“Yes,” Levi replied warmly. He had a fur-laced coat hanging over his arm, and he wore his own riding coat around his shoulders. “I brought you Mordecai’s coat. He has broader shoulders than I do. It still might be a little small for you, but I hoped it could work at least for the night. It gets cold out there.” Casting a glance around Fiori, his gaze landed on Johan. His expression dipped into apathy, well-concealed contempt. “He’s awake.”
Johan leered back at his brother. “It gets cold out there.” His exaggerated imitation was anything but accurate.
Fi took it with a soft smile, draping it over an arm and wincing as the brothers caught sight of each other. He turned to pin the other prince with a pleading look, one that begged him to behave for just a few minutes. "Johannan," he said, voice soft and disapproving, and then turned back to Levi like that was all he needed to say. "We should go. He is having a bad night but he will be asleep soon."
“His maturity hasn’t evolved since we were preadolescents,” Levi replied just loud enough for Johan to hear. He took a step back from the doorway to let Fiori through. “Yes, let’s go. I have no interest in being near him longer than I have to.”
He rolled his eyes at Fiori’s gentle reprimand but stayed otherwise civil. To occupy himself he traced the path of a sculpted line in the bed post up to the ceiling.
Fi closed the door and locked it behind him with a small sigh of relief. "He can be immature, yes, but at least he is civil for the time being." As nice as it would be to have Johan whole and uninjured, having him healed would come with significant drawbacks. He wasn't looking forward to having to literally fight him every time he needed to enforce a decision. "But enough about him. Where will we be riding tonight?"
Civil enough, Levi turned the words over in his head and sighed through his nose. He shook his head free of the thoughts concerning Johan when Fi asked his question. “There is a path stretching around the lake behind the palace I like to take. The stables are out back, along with the gardens and combat practice yard for the soldiers. The barracks aren’t too far from there. I can take you for a brief tour on our way to get the horses.”
"I would like that very much." Fi hadn't seen much of the palace yet. It would be nice to get a feel for the place, especially with Leviticus by his side to play tour guide. The jacket was warm across his arm, though he wasn't sure if he wanted to use it and risk breaking it. He could survive a few hours of being cold if it meant he didn't end up annoying Mordecai further. "What are your gardens like here? I would imagine finding things that grow here is difficult."
Levi smiled at the reminder: he would, in fact, be home in time to see the garden during the most beautiful time of the year. “During the late Spring and Summer the colors are breathtaking,” he said. “But with our climate the flowers don’t last very long. Our gardener would know more about it than I would, but I at least know that the plants are hardy. They have to be. Some of them are dormant in the winter, and some of them flower.” He turned a corner leading to the main staircase.
Fi nodded, trying to picture it. Usige was lush but they didn't have many flowering plants, the land instead covered in vine filled forests and the few hardy herbs that could survive their thick green choke. His mother had had a few, tucked away in a private garden, but he remembered them only as flashes of blue and purple. "I would like to see your flowers" he said, following after Levi. "When will they bloom?"
“A few of them start to bloom early spring, and then the rest gradually start follow not too long after. A few bloom in the winter, but not all of them.” Some of his favorite tutoring sessions had been held in the gardens. It was a special occasion for during the warmer months, and he could look up and over the plants to see Johan training in the combat yard. Once downstairs, Levi took the hallway adjacent to the ballroom doors. The place Johan lost everything. So close, but Levi deliberately avoided it.
"Did we arrive in time to see them?" Fi gave the doors a glance, pushing back the memories of what had happened there so softer things could take their place. Winter flowers. Gardens. The beauty he might be allowed to see here, between his responsibilities. "I would hate to have missed seeing such a thing. It is normally so barren here."
“I’m sure there are a few flowers yet to bloom. We haven’t missed them all while I was away.” Levi approached the glass doors, which were lined with bronze-like trimming. The handles were weathered from decades of use, but still usable. “The prices we pay for living up north. The cold and barren appearance is bearable in the grand scheme of things when we can manage well enough. Thrive, even.” He pushed open a door into the entrance of the gardens. Having been built into the hill, the stone porch dipped down on a set of marble stairs towards the gardens. Levi shivered from the rush of cold air.
Fi nodded and stepped out into the garden, giving the area a sweeping look. It was nice. The smell of earth and the green of fresh plant growth made the whole place feel familiar. "I cannot imagine thriving here," he said honestly, wandering over to one of the few flowers still holding onto its blossoms. It was starting to wilt, once vivid petals turning grey and faded. He ghosted his fingers over it gently. "But I am glad that you have found a way to. This place deserves somebody who respects it."
Levi came to a stop next to his friend, peering over at the flower. He dipped his head and hummed in agreement. Geographically, Nord Widona was a beautiful place when looked at with the right perspective. “When you’re ready,” he spoke after a moment of gazing at the half-wilted flower, “we can head over to the combat yard. If a guard is out, I can get access to the armory.”
Fi nodded, pulling his gaze away after a few whistful seconds. "That would be nice, Leviticus, thank you." He gave the prince a smile, clearly excited to go. He hadn't practiced in too long, maybe he'd get the chance to swing a sword around, or at least hold one in his hand. It wouldn't be the same as the ones back home, but it would be close enough to pretend. "Let us go, then. I think I will enjoy your combat yard."
“I thought you might,” Leviticus grinned in reply. He was glad he could give his friend something that he loved, especially the past month. Turning on his heel, he led Fiori out of the gardens and towards the large circle paved with stone. There were markings and designs etched into the ground, weathered depictions of glorified kings and queens all under the sign of Ialdir.
The guard sat on a stool near the armory as he whittled a wooden block into something indiscernible and plagued with splinters. Discarded wood chips fell almost gracefully through the large gape between his legs. Sitting that relaxed, he clearly wasn’t expecting the crown prince to visit. He stood once he noticed Leviticus, but didn’t bow. “Your highness.”
Fi hoovered behind Levi, glancing back at the stone circle and the pictures of queens and kind of old. He wondered if Levi's parents had a place in that circle, or if it was only for the heroes of his country. He wondered if the guard had noticed him yet, if he would balk at allowing an Usigen into the royal armory. He didn't voice anything, though, just stood behind Levi and tried not to look too imposing as he gave the guard a once over.
“I need access into the armory,” Levi told the guard, who looked puzzled but had no room to deny the prince’s request. He watched the man’s brow fall suspiciously in Fiori’s direction before he complied, unlocking the fortified door.
“Be careful in there. Those blades are sharp. Call for me if you…get hurt.” The guard might as well have said ‘if the Usigen attacks you.’
Fi would've winced at the guard's reaction but now that the door was open to him, the promise of getting his hands on a blade washed everything away except happiness. He swept inside with an excitement that was almost childlike, immediately searching for the place where they housed their swords. Unfortunately, the layout was unfamiliar and he found himself stumped. "Leviticus, could you help me find the blades?"
“Of course,” Leviticus trailed closely behind Fiori until he asked for help. “They’re around the corner there in a small room, through the archway,” he began to gesture, yet ultimately deciding to usher him there instead. So that he could light the lmao for them to see inside. The room was roughly the size of a walk-in closet with swords sheathed in rows against all four walls. One—a single edged backsword—was set apart from the others, hanging like a trophy and baring its blade without a sheath: polished to a sparkle, expertly sharpened, slender and only subtly curved. The handle bound in black leather. The hilt bearing a small engraved insignia of Widonian royalty.
Fi's eyes caught on it and he couldn't bring himself to look at anything else. The sword was a work of art, not a single flaw to be seen. Gorgeous. He wanted to pull it from the wall, to swing it in his hand and feel the perfect balance of the blade. In fact, he'd already started to reach for it before he realized what he was doing and stopped himself. This was precious, perfect, and decidedly not his. He turned to the other swords instead, searching them for something comparable. It kept pulling at his attention so he nodded to it, curious. "This one is special. Why? Who wields it?"
Levi leaned against the entrance of the room. He didn’t seem to mind when Fiori reached for the sword on the wall. Not that he didn’t care, but because he knew Fiori would be careful. “That’s the Fyodoran Sabre. It was named after my great-grandfather, King Fyodor. I’m told he was a great swordsman. And then when he died it was passed down to my grandfather, my uncle, and finally down to… Johan.”
"Oh." Fi glanced back at it, back prickling beneath his shirt, and wondered if this was the sword that had given him his biggest scar. "It is beautiful." He reached forward again, gently running his finger down the hilt. The leather was soft. He ached to hold it, to use it. Weapons like this weren't made to sit around, admired and untouched. "I have never seen a sword so fine. Would… would it be alright for me to handle it, just for a minute?"
“Of course, go ahead. It is—was Johan’s most precious possession. He took really good care of it, never let it sit to gather dust. I’m surprised how good it still looks after how much he used it.” The sword wasn’t Johan’s, at least not any more. Not when he was hardly part of the family. Levi rested his head against the wall, gaze flickering back and forth from Fiori to the sword. He didn’t know who it belonged to now.
Fi nodded, carefully taking the sword. Up close the faint signs of disrepair were more apparent. The blade was dulled in places, the leather stiffer than it should be. "A good swordsman cares for his weapon almost as much as he cares for himself." He stepped out of the room, giving the blade a practice swing and smiling as it cut through the air. "It makes sense that his blade is so fine, though I am surprised you have not been in to take care of it."
Levi swiveled his head around to watch Fiori with the sword. It seemed right to see him holding a blade again. He shrugged at his friend’s last comment. “I’m no more skilled caring for a sword than I am using one. I have no use for it, it would just sit unused. If you would like to keep it for the duration of your stay here, you’re welcome to it.” Of course he wanted the sword to stay in his family, passed into further generations. But he saw no problem in letting someone who clearly respected such a thing care for it and use it for its intended purpose in the meantime.
