Chapter Text
It starts slowly, with tea in the morning.
Kynan's early morning drills ended and he found that he couldn't bear to be around as many eyes as were in the barracks. He also found that the only place that didn't have any eyes was the third courtyard. It was recovering the fastest from whatever the previous tenets had done to the grounds, and had flowers even this late in the year.
Cassandra wasn't doing a lot of sleeping. What she was doing, was a lot of paperwork. There was a ridiculous amount of paper involved in running a city. Even the council was more of a cause of problems then a relief from them. She woke after a fitful night dreaming of cages made of unspeakable things; unable to shake the feeling of suffocation.
When she swept from her rooms, clad in her overcoat and boots over her nightgown, she told herself it was to get some air, and not to escape her responsibilities. When asked, she told the confused looking maid that she was going to the courtyard. Let them figure out which one.
The cold air was a welcome relief from the stuffy interior of the castle. For a few minutes, all she did was breathe. Until she was roused by a rustle of leaves to her left. Immediately on high alert, she pulled a knife from her boot and turned to her would be attacker.
Who turned out to be Kynan, the boy Vox Machina brought back along with the corpse of her brother. She had been asking about him. He looked as startled as she did. Sheepishly, she put her knife back in her boot.
"Good morning," she said, stiffly. He ducked his head in acknowledgement. "Kynan, right?" she continued. He jumped a little at his name. He nodded again.
Beyond the walls of the castle, the sun was fighting its way over the peaks of the mountains. Trying to combat the chill in the air. But in the courtyard, there was a chill that Kynan was certain was directed at him. This was the sister. Percival's sister. Percival, Who he had had a hand in murdering.
She knew his name, of course she did. She ran the entire damn city. He hadn't thought to avoid her. An ant doesn't think to avoid the boot. Cassandra De Rolo surely had better things to do then exact petty vengeance against him. Then again, given who her brother was, maybe that's exactly what she'd do.
"How are you fitting in?" Cassandra asked, startling him out of his dark thoughts.
"Well enough," he answered, glancing from her to his shoes. Then, as an afterthought, he added "My Lady." Because he remembered his manners.
"Everyone treating you well?" she asked. Kynan looked at her then, and the utter bewilderment on his face and her smile. Either the smile or the unexpected question made him answer honestly.
"For the most part, though I'd prefer people ignore me," he said. Cassandra got a funny look on her face then. Something sad or wistful or both. Whatever it was drew the same emotion in Kynan.
"That's never our choice is it?" She asked. Kynan wasn't sure she was talking about him at that point.
"My Lady," a voice came from the doorway behind Cassandra. The maid she had dismissed earlier was standing there with a tea tray in hand. She hadn't meant for the girl to bring her her tea, but maybe this was a good opportunity.
"Yes, set it down over there," she motioned towards a largely decorative table a few feet off, before turning back to Kynan, who looked like he was trying to turn into a tree. "Care to join me for tea?" She asked in her most diplomatic voice.
Kynan would rather eat his own shoe than have tea right then, but he also was raised never to say no to the people in charge, and Cassandra was definitely in that category. So he sat at the table and waited for death. Or biscuits. Whichever came first. Kynan didn't have a taste for tea. But he didn't have a taste for sugar either, so he sat and sipped his hot leaf water and tried to figure out why he was sitting in a garden, having tea with the princess of the land. He was coming up blank.
Meanwhile, Cassandra was talking in pleasant tones about the state of the city. Crops and shelter for the refugees. She seemed content to do all the talking. It was… pleasant. And there were biscuits. Kynan watched her face. Her eyes were clear but the shadows under them betrayed how tired she was. Kynan recognized those shadows from his own reflection.
Cassandra sneezed, breaking Kynan from his reverie, and Cassandra from her train of thought. The sun peaked over the walls of the courtyard. It was later in the day than either of them had realized. They looked at each other, surprised that they let the time get away from them.
With muttered apologies the two parted, and Kynan was pretty sure that would be the end of that.
Or maybe not.