Chapter 457 - 458: Proud Of You.

Chapter 457: Chapter 458: Proud Of You.

That makes Bongo laugh out loud. "I’m sure you don’t know the half of it," he admits, because he’s certain that like any good child relaying a story to their parents, Khobi’s left out the worst parts.

​So when they exchange a curious look, he tells them. He tells them everything he can recall; all the mayhem and the trouble that their nephew caused for him and this castle –start to end –from the first night Khobi had arrived. He leaves none of it out; the fights, the failed escape attempts, and how he’d driven his men right up the wall, and from their expressions he was right in that there were some key details Khobi had neglected to mention.

But the more he tells them the more they laugh; dusty sounds, like they haven’t had much cause to laugh as hard as they do in such a long time.

​(Khobi’s sure to be pleased that he was the reason why.)

​" –He didn’t ?" Khojin splutters, shaking his head as he finishes regaling them with an account of Lord Rogard’s infamous party.

At the time it had been more confusing than amusing, and officially, Bongo still wasn’t allowed to be amused by what went on that night, but nothing about this is official, so he lets himself laugh along, just a little. Gurdet doesn’t have to know.

​" A tower of wine barrels ," Bongo assures him wryly, "You would not believe the mess."

​" I can only imagine ! And he threatened the Lord’s son , at his own party ?"

​"That he did."

​Mozry wipes a tear of laughter from her eye. For having heard just how much of a troublemaker her nephew has been, she looks inordinately proud.

"That’s my boy, all right." In fact, the stories she’s enjoyed most are the ones that most clearly highlight exactly just how much of a troublemaker he is.

Khobi seems to have already confessed about his little excursion beyond the castle walls, and Bongo’s not sure what exactly he’s told them but when he mentions it something about their expressions change; softening in a kind of understanding that leaves him feeling like he’s missed something.

​He’d always wondered what exactly it was that Khobi and his prince had gotten up to out there.

How far they’d gone, and where. Bongo hadn’t been the only one to spot them sneaking back in from the storm, but he’d been the highest ranking by a mile and the one that Loac had locked eyes with through the gloom, and known they’d been discovered.

Mud and all, Bongo could have dragged them before Gurdet right then and there –should have –but there had been something in his prince’s face that had asked for him to wait.

​Please , it had seemed to say, although how he’d known that he’s not sure. It’s not a word he’s ever associated with Loac before.

​But it had seemed important to him, in a way nothing had seemed important to him before.

So Bongo had left them be, and told his men to stand down until morning came.

​" –Ah, Rogard ," Khojin suddenly snaps his fingers like the name has just sparked something, "Khobi’s mentioned a boy with that name. You’re saying that’s how they really met?"

​"...They’ve actually become quite close friends," Bongo admits with a nod, like he can’t quite believe it himself, and can’t quite conceal a smile.

"Your nephew has...had quite the impact on many of my men, if I’m being honest."

​" Quite literally , it sounds like," Khojin chuckles, which Bongo could not have put better himself.

​He’s a little surprised with how long he sits there, chatting away with the pair of them like they’re old friends rather than fresh acquaintances.

It’s surprisingly easy; the many eccentricities of his king occupy most of his time so it’s nice to be able to speak so frankly for a change.

Not that he lets his tongue grow too loose –Khojin is still a king, and regardless of how amenable they appear it can be dangerous to let one’s guard down around them –but Khobi may as well be their son, and Bongo feels strangely compelled to fill what gaps he can that the passage of time has left between them.

He’d want to know, he thinks, if he were them. How as much as he had tried to pretend otherwise (and still sometimes does) he has a good heart.

(Bongo’s seen how he is with his soldiers and the castle servants and his prince, and knows.)

If he were them he would want to know how despite the walls he’d built for himself, piece by piece he’d let them fall; how in the short span of a year Bongo has watched with his own eyes, their nephew become not just a talented swordsman, but a good man.

​He tells them too, how from the moment he was brought here, all he’d ever wanted was to run away to his family, and go back to the home he remembered.

That makes Mozry’s eyes glisten, but she’s a queen used to keeping company amongst men, so she keeps the tears to herself, for now.

​They seem so proud of him.

​As well they should.

​Alas, they eventually run out of tea, and it’s with reluctance that Bongo sets down his teacup.

Mozry and Khojin both seem to notice, and the laughter slowly begins to peter off into a warm, almost grateful silence. Like they’re glad he’d accepted their invitation, and that he’s shared what he has with them.

He’s not sure what exactly Gurdet has in store for them –and he most certainly has something in store for them; Gurdet always has plans –but he knows that if he were them, he would want to see the man that Khobi Frost has become with their own eyes.

​Ah, when did he become so sentimental?

​And it’s certainly not protocol, and it’s not like Bongo to ignore said protocol, but nonetheless he finds himself breaking the ensuing silence with a question that leaves them both speechless.

​"...Would you like to see him?"