Chapter 114 - 113: Strange Man In The Dark.

Chapter 114: Chapter 113: Strange Man In The Dark.

It’s strange, the way Xena feels suddenly compelled to answer.

"...Like fire," she finds herself answering, despite herself, and wonders where the thought came from.

Khobi Frost is a lot of things, but she thinks maybe that sums him up quite nicely.

For some reason, her answer makes the man smile. It’s bright, and slightly crooked, and makes her think of the moon on a clear night and the echo of a wolf’s howl.

It’s so strange; he looks like a man --tall, and dark, with dusky skin that gleams in the torchlight, but somehow feels a little preternatural; like maybe she’s not really conversing with a human man, but a spirit of the wild.

Xena doesn’t dare blink, it feels like if she looks away he’ll vanish like a wisp in the night. It’s an unsettling feeling, to say the least.

She wonders where he’s from. He’s not wearing the colours or sigils of any kingdom she knows of. In fact, he’s dressed more like one of the nomads revelling out on the plains; unbothered by the cold sting of the autumn night.

"Forgive me," she states boldly, curious, and when he turns to look at her his face is obscured by shadow, like the torchlight can’t quite capture his shape.

Like it’s not sure exactly what form he should take. "...But I don’t believe I’ve seen you around before." The comment seems to surprise him, and when he shifts inquisitively the shadows on his frame warp like they can’t decide whether to swallow him or tear themselves away.

"...I come by every year," he replies distantly, as though it’s not strange she doesn’t know his face, "...To visit my wife."

"Oh," Xena says quietly, a little taken aback by the reply, "...She lives in the city?"

It’s not like it’s a hard question, but he pauses a beat before answering.

"...This is her home, yes."

He sounds sad, and suddenly she feels bad for prying. She’s about to apologise for her rudeness, but he cuts her off.

"It’s late," he announces, almost as if to himself, and turns to leave as abruptly as he’d appeared, "I should be going."

" --Please, don’t go on my account," she exclaims, but he’s clearly already made up his mind.

She watches his back in silence as he departs, and freezes when he looks back and gazes upon her for what feels like an eternity, like hers is a face he wants to remember.

And in the flickering torchlight, she locks eyes with a set that are a deep, endless blue, like the night sky filled to the brim with stars.

Eyes she feels she should know.

Then she blinks, and he’s just... gone .

Usually, footsteps in these stone halls echo something terrible, but his don’t make a sound, and when she darts forwards a few paces to try and catch a last glimpse of him, there’s not a trace that he’s ever been there.

"...Do I...Do I know you?" Xena asks of the darkness, quiet and unsure, but unable to shake the feeling. She can’t hear him, or see him anymore, but somehow, she knows he’s still got to be out there, somewhere in the night.

"...No, little princess," the darkness answers back on the wind, distant and mournful, and she lets out a soft breath she hadn’t realised she’d been holding. Maybe she’s just being paranoid. "...But I wish you did, and it’s my fault you don’t."

(Or maybe she’s not.)

He doesn’t say anything more, and when she tiptoes back to the tapestry, there’s a flower resting delicately on the floor beneath it. Like someone had placed it there with reverence.

It’s fresh, and still dewy, like it had blown in straight from the garden, only Xena is sure that she’s never seen one like it before.

She’s still standing there when Khobi finds her.

"Hey," he says over her shoulder, and she nearly jumps out of her skin. He backs off a pace as she spins to face him, alarmed, and looks as startled by her reaction as she is by his presence.

"What are you doing here?"

"Nothing," she says quickly, pressing a hand to her chest to still her racing heart. She’s not accustomed to being snuck up on --a luxury of being under near constant guard, she supposes.

It’s not a feeling she likes all that much. "What are you doing here?" she shoots back, and he immediately looks a little sheepish.

"I uhh, I got lost," he admits with a shrug, "I was trying to get back to my room but...."

"Oh? Father’s party not to your liking?" she inquires, even though she knows the answer.

He’d been doing an admirable job pretending not to hate every second of the evening, but hadn’t been quite convincing enough.

"Parties aren’t uh...Parties aren’t really my thing," he mutters, scratching the back of his neck like the admission is embarrassing. It’s so off-brand for the ruffian the nobles --and her father, to some extent --have painted him to be that she almost wants to laugh again.

But she thinks that will embarrass him even further, and she truly means it when she says she wants to get to know him.

If her father is set on this match --which he seems to be, although for what reason she really can’t fathom --then there’s not much she can do to change his mind.

The least she can do is let her new cousin know that there’ll be someone in his new family who isn’t out to make his life difficult.

"You get used to them," she says instead, and the face he pulls tells her that he doesn’t really want to.

The night air must be working just fine because not a few moments later they hear footsteps, making their way towards them at pace.

Xena wonders distantly what kind of life a person must lead for their footsteps to fall upon solid stone and not make a sound. Was it dangerous, perhaps? Carefree?

Or lonely?.

She would think that if a person treads too soft, they could come and go wherever they please, but never leave their mark.

The footsteps grow louder, and Xena suddenly realises that Khobi has edged his way in front of her, positioning himself between her, and whoever is coming for them.

He’s unarmed, and doesn’t seem to have noticed he’s done so, but it’s a gallant gesture, nonetheless. One that thankfully amounts to nothing, in the end, because the footsteps turn out to belong to Bongo, and he looks tired.

"Your Highness," he breathes, when he catches sight of the pair of them in the torchlight. He sounds almost relieved.

"You’re okay."

"Captain," she greets back, frowning as she peers out from behind Khobi’s arm, "Why wouldn’t I be okay?".

"Don’t think your father didn’t notice you were missing," Bongo warns, politely strained and a little concerned. "...He sent me to find you.

I’ve been looking everywhere --what are you doing out here? By yourself?".

Xena is about to puff herself up and remind him that as touched as she is by his concern for her wellbeing, this is her castle too, and she has every right to wander wherever she damn well pleases, when Khobi saves her the trouble.

"It’s okay, she was with me," he pipes up quickly, and she immediately scrambles to hide her confusion, "We were...we were chatting."

"Chatting." It’s clear Bongo doesn’t buy it.

"Chatting," Khobi repeats, more firmly, and sends Xena a meaningful look to follow his cue, "We’re...we’re going to be cousins, right? So...we should get to know each other, right?".

That does sound like something she would say.

"Right!" she chirps, latching onto his elbow as she catches on --like he’s been her escort this whole time --and sending Bongo a bright, reassuring smile.

Her father wouldn’t have bought it for a second, but Bongo’s always been a little easier to win over, despite his reservations.

"Right." Bongo’s hardly convinced, but he doesn’t seem to want to argue, and since they’ve corroborated their lies he decides to forgo further questioning.

"Very well," he relents with a sigh, probably relieved that she’s at least not been wandering the halls completely alone.

Which, she was, but neither he nor her father need to know that. "Please, Your Highness, if you would accompany me back to the feast? I’ve left His Majesty with Lord Vogrid, but..."

"...Oh I’m sure Father is loving that," Xena remarks, and hides a smile when Bongo’s expression gives away just how much her king is enjoying the company of his current guard.

"But I think I’d rather go to bed. It’s late. Give father my apologies, would you?".

"I think your father would feel better if I accompanied --" Bongo frowns, disapproving of the implication that he return to the festivities without her. But Xena’s ready for that, and tugs on Khobi’s arm for backup.

"Khobi can escort me, right?" she points out, and he looks a little taken aback by the suggestion.

"I...Your Highness, it’s hardly..."

" --Hardly what?" she chirps innocently, daring him to finish his sentence. "I trust him. Don’t you?".

Bongo looks both betrayed by her trap, and impressed. He bows, and smiles, like he’s a little proud of her.

"I do, Your Highness," he says, and there’s not a shred of a lie in his words. Xena is glad that her father keeps close company with a man like that. "I leave the princess in your care, Khobi," he adds with a deep bow, "I’ll come by your room in the morning to escort you to the first event."

"Sure," Khobi remarks dryly as Bongo takes his leave with a nod to each of them, "Yeah, see you in the morning."

"...I don’t know why I have to wake up early," he complains, as soon as Bongo’s out of earshot. "It’s archery ,I’m just gonna fall asleep anyways."

...

"Thankyou, Khobi, for walking me back to my room," Xena says, slipping gratefully into her chambers but leaving the door cracked just enough to bid him goodnight.

"Did I have a choice?" he inquires dryly, and she flashes him a gracious smile.

"Not really," she admits, and is pleased when he doesn’t seem to take offence, "But thank you, anyways."

"It’s fine," he mumbles awkwardly, like he’s not used to being thanked for anything.

"Goodnight, I guess?"

"Goodnight," Xena echoes, and then halts him before she thinks better of it, "...Khobi? Um...Why did you lie to the Captain? When you said I was with out with you?"

"Huh? Oh, that," he remarks, shrugging like lying to one of the most influential soldiers in the kingdom is a good idea.

"What you do is your own business," he explains, and adds "...It can’t be fun spending your whole life with someone watching you."

It’s almost strange that the statement seems to come from a place of sympathy, rather than that of malice.

"...I guess you’d know, huh?" she murmurs quietly, and he just shrugs as he turns to leave.

"...Guess so."

Even after the lock has clicked into place Xena lingers at the door, and giggles to herself a little as she hears Khobi cursing outside as he tries to remember how to get to his own room from here.

His foul language has got to be turning Bongo grey by now --he and Lord Vogrid agree on few things, but one of them is that there was certain language that was not for the delicate ears of princesses.

The castle seems to have him pegged as nothing but a barbarian, but she thinks that maybe they’ve got him all wrong, and that having him as a cousin might not be so bad.

...If he and Loac both actually make it to their wedding day in one piece, that is.

Which, judging from some of the still-healing bruises turning patches of his skin yellow, is a very valid concern.