I Only Love My Greatest Enemy

The actors stood on the stage. They all wore masks, each one a caricature of some sort of person. Each actor also had an exaggerated stance that was different for each character.

One, who wore a mask resembling an old man, was hunched over and moved with tiny steps. Another had a very long stride. A third was always looking upwards and pointing his finger at the sky.

"The old man is the pantalone. He's supposed to be a greedy miser who got wealthy by not spending much. The man with a long stride is a zanni. He's meant to be a servant," Armand explained from where he and Eris were sitting. "And the man with his head in the clouds is the il doctore."

While the actors had some dialogue, Armand and Eris could not understand a word of it. They were speaking an entirely different language than the two. In fact, they probably could not speak Foldzarden.

So, the play's humor was of a physical nature. The zanni was tasked with moving a chair by the pantalone. Attempting to do his master's bidding, the zanni placed his foot on the chair and tried to pull it up. This failed, obviously, so his next attempt was bringing in another zanni. They tried to move the chair together, but they pulled on opposite ends and accomplished nothing.

With growing frustration, the zanni picked up the chair and inspected it to see what was wrong with it. Unable to figure that out, he put down the chair and shook his head.

Eris chuckled.

"I can see why people love these plays," she said. "They are very funny."

"Yes. The actors train for years to entertain their audiences," Armand replied.

"Hmm...maybe I should see plays like these more often?" Eris contemplated.

"I never just stopped to have fun the last time around since I was a little girl. I've barely even done it this time either. It might be good to do that every once in a while," she thought.

The two watched the rest of the play together. Though Eris never laughed out loud, she did let out a few more chuckles. When the play was over, Armand and Eris went out into the streets.

"Our date's off to a great start," Eris thought before speaking. "What are we doing next, Armand?"

"Eris definitely thinks this is a date. Maybe I can get back to what Chronos wanted me to somehow?" Armand pondered.

"Do you have anything you want to do?" he questioned.

Eris shrugged.

"I never truly attended a festival as anything other than a political function before. I don't know as much about them as you do," she said.

Armand nodded.

"Dammit. It looks like I just need to make it through this date. The festival will keep going for a few days, so Eris has a lot of time to try something," he thought before speaking. "We could see some of the fencing demonstrations."

"If I was interested in combat right now, I'd take you to a private room and spar with you. There's no point in seeing how good some random swordsman is," Eris waved it off.

"There are other plays going on, more serious plays. We could see one of them. I also heard there's a dancing bear at this festival. We could see it," Armand suggested.

She shook her head.

"I was dragged to see the bear the last time I was here. It got loose and attacked some people," Eris said.

Fear flashed through Armand. He kept his emotions hidden, but the boy grabbed Eris' shoulders.

"The bear attacked someone?" he asked.

"Several people. Two of them died," Eris answered.

"When did it do that?"

"I don't remember, just that it happened today the last time around," she shrugged. "The only people who died were commoners, so I don't care."

Eris grabbed his hand and started to move.

"Let's see one of the serious plays," the Hapsburg girl said.

Armand didn't budge.

"Is this what Chronos was warning me about? Should I just ignore this bear and see a play with Eris? Did the bear kill someone who deserved to die?" he thought. "No. This can't be it. I'm supposed to protect Eris after she does what I don't want her to do. She won't be in any more danger than usual if I just go with her to a play. And maybe the bear didn't get free the first time around? Maybe this is just a scheme of Eris' to get some distance from me? In that case, I should find the bear."

He shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Eris. I will be back with you in a moment," Armand stated.

Then, he yanked his arm away from Eris' grasp and rushed off. A look of shock and confusion crossed the Hapsburg's face.

"Why did Armand believe me? I mean, I was telling the truth, but he should have thought of this as some sort of scheme of mine to get him to leave me alone. Does he trust me because he loves me?" Eris pondered.

She almost laughed at that notion.

"No. Armand is too smart for that. This is clearly part of some plan of his. Maybe Armand wants to catch me in the act? Yes. Then, there's only one solution. I will go with him to find the bear. I'm sure Armand would not lose to a bear, even if he only has a sword, but he might get injured. I need to be there to help him."

Armand ran through the city streets. He had a general idea of where the dancing bear was, but the boy still had to stop at times to ask people where the creature was.

Eventually, he found it.

The bear's leash had snapped. It swiped its massive claws, cutting deep into the arm of its trainer. He stumbled to the ground with the beast looming over him. As the surrounding crowd panicked, Armand rushed in.

In one swift motion, Armand drew his rapier. Such a weapon would normally be useless against a bear. However, Armand was far from a typical swordsman.

Taking careful aim, Armand swung his sword. While the rapier was primarily a thrusting weapon, it could also deliver deep cuts with the right technique. Armand used this technique. He hit the bear's neck with the tip of his blade far faster than most humans could. It was sliced open, and blood sprayed out.

However, this was not enough to kill the beast.

The bear turned around and swiped a paw at Armand. Its massive claws could take the head of a deer off in a single strike, and the animal was incredibly fast for something its size.

Armand ducked under its claws. And, seeing an opening, rammed his rapier through the bear's eye. His blade pierced the beast's brain. It dropped dead on the spot, Armand stepping to the side to avoid its falling corpse.

The bear collapsed onto the ground. While some people rushed to help the injured trainer, most looked at Armand in amazement.

"He just killed a bear with a sword!" one onlooker shouted.

"How old is he? He looks so young," another commented.

"Look at his clothes," a third said. "He must be some sort of noble or rich merchant."

"Whoever he is, he's a credit to swordsmen everywhere."

Then, a voice carried out over the crowd. It came from one of the mercenaries that had been hired to guard the festival.

"I recognize him! He's Marshal Staufer's adjutant!"

The tone of the crowd changed from shock to acceptance.

"Ah, that explains it."

"As expected of Marshal Staufer, training someone to be that skilled with the blade."

"He knows how to pick warriors, that's for sure. Anyone would be lucky to have someone that good serving them."

"Didn't he write that weird book?"

Who cares if he did? He just killed a bear with a sword!"

Numerous voices rang out. Armand looked around, and he saw Eris smiling and clapping at him. Then, a realization came upon Armand.

"This was Eris' plan. She wanted me to kill this bear so that I'd become more popular among the commons. But she didn't think I'd trust her if she outright told me it. Good job, Eris. This was a pretty good plan," he thought.

Meanwhile, Eris was thinking something different.

"It looks like the subhumans are impressed with Armand. I bet their feeble little brains were shattered to pieces when they saw him kill the bear. Honestly, it was a pretty big stroke of luck that there were so many people watching the dancing bear."

After standing triumphantly over the bear's corpse for a moment to give the crowd a lasting impression, Armand walked off with Eris quickly catching up to him.

"That was very good, Armand," Eris said.

"For either of us, it wasn't much," Armand waved it off. "And if things went poorly, I'm certain you had a concealed pistol or something you'd shoot the bear with."

A slight offense poured through the Hapsburg.

"Of course, I would have. I always come prepared for a fight, and I wouldn't just let you get eaten by a bear," Eris stated. "I mean, bears don't even wait until you're dead to start eating you. I'd never let the man I love suffer that fate."

She then gave Armand a smug smile. The smugness was not directed at him but at everyone else in the city.

"Besides, I know that you could handle a bear. Even if you just had a dagger, I wouldn't worry," Eris said.

"Give me another year or two before saying I can take a bear with a dagger," Armand replied.

The Hapsburg nodded.

"Very well, my dear Armand," she spoke. "If we ever fight a bear and you don't have your sword, throw the dozen bombs you're carrying at it."

"Just make sure to duck behind something first," he replied.

Still, Armand was cautious.

"When will Eris try a plan I wouldn't want her to? Knowing her, she'll probably enact it at night when I'm sleeping. Thankfully, being a moroi means I get less tired than other people. I might have to wait until then and then secretly follow Eris," the Concord thought.

He then extended a hand.

"Shall we see some plays now, Eris?" Armand asked.

She took his hand, smiling all the while.

"Of course, Armand," Eris answered.

The two of them spent a good portion of the rest of the day seeing different plays. Foldzar did not have a major theatre scene or many famous playwrights, so most of the dramas were foreign productions. That being said, most of the actors spoke enough Foldzarden to be understood.

Of course, partially due to Foldzar not caring much for foreign affairs and partially due to most people not traveling much, this was often broken Foldzarden or thick with a foreign accent. Sometimes, Armand and Eris had to strain their ears to make out the words. That straining was still an exception. Most of the time, the accent had a different reception.

"This really feels like foreign play," Eris said.

"Yes. It's pretty exotic," Armand agreed.

When they were done with the plays, it was getting late. Eris gave Armand a curtsy.

"Thank you for taking me on this date, Armand," she smiled. "I had a lot of fun."

"I never thought I would do something like this, and especially not with Armand," Eris thought.

The Concord gave her a bow.

"You are welcome, Eris. I have the whole festival off from my work with Marshal Staufer, so we can go on dates every day if you would like," Armand said.

"That sounds wonderful! I can do my dirty work at night and have dates with Armand during the day! Of course, he might get suspicious that I'm tired and try to sabotage my plans at night, but that might just make things more fun," Eris thought before speaking. "I would be truly honored. Now, I must take my leave. I already have a place to stay."

"Of course, Eris."

Armand and Eris parted ways. At least, until the former was out of eyeshot of the latter. Then, Armand started following Eris from a distance. The Hapsburg gave a quick glance to the pistol she had concealed on her person.

"Now, it's time to preemptively get rid of an enemy of mine. And hopefully, I will kill his pathetic lover too," Eris thought as a sadistic grin formed on her face. "I killed him before, and I can do it again."