All five of them exit through the back door. The garden was well kept, towards the house, but set back a bit was a great number of untidy brushes, protruding elms, jagged paving stones and rough brambles. Ornaments littered the ground, everything from small pottery-made men to looming, decorative, stone animals. The garden wasn't permitted for guests; the guests didn't mind not being allowed, because they had the entire Asher household to themselves.
Set back about 20 metres from the back wall of the house, was a large clearing. There was plenty of space in the clearing, so nobody inside it had to worry about tripping over garden accessories or being caught in twisted thorns. Around the clearing were a couple of benches, Godffrey and Chad positioned themselves to watch the spar on one of them. Opposite them in the circular clearing, Scarlett sat alone on another bench. Her legs were tucked away under the bench, making her boots invisible in the dark of night. She placed her dainty hands on her lap, with her fingers interlocking with each other - her hair was behind her shoulders, letting her face glow in the ominous moonlight.
Alexander and Jayce were hardly going to fight in the dark, so they set up a lantern on a bird bath, that flickered brightly. Standing opposite each other, they bowed, before unsheathing both swords. The first few moments of the fight were tense, as neither of them moved. Alexander didn't know what to expect from Jayce, as he hadn't sparred against him in a good number of years. Jayce on the other hand, felt so confident with himself that his overwhelming thought was, 'what if I hurt him?'. Eventually, Jayce thrust lightly, attempting to spark Alexander into action.
It worked a charm, and Alexander retaliated with an all too familiar flourish. The sound of their swords impacting was almost music, to the three friends watching; loud, rhythmical chimes, sounded successively in deafening tintinnabulation. Alexander began to tire long before Jayce even considered submission. Towards the end of the fight, sweat gathered on Alexander's shoulders, and his movements were unprofound. It felt like a beating taking a strike from Jayce, and for the first time in a long time, his attrition techniques worked.
Although it felt to Jayce like he was returning to his old style of fighting, he knew somewhere in his mind that this fight was won because of the new found agility and balance. Soon, the expected happened, and Alexander attempted to counter one of Jayce's blows. Unfortunately for him, he was outwitted by Jayce, and with a swift movement of Jayce's left leg, and a curve of his blade, he had the point of his sword at Alexander's side.
Pride was evident on his face, and without much delay, he threw down his blade to congratulate his friend on putting up 'an even fight'. Chad and Godffrey were unsettled, clapping uncontrollably like wild seals. Scarlett merely turned her head to the side, showing little acknowledgement for Jayce's actions. Scarlett had played this game before, and knew exactly how to test a man's worth.
"Go and get this great man some water, and some wine for when he's finished," instructed Jayce, before wandering down to Scarlett. The woman kept her eyes fixated on the large building, looking for some excuse to be ignoring the man that stood in front of her. It took him a short while, but eventually Jayce realised what she was doing, and let out a small chuckle. He didn't want to appear too obnoxious, so he went along with Scarlett's charade.
"I've lived here all my life, and my father's lived here all of his--," he tried, but Scarlett interjected promptly.
"It's not bad, I've seen better." Scarlett didn't like feeling inferior to people, especially not men. Jayce wanted her to feel comfortable, too, so he changed the subject.
"Could I get my guest a drink?" He offered politely. Scarlett turned to face him, finding him so much more attractive in the dim light of the garden. She felt like grasping him there and then, but at the same time, she wanted to conceal her passion. By the time she realised that a reply was due, she'd forgotten the question. Jayce sat down next to her, and she instantly felt at ease.
"Why have I never seen you around here before?" He inquired, attempting to start a conversation. Scarlett stared blankly at the ground, cradling her chin with both hands. "Oh! Your dress has mud on it!" He lied, suddenly. Panic struck Scarlett's face, and she immediately bolted upright.
"What? What do you mean?! Where?!" She searched around to make sure nobody could see, and then snapped at Jayce, "Get it off, get it off!"
Jayce started laughing, it was a little bit immature, but he wanted her attention, and this was the most entertaining way of getting it. "No, I think it has stained!" He rubbed at her back repeatedly in the same area, "Yes, definitely, it won't come off." He couldn't help but chuckle to himself now, but Scarlett was far from happy. She trotted frantically to the back of the garden in her long, leather boots, grabbing the lantern on her way.
Jayce just watched, from his position on the bench, as the yellow light grew fainter into the distance, and eventually disappeared behind some foliage at the back of his garden. There was a well back there, it was customary for most wealthy people to have one in their back garden, and Scarlett must have known this. He began looking around for where he left his sword, when he realised that something was left shining on the wooden beams of the bench.
He grasped it, and lifted it against the house, trying to make out what it was with the light from the windows. It felt like metal, and was black, as far as he could tell. All around it gems glittered, after fiddling with it for a little while, it struck him what it was - It was Scarlett's comb. He got up quickly, cautious to follow her, but he took it as an opportunity to talk to her in a more secluded location. He knew the garden without light, so he followed the jagged pavings to the back, where a dim light grew stronger as he approached.
Surely enough, at the back of the garden, the blazing lantern's light outlined an angry Scarlett. She stood facing Jayce perfectly, with hands curled into fists that were pressed against her hips. Her eyebrows were slanted, but they quavered slightly, and her frown was frivolous. That's when Jayce knew, she understood the humour, and now felt quite amused at the situation.
"What's the matter, it got your attention didn't it?" He asked, with his distinguished, enchanting smile. He wandered down towards her, and she took her hands from her hips and started to smile to herself.
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