Chapter 246 - 244: Falling In Love.

Chapter 246: Chapter 244: Falling In Love.

​"...Hey, Loac, if you’re not gonna eat that, can I have it?" Khobi inquires suddenly, since he’s been playing with the same half a bowl for quite some time now and Khobi’s done with his and still kind of hungry.

Loac immediately glares up at him and shoves a massive spoonful in his mouth in an unnecessary act of petulence.

​" No ."

​"What’s got him in a foul mood?" Montrel inquires under his breath, "Fouler than usual I mean."

​"He lost." Khobi makes sure to throw in a victorious smirk for good measure.

​"He loses to you all the time," Montrel points out, and Loac leans past Khobi to glare daggers at him for the exaggeration.

Khobi’s just about to tell him why this time in particular is different, when he catches sight of a familiar servant milling about in the crowd; hopping between tables amongst the other servants, clearing empty bowls away from vacated seats.

He waves in his direction, and even though the mess hall is packed and it’s hard to say whether or not he sees, Binny dutifully materialises at their table only moments later, bowing most graciously and inquiring how he can be of service.

​Khobi tells him to cut the bullshit, and fast.

​Binny says he doesn’t know what he’s talking about, but his eyes are laughing as he says it.

​"But seriously," he states, "I’m kind of busy."

As if to prove his point he holds out both hands, laden with empty plates.

It’s a miracle he bowed as deeply as he did without dropping any. So Khobi quickly cuts to the chase.

​"You know how to make honeycakes, right?" he inquires, and from the owlish way Binny blinks at him it’s clear that this isn’t at all what he had expected.

​"Uh, I know people who know," he answers, brow furrowed with mild confusion, "Why?"

​"Loac needs to know," Khobi replies, willfully ignoring the glare from the space next to him burning holes into the side of his face.

​"...Why?" Binny asks again, the confusion morphing to concern.

​"He’s gonna make some for me," Khobi states easily, and every head at the table turns to stare at him.

And then at Loac, who doesn’t seem to appreciate the sudden attention.

​"What?" Loac snaps mutinously, and as one they hurriedly go back to minding their own business.

Except for Binny, who starts shaking violently when he realises that Khobi is in fact, not fucking with him.

​"Oh, this I gotta see," Binny snickers, and then remembers where they are and bows again –even deeper this time –to hide his grin.

It’s too late; they’ve already seen. "I mean...I’ll be sure to find someone, Your Highness."

​" Great ," Loac tells him sarcastically, and gives Khobi a withering look that goes heartily ignored.

​"... Honeycakes ," Montrel deadpans, as Binny vanishes into the crowd as abruptly as he’d appeared, "...Aren’t those the princess’ favourite?"

​A couple of the soldiers give him a strange look.

​"Why the fuck would you know that?" Gandy inquires incredulously, and Montrel is immediately on the defensive.

​"L-Loac used to steal them for her all the time when they were brats!" he squawks,

"Of course I’d know that!"

​(He says that, but he starts turning a very strange purple colour.)

​"Huh, you did that?" Khobi asks Loac, honestly slightly surprised; from all their interactions he and the princess don’t really seem all that close.

Although that seems to be more Loac’s doing than anything; Khobi’s asked the guy at least once if it would kill him to be a bit nicer to his own family?

​Loac makes a dismissive noise and looks away for what’s got to be the first time in hours.

​"...Might’ve."

​"What do you mean might’ve ?" Apparently Montrel has some kind of death wish, because he keeps going but luckily for him, Loac is still busy nursing his wounded pride and is doing his best to pretend the rest of them don’t exist, " Gods , it felt like it was all the time. And he used to cry whenever I caught him and told him to give ’em back –"

​"Oh, so you actually caught him back then?" Mural teases, and Montrel looks aggrieved that someone so often an ally in the face of Gandy and Khobi’s consistent taunts and jibes has finally turned on him.

​"Hey, that’s not fair!" he complains to raucous laughter, which just gets louder the more he protests. "I did! ...Sometimes!"

...

Honeycakes .

​What the fuck.

​Who was Khobi Frost, and what on earth was he doing to this castle and the people in it?

​Well , Binny muses to himself, eyeing the scrapes on his arms he earned the other day barrel rolling through Jaga’s legs instead of trying to parry him because that was just plain stupid, not that it’s a bad thing .

​But where was he going to find a servant willing to help teach their prince to cook?

​It’s probably gonna be him, obviously it’s probably gonna be him.

​So now he’s gotta go and learn. So the question becomes: where’s he gonna find a servant with that sort of time and at this time of night?

​Ah well, maybe he’ll just have to name drop Khobi to smooth things over. They love him down in the kitchens.

Still probably wouldn’t say it to his face –old habits die hard –but he’s certainly always welcome there.

​And as it turns out, honeycakes are not all that hard to make.

The cooks demonstrate by whipping up a batch for him right then and there when he asks and he gets his hand smacked when he takes a couple to snack on.

Children could make them, according to said cooks.

​(He’s not planning on telling Loac that. Just in case.)

​The moon’s starting to climb by the time he’s finished with his chores, and he has to say that he’s looking forward to a good night’s sleep.

It’s been quite the blessing that Khobi and Loac have come to some sort of sleeping...arrangement...because as much as Binny is happy to hide princes in his room, Khobi sometimes talks in his sleep.

Which is fine , except that servants have busy schedules and there are times when sleep is a rare and precious commodity.

And throwing training into the mix just makes a good night’s sleep just that much more valuable.