Chapter 89: Not Like Other Nobles.

Chapter 89: Chapter 89: Not Like Other Nobles.

The castle always feels like of different at night. Bigger. Darker. Emptier. Much emptier. He knows that there are people behind most of the doors that he passes, but few of them still have candlelight peeking out from under them so sometimes it’s hard to believe.

And he’s sure that there are still servants about --they always are, or so Binny says --but they tread softly, and he sees few of them. The few he does see quickly make themselves scarce as he grows closer, vanishing off into the shadows like they’re melting into the walls.

It’s definitely a little creepy, too. All the shutters are closed against the coming winter, and there’s no starlight to light his way. Some of the corridors are lit with torches, but not all --not at this late hour, when no one’s meant to be out wandering.

It’s not anywhere close to Briyagi at night, where every shadow had a face, and doors were locked and bolted just in case they also had fingers, and claws, but still, creepy .

Maybe it was just a castle thing. He’d never been really afraid of the dark, even as a kid, but a lot of the other children in Scargga hadn’t liked exploring their castle at night. In case of ghosts, they’d said. Or monsters.

It hadn’t taken Khobi too long before he’d figured out that the monsters they should really be afraid of, were also men.

He shivers a little, and stops by a torch to warm his hands a little before he keeps going. Everyone keeps reminding him that it’s going to get colder very soon, and very quickly.

He knows. He’s aware of how seasons work. And he’s not looking forward to winter.

He doesn’t much like the cold.

Briyagi had made him hate it even more.

Because he’s cold, and because he can’t just loiter around in the hallway all night, he wanders.

He goes slow, and quiet, since the rest of the castle seems asleep, and tucks his hands under his armpits to keep them warm. It’s cold enough that his breath comes out like fog.

So he goes to the only place he knows that will be warm, and where he (probably) won’t get in trouble for being at this time of night.

Apparently the kitchens always smell amazing.

Even before he gets there, he catches a whiff of tomorrow’s breakfast, and it smells good .

There’s always bread rising, and always meat cooking, and always something sweet being baked, and those sorts of things have always managed to put him in a good mood.

The hearth is lively and crackling when he pushes the door open, and he take as a long moment to just let the warmth seep back into his skin.

Even this late there are servants bustling around, polishing plates and turning spits and mixing all sorts of excellent smelling things into pots.

His stomach rumbles.

He didn’t even realise he was hungry.

"Uh, hi," he says, to the pair of servants closest to him, and damn near scares one of them right out of his skin. He jumps so high that it almost makes Khobi baulk too.

"M-My Lord," he stammers in alarm when he sees who’s addressed him, and drops into a crisp bow that makes Khobi raise an eyebrow, "I mean, My P-Prince. Your Highness. I-I didn’t...Sorry, I..."

"He doesn’t like being called that!" the girl beside him hisses, urgently tugging on his elbow to get him to straighten back up, "Remember??"

"He doesn’t?" the man whispers back, and then stares up at Khobi with wide, nervous eyes, " Of course he doesn’t. I’m so sorry. I completely forgot myself. How can I ever --"

"That’s quite enough of that," she chides, like this has happened before, and pushes him back a pace before he can prostrate himself at Khobi’s feet.

"Uh, what’s with him?" Khobi deadpans, bemused, pointing at the servant who looks suspiciously like he’s an inch away from flinging himself on the fire.

The girl just tugs on his shirt and sends him on his way again. She actually looks a little familiar, now that he thinks about it. "Wait." He squints and cocks his head just a little more, to get the angle just right. "You’re Binny’s sister, right?"

It has to be. In a certain light, she looks exactly like Binny.

"That’s me," she says, and curtseys, like a servant probably should, although he gets the feeling it’s not entirely sincere. "Binny’s asleep, but I can fetch him for you, if you want."

Her lack of suspicion at him asking after her brother in the middle of the night is mildly concerning.

"No, don’t do that," Khobi says quickly, because he’s seen the bags under Binny’s eyes these days.

The guy can probably use all the sleep he can get. Suddenly, he feels a little bad about how much he’s complained about sleeping poorly. "I uh, I’m not here to see him."

"...So what can I do for you then?" she asks hesitantly, decidedly less bold than Khobi remembers her being the last time he’d seen her.

Almost a little nervous, even, which can’t say anything good about the men of the castle and their treatment of the serving girls.

He immediately realises how bad this probably looks, and takes a step back so she knows he’s not here for her.

His stomach decides that this is the perfect time to rumble again, and she blinks with Binny’s eyes, like she’s not entirely sure what she’s just heard.

Khobi’s pretty sure he’s never blushed in front of a girl in his life, but apparently there’s a first time for everythng.

"...I uhh...I’d kind of like a sandwich?" he says awkwardly, scratching the back of his head.

"Of course," she saws, dipping her head into a small bow, the same way Binny likes to do when he’s trying to pretend he’s not about to laugh. "...I can do that."

As it turns out, she makes a good sandwich, and Khobi says so. She seems pleased by the praise. The servants always do, like no one ever tells them enough how good their food is.

Coz it is good. Really good. Briyagi never had kitchens that smelled this good. His uncle’s kitchens hadn’t either, and they had served some pretty delicious stuff.

Khobi wonders if they’d share some of their recipes. It’s been a long time since he’s been behind a stove --he hasn’t had much occasion to cook since he was a kid --but he’s sure he still remembers how. His aunt had been a terror to train under, but so had their castle cooks.

From the central hearth he has a fairly good view of the kitchens, and he watches the servants go about their work as he munches away at his sandwich.

For the most part, they act like he isn’t even there, which is just fine by him. He’s found a really nice spot just by the fire, and he’s perfectly content to linger there while they potter away around him.

It’s only when he’s about halfway through his second sandwich that he even realises that one, in particular, isn’t managing to ignore him nearly as successfully as the rest of them.

She’s trying --Binny’s sister, that is --but every now and then, when she thinks Khobi isn’t looking, she’ll glance his way, like she wants to say something, but then ducks away again when she’s been caught. Apparently she’s a little better than her brother at holding her tongue.

All the same, it’s getting kind of annoying.

"What?" he asks bluntly, the next time she drifts by him and hesitates just long enough to convince herself to just keep walking.

She starts at being addressed and one of her plates would have shattered on the ground if Khobi hadn’t stuck out a hand to catch it.

"Here," he adds, holding it out to her and looking her dead in the eye as he does so, to see if she looks away.

She does, but it’s half a beat too slow, like she has to remind herself that she’s meant to.

Khobi probably wouldn’t have noticed except Binny does the same thing when he’s around people that aren’t him, and it pisses him off then, too.

"Seriously," Khobi says, frowning, because he really doesn’t get why the servants keep acting like this around him.

He wishes they’d stop . He’s got an uncle who’s a king, but he’s not been raised like a prince. Or treated like one. And it’s a bit late for everyone around him to start doing so now. "Did I do something, or..."

"...I don’t know what my brother is to you," she interrupts, hesitating once more and then deciding to follow through, "...But he’s been different, since he met you."

"Huh?" He blinks, caught off guard by her answer. "What?"

She mulls over her words, obviously having not expected a follow up, and unsure about how exactly to explain it.

"He laughs more," she finally decides, more to the plates in her hands than to him, like she’s still not completely convinced it’s okay to talk to him like this.

"You didn’t know him, before, so you wouldn’t know, but he kind of...seems more like his old self."

What a weird answer.

Sure, Binny’s definitely been different from the other servants, but he’s always been like that towards him, so he doesn’t really know what she means. He’s not sure what kind of face he’s wearing but whatever it is seems to alarm her.

"That was out of line," she says quickly, ducking her head the way her brother always does when he says something he doesn’t mean, "Forgive me."

She bows as she takes his empty plate from him and it makes him grimace.

"Please don’t," he says, wrinkling his nose at the gesture and waving for her to straighten up, "It’s fine. Seriously."

"...Right," she replies, obeying, but cautiously, like she’s still not completely certain he’s serious, "...Of course."

"Thanks," he sighs, and slumps back in his chair, completely forgetting he’s on a stool. With nothing but air to catch him, he almost goes careening backwards, which would have been a pretty bad look.

It’s ungainly enough as it is, and he teeters comically for a long second before managing to regain his balance.

The legs of the stool slam back to the stone with a ungodly crash that makes every servant in the vicinity jump a mile.

In the silence of the night it echoes terribly, and Khobi gives the room what he hopes is an apologetic smile.

Quite abruptly, everyone has something better to look at than him.

He sighs again, running a hand back through his hair as he slumps forwards in resignation.

"...Binny says you’re not like the other nobles," Binny’s sister remarks suddenly, surprising him in that she hasn’t moved off yet.

When he looks up, she’s still standing in front of him, frowning and deep in thought. "...He’s right, isn’t he?"

"Tsk," Khobi scoffs, shaking his head, "I’m no noble."

She weighs up her options, and in the end, decides to trust her brother.

"...Clearly."

It doesn’t sound malicious. In fact, it almost makes Khobi laugh, if only because it’s exactly what Binny would have said.

"...Hey, uhh, could I ask a favour?" he asks suddenly, and she nods, raising an eyebrow. "Could I have another one of those sandwiches?"

The second eyebrow joins the first in a look that is a whole lot more judgmental than Khobi would have liked.

"... Another one ?"

Yeah, she sounds a lot like her brother.