“Am I really so... ‘scrawny’?”

Adrian laughed hard at that. They were lounging in of the palaces two large courtyards on a stone bench. Adrian had managed to goad Cassius into taking their reading outside for the day.

The courtyard seemed to be someone’s pet gardening project. There were a few meticulously laid out stone and dirt paths to follow as well as a couple fountains similar in grandeur to the one at the city square. However, it seemed to pale to the flora that took parts of the palace’s stone walls and the courtyard’s plentiful space. The ranged in color, shape, and size but somehow managed to exist in a way that was both harmonious and clearly fabricated by a practiced hand.

Adrian reached out, fingers brushing an orange. “When did I say that?” he asked innocently, very aware of when he said it.

“You said it a couple weeks ago,” Cassius murmured, “at the stables.”

He pondered the prince’s words for a moment before bursting with false revelation, “Oh, right!” He picked the flower and examined it closely. It was a five-petal flower with a chestnut brown speckled center. “Does it bother you?”

“Well... in a way… yes.”

“In what way?” he asked, twirling the flower between his index and thumb.

Cassius gave Adrian a sideways glance, “My pride rests with my skill as a swordsman.”

“A swordsman?” Adrian quirked an eyebrow, “I didn’t know you could use one…”

Cassius shrugged, “It is expected that we, my brother and I, pursue a skill to display our diligence. For Darrius, it the Arcane arts, for myself, it is the martial arts.”

“I thought your knowledge of weapons was something you enjoyed. Princes don’t get hobbies it seems,” Adrian sympathized.

“But I do have a hobby,” Cassius corrected. He pointed to the flower in Adrian’s hand.

“What? You collect flowers?” Cassius’s room did have a lot of plants in it. A few were even in bloom at the moment. “I’d pick all of the ones here if I was left alone long enough,” he joked.

Cassius ducked his head, “Is that so? I would let you if you so wished.”

Adrian could see the tip of his ears were burning, was he embarrassed? But what for?

Adrian brushed Cassius’s ear with the flower causing the prince to yelp and nearly fall off the bench. He laughed but made sure he didn’t fall.

Cassius rubbed his ear and scowled, “Why?”

He shrugged, “You looked like you were about bad-mouth yourself.”

He shook his head, “I was going to tell you that I planted the flowers here.”

Adrian blinked, “You planted these?” he repeated, holding up the flower for good measure.

“Not all of them. That would take too long, I had help,” Cassius clarified. He stood and gestured for Adrian to follow. “The courtyards were rather plain before this. Darrius wanted to ‘beautify’ them and enlisted my planting skills.” He looked to Adrian, a small blush dusting his cheeks and ears, “I thought I might have gotten a little overzealous in my project, but it seems many people liked it in the end.”

“No way is any of this overzealous,” he promised, “This is beautiful. Show me how grow things too? I wanna put plants in my room too.”

Cassius took in Adrian’s eagerness and accepted the request without a thought. “I can do that, first, we will have to assess how much light reaches your room, the temperature, and how much space you like to allocate—”

“Pardon my intrusion, Prince Cassius.”

Both looked in the direction of the voice. It belonged to a young woman.

She had a round face and a coppery complexion. Her dark brown hair was tied to the side with a navy-blue ribbon and was resting pleasantly on her right shoulder, flowing to just below her breast. Her clothes weren’t that of a servant.

Instead of the usual muddy orange attire and white aprons, she wore a grass-green knitted shawl over a white high-collared flowy blouse with a dark green ascot. The whole affair was loosely tucked into a billowy blue skirt that synched at the waist and stopped mid-calf. From what Adrian could see of the back, there was large pleated ribbon that flowed just short of the length of the dress. Her shoes were a simple tanned leather, but the broguing was elaborately done. Plainly put, she was as beautiful as her clothing.

Her rust colored eyes flitted over Adrian with mild interest before returning to Cassius. She bowed her head slightly, her dark, full lips spoke in a way that could only be described as breezy, “Prince Darrius said that you would likely wish to see me upon my return.”

Cassius took a step away from Adrian before speaking, it was a small gesture, but Adrian couldn’t help being bothered by it, “Yes, thank you, Neha. If you are here, then I can safely assume that His Majesty will be arriving soon.”

“Unfortunately, His Majesty the King will be later still. Patalier has yet to agree if they will attend the Summit. Moreover, there are still visits to Senosolvia and Akaria. His Majesty will likely return by the beginnings of the new year.”

“I see…” Cassius nodded, “Thank you for troubling yourself with my desires, Neha.”

“Nonsense, Prince Cassius. The pleasure shall always be mine,” she bowed her head again, deeper this time, and turned to leave.

Adrian caught sight of a bright green ribbon tied over her ascot, the light glinted off of what looked like jewels. She gave him a passing glance and a slight nod before leaving them. Adrian stopped short of asking Cassius about it when he saw the look on his face. He seemed concerned about something.