Adrian woke the next morning with an achy body and puffy eyes. It’d been a while since he’d cried that hard and even longer since that it hadn’t been because of new scars or broken bones. He felt lighter, not heavier –at least emotionally. His body was another story entirely.

He begrudgingly slipped out of his bed and trudged to the bathroom. After running just enough water to reach mid-calf, he sank into the tub with a low groan. The palace was large, but he hadn’t walked that much in a while. He considered stalling Cassius on the horseback lessons but quickly quashed the thought. He’d wanted to do more for the prince, he practically begged him last night for the privilege.

Adrian washed slowly, muscles gradually relenting their protest, and went down for breakfast.

Cassius ate his breakfast unhurriedly.

The night before was still on his mind. Adrian had seemed to be on the brink of something. He wondered if he should ask about it. Memories weren’t a part of their pact. Cassius had been too shortsighted and self-centered to consider anything outside of what he might accidentally do to upset Adrian.

He absently rolled a cherry between his thumb and index finger. He worried over his words from last night; in his attempts to console, he might have demeaned Adrian’s feelings instead.

Cassius had discovered a long time ago that, in order to feel better, he needed to understand who and what hurt him. It was always the thoughts of others, and he’d worked tirelessly to justify to himself why they were wrong.

However, there were also things he knew to be true. Those always burned the hottest under his skin.

Adrian was an interesting contradiction. He understood his place and worked within it. While he often appeared fragile and easily toppled, he was sturdy and refused to be used beyond the realm of his personal boundaries.

From what Cassius could gather in their brief moments before Darrius sealed his mind, his Master was the only person that was allowed to ignore Adrian’s rules, but to what extent?

“Morning.”

Cassius crushed the grape between his fingers, but his surprise at Adrian’s presence was otherwise unnoticeable. “Good morning, Adrian,” he popped the grape in his mouth and wiped his fingers with a cloth.

Adrian seemed to be in higher spirits —visually at least— but Cassius was painfully aware of just how serene a person could look on the outside while spitting venom on the inside.

“So,” Adrian looked over the small breakfast spread of meat, fruit, and bread, “horses.”

“Yes,” Cassius grabbed a slice of bread and smeared on a thick layer of butter before taking a bite, “horses.”

Adrian pursed his lips. When he finally spoke, his voice was a few octaves higher, “Do I get to pick the one I ride?”

“Today, you will learn how to groom,” Cassius answered in between bites, “Jumping on a horse without any knowledge is ill-advised. Not to mention, you have no riding gear.”

“Oh, thank the goddess,” Adrian breathed, relief washing over him. He fingered the tail of his braid, “I was getting dressed and realized I had no idea what to do with a horse.” He took a bite of sausage, “Then I thought about how you said we’d start riding today and,” he shrugged, “I thought I’d get kicked in the head.”

Cassius didn’t respond right away, he couldn’t remember a time where Adrian initiated a conversation or even spoke this much at once. It stunned him.

“People don’t get kicked in the head when they groom a horse, right?”

“As long as they are calm, accidents are minimal,” he said.

“Good,” he reached for an orange but settled on an apple, “Horses like these, right?”

Cassius nodded, still thrown by the conversation, “They have been known to like apples, yes.”

Adrian rocked back and forth in his chair. He seemed excited, so Cassius didn’t have the heart to tell him to stop. Instead, he just said, “You’re eating a lot today.”

Adrian shrugged and kept eating, “I’m starving.”

“If all you need is a little exercise to boost your appetite, then I can accommodate.”

Adrian eyed Cassius with a face that asked ‘what are you planning’, but otherwise chose to put food in his mouth over voicing it.

The walk to the palace stables was long. It shouldn’t have been surprising considering where he was, but Adrian still found himself balking at the trek.

The palace sat atop the highest point in the capital and overlooked the sea, and Adrian would never tire of looking at it. Sunset was by far the best, the sky would turn into a haze of golds, oranges, and reds, and the ocean would reflect it all back in kind, painting a landscape of fire. The palace grounds were lush with greenery, but there was little in the way of defense save the various patches of wood that shrouded the initial gate of the large property. Adrian wasn’t sure if this was cocky or stupid.

The path they followed was well packed with compressed earth and carriage wheels lined the softer dirt.

“How are your legs?”

“On fire,” Adrian chirped.

Cassius nodded and wiped sweat from his brow, “Just a bit further.”

Adrian looked up. The sun wasn’t quite overhead, but they were in the beginning months of fall. Maybe it was growing up in the desert, but Adrian had never felt the heat of the sun as intensely as others. While a seemingly good boon, it had led to more than a few accidental bouts of sunburn. If Cassius was hot, he would need to pay attention to the sun more closely.

The path led into a small wooded area and Cassius sighed in relief, “I wish I had your constitution.”

Adrian chuckled but said nothing more on the topic.

The stables were finally in sight. The wooden building was long and its doors wide open.

Cassius made a beeline for the door and Adrian trailed behind. Inside, the floor was made of packed dirt, but the food storage seemed to be stone ladened. Gates lined more than half the building, each with one or two horses of many varieties. The rest of the building housed carriages.

Adrian let out a low whistle as he walked by the stalls.

“Careful, some are trained to respond to whistle-based commands,” Cassius warned. As he walked down the middle aisle, some of the horses seemed to grow nervous. He stopped in front of one of the stalls and gestured Adrian over.

Adrian looked into the stall. The horse looked a lot different from the ones he’d seen in town. Those were large and stocky with thick legs and huge hooves. The one in the stall seemed to be the exact opposite. Its build was lean and its legs were much thinner. It also seemed agitated.

“His name is Manny,” Cassius said.

“Manny looks like he wants to kick me.”

“He will not kick you.”

Adrian eyed the horse. Its coat was white and peppered with brown spots, and its mane was dark chocolate. It was beautiful, but he couldn’t help counting his blessings that it was in a stall.

“Now, open the door and slowly walk over to him.”

Adrian sputtered, “W-what?”

Cassius looked Adrian expectantly.

“But...” Adrian scrabbled for something, “I don’t know how to do things with horses and--”

“That is why am directing you,” Cassius rested his hands on his hips, “Manny’s side is facing us, so he will not be surprised at your approach. Moreover, he has a good temperament,” he gestured to the stall again and waited.

Adrian stared at Manny. He knew Cassius wasn’t trying to get him mauled by a horse, but it was so much bigger than him.

“As unlikely as it may be, I would protect you from harm long before I would save the horse,” Cassius said.

Adrian looked to him, more than a little surprised. He knew Cassius was perceptive but often forgot it in the face of the prince’s stoic expression. He swallowed and nodded.

The stall door was worryingly easy to pull open. Adrian’s steps were careful and slow as he approached Manny, but the horse didn’t seem to mind him. In fact, it seemed to calm even more the closer Adrian got to it.

“Good, see it is not too hard,” Cassius congratulated. “Now, try petting him. Stroke his side.”

Adrian cocked his head, “Which... side?”

Cassius gestured in the horse’s general direction, but Adrian couldn’t follow.

“Can’t you just show me?” he asked with a frustrated huff.

“I could show you,” there was lingering ‘but’ in his tone.

“Good, show me.”

His movements were cautious as he stepped towards the horse.

“Now who’s afraid,” Adrian teased.

Manny grunted and shifted about; Adrian stumbled just as Manny reared up. He fell back but Cassius had his hand before he could touch the ground and pulled hard. The two were left tangled on the dirt floor panting.

Adrian rolled away and sat up, “What the hell was that?!”

“Most of the horses spook around me,” Cassius said and sat up.

He frowned, “Couldn’t have said that sooner?”

“I should have.”

“As long as you’re aware.” Adrian groaned and stood, he rolled his shoulders, “I’m horsed out for the day.”

“Already?”

Adrian smirked, “Yeah, almost getting stomped into the ground kinda does that to you.” He held out a hand to the still seated prince.

Cassius took it.

On their way out of the stable, Cassius gestured to a steel-blue mare, “A gift from a friend and the only horse I can ride.”

Adrian stared at her for a moment. Its white mane made the coat stand out all the more. “Never seen a horse like that before.”

“It is native to Akaria,” Cassius reached a hand over the stall and it dipped its head to meet him. “My friend named her Grey.”

Adrian ignore the part of that wanted to say that Grey was a terrible name and asked, “Why didn’t you just use her then?” He reached out to the horse.

“She refuses for anyone else to touch her,” Cassius muttered and stifled a yawn.

“Noted,” Adrian had nearly pulled his hand back when Grey brushed against it, seemingly content to let him feel.

Both young men looked equally confused by the situation.

“How...” Cassius whispered.

“I’ve been told I’m very charismatic,” he said, ‘charismatic’ coming out colder than he intended.

“I would prefer not to test how far your charisma goes with Grey,” Cassius said and turned to leave.

Adrian gave Blue one last pat before joining him, “So... why do they spook around you?”

Cassius shrugged, “Maybe they see what everyone else does.”

He cocked his head, “And what am I supposed to see?”

The prince looked at the grass, “Something unnatural.”

Adrian rolled his eyes, “Cassius when I look at you a see a scrawny little prince with weirdly quick reflexes.”

“You are alone in that regard then.”

Adrian stepped in front of Cassius and stopped. He rested a hand on his hip, “What do you see when you look at me?”

Cassius avoided his gaze, “I would rather not say.”

He frowned, “That bad?”

“No, the opposite.” He looked to the sun and blocked its rays with a hand, “You and my brother are a lot alike. You draw people to you like a beacon. People cannot help but look at you and want to be near you.”

Adrian could feel his face burning at the comment, it was the last thing he expected to hear. “Never tell someone they’re like your brother.”

Cassius bristled, “Why not?”

“Jeez, you’re killing me. That kid is scary.”

“Has he done something again?” he asked, sounding like a tired parent.

“No,” Adrian shrugged, “He’s just... let’s just say that you’re not the off one in your family.”

“My brother is--”

“I don’t care what your brother is, Cass,” Adrian interrupted sharply. “Just because your people seem to love him doesn’t mean I have to. Just because they don’t like you doesn’t mean I have to, nor do you have to think less of yourself.”

Cassius stood there awkwardly. They were at the main entrance now with servants roaming about. A few glanced in their direction but, otherwise, they were left alone.

Adrian stopped and started several times before resting a hand on the prince’s shoulder. He leaned forward enough to catch his eye, “Just value yourself a little, alright?”

Cassius frowned, unsure of what he meant, “Value myself?”

“Yeah,” Adrian squeezed his shoulder, “Just start simple, like not calling yourself names.”

Cassius nodded.

“Good,” he let go of him, “let’s get lunch.”

It was only when they were in the dining room that he realized the complement Cassius had paid him. He blamed the lingering heat for the blush on his face when Cassius inquired about it.