Chapter 235 - 233: Shitty Personality.

Chapter 235: Chapter 233: Shitty Personality.

Khobi does a quick double take at the sight of her holding a bow, then does a quick check in front and behind him to see how far away Loac is, and if Drogger is watching.

The Second seems occupied, and Loac looks to be trailing by a good several feet, looking decidedly muddier than him.

​"Oh, hey Xena," Khobi comments, as he jogs on over, "You look different."

​Montrel resists the urge to facepalm, suddenly understanding a little of the strain he must put Bongo through.

For starters, even he knows that’s not something a soldier isn’t meant to say to a lady, and even if Khobi is a prince himself, he’s probably not meant to talk to the princess so casually in her own kingdom.

​If she notices or minds she doesn’t comment, suddenly too distracted by the appearance of her cousin storming towards Khobi looking severely irritated.

​"Oh! Look, it’s Loac!" she remarks in delight, as if it wasn’t glaringly obvious.

Khobi, who clearly thought he had more time, grimaces just in time for Loac to aggressively shoulder check him, smearing him with his first layer of mud of the day.

​"Hey, Khobi ," he complains loudly, so busy flicking fresh mud off one of his hands with distaste that it takes him a moment to register just who’s standing there.

" –You and Rogard are gonna pay for tha –Xena? What are you doing here?"

​"...I could say the same to you," the princess sniffs, clearly a little deflated at her cousin’s lukewarm greeting.

She recovers quickly though, putting on a fresh smile and gently laying a hand on Montrel’s arm as she replies, "Montrel is teaching me how to shoot an arrow."

​Against his leather armour, her touch feels feather-light. Montrel’s suddenly acutely aware that he smells like horse dung.

​Loac stops wiping his hands long enough to settle Montrel with a heavy look.

​"...Is he now?" he hums flatly, and Montrel’s not entirely sure why he feels the sudden, all-consuming urge to take up a defensive stance.

And even when Loac makes no move to strike him he can’t help but still feel oddly on edge. He’s not even sure why this time.

​"...So that’s why you almost hit me last time," Loac adds in a scoff, after a beat too long has passed.

​"I told you Loac, that was an accident!" the princess insists, dropping her hands to ball them into little fists. They look so cute and tiny.

​( Stop it , Montrel scolds himself.)

​"Don’t worry Xena, he’ll actually be paying attention this time," Khobi assures her, and somehow gets away with elbowing Loac as his expression moves from princess-appropriate to downright irked , " Won’t you ?"

​"Why?" Loac drawls casually, smoothly leaning into Khobi’s jab and looking nonplussed about it, "You’ll just save me, right?"

​"Wha-what makes you think that?" Khobi splutters, and starts to turn a very interesting shade of red.

Loac just raises an eyebrow at him and to the surprise of well , everyone present, hooks a muddy arm around his neck to drag him close like they’re old pals or something rather than mortal enemies.

​"You don’t want to see me dead, remember?" he says, voice low and sly as he barges into Khobi’s personal space.

​"That’s not... Get off –" Khobi growls, grabbing him by the face and shoving him off, looking oddly embarrassed .

Like maybe Loac’s not just talking out his ass. Although what might’ve possessed Khobi to say such a thing is beyond him.

Montrel has clearly missed something.

​"How about you give it another try?" he says to the princess instead of trying to figure out what’s going on.

The princess nods eagerly and beams, first up at him and then across at her cousin, looking hopeful.

​"Loac, will you watch?" she asks, and while he doesn’t say anything, he doesn’t leave , which she seems to take as a good sign.

​(Just privately, Montrel figures that given what happened last time, it’s much more likely that he’s betting that standing behind her is safer than standing in front of her.)

​The princess shifts back into place with her bow and deftly sets an arrow to the string.

She takes a deep breath and as she begins to draw it back, Montrel deftly steps around her, reciting out corrections the way he does for his younger, less experienced soldiers.

She follows his direction with ease, and when he tells her to set her sights, she nods, like she’s happy.

​"When you’re ready," he tells her, and the arrow goes flying.

​It misses the target by inches .

​Montrel lets out a low whistle. A couple of the soldiers from nearby murmur their agreement; it could’ve definitely been a fluke but it was still a pretty good attempt.

But while she seems pleased with their assessment, it’s clear that he’s not the person who’s input she’s waiting for.

But Loac is already turning away, and her face falls.

​"Ah...Loac..." she murmurs, her bow and her shoulders drooping.

The urge to smack his prince is never entirely gone, but it suddenly rears its head.

But today Loac must be feeling generous, because while he doesn’t look back, he waves a hand back over his shoulder like he knows she will see.

​"...Well, you didn’t hit anyone," he comments dryly, and while it’s not exactly praise so much as an observation, the princess’ face bursts back into a wide smile.

Khobi’s expression sours however, and he seems to be contemplating hurling something at him.

He doesn’t though, which can only be progress.

​"I’m sorry about my cousin," the princess sighs, eyes soft but not sad as they watch Loac go.

​"What’re you apologising for?" Khobi snorts, rolling his eyes and heading on after him.

They’re meant to be training after all, although Drogger would probably make allowances since it’s the princess, " He’s the one with the shitty personality."

You say that, Montrel thinks to himself wryly, but aren’t you still following after him ?

Khobi sure has some pretty strange choices in friends. Although he’s one of them, so he tries not to wonder what that says about him.