That was one thing Lyo knew nothing of. Kings, Queens, and Princesses. He knew a King ruled, but that was just about it. From what he took away from Ethelia's comment, the King not only ruled over his Kingdom and territory, but also his own family. Apparently, even his children had to obey him as full grown adults. Even the idea sounded ridiculous. He couldn't imagine his life and every choice being dictated by someone else.

"No, it's alright. This will do." He began sweeping the powder into a pile. Finding a random wooden bowl, he dunked it into the water bucket. He didn't care if it didn't last long, he needed relief. "Wai-" He glanced up, but he was too late. She was already out the doorway and down the hallway. He dusted his hands off on his pants. He glanced down at Koa, "Is she always this stubborn?" He whispered to the dog, as though she would respond. Lyo gave Koa head scratches as, he waited for Ethelia to come back. A wave of pain washed over him, he hissed as he gripped the table. Knuckles turning white. He shifted his shoulders trying to ease the pain, only to realize his shirt was sticking to the small unstitched wounds. His brother couldn't stitch all five of the claw marks, as there wasn't much skin to use to cover them. He stitched the three in the middle and left the two on the ends be.

Lyo carefully pulled the shirt off, grimacing at the feeling of the cloth being pulled away from his open wound. He tossed his shirt on the table. He was half tempted to just scoop the powder into the water and drink it like that. More blood dribbled down his back. He didn't doubt that having bumped his back earlier made the wounds bleed again.

Lyo half expected for Ethelia to just hand it him, but instead she wordlessly began to work on his back. He planned on just kaing the small tin and waking his brother to make him do it for him. It wasn't like he'd be able to even reach back there himself. The silence between them was comforting. Her touch was gentle, not rough like his brother. His muscles rippled with tension, as he refrained from expressing just how painful this was.

Lyo glanced over his shoulder, as her voice broke the silence. He nodded his head, as he prepared himself. A small pained groaned slipped past, as he squeezed his eyes shut. Knuckles turning white again as they gripped the table, as he tried to keep from squirming away from her. He barely heard her when she spoke. "My brother, Alaric." He answered honestly. "Did he do a bad job?" He questioned, as his brows furrowed. It wasn't like he could see his back to judge his brothers work. He figured she could probably put two and two together to figure out which man Alaric was. The only curly brown haired, and green eyed man Lyo mostly stuck around with. The two never used the word "foster" brother when speaking about each other. They truly considered themselves blood brothers.

"Uh-" He thought for a moment. It felt strange to thank her, out of all people, but she was helping him. Even though he tried to reject her help a few times. "Thank you." He spoke into the darkness in front of him, jaw clenched. Maybe this was a fever dream and he'd wake in a pool of his sweat with an infection in the wound on his back.

The salve felt soothing on his back. He accepted the tin greedily, shoving it into his pocket. That didn't surprise him. Alaric has had many times to perfect his work, Lyo being his guinea pig. "Yeah, guess he's used to it at this point." Ethelia didn't seem so bad when she wasn't throwing threats and insults his way. He couldn't exactly put all the blame on her though. He was pretty hot headed and didn't back down from an argument.

Lyo turned around to face Ethelia. Now that the pain was slowly fading away he could think a lot more clearly. He watched the woman interact with her dog for a moment. Grabbing his shirt off the table, he glanced at her. "I should head back." He awkwardly scratched the back of his neck. Not waiting around a moment longer, Lyo took his leave. It was much easier to speak to her when she was yelling at him. It felt odd with all the niceties exchanged between them. He still couldn't understand why she helped him, but he wouldn't dwell on it. Everything would be back to normal by tomorrow.

Lyo managed to get a few more hours of sleep when he made it back to the room he was staying in. Alaric threw the door open to Lyo's room. "Lyo! Get up!" The green eyed man, ripped the blankets off of his brother. Lyo protested, but begrudgingly got up. "We have an hour before we have to show in the King's council room. I think he's going to agree." Alaric walked around the room grabbing Lyo's shoes and tossing them at his feet. He placed a pair of clean clothes on the bed. Where his brother managed to find those he had no idea.

Lyo stretched gently, as his brother spoke to him. "Hell, I think the King's more conniving than Gregory himself." Alaric rambled on about his observations he's made of the King. "Where's your wrap?" His brother randomly said. Lyo rubbed his face. "It fell off." He lied. That earned an eye roll from his brother. "That stuff is not easy to get, Lyo." He huffed, "I'll see if I can find more, or else you'll be bleeding all over the council room." Alaric said distractedly as he left the room.

Lyo took a quick bath. He could count all the times he'd used a bath inside on one hand. Baths were taken in any body of water he came across. Changing into the clean pants his brother brought him, he pulled his boots on. Now he just had to wait for Alaric to come back. Folding up his pants, he felt the pocket. Pulling out the tin can, he rolled it in his hands. Hm, so last night really did happen.

The entire meeting, Lyo ignored Ethelia's presence. Only glancing at the King when he spoke. 'Good morning, everyone. I have thought long and hard about you proposition, and I have ultimately decided to accept. It took lots of thought, but after weighing the pros and cons, I decided to give it a try.' Oddly enough this was not a satisfying win, as he thought it would be. His gut twisted as he glanced at Gregory. A terrifying glint flashed in the man's eyes. Lyo seemed to be the only one who caught it. His eyes narrowed for a moment, but he decided to ignore it.

"We won't disappoint, Your Majesty." Greg confirmed with a nod. Just like that the meeting was dismissed. The men were already heading outside. Their stay was only a night long. Now they had to get right to work and begin preparing and planning for their next target. They had to knock something out the sky to make their King happy. Out the front castle doors the men made their way to their horses and the carriage carry the most valuable weapon that would bring the riches. Lyo had noticed as they were leaving Gregory had disappeared off somewhere in the direction the King had what. The men began mounting their horses. Well, they had done the impossible, yet Lyo didn't feel any excitement of sorts.