Chapter 245 - 243: Falling...

Chapter 245: Chapter 243: Falling...

Khobi doesn’t recognise many of them; the soldiers he’s best acquainted with all off doing whatever it is they do when they’re not here.

​Neither he nor Loac are really dressed for a proper fight and Drogger isn’t here to scold them and tell them to be careful so they don’t bother scrounging for some armour before they start pacing out the space between them.

The winter furs they’re both wearing are cumbersome but will block the worst of a training blade, although it’ll bruise and smart something dreadful if they get hit.

​It’s a good thing neither of them plan on getting hit.

​The sky overheard is looking terribly grey –the same kind of grey it was the night before the first snows fell –and the wind is whipping up something fierce so Khobi is thankful for the heat of the kitchen in his belly and in his limbs.

His stomach is feeling almost uncomfortably full –a sensation he’s not all that familiar with –but today he’s feeling particularly energised so he likes his chances.

​Unfortunately, Loac does too. And in the dark furs, with his dark hair and cloak catching in the wind and the fires behind his eyes already bright and burning, he looks more rugged than any regular prince.

​More wild.

​And it makes Khobi’s pulse dance.

​"...What’re you waiting for?" Loac calls, voice lazy but the fingers around the hilt of his sword impatient, and Khobi snaps away from his thoughts; annoyed to have been called out.

​"I’m ready when you are," he declares hotly, and plants his feet.

​Today’s fight plays out similarly to their previous ones.

Even weighed down by the food in their bellies it’s as fierce as ever, and today the win goes to Khobi.

​It’s a close call though; he’d taken a risk and if it hadn’t paid off he would’ve been the one eating shit.

But as it was, Loac had fallen hard and fast for his feint, and Khobi had been able to kick in his shins and bodily tear his blade from his hand.

​It’s a good thing it’s still kind of muddy out. It meant Loac hadn’t been able to scramble back to his feet before Khobi had plonked himself down on his back to make sure he can’t move.

With the furs and a sword in each hand, it’s a considerable weight pressing down onto Loac’s spine, and as valiantly as he tries to buck him off, Khobi doesn’t so much as budge.

​"...Looks like I’ll be the one getting some honeycakes," he remarks conversationally, rubbing his thumb along the edge of his lip and grimacing as smarts and it comes back red.

​"Like I know how to make those things!" Loac growls, irritated, but that’s hardly Khobi’s problem.

​"Well you better figure it out," Khobi smirks, and gives the back of his head a nice, solid shove back into the dirt when he tries to rear back to argue.

"A deal’s a deal, Loac." He doesn’t even like honeycakes all that much, but he’s going to get what he’s owed exactly how Loac always does.

​"Seriously?" Loac complains, and whacks him in the shin. He gets his hand stood on as punishment for smacking him. " C’mon , let me up."

​"Only if you’re yielding."

​Loac fumes in silence for a long moment before finally relenting.

And then he has the gall to try and shove Khobi off balance as he clambers to his feet.

It’s a good thing Khobi was expecting foul play, because he swiftly puts a blade between them the moment he tries anything to ward him off any funny business.

Caught, Loac just holds his hands up in surrender, his eyes creasing at the corners as he tries to hide the small grin playing at the edges of his lips.

​"Worth a shot," he shrugs, and honestly, Khobi can’t argue with that. He tries that sort of shit all the time after all.

"Rematch?"

​"Sure," Khobi snorts, going to hand his blade back to him hilt first but snatching it back at the last second since Loac’s still playing coy about their bet.

"...But you still owe me."

​" Fine, you’ll get your fuckin’ honeycakes," Loac snips gruffly, leaning in to wrench his sword back.

"No chance of a do-over, then?"

​"Nope. And don’t just go getting a servant to make em for you, if that’s what you were gonna do."

​From the scowl that takes over Loac’s face, that was exactly what he was planning on doing.

​" Fuck ."

...

Despite the enormous meal earlier in the day, Khobi is starving by the time dinner rolls around, and it comes as some surprise to him when he realises the sun’s starting to set; he hadn’t realised just how long they’d been at it.

His stomach and the cold wind starting to whip up into a frenzy make the executive decision to head in for some food, and while Khobi doesn’t exactly invite Loac to join him, he doesn’t tell him to fuck off either.

​And so they end up sitting side by side in the mess hall at a table all to themselves; one of them bruised under the eye but grinning like the smug idiot he is, and the other absolutely steaming .

The spot where Loac clocked him with the butt of his blade stings something terrible, but Khobi definitely won more than he lost today, and they both know it.

​The other soldiers wisely give them and their terrifying juxtaposition a wide berth. That is at least partway through their meal, when some familiar faces finally make an appearance.

​"Khobi," Jaga greets, sinking down into the seat opposite Khobi with a heaped bowl of meat and gravy.

He even nods to Loac, who is picking at his food like a spoilt child. "Your Highness."

​"You’re back already," Khobi states,surprised.

He would’ve thought that they would’ve stayed down in the city long into the night, taking advantage of having no training the following morning and getting themselves plastered.

But Montrel just grimaces when he says as much; there had been snow threatening to blow in and apparently it’s no fun trying to make it back to the castle in a blizzard, especially if you’re drunk off your face.

​Makes sense.