Deserter

TWENTY-FIVE

{Chapter Triggers: sword, sort of argument, mention of poison, talking about battle. Those are all I can think of/figure out from reading through the chapter, I apologize if I missed any and feel free to inform me.}    

Virgil nearly took Roman's head off when the knight interrupted his practice.

After leaving the throne room, Virgil had made a beeline for the courtyard where the armed men of the castle sparred and ran drills. There were a few straw-stuffed swordplay dummies, and Virgil squared off with one to blow off steam.

"What do you want?" He snapped as Roman scrambled away from him. He didn't apologize for nearly gutting the man. He wasn't in the mood.

Roman cleared his throat, straightening up and trying to reclaim some semblance of dignity after the high pitched yelp he'd let out. "I was going to ask if you needed a sparring partner."

"Re ish, emisi." Virgil spat, turning back to the practice dummy.

"You speak Eutali."

The prince stopped and arched an eyebrow at the knight standing there. "I am of royal blood, Sir Garrat. Of course I speak Eutali."

Roman cleared his throat, shaking his head. "No- of course. I should have made the connection. I apologize-"

"Roman." Virgil interrupted. "I do not appreciate mincing words. Say what you want to say."

"I was overly aggressive with the situation earlier, and I should not have been. You know quite a lot more about Deceit and his men than we do, and I should respect that. I apologize."

Virgil eyed him for a moment.

The knight sighed and began to turn away.

"Roman. You have nothing to apologize for."

"Of course I do!" Roman frowned, confused. "I should trust your judgement-"

Virgil waved him off, sheathing his sword. "Just drop it."

Roman stopped, hesitating.

"I'm not royalty anymore, Roman. Speak your mind, tell me off, do whatever you like. Feel free to take a swing if you're irritated. Just make it less obvious than you did in the throne room."

Virgil smirked as the knight spluttered, angry again.

"Obvious? My intention in the throne room was not to hit you, if it had been I would have connected."

"So you think." Virgil challenged.

Roman growled and balled one hand into a fist. He was tempted to punch the man then and there, but part of him just couldn't do it.

Virgil rolled his eyes, turning away. "I figured as much. I'm not the prince anymore, but you know I was, and it affects your judgement and actions around me."

"Regardless of whether or not you want it, you are of royal blood, Virgil." Roman said slowly. "To an extent, you will always be Prince of Plaule. Of Eaden."

Virgil grunted, drawing his sword again and facing off with the practice dummy.

"Not many people speak Eutali anymore."

He paused, looking back at Roman. "What?"

The knight shrugged. "Most of the country has gone to the common tongue. I grew up speaking Eutali, but most people my age- our age, cannot speak it."

"It was one of the first things Logan taught Thomas and I." Virgil shrugged. "History of a country is important."

"Yes, I know Logan speaks it." Roman sighed. "His Eutali is... accurate, but lacking in emotion, if that makes sense."

Virgil chuckled, his lips twitching up. "I certainly understand that. Proper pronunciations and the like, with him."

Roman nodded. "Exactly! He says meh's iesm, I say me-esm. I just cannot carry a conversation with him, because we get more involved in arguing over whether or not the 'correct form' is necessary."

"And I would have thought you couldn't carry a conversation with him because his vocabulary is twice the size of yours."

"How dare you."

Virgil shot him a grin. "What are you going to do about it?"

Roman grumbled to himself for a moment. 

The king's brother snickered and turned away.

"You know, Deceit fears you."

"Me?" Roman raised his eyebrows. "Specifically? Why?"

"The youngest captain of the guard in a century, a knight who revolutionized Eaden's military system, a master strategist. And you're barely thirty." Virgil eyed him. "I wonder why."

"I'm not a strategist." Roman waved him off, (mostly) ignoring the thrill of pride he got from hearing the man name his accomplishments.

"No? The archer flanking maneuver was Logan's idea?"

"Well... no."

"And having your men learn multiple hand to hand combat techniques?" Virgil tilted his head. "Whose idea was that?"

Roman squared his shoulders. "Mine."

"The training regimen. The partner fighting techniques. The Tortoise-Shell Barrier. All your ideas." Virgil pointed out. "You're just as much a strategist as Logan, Roman, you simply have your focus in a different area."

He gathered his things, intending to go speak with Logan. The man should have the poison from Dorrian's room by now.

"And what did you think of me?" Roman asked suddenly. Virgil stopped and looked at him.

"I'm sorry?"

"What did you think of me? As yourself or as Anxiety."

"Why do you care?" Virgil asked slowly.

Roman shrugged. "I think I always did... when I was young, learning and honing my skills, my intent was always to come to the castle. When my twin brother died it began to borderline obsession. You earned a reputation as a brilliant strategist from a young age, and before you ran away I always wondered what you'd think of me."

Virgil paused, looking down. Roman let him think.

"In spite of myself, and in spite of Deceit... I admired you. Your determination, your brilliance. You became everything I wanted to be."

Roman frowned.

"I never wanted to be prince." Virgil sighed. "I wanted to be a soldier. To command the army, to be in the thick of things. Of course Thomas knows how to fight, any king does, but as with any ruler, his men wish to keep him safe. I would never have been able to get the battle experience I have if I had stayed Prince Virgil."

"Well I'd say you haven't done too badly for yourself in that regard. Although the manner in which you achieved what you wanted was... probably less than ideal."

The former Trickster snorted and nodded to Roman. "Let me know when you train your men today. I want to see what they're capable of, and what you're teaching them."

Roman sarcastically tapped his fist to his chest in a salute. "Yes sir."

Virgil rolled his eyes and walked away, hiding the small smile that crossed his face.

{I'm slowly getting to the point where I think the characters are comfortable around each other enough to be snarky without worrying the other will be upset

also there's the mention of Remus}