Chapter 496 - 497: Taste Test.

Chapter 496: Chapter 497: Taste Test.

So of course she keeps cheating.

Papa would be so proud.

It’s Loac’s own fault, anyways. If he was a little more focused on winning , and a little less focused on touching Khobi’s butt –something that she gets a raucous round of applause for drawing the room’s attention to –then she would never have dared be quite so brazen.

Khobi had been so red after that that he’d missed his next three shots. And Xena would have felt bad for it but princesses and their priorities and all that. And because he and Loac had squandered their early lead by playing around and preening for each other –Xena still doesn’t really know how the victors are decided; the rules of drinking games seem fairly arbitrary –they’re the pair that lose , and when the crowd crowns them the victors, Montrel whoops and sweeps her up in his arms like she weighs nothing at all. A small gasp escapes her as she leaves the ground; quickly becoming a giggle that becomes a laugh as her hair falls loose and the long train on her skirts fans out behind her; sticky with spilled wine and ale.

"We won!" Montrel howls, spinning her around amidst tumultuous applause, and holding her close with one arm as he jabs a triumphant finger over at their defeated opponents. She’s a little giddy, but not giddy enough not to capture the sight she’s greeted with in her mind to keep and treasure for always. "Hah!" he booms, "You guys suck !"

Neither Khobi nor Loac pays him much mind; too busy arguing about whose fault it is that they lost. And despite how it might look to those on the outside, what with their volume and their scowls, and the way they shove and jostle to try and get the other to back down, to Xena the light in their eyes is so bright and so obvious.

Fun .

They’re having fun.

(Loac’s already touching Khobi’s butt again.)

"They’re good together, aren’t they?" Montrel says, following her gaze, and then averting it just as quickly before he sees anything he doesn’t need to see.

"They are," she agrees warmly as they resolve their differences by heading back up to the bar. Khobi’s touching Loac’s butt, too, and while he’s doing quite a passable job at feigning indifference, she can tell that Loac’s secretly quite thrilled about it. "...I never thought I’d see Loac so happy, you know. I’m glad I did." Montrel chuckles, pressing a sneaky, light kiss against her temple as he sets her back down on her feet. It’s the fourth time he’s done that. Not that Xena’s counting, or anything.

Once she’s found her footing, she quickly waves away his apologises for having splashed some of his drink on her dress –there’s plenty of it on her skirts already. It doesn’t smell particularly nice though, and she wrinkles her nose as she knots up her skirt so that it doesn’t track on the floor.

"It tastes nicer than it smells," Montrel assures her with a small laugh, correctly reading her expression. She finds that very hard to believe. "You wanna try a little bit?"

Now, Xena has tried wine before and drinks it to be polite even though she doesn’t much care for it, but ale is something that soldiers drink, and in buckets . Montrel seems to like it a lot so she has to say she’s curious, so when he offers her his mug she brings it to her lips and takes a deep swig.

And immediately pulls a face.

The soldiers all roar with laughter as she smacks her lips, unable to conceal her disgust.

It’s so bitter !

How can they possibly drink this?

"Is it meant to taste like that?" she grimaces, handing it back with a shudder. The mug that Loac holds out to her smells much sweeter, and when she takes a –much more measured, more tentative –sip, having learned her lesson, she immediately brightens and goes right in for another. " Ooh! Mmmm! This one is yummy ! It tastes like honeycakes!"

"Oh gods , not you too," Montrel groans, hanging his head as Loac gives him a triumphant look. "...I suppose I better get you one then, huh?" he relents, and the suggestion has Xena practically vibrating with excitement. Out drinking with soldiers after dark? How naughty !

Too naughty for a princess, that’s for sure.

She really shouldn’t.

"Yes, please!"

But that doesn’t stop her. It’s been stopping her less and less these days, and it feels good.

Now, Montrel has never seemed particularly clued up on what is and what isn’t proper in the courting of a princess, but he at least seems to sense that this may fall into the latter because he shoots Bongo a quizzical look over the princess’ head. But when Bongo sends him a disapproving frown, because personally, he thought it would be obvious, Montrel seems to be asking less for clarification, and more for permission . Courting or not, that she is even here at all is entirely inappropriate –as for drinking with her soldiers and her beloved cousin, well...

Oh, who is he kidding?

How can he possibly deny her a happiness such as this?

So with a heavy sigh, Bongo relents and holds up a single finger.

One .

The gesture very quickly turns to an meaningful finger and a thumb, like Bongo’s miming holding up a grape. Hopefully Montrel understands that much. It’s a fairly universal indication.

A small one .

Montrel cracks into a grin, nodding dilligently as he leads the princess up to the bar on his arm, and although she looks a little put out that her cup is so much smaller than the huge mugs of ale swinging around her on all sides, she seems positively delighted to have been included.

Perhaps it’s a good thing Bongo never had children of his own. They probably would’ve had him wrapped around their tiny fingers from the day they were born.

And He would’nt even have the heart to complain.