Chapter 161 - 159: Captain In The Night.

Chapter 161: Chapter 159: Captain In The Night.

To Rogard’s horror, so does his father.

​That’s just gross. The princess is his age. His father, while certainly handsome for his years, is decidedly not .

​" --Hey Rogard, isn’t that --" Montrel starts to point out, clearly having noticed, and Rogard sharply cuts him off before he can say it out loud.

​"Yeah," he states sourly, nose wrinkling in distaste. "It is." They all turn to look -- probably a little more obviously than Rogard would have liked -- in time to see his father take the princess by the hand and lead her to the dancefloor.

She’s smiling, like the honour is all hers, but her father doesn’t quite seem to share the sentiment.

It’s no secret that the king doesn’t much care for his father, so Rogard isn’t sure what had ever given him the impression that he would give his only child, and heir to the kingdom, to his son.

...

It’s funny, that despite her beauty, and the obviously handsome couple they would make, when he pictures nights like these; where lords show off their wives to the envy of other men, it’s just not her that he sees hanging off his arm.

​He wonders wistfully, if there’s someone out there who thinks of nights like this and imagines them with him.

​Unconsciously, his gaze starts to wander, the way it’s started to wander in days of late. To the watching eye it would seem aimless, but deep down he knows he’s searching the crowd; scanning faces and shapes in the hopes of finding the one that makes his heart leap.

​And it’s not long before he finds him. An unsuspecting gaggle of young maidens leads him to Ynoro, and with him, being dragged along for the bumpy ride as Ynoro swoops in like a disillusioned magpie, is Drogger.

​He looks good tonight.

​(Not that he doesn’t always look good. But tonight it’s definitely a different kind of good.)

​Clearly some of the women Ynoro has netted are of the same mind. Ynoro tries his best but he can’t woo them all at the same time, and a couple slip through his fingers and turn their attentions to his friend.

They’re slight and pretty, and have gentle smiles, and although Rogard’s sure they’re lovely girls, he suddenly dislikes them.

​Drogger doesn’t exactly look thrilled to have the attention on him either, and doesn’t seem to know quite how to subtly redirect them back to Ynoro.

To do that successfully, he’d have to engage with them, and from the pained glances Drogger keeps slinging his oblivious friend, that’s something he’d much rather avoid.

​And while as entertaining --and baffling --as it is to witness Drogger Noog out of his element, Rogard hasn’t had the occasion to talk to him tonight, and this seems as good a time as any.

​He excuses himself, to no one in particular, and decides to intervene.

And if he smooths his hair back a couple of times to make sure it’s sitting how it’s supposed to, well that’s his business. It has the desired effect though; when he waltzes up and invites himself into their company the ladies all immediately stop talking and subconsciously start preening.

He makes sure to greet them with his most charming and sincere fake smile, asks them how their evening has been, and then, in the same breath, apologises profusely for needing to steal the captain away from them for some much needed training advice.

The young women are clearly loath to let him go so easily, but he placates them with a few pretty words and a smile, and they lap it up, and tell him with wide eyes and breathy voices, how admirable it is for him to be so dedicated.

​" --This couldn’t wait until tomorrow?" Drogger inquires, more confusion than complaint, as Rogard takes him by the arm and promptly whisks him away. "...You said something about training," he prompts, dead serious, when Rogard just blinks at him. For someone usually so deft at identifying excuses, he’s not at all recognised his rescue attempt for what it was.

​"Oh, that was nothing," he admits airily, and Drogger gives him a strained look as he’s released once they’re in the clear, "You looked like you needed saving, is all."

​Drogger doesn’t even pretend to disagree with him.

​"...Thank you," he says gruffly, after a beat, "I suppose."

​Rogard decides to ignore that second part, and receives a long-suffering look for his efforts when he trills, "You’re welcome~"

​Now that he’s free and clear of Ynoro, he expects Drogger to join some of the other soldiers, or maybe even the Third, as a captain should, during this sort of event, but instead he starts heading for one of the huge doors leading away from the party.

​" --- Where are you going, master?" he asks curiously, automatically falling into step behind him.

Despite the late hour the festivities are still in full swing and it’s rare anyone leaves a party like this before they’re blind drunk or have worn their shoes out from dancing, unless they’ve received a better offer.

Especially someone of Drogger’s status. "Leaving so early?" He’s not completely certain he manages to keep the disappointment from his voice, but Drogger doesn’t seem to notice.

​"I just need a bit of air," Drogger assures him shortly, shaking his head as he mutters something about girls wearing too much perfume, and how can Ynoro bear to breathe so much of that stuff in.

He doesn’t exactly invite Rogard to join him, but he doesn’t tell him to leave either, and when he leaves the door open behind him, Rogard, perhaps too optimistically, decides to take it as a sign that he wouldn’t mind the company.

​Once the door closes behind them, it feels like they step into an entirely different world. In contrast to the shifting human landscape of the ballroom, the hallway that stretches out before them is completely deserted; the music and chatter --somewhat muffled by stone and oak --sounding awfully far off.

Out here, the torches burn low; moonlight streaming in through the open shutters plenty to light the way for guests to stumble their way back to their rooms.

Most of them will spend the winter barred shut, for the winter winds are known to be unkind, and chill to the bone, but tonight the fall air is gentle, and disarmingly still.