Adrian followed Cassius down the hall. He glanced at Cassius; his hair was longer leaving the once short curls drooping just enough to show their length but still nice to look at. He looked away when their eyes met and noticed they were about to descend into what he assumed to be the lowest level.

The lower floor looked much like the upstairs except the walls were a mix of brick and stone. They passed food and wine stores and sealed off rooms before making it to an old iron banded door with an equally old looking ring for a handle.

Cassius gave it a good tug and it opened with a small creak.

The room was a long rectangle with the opposite wall lined with an almost absurd number of weapons and trunks that likely stowed gear and more weapons. The wall furthest down had a couple windows that looked out to the back of the palace which gave a nice view of green and the ocean.

Cassius gestured to the space, “This is one of two armories within the palace. Both can be freely used by the Royal Family and those that serve it.” He moved to the rack weapons, “Though, most use the armory upstairs.”

Adrian nodded, “So, someone could pop in any point?”

“Not necessarily,” he grabbed two wooden swords, “I have practiced here since I was seven and have never seen anyone else utilize this space.”

“Seven?” he repeated incredulously.

Cassius shrugged, “I was bored.” He held out one of the swords but stopped short, “Perhaps I should have given you time to change.”

Adrian looked down at his clothes and shrugged off a few layers easily until he wore only the tunic and pants. “Should I take off my shoes?” he glanced to Cassius who seemed to be surprised by something. “What?”

He contemplated his words, “I had not expected you to undress so casually.”

He raised an eyebrow, “I’m not undressing.” He took the sword made of a light tanned wood, it was heavier than he expected, “In Senosolvia, we wear a lot of layers so that we can shed them depending on the temperature.”

“That makes sense.” Cassius doubted anyone from Mahalia would do the same so casually. He held the sword out, enjoying the bit of weight it offered.

“I’ve never seen you with a sword now that I think about it.” Adrian took a practice swing and could already feel the muscle aches he was likely to suffer after this.

“I usually train while you study,” Cassius said as he sat on the cold stone floor.

“Oh,” Adrian followed suit, “So, are we gonna read or...”

“I prefer a more hands-on approach when it comes to these kinds of things,” Cassius answered simply. “First, we should stretch.”

Considering what happened the last time they decided to dive in without prior knowledge, Adrian was more than a little surprised. He wouldn’t object to the idea though and readily dove into a series of stretches with relative ease.

Cassius watched him reach for his feet with minimal effort and commented, “Are you naturally flexible?”

“Probably,” he said, he’d have shrugged but he was too busy holding the pose. He hadn’t really stretched like this before, but that didn’t mean he had never been forced to contort into uncomfortable positions, it was in fact that case exactly.

“Hold that pose for as long as you can.”

“It’s not exactly hard,” he said lazily, “I’ll probably get bored before I get tired.”

“Interesting.”

It was likely the closest thing to a compliment Adrian had received from him outside of the comment on his looks, and he felt grateful his was facing the floor.

“It just occurred to me that you have no stamina.”

Adrian stood and bent this way and that, pleased by the way his body felt at the motions for once. “What makes you say that?”

“You have spent your time here eating and studying,” he thought to himself for a moment, “Perhaps we should start running before you swing a sword.”

He yawned, “I’d rather we didn’t.”

“No one likes running, but I cannot think of another way to build stamina.”

“Might I suggest yogic, Prince Cassius.”

Adrian snapped in the direction of the voice, but Cassius didn’t seem the least surprised. It was Neha. From the way she leaning against the open door, she’d likely been standing there for some time.

Cassius pondered her suggestion, “Yes, yogic could work. Moreover, I have a feeling that Adrian will have quite the affinity for it.”

Neha walked into the space, “My thoughts exactly, Your Highness.”

Adrian looked between the two, “Yogic?”

“A form of exercise that focuses on meditation, controlling one’s breath, and at times difficult body poses,” Neha clarified. “I prefer a run through the woods personally, but yogic is a good alternative.”

It sounded familiar to something Adrian had seen in Senosolvia, they called it yoga there. “Anything but running.”

Cassius looked as though he would rather eat an entire cow than do yogic. “We will work on your stance today,” he decided, “Considering the fact that you will start your riding tomorrow, I am sure you will be more than warmed up by the time you come to learn from me.”

Neha and Adrian shared a look. That alone endeared her a little to him. If she was able to see when the prince was back peddling, that was a good sign. Moreover, she didn’t seem bothered by him like the others.

Adrian picked up the sword again, giddy with excitement, “So I get to swing one of these around after all.”

Cassius looked to him with a raised brow, “Have you already forgotten that I said we would focus on your stance?” If he was trying to admonish Adrian, he was doing a poor job of it.

Adrian was half listening, content to swing it this way and that. It felt easier with one hand rather than two, but was still too heavy to make it easy.

Cassius continued despite his students divided attention, “It is the most important thing about,” he held up his own sword when Adrian’s swinging nearly caught him in the shoulder, “sword fighting.”

Adrian moved to apologize, but before he could, he was on his back on the cold stone floor with the wind knocked out of him.

“Otherwise you can be knocked off your feet fairly easily,” Cassius lectured, completely unfazed by it all. He held his hand to Adrian, “Would you not agree?”

Adrian snorted and took the prince’s hand. He blew loose strands out of his eyes with a huff, “I might agree.”

Cassius’s lips quirked into something of a smirk, “Oh? Should we test your amateur stance once again?”

Adrian stood straight but relaxed by way of his answer.

“Excellent. Now,” he held his own sword at his side and began to spread his legs wider into a slightly crouched position, “try to mirror me.”

Adrian tried but found it easier said than done. Cassius was watching him with a new kind of focus that left him feeling like he was disappointing him which didn’t help either. Neha flickered in and out of his peripheral as well which left him feeling a little skittish as well.

Neha stood beside Cassius, “Perhaps it would be better to position him yourself, Your Highness.”

Your Highness. Neha said it like it was Cassius’s name. Should he be saying it as well? ‘My Prince’ was quickly shot down so maybe?

“Adrian?”

He looked to Cassius who seemed to be a somewhat weary, “Hm?”

“Would you mind if I... helped you with your stance?”

He glanced at Neha for the shortest moment, but her eyes were quick to meet his. The rusty color of them made him dizzy, they resembled blood a little too closely for his taste.

“If I my presence makes you uncomfortable, I can leave,” she supplied, “But I feel it’s also important to mention that I will be teaching you as well.”

“Patience, Neha,” Cassius cut in, “You may be his teacher, but everyone has their preferences. Remember when you first arrived?”

She looked as if she’d been scolded by a parent but quickly returned to her serene and neutral expression, “My apologies, Your Highness.”

“I am not the one you may have offended.”

She turned to Adrian without hesitation before he could even begin to tell her there wasn’t a problem. “I apologize, Adrian. I above anyone should understand your difficulties.”

Adrian looked between the two, unsure of how to go act. “It’s fine,” he said with only the mildest hesitation.

“Thank you, I will excuse myself.”

Adrian watched her go, worried he might have gone about it the wrong way.

“Are you alright?”

He looked to Cassius who to be worried for very different reasons.

“Yeah I’m fine...” His grip tightened and loosened around the sword. “It was just weird.”

“Her presence?”

“No,” he looked to the floor sheepishly, “being apologized to.”

Cassius blinked, “I... what?”

Adrian looked to him and noted that this was likely the most confused he’d ever seen the prince with his knitted brow and slight purse of his lips. Even his tear-drop eyes where narrowed, his thick lashes covering most of his dark pupils. He filed that expression away in his slowly growing glossary on how to read the ‘blank book’ that was Cassius Lidelle before speaking again.

“People don’t apologize to me,” he said with a shrug. It was a fact, he couldn't think of a time where someone apologized to him in his entire life.

Cassius thought over his words, his hands seemingly holding his various thoughts and ideas in their grasp before letting them go to fall to the floor so to speak. He looked tired in that moment before clearing his throat, “We have gone off topic.”

Adrian smiled easily despite his disappointment. A large part of him wanted the prince to ask questions, even if there had been only one in the end. Despite the initial discomfort, he was always left with a cathartic rush after telling Cassius about his feelings and shards of his past. He wondered if Cassius could be growing bored of him, he hoped that wasn’t the case.

He resumed the relaxed pose he had prior to their segway and proceeded to try to mimic what he could remember.

“Close,” Cassius reached out but stopped short, “May I?”

“You may,” he playfully mimicked, matching his tone perfectly, and allowed Cassius to move his arms this way and that.

“To think there was a time when this would put you on edge,” Cassius whispered just loud enough for him to here.

Adrian smirked, “This was expected.”

“I do not agree. After all, Darrius still bothers you.” He pressed on Adrian’s right knee, signaling for him to bend it more.

He sucked in a breath when the prince’s hand moved to his torso.

“Lower your center of gravity,” he instructed.

“Darrius will always scare me,” he continued as he followed his directions, “but you do have a point.” His stomach began to ache with the position. The prince’s hand hadn’t left his stomach yet. He could feel Cassius’s other hand moving to the back of his neck. Why wasn’t he afraid of his touch anymore? Everything about this situation would have had him lashing out just months prior. It was a process that he felt should’ve taken longer, but, if anything, he found himself opening up to him faster with each passing day. It unnerved him to say the least.

“You are too tense. Relax.”

“I might relax if you remove your hands,” the words coming out more harshly then intended and with the wrong kind of emotion.

His hands were gone from his body in seconds, “My deepest apologies.”

The absence of his touch left him hollow, and he resented himself for being the reason it happened, “No,” he reached out to Cassius but stopped short, “I didn’t mean it like that.”

Cassius nodded, but, despite his usual calm tone, it was clear as day to Adrian that he was wounded by it, “No need to apologize.”

Adrian rested a hand on Cassius’s shoulder. His hand felt heavy as an undeniable bite sank into his hand, but just as soon as he felt it, it was gone. Cassius’s expression relaxed as well and the two were left staring at each other in abject confusion.

Before either could speak, Darrius swung the door open panting heavily, “Cass! He’s back! Father’s back early!”