After what felt like hours, Eques Tempus opened his eyes and took in his surroundings. Eques Tempus felt his eyes fighting to stay open. He felt his surroundings slow down as he took a minute to gain his bearings. Once he shook off the tiredness from his eyes he recollected what had happened and looked around for the Princess. The Princess was enjoying a cup of hot tea with a blanket draped on her shoulders. He immediately looked for his sword but found it beside Eques Mortis who was enjoying tea with the Princess. Eques Tempus walked cautiously towards the Princess when Eques Mortis said,
"Good Day frater. How goes your morning?""
"Good morning? Who are you? Why did you try to harm us? I trusted you as my frater."
Before Eques Tempus could continue he heard a deep chuckle from across the room and a giggle from the Princess. As he turned to see the origin of the chuckle he found Eques Noctis standing guard at the door he had not seen during his previous analysis of the cottage. There was Eques Relicus and Eques Lux sleeping soundly looking as though they had just fought death and come. Eques Noctis smiled and walked towards Eques Tempus. He signaled Eques Tempus to join him outside the cottage. As they exited the cottage Eques Tempus burst out.
"How can you be so calm, frater? Eques Mortis almost killed us and you're being so calm?", he said with his voice waning by the end
"Frater.", Eques Noctis said calmly.
"I spoke to Eques Mortis. He said this was his way of testing you. The same way you tested me. You were quick to act but it was too late. Eques Mortis wanted to show you that at any point relying solely on your powers will never benefit you for a time may come when you will have to rely on your instinct. I hope you understand frater. We all will do anything for the princess but that may take us to different paths as well. We need to be able to understand and trust each other no matter what."
Eques Tempus nodded and was lost in thought when he suddenly asked Eques Noctis,
"How did you come to be here?"
Eques Noctis just looked at the trees surrounding them as if lost in its beauty. He took a deep breath and reaccounted the details of their journey.
".. When Eques Lux and I finally had Eques Relicus in our line of sight we knew that the rope wouldn't last long. It was as if the rope had a mind of its own. The more we came closer to protecting Eques Relicus the more the rope would unwind. We tried to reach Frater through the branches and even by literally hanging over the edge of the cliff but he always seemed just out of reach. We really thought that we would lose him but then he woke up."
"As much as I love our brotherhood, that would have been hilarious. How did you keep a straight face?", asked Eques Tempus.
"Now that I think of it, it was quite a amusing sight. But at that very moment it meant life or death. We did not know how to bring our Frater to safety. We were hot headed and wanted to act first rather than use our minds.", said Eques Noctis
"Of course. That was very expected by the two of you.", Eques Tempus said shaking his head and smiling a little
"Well. We wouldn't be ourselves if we didn't. But looking at Eques Relicus being calm we realised that it was not a time to panic. We wanted to think of a strategy but almost immediately the branches moved closer and our frater ended up on solid ground. We thought a lot. We asked Eques Relicus too but he maintained his silence. It's as if he did not want to show us his weakness."
"What ever maybe. All that matter is all three of you are safe."
Both Eques nodded in agreement and decided to leave Eques Relicus be. For one could only open up if they are ready to do so.
Meanwhile, the Princess had finished enjoying her tea and went over to Eques Relicus. He had woken up but refused to say a word. Eques Lux on the other hand was busy trying to decipher Eques Mortis' cottage. It was as if it has a mind of its own. At one moment he would enter the kitchen and when he tried to return he would end up outside. The princess could hear the laughter from her Eques from outside. She knew Eques Relicus was different. He was special but what he lacked was trust. As she sat down beside him he looked up at her with pitiful eyes. The princess started at him with sweet kindness and waited for him to speak.
"Your Highness. I have failed you. I should have known better than to suspect your knight and …"
"Please do not speak in such a way. We all need to learn to trust. It may come easy for some and difficult to others. What truly matters is the lesson we have learnt from this.", the Princess interfered and gave Eques Relicus a hug.
Eques Relicus felt a sense of relief knowing that the Princess understood his worries. He was going to gently push her away when she was pulled away from him and into Eques Noctis's arms. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked baffled at what had just occurred. The Princess looked at Eques Noctis with questions in her eyes. He looked into her eyes deeply wanting to protect her. Wanting to prevent her from vanishing for a moment before he saw a movement near the veil where she was seated. It was as if she vanished from sight. Eques Mortis looked upon the situation and realised that Eques Noctis had realised the use of the veil and immediately pulled Eques Relicus from the site. Now everyone got curious regarding what had happened but no one spoke regarding what had happened. They were all tired and just wanted to relax. And that's what they did. They ate a light snack of berries and fruits and fell asleep. Well almost everyone did except Eques Noctis and Eques Relicus. They both had shared a looked before and they knew they had to figure out
'The secret behind the Veil'.