Lionel cleared his throat.
"Well... we worked on an indie film together once. Back when you were just starting out."
A hesitant smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
Sean leaned against the dining table, his arms folded across his chest. For a mont, sothing flickered behind his eyes—a distant mory surfacing from years buried beneath disappointnt and solitude.
It was one of those old good days when he was just starting out. Life was difficult but he was happy.
"I’d forgotten all about that."
His gaze drifted toward the window.
"It feels like it happened in another lifeti."
The lancholy in his voice lingered in the room.
"Right..." Lionel muttered.
The awkwardness thickened.
Neither man seed willing to fill the silence.
Lara rose from her seat.
The small living room was sparsely furnished. Two hard wooden sofas faced each other across a round wooden table, accompanied by a single armchair in the corner. The room held none of the comforts one would expect from a successful actor’s ho.
It felt less like a living space and more like a place soone rely occupied.
Then her attention settled on the sword.
A sheathed blade rested on a wooden rack mounted against the wall.
Drawn by an inexplicable pull, she walked toward it.
The handle was beautifully crafted despite its age. Intricate patterns wound around the grip, worn smooth by years of use.
Lara studied it silently.
Then she glanced over her shoulder at Sean.
"May I take a look?"
There was sothing in her eyes—sothing between longing and reverence—that Sean couldn’t quite understand.
He hesitated. Only for a mont. Then he nodded.
Lara lifted the sword from its rack with the care one might reserve for a sacred relic.
Sean’s gaze sharpened. He watched her closely.
She slowly drew the blade. Steel glead beneath the afternoon light.
The mont the sword left its scabbard, sothing changed.
Lara tested its weight with a gentle swing, but the cramped room restricted her movent.
She looked back at Sean.
"May I take it outside?" She asked.
Sean humd thoughtfully before giving another nod.
Without another word, Lara stepped through the doorway.
The house itself was modest, but the yard stretched surprisingly wide. Rows of vegetables lined the fence, thriving in carefully tended soil.
Lara decided that Sean wasn’t a hopeless case as she initially thought based on Lionel’s story.
A gentle breeze rustled the leaves.
Lara closed her eyes. Then she gripped the sword. The blade was old and heavy.
Yet in her hands it felt perfectly balanced.
Perfectly familiar...
... as though it had been waiting for her.
mories surfaced unbidden.
Master Jethru’s strong and steady hands presenting the sword to her. The years she had wielded it in battle. The day she entrusted it to Ivan’s firstborn—her best disciple.
The mories vanished as quickly as they ca.
Lara opened her eyes. Then she moved.
No. Not moved but danced.
The sword beca an extension of her body.
A smooth arc. A precise thrust. A flowing parry.
Every movent connected seamlessly to the next.
The blade whispered through the air.
Graceful. Effortless. Deadly.
It was less a martial demonstration and more a dance written into muscle and bone.
Unaware of her audience, Lara continued.
Behind her, Lionel had quietly pulled out his phone and begun recording.
Sean stood frozen. Unable to look away.
The sword had once belonged to his own master, his very own uncle. He said it was a family heirloom passed from one generation to the next. It hadn’t seen combat for a very long ti but was used in training.
And he had spent years trying to wield it and master the swordplay.
Yet he had never wielded it like this.
Never. Not even close.
A strange unease settled in his chest.
Just who was this young woman?
Nearby, Alia had also taken out her phone.
When Lara finally lowered the blade, the yard fell silent.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Alia practically rushed forward and grabbed Lara’s hands.
"Oh my gosh, Lara!"
Her eyes sparkled with excitent.
"That was incredible! I’ve never seen anything so beautiful. It was like watching a real sword master."
She squeezed Lara’s hands tighter.
"When did you learn that? Honestly, you should be the one playing Lara Norse in the movie!"
The usually quiet woman spoke so rapidly that even Lara looked surprised.
Lara laughed softly.
"I’m not cut out for acting."
"But you wouldn’t have to act." The voice ca from behind her.
Lionel.
He lowered his phone.
"You’d only have to be yourself."
Lara rely smiled. She offered no answer.
Sean finally stepped forward.
"Who taught you those techniques?"
His tone was calm. Too calm.
Lara t his gaze.
"Oh, nobody special. I picked up so things in high school. Learned the rest online."
Sean stared at her. Really stared at her.
The answer sounded absurd. And they both knew it.
Lara returned the sword.
Sean accepted it and unsheathed the blade.
He perford several practiced movents.
The difference was obvious.
His technique was competent.
Hers had been instinctive. Alive.
After a mont, he slid the sword back into its scabbard and returned it to the rack.
Lara glanced toward it.
"Such a valuable artifact, and you just leave it hanging here?"
A faint smile crossed Sean’s face.
"Most people think it’s junk."
The smile faded.
He turned toward Lionel. The room seed to grow quieter.
"Tell , Director Brookes." His eyes narrowed slightly.
"Why exactly have you been looking for ?"
Lionel released a slow breath.
So he rembered . Good. That would make things easier.
"I have sothing I’d like you to read."
Before Sean could object, Lionel crossed the room and pressed a tablet into his hands.
Sean glanced at the screen.
His expression shifted almost imdiately.
It wasn’t a script. It was a summary of a man’s life.
Jethru’s.
A gifted martial artist betrayed by his closest friend.
His parents murdered in a fire, his future stolen and he was condemned to die by the very king that had praised and honored him.
And yet, sohow he survived.
As Sean read, the room disappeared around him. The pain on those pages felt uncomfortably familiar.
He had always believed his own life had been a tragedy.
Yet compared to this... Jethru’s suffering ran deeper. Sharper and crueler.
And still the man had endured.
Sean continued reading. Then he reached another part of the story.
The woman Jethru loved. The woman who loved him in return. The woman who remained loyal despite every temptation and every hardship.
A bitter smile touched Sean’s lips.
For all the misery Jethru had endured, there was one thing he possessed that Sean never had.
Soone who chose him.
And never stopped loving him.
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