Chapter 449 - 450: Mopey Prince.

Chapter 449: Chapter 450: Mopey Prince.

They had never treated them like prisoners, either. Nor enemies.

They had drank with them by the fireside, and only put them in chains when they were concerned they might come across company.

They’d answered their questions about Crade, and when Khojin had asked if any of them had seen his nephew; if they knew whether he was well, and safe, the Captain himself had set his heart at ease, just a little.

​If he’s the one I’m thinking of, then he didn’t seem hurt .

​In fact, last I saw, he was laughing.

​Khobi thinks back to that night; of fires burning high and drunk soldiers who served different kings laughing together as smoke billowed off into the night. ℯℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

He remembers, and it makes him smile.

​There’s no knowing just how many hours pass while they sit there together; only that the embers in the hearth burn low and slumber and the moon has long since taken over the sky.

Khobi immediately feels guilty for having kept them up so late when he realises that Mozry has almost fallen asleep on Khojin’s shoulder.

​"Ah, sorry," he mumbles apologetically, because he wanted them to rest, and he’s gone and kept them up.

"Your bath got cold." It sounds like the years haven’t been too kind to them either; his aunt and uncle had both probably been looking forward to finally getting a warm bath and scraping the muck off their skin.

​"I can have a bath tomorrow," Khojin chuckles warmly, levering himself up off the couch so that he can start escorting his shattered wife towards the bed.

He suddenly sounds exhausted; like the years of hypervigilance are finally starting to show now that he’s dropped his guard. He pats Khobi on the head again as he passes him by; he’s been doing that a lot and it makes Khobi feel light every single time.

"...It’s so good to see you, Khobi. It really is. I can still hardly believe it’s you."

​Khobi gets that.

​He can still hardly believe it, too.

​"...Would it be okay if I stayed here tonight?" he ventures, because suddenly he doesn’t want to be parted with them.

Not yet. Not so soon after only just having found them again; because what if he wakes up and they’re gone, like they were never even there.

​"Of course," Khojin replies, without hesitation. It’s the sort of thing that once upon a time Mozry probably would have scolded her husband for agreeing to – there you go babying him again, Khojin ! –but tonight she just spares a tired smile for the pair of them like she’s happy to baby him, just a little, to make up for all the years she couldn’t.

​Bongo must have been listening in at the door, or had an inkling that he’d come to ask, because when Khobi knocks to tell him, he’s already got some extra blankets ready to hand over to him.

And while the couch isn’t the comfiest, it’ll make do. Just knowing that his aunt and uncle are both here and safe with him is enough.

...

Montrel sees the question coming the moment he sets foot in the training grounds.

​"...Still no Khobi?" This time it’s from Mural, although that’s just because he beat the others to the punch today.

​"Looks like it," Montrel states flatly, and offers a shrug and a perfunctory glance back towards the steps even though he knows that Khobi’s not gonna be hurtling down them anytime soon because Loac’s already here, trying to ignore the rock and a hard place more casually known as Binny and Rogard. If Khobi was coming, he’d already be here.

​"...Jeez, what’d that idiot do this time ?" Gandy complains, shaking his head as they group up to set about their first drills of the day. "You really have no idea what made Gurdet decide to lock him up again?" he quizzes, like he’s taking to doing twice a day for the past three days that Khobi’s been missing from training.

​"Not a clue," Montrel assures him, like he’s assured him every time he’s asked. It feels bad lying to them, but for obvious reasons he’s been sworn to secrecy about the arrival of their most recent and most controversial guests.

He doesn’t blame Khobi in the least for wanting to spend some time with his family after all this time, and their king’s reputation for flights of fancy has provided a convenient and plausible excuse for why he appears to have disappeared off the face of the earth.

That didn’t mean that it went unquestioned though, and Montrel’s been deflecting left, right, and center over the past few days.

​And a fat lot of help Loac’s been on that front; the guy’s been the quietest Montrel’s seen him in months.

Barely said a word all of yesterday, something that wouldn’t be so weird if it was just Montrel he was blanking, but even Binny hasn’t been able to get a proper smile out of the guy.

It’s pretty obvious to anyone with eyes (and probably even those without) that Khobi’s his favourite person by about a hundred thousand miles, but Rogard and Binny are still in the race even if they’re lagging behind and at the moment he doesn’t really seem interested in either of them.

​He doesn’t seem interested in any of them. Once upon a time that would have been a good thing.

"...Is Loac all right?" Jaga inquires with a small frown, briefly concerning Montrel that he’s accidentally just bitched the guy out aloud.

Wouldn’t be the first time; probably wouldn’t be the last. But no, Jaga seems to have just spotted Loac lagging behind the rest of them, which is admittedly kind of unusual these days, "...He’s been acting a bit... off recently."

​"So you’ve noticed too?" Gandy muses contemplatively, glancing back over his shoulder with a small frown, "Like, I know he gets a bit mopey whenever Khobi’s not

around but it’s different this time, right?"

​" A bit mopey ?" Montrel scoffs obnoxiously, because if that isn’t the understatement of the century he doesn’t know what is.

Without Khobi to occupy his attention or vent his frustrations on (sexual and otherwise), Loac’s a downright menace .