((Ah, no worries, It's been a long day for me!))

Henry was less amused with Nolian and shook his head, scowling. "That's a rather selfish way of thinking--"

"Well, it seems to be what everyone else does," he replied sharply. "You're so worried about how to think about others that you sacrifice everything you are. You never get a chance to think about yourself... what you mean."

He rubbed his face, sighing softly.

"... what am I saying, I'll probably get kicked out anyways. I missed breakfast, I'm a mess, I can't seem to do a thing right," Nolian waved the thoughts away. "Sure, let's go get fitted for a suit and whatnot that I'm probably never going to use."

Henry shook his head, rubbing his forehead. "Prince--"

"Nolian," he corrected and shook his head. His faded blue eyes spotted the dark mane of hair headed their direction and he tilted his head. "Kayeni?"

He seemed more confused that she was willingly seeking him out rather than doing her own thing. Henry seemed a touch surprised as well but hid it under a bowing dip of his head. "Your highness?" He prompted with a question. "Can we help you? I... hope you can pardon your suitor's poor appearance."

Nolian shook his head with a wane smile on his face. "You can't be around horses and not get a little dirty."

Kayeni wasn't thrilled about doing this. Really, she wasn't.

But when the alternative was a council meeting on the potential outcomes of the possilibity of hinting of potentially altering trade routes with the port of Praelothys... Kayeni would very gladly pass, thank you very much.

Still. This alternative wasn't better than the councillors and advisors warring in the council room over the potential outcomes of the possilibity of hinting of potentially altering trade routes with the port of Praelothys. Kayeni had already forgotten half of what the meeting was about.

Praelothys was on a god-damned different continent, for god's sake. Why did it matter so much to them about... whatever the hell they were doing?

Anyway. here she was, instead of... arguing about something about Praelothys that Kayeni had already semi-forgotten about.

"Father said I either went to a council meeting, or go with you." Kayeni had a slightly resigned expression as she said that. She knew both were bad.

In all honesty she'd rather be working away with her tutors at learning Jydi, but then... council meeting or going with her "suitor"?

"And I do believe that you have a tailor's appointment to get to." Kayeni shot Nolian a dagger as she said so, indicating that he had better do it, or damn hell would be raining on him later. "Henry, is that right?"

Henry nodded. "That would be correct, your highness."

Kayeni tossed her hair to emphasize her point. "Well, what are you doing dawdling here, then, Nolian? You have somewhere to be."

Without waiting for a response, she pivoted on her heel and walked back the way she came, aiming for the tailor's rooms where she had gone a million times for something-or-other. Really, the general consencus was when you had something to go to, you went to it.

Damn, but Nolian had a lot of things to learn.

Including proper etiquette.

The skin around her crescent moon necklace seemed to throb in answer to that.

Nolian stifled his initial emotion at the daggers shot at him via the gaze of the princess. His lip pursing just slightly before he waved one hand loosely. He was sure the tailor would much rather have a clean and groomed person to work with rather than the messy, dirty and slightly sloppy young man that was standing between princess and mentor.

But she spoke and huffed and turned on her heels, walking briskly back the way she came.

As she turned around, Nolian's nose scrunched up in a short scowl for only a mere millisecond or so.

"Ugh," Nolian shook his head. "I'd much rather just jump off of the bridge to the moat. I'd rather run off into the sunset--another country!" He grumbled under his breath. Still, he walked alongside Henry as they followed after Kayeni.

"Well, if you didn't make this so hard--"

"I'm not making it hard," Nolian replied loosely, "I'm working with what I have. It's not a lot but I'm doing my best. I haven't been trained since birth to take on this role. I don't even remember where I came from. I showed up at an inn, worked there with horses."

He shook his head lightly, picking straw from his straw-colored hair and flicked it aside.

Henry rolled his eyes clearly tired of the same conversation. "I don't see why you can't just take a bit of time to learn how this is done."

"Because every single person has this tendency to either judge you, get mad or--mind you--give a touch of rough reminders of when you get something wrong. It's not learning, it's a fear of failure because if you do fail," Nolian lifted his hands as he spoke, "you have to pay for it. There's no one to tell you, 'oh, well, you gave it your best shot but we'll do better next time.' No, instead, everyone is staring their swords at your back and promptly telling you that 'you did it wrong. Don't you know better?' But I don't."

He shook his head, looking up at the tailors for a moment or two. He really didn't want to go in but he didn't have much of a choice. He managed a wane smile, shrugging lightly as they stepped inside. His tone was far more loose and light as he finished his rant. "I'm not saying they have the wrong guy, but I'm definitely going to imply it."

Kayeni heard every single drop of their conversation, however decided not to join in. It felt like Henry and Nolian had been on this same topic before she arrived, and - in the interests of diplomacy - she probably shouldn't join in.

But as they walked, Kayeni hated to admit that Nolian was right. Like he always seemed to be. They hadn't given him any sort of warm welcome - her father, and Henry by extent, had simply shoved him into the deep end and told him how to swim. And every wrong move he took while learning to swim gave him death glares as he was practically expected to know how to swim the moment he got into the pool.

It was all figurative, of course. But the scenario was pretty much the same here. Kayeni honestly began to wonder whether they should keep on this path.

But every single step that he made - damn, he even bounced in his step - reminded her of why they did. While it was neither Kayeni's nor his own fault, or choice, they were stuck with Nolian trying to adapt frantically, and he just couldn't fail. And yet here he was, failing at a task he just couldn't fail in.

While Kayeni couldn't fault him, because he had had a lot of responsibility thrown onto him - she still had to fault him for not doing it right.

But she couldn't fault him for not doing it right, because he had just gotten it all dumped on him. But then he hadn't done it right. Which in turn led into a circular paradox.

Damn. Why was it so hard? Couldn't he just get better at it? Or, maybe they could give him a bit of slack. Or... damn. This was too difficult to think of.

Maybe they could do both. But still... it wasn't either of their faults for being here.

At this point, Kayeni honestly might have hated her father for bringing him here. For heaping all this on him, and in turn making her have to get him to perform perfectly.

Why did he have to do it? And why did he have to have his spiritual advisor with him when he chose him?

Jesus christ. This problem was too difficult. But she felt as if her father had faulted her.

Now they had to make do with what they had.

Which included a boy who couldn't do everything exactly right, but had only been here for a day and practically everything had changed.

Kayeni resisted the urge to scream in frustration at the air.

Almost immediately once the tailor spotted them, his nose crinkled in distaste. His eyes flicked briefly toward Kayeni as if to question who they had brought in.

The unruly young man was not the initial impression he had of a suitor at all and his expression showed it. The tailor shook his head and scowled. "What is this? What am I supposed to do with this?"

Nolian winced slightly. "I... I'm sorry--"

"As you should be," Henry scowled. "But we didn't have time to worry about cleaning up," he apologized to the tailor. "We did our best with what time we had."

Nolian shook his head lightly, sighing softly. He was more than happy to work with the tailor. His arm lifted, measuring from shoulder to wrist. "Diametrya?"

"Yes," Nolian responded with a loose shrug. "It's up north."

"You'll want a gold and red color scheme then. We know the colors well here."

Nolian nodded and kept his mouth closed. The measuring string wrapped around his arm and the tailor made a short noise. "Mkay--"

Nolian glanced toward Kayeni. "What else do we have to do today?"

Henry scowled back at him. "Kayeni has her own schedule, Nolian. We have work to do."

Nolian hid his frustration in a small chuckle. "Ah, right right. I forget about that."

The tailor shook his head and scoffed. "... ugh... what is this?"

"... straw?" Nolian looked down at his knees. "Yeah, that's straw."

Kayeni finally deigned to speak at Nolian's words. "What else do we have to do? Well, that's not for me to decide, is it." Kayeni just managed to refrain from making it a spiky question, and more of a statement. Honestly, Nolian just couldn't get anything right. But then... oh, here went her brain again. "I have my own schedule, just like Henry holds yours." She shot a pointed glance at Henry to continue.

Damn, but this circular paradox inside her head was probably worse than... whatever the heck they were discussing in the council chamber. Kayeni couldn't even remember what they were discussing there. It was something... like... the potential outcomes of hinting at the possibility of changing... no, the possibility of the potential change of outcomes... no, Kayeni couldn't even remember what her father had told her earlier about it.

Anyway. Kayeni really couldn't reason with herself. The circular paradox just kept looping.

But how would she have to break it?

Well, Nolian would have to do better. That was one thing.

And that gave her an idea. One that would satisfy both her father, and end the paradox that kept turning in her head.

"Nolian?" She paused, then forged on. The tailor would no doubt gossip it to someone else, and eventually it would pass up the line back to her father, who would probably approve of it. "Really, the council meeting that my father is in won't end until probably past midday. I suppose I could take you up on your offer from last night for a horse ride. I could show you around the place outside of the castle grounds. I haven't gone for a ride in a while, really." A win-win situation. She'd get to quietly lecture Nolian the entire ride to help him on how to act in court, and have some time to clear her head away from the court. Her father would be happy that they kept it up by going on a ride. The court might gossip a bit, but that was fine - that happened all the time. And Nolian could probably claim a horse for himself.

Really, Kayeni was pretty happy with how it would go.

Nolian kept his gaze forward as the tailor drew the measuring string down from the back of his neck to his hips. He wasn't entirely sure what the tailor was making. But Nolian knew enough to let him do his job.

Kayeni's prompting was cool and pointed as she addressed Henry. There must've been something between the two that he wasn't aware of. Whatever it was, Nolian wasn't sure he wanted to know. He had a feeling it was just petty nonsense.

Nolian turned his head as she actually said his name. His faded blue eyes focused on the young woman as she paused. "Yes...?" He said slowly, testing the waters. Instead, she surprised him with her own suggestion. Henry sputtered a little bit but couldn't protest too much.

"I suppose we could," Nolian replied with a lopsided smile. "Once this is done, of course. Henry and I can always work on everything later. It's not like I have too much of a schedule yet. I'm pretty flexible."

Henry nodded slowly, his face guarded. "It would allow you to actually get to know each other, indeed."

Nolian flashed him a warmer grin. "That's the hope. I mean, if you're going to eventually live together--for a long while--you'll want to make sure you're compatible personality-wise."

The tailor made a short noise. "I've got my measurements," he waved for the group to leave the room.

Nolian gave Kayeni a much giddier grin and offered his arm for her to take. "I wouldn't mind taking a ride or two around the courtyard."

Kayeni flashed a glance at Henry. One that only a princess could make - one that said follow my orders or else.

In this case, clearing Nolian's schedule for him. And making sure that things happened.

Because although Kayeni rarely did it, she was higher-ranked than almost everyone in the castle. She could do anything and Henry could do little more than sputter. Because that was literally all he could do.

Kayeni had pulled rank, and Henry couldn't do a single thing about it.

She also knew that courtesy dictated that she take Nolian's arm. But damn, his basic courtesy was lacking.

Another reason to do this, the thought to herself.

She wasn't entirely thrilled about the arrangement either, but it was probably the best thing out of all the current situations. She wasn't a princess for nothing.

Sometimes Kayeni's snap decisions couldn't entirely be trusted either, but it would be worth it.

But damn, Nolian was lacking in terms of court personality. The living together comment almost made her puke - hell no, there was no goddamned way that she would ever agree to that - but this was why she was doing this thing.

They had to keep up court apperanaces, she guessed, but she hoped this wouldn't go too far.

"You can go get changed into proper riding clothes. I'm sure Henry has something rustled up for you on that." Kayeni shot another glance at Henry, communicating her full intent on such a matter - he had better do it. "I'll see you in the stables in a quarter of an hour... is that fine? The council meeting won't be over until past lunchtime." Really, she wasn't the greatest rider, and had definitely not paid attention to what horse she was taking. But it was a small sacrifice on her part to have to go riding and try improve on Nolian's finer aspects. Because although she was still so far against the marriage, she knew that his behaviour had far greater impacts than what he though it was.

It was probably for the better that he knew that sooner rather than later.

She was hiding something. Nolian was absolutely sure of that but she hadn't relented it just yet. Instead, Henry pulled him aside and dipped his head. "We will make sure we get into proper riding clothing."

"But these are--"

"Proper riding clothing, not rags," Henry replied and gave him a quick, short look. "It will be plenty fine, Your Highness."

He addressed Kayeni in the latter sentence and turned, all but dragging Nolian after him.

Nolian frowned for a moment, trailing after him. "... these aren't that bad," he replied. The moment they were out of the presence of anyone else, his smile fell. "They're not rags."

"They look, smell and are filthy. They are not something a noble man would wear. They will be taken care of," Henry responded loftily. But Nolian knew what that meant. They would be taken and destroyed.

"It's fine," he said softly, without much heat to his words, "I'll ... I'll do it myself. It... feels better if I do it."

He'd take care of them. Hide them in a secret place, wash them nicely and then hide them again.

"You've got to understand that things are different."

"You say that again, Henry, and I'm going to leave," Nolian finally snapped at him, and angry and dangerous look to his eyes. "The next person to tell me that is going to regret it. Unless I get a written set of rules, things I should know, what to do, what not to do, I am leaving," Nolian replied sharply. "If I can blend in there, I can blend in anywhere. I will leave."

Henry gave him a dry look. "You couldn't last."

"I could get out of the kingdom itself," Nolian responded shortly. "Do your best to not test your luck or that theory."

He changed relatively quickly, coming back out wordlessly as he followed Henry down to the stables again. His shoulders were back, chest lifted, chin high. He looked poised at the least. But he still wore a small smile on his lips, softening his features just slightly.

Kayeni strode back to her quarters. Unlike Nolian, she didn't have to wait for Henry to do something - while she didn't always go riding like a pass-time hobby, she did occassionally go riding. Which was why she did have a pair of riding clothes. She didn't really waste that much time - she wasn't entirely thrilled about this, but wasn't going to waste the opportunity either - she briskly changed into them. Almost as an afterthought, she slipped on her golden crescent moon necklace. She didn't know why she wanted to wear it, only that she did.

Dressed and ready to lecture Nolian on exactly what he should and shouldn't do, she left her quarters and strode downwards towards the stables. As she left the keep, she turned to the guards on duty, who instantly snapped to attention.

"... It's Derrick, isn't it?" Kayeni had always excelled in remembering faces. And when she needed a favour done, she knew remembering their names would go a long way.

The man's face broke out into a smile as he bowed his head. "Yes, your highness, I am Derrick."

Kayeni smiled briefly. "I do remember you from somewhere. You were stuck on garden duty for a while, weren't you?"

Derrick nodded. "That you are correct, my lady."

Kayeni smiled again. "I thought so." The smile dropped - now she needed something. "So, listen, Derrick - I'm going riding for a bit, and usually I know I'd have to go through all the official channels with my father, but he's in a council meeting discussing something, so I thought it'd be best if I just went straight to you people. I'm going to need a small escort of guards with their horses. I'm going out with my suitor-" Kayeni almost puked at it again, but held it together, "- and I believe per regulations I'm going to need to request them as we're going outside of castle grounds." Kayeni smiled at him. "Is that fine?"

Derrick bowed. "Your wish is my will, my lady. I'll get Sarge on it now." He snapped his heels and walked off.

Satisfied, Kayeni continued her walk to the stables, where she could see Nolian and Henry there. She smiled at them both, then spoke to Henry. "Henry, while I do appreciate what you've done with Nolian, I think you deserve some time off. I do believe I am authorized to release you from your obligations with Nolian until we're back. I think I can take care of him, with some guards." She smiled at him.

Henry bowed his head. "Yes, your highness. When will you be back?"

Kayeni shook her head dismissally. "Maybe before lunch. It doesn't matter, I will have you summoned when we're back." She waved her hand in dismissal.

Turning to Nolian, she looked at him for a moment then asked a question, slightly uncertain now. "Nolian... you said you were good with horses? What looks good in the stables? I don't entirely know myself," she confessed.