Master of Bones | The Royal Legacies Series

| 𝖋𝖆𝖑𝖘𝖎𝖋𝖞 |

𝖋𝖆𝖑𝖘𝖎𝖋𝖞 |𝖛| 𝖆𝖑𝖙𝖊𝖗 (𝖎𝖓𝖋𝖔𝖗𝖒𝖆𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓 𝖔𝖗 𝖊𝖛𝖎𝖉𝖊𝖓𝖈𝖊) 𝖘𝖔 𝖆𝖘 𝖙𝖔 𝖒𝖎𝖘𝖑𝖊𝖆𝖉

His footsteps paced in the dirt. For walking in the same place for so long he was starting to make indents in the ground below him. Dirt kicked up every time he turned his foot a bit too dramatically just to turn around and do it again after the same amount of steps.

What was taking her so long?

Stopping, he looked at the floor and cursed. Using his right foot, he moved the dirt back and forth to make it look natural again. It didn't but he hoped she wouldn't notice.

"Togui?"

He turns to the voice with a smile, "Hey."

Rhish smiles and walks a little faster to stand next to him, "I'm sorry about that, truly. I didn't realize I was working so late."

The man's anger dissipates. Of course, she had an actual excuse!

He smiles once again, "Oh? What kept you?"

In an instant, the two start to walk over to the weapon's wall as they talked, "Gozaydg. He asked me to do something and I have this thing that I try to finish things in one go. Clearly," she motions to the field, "I can be a bit behind on other things because of it..."

Her body turns towards the wall, but her head is tilted towards him to show him she's paying attention to what he says. Togui frowns, "It pains me to say this then."

She pauses as she reaches for the practice sword, "What do you mean?"

Her hand falls back down to her side, "I," he sighs and motions for her to walk over to him, "He's been saying some odd things about you."

Her eyebrow raises, "Odd things? About what?"

He sighs once more, "He says..."

"Come on, Togui."

The man forces a sadness, "He says you're basically useless. How the only reason he keeps you around is that it'll crush Marcello if you leave."

Rhish stands there and processes that information. Would he really say that? No. He wouldn't. Right?

"Are- are you serious?"

Togui nods slowly, "Believe me, Rhish, I wish I was kidding. He said it so nonchalantly that I almost didn't pick it up nor believe he was talking about you."

For some reason, she couldn't doubt him. He was with Gozaydg a good amount. They traded shifts together for years.

Her foot moves back and she trips a little. His hand goes out to steady her but she doesn't need it. Sighing, she leans against the closest wall and lets herself slide down to sit on the ground. Her legs fall flat to the dirt and she lets her hands wander up to her face, "I'm sorry, Rhish. I thought you two were close. I- I figured you should have known..."

She nods and shakes her head, "No, Togui. Thank you. Just, well, I wasn't expecting it that's for sure."

The warrior approaches her and sits across from her and puts a hand on her knee, "You need to fight it out?"

It was to make her smile. It did.

Her voice wavers and she hesitates for a moment, "Could I, uh, maybe get some time by myself?"

Nodding, the man gives her shoulder a pat before leaving the field. He'd find something else to do easily. His horse could use a wash anyway.

Her legs are shaky when she stands up.