looking away. "Have you seen how many there are now? I counted at least thirty before I lost track."

"I have seen them. Multiple times. I’ve also tried to catch one with my bare hands, which was significantly less successful than you’d think, given how slow they look."

"They’re faster than they look."

"They’re mocking me. I’m convinced of it." Kai leaned back on his hands, studying her instead of the pond now. "You did well today, by the way. Watching the fight. Very enthusiastic cheering."

"I’m an excellent hype woman," Persephone said, grinning. "It’s a skill."

"A loud skill."

"The best kind." She finally glanced away from the water, studying him with open, easy curiosity. "You rooted for Erik pretty hard yourself. Very aggressive shouting about his footwork."

"Brotherly loyalty," Kai said. "It’s practically a legal requirement."

"Is it? I don’t remember Dahlia ever being legally required to cheer for me over anything. She mostly just critiques my form from the sidelines."

"That sounds worse than what I do."

"It’s constant. I love her, but it’s constant."

Kai laughed, easy and genuine, and Persephone found herself grinning at the sound of it.

"So," Kai said, after a moment. "You were cheering for Victor pretty hard too. Should I be worried about the competition?"

"Terrified," Persephone said, deadpan. "He’s married. To my sister. It’s a real threat."

"Details."

"Very inconvenient details, yes." She smirked at him. "You could’ve picked a stronger horse to bet on, for the record. Killian beat both of them."

"I have unwavering faith in my brother regardless of outcome. It’s called loyalty. You wouldn’t understand, given you switched allegiances the second Victor took his shirt off to warm up."

"I did not — okay, maybe briefly," Persephone admitted, laughing. "That’s not a crime."

"It’s a betrayal of the highest order."

Ben appeared a moment later, still slightly out of breath from wherever he’d been, and dropped down onto the grass beside them without invitation. "What’d I miss?"

"Persephone’s confessing to disloyalty," Kai said.

"I did not confess to anything. I appreciated a well-warmed-up opponent. That’s different."

"That’s not different at all," Ben said, grinning, immediately siding against Kai for the simple joy of it. "Honestly, fair assessment. Victor did look good out there."

"Thank you," Persephone said, gesturing at him. "See, Ben gets it."

"Ben’s supposed to be on my side," Kai said, betrayed. "We’ve been best friends since we were children."

"Childhood loyalty has limits," Ben said. "Victor threw you on your back twice."

"That was strategic. I was setting him up."

"You were on the ground for four full seconds."

"Strategic ground time."

Persephone laughed so hard she nearly toppled sideways into the grass, catching herself with one hand. "I like him," she announced, pointing at Ben. "He’s honest. Refreshing quality in this family."

"He’s a traitor," Kai said. "That’s what he is."

"I’m accurate," Ben corrected. "There’s a difference."

"That’s exactly what she said about betraying me for Victor."

"Because it’s true in both cases," Persephone said, entirely unrepentant.

Kai pressed a hand to his chest, mock-wounded. "This is bullying. I’m being bullied by my own best friend and a woman I’ve known for three weeks."

"You’re being lightly teased," Ben said. "There’s a difference."

"That’s not comforting."

"It’s not meant to be comforting. It’s meant to be accurate."

Persephone grinned at Ben, delighted. "You two do this a lot?"

"Constantly," Ben confirmed. "It’s basically our entire friendship."

"How does he survive it?"

"Poorly," Kai said. "With great personal suffering."

"He’s fine," Ben said. "He just likes the attention."

"I do not like the attention."

"You’re currently getting mock-wounded about being teased by two people specifically because you enjoy the attention," Ben pointed out. "That’s a pattern."

Persephone snorted, unable to hold back her laughter any longer, and Kai groaned dramatically, flopping backward onto the grass in exaggerated defeat.

"Betrayed," he said, to the sky. "By everyone I trust."

"You’ll live," Ben said, unbothered, reaching over to steal a small stone and skip it across the pond’s surface, startling several fish into a brief, scattering panic.

"Hey, don’t traumatize my fish," Persephone said.

"They’re not your fish."

"They’re everyone’s fish, spiritually. I’ve adopted them."

"You’ve adopted thirty fish?"

"At least thirty. I lost count, remember."

Kai sat back up, still theatrically wounded, though a grin had already crept back onto his face despite himself. "For the record, I think the fish like me better than either of you."

"The fish don’t know you exist," Ben said. "You’ve never successfully caught one."

"That’s not the same as them not knowing I exist."

"It kind of is."

"You’re both terrible," Kai declared, though there was no real heat behind it.

"Prove it," Persephone said, nodding toward the water. "Catch one right now. If you actually manage it, I’ll admit the fish respect you."

"You’re on." Kai rolled up his sleeves with exaggerated seriousness, cracking his knuckles like he was preparing for actual combat. "Witness greatness."

"This is going to be embarrassing," Ben said, already grinning in anticipation.

"Have faith, Ben."

"I have three weeks of prior evidence."

Kai waded a few steps into the shallows, crouching low, hands poised with the same intense concentration he’d shown during the earlier sparring match, and lunged the moment a fish drifted within reach.

He came up empty-handed, soaked to the elbows, and both Ben and Persephone dissolved into laughter loud enough to startle a second cluster of fish entirely across the pond.

"That was pathetic," Persephone managed, wiping at her eyes.

"That was a warm-up."

"That was you falling in," Ben said. "Your knee’s in the water."

Kai glanced down, registering the fact for the first time, and groaned, hauling himself back onto dry grass with as much dignity as he could manage, which wasn’t much. "I meant to do that. Strategic positioning."

"Strategic ground time, now strategic water time," Ben said. "You have a lot of strategies today."

"I’m a strategic person."

"You’re a wet person," Persephone corrected, still laughing. "Genuinely, truly wet."

"I regret every decision that led me here," Kai said, wringing out his sleeve, though he was laughing too, unable to hold onto the mock offense for long. "Both of you are officially banned from watching me attempt anything ever again."

"You’ll forget that ban within the hour," Ben said, entirely confident.

"Probably," Kai admitted. "I don’t hold grudges well."

"We noticed," Persephone said. "It’s part of your charm, apparently."

"Apparently," Kai agreed, grinning despite the damp state of his clothes, and settled back down between them, the three of them falling into easy, comfortable quiet as the golden afternoon stretched on, unhurried, the fish resuming their slow circles beneath the water now that the immediate threat of Kai’s flailing hands had passed, and nothing beyond this ordinary, ridiculous moment demanding any of their attention at all.