“I’m glad to hear that.” Levi visibly relaxed knowing that he was able to be the help Fiori had been for him in Usige. “I just wish I hadn’t been so prejudiced before. Almost everything I’ve been taught about your country is wrong, as I’ve told you before.” Even footing, he repeated the words in his head a few times. It was a good way to put it. While Fiori was kind to him in Usige, he was still considered a slave by everyone else. Here he was free of that title hanging over his head.
"You believed what people had been telling you all your life." He shrugged. "I cannot blame you for believing it, especially when you were so quick to become my friend after we met." Seeing Levi here, comfortable and happy, made Fiori happy too, even if his own position was less than desirable. "Now… we were going to ride, were we not?" He changed the subject, eager to do something that would raise his spirits. "Where do we tack up?"
“Yes, it’s about time we actually began our ride, isn’t it?” Levi seemed just as eager to change the subject. “Everything we need is in that room.” He looked over to the door at the back wall. “Saddles, bits and bridles, blankets, treats…” he trailed off, standing in place as if trying to remember everything they might need on their ride. He finally nodded in satisfaction, stuffed his hands in his pockets, and turned on his heel to retrieve his own horse.
Fi nodded along, giving Alyx one last pat before he grabbed enough supplies for Levi and himself. It took him a little while to spot Levi but he found him eventually, handing off the tack carefully not to drop anything. Equipment could be quite expensive, especially when the stuff you were sing came from the royal stable. Alyx was tossing her head impatiently when he returned, but she'd always been rather even-tempered for a horse so it was no chore to get her ready to go. "Are you ready, Leviticus?"
Levi took the equipment one by one and fastened them onto his horse, which was notably smaller and fuzzier than Alyx. He brushed his hand against his horse’s neck lovingly once he was done. “Yes, I’m ready,” he called back, taking the reins to lead his steed out of the stall. Once they were out in the open aisle he pulled himself up into the saddle.
Fi waited until they were outside to mount his own horse, patting Alyx's shoulder with a small smile. "Perfect!" he backed up the horse, giving Levi more than enough room to take the lead. There was something invigorating about having fresh air in his lungs. His mood was already improving. "Where shall we go, my friend? Is there a path you usually take?"
“There is, in fact.” Levi clicked his tongue for his horse to canter past Fiori. “There’s a trail around the lake with some nice scenery.” There was a welcome familiarity to this, taking a ride through the path he’d taken perhaps a thousand times before. This time with a friend from a foreign country, but the situation was just as comforting nonetheless.
"It sounds like a lovely ride." Fi had been hoping to see some nice scenery, something about being in nature had always made him feel better. Of course, Widonian nature wasn't going to be anything like what he'd had at home, but the basic principle was the same. And anyway, it would be nice to familiarize himself with the country. "Lead the way, Leviticus."
“It is very lovely.” Levi confirmed with a nod, tugging at the reins to encourage his horse to take a turn right, onto a dirt path. They rode past the barracks, which were silent at this time of night and seemingly lifeless this time of night. As he settled into a steady pace, Levi bunched the reins in one hand and let the other hang casually at his side.
Fiori took the opportunity to look around, taking in the silent buildings with a curious look. The silence was eerie. He sped up his horse to keep better pace with Levi. "How are you, Leviticus?" His words sounded loud in the quiet. "How is life now that you are back? You ask about me but I do not ask about you often enough."
Levi glanced over to his friend to make sure he wasn’t getting too far ahead. He looked forward again once he saw Fiori keeping pace with him. “Life is good. Some things have changed, others have not. People look at me differently but it’s hard to place how. I also get a lot of questions about Usige. How I got back is a big one.”
"What answer do you give?" He imagined it wasn't something you could explain very easily, if only because he found it so hard to wrap his head around. His uncle had always been… cruel, had always made Fiori uneasy, but he'd never imagined that he could do something like this. "I would think it would be difficult, without telling people that I am the prince."
“I tell them what I told Johan, that when I made it to Usige you understood my plight and treated me well until I was strong enough to come back home.” The story wasn’t exactly false, but it also wasn’t the full truth either. The people didn’t know that Fiori was a prince; and they didn’t know he wasn’t supposed to come back home until he had been released by the Usigen gods. The people wouldn’t have liked that part of the story very much.
Fi nodded and couldn't help but smile a bit. "Good. Good, that is… an apt description, I think." As true as it could be without exposing Usige's current situation or his own status as the prince of an enemy country. There vague truth of it was reassuring, it would keep him from dishonoring his god with dishonesty. "It is nice to know that you did not have to lie on my behalf."
“I think if I had made up an entire faulty story it would have been harder for my people to believe,” he admitted. “As much as they’re surprised that you ushered me back home, they believe we’re friends and thatI trust you. Even if they don’t.” More trees began to surround the path as they drew closer to the lake.
Fi laughed softly. "Yes. You are good at speaking your mind, but… I do not think falsehoods come very easily to you, do they?" The trees were a welcome change, though he had to duck a bit as they passed some of the lower overhanging branches. "And anyways, there is no honor in a lie. Not even with this."
Levi shook his head in agreement. “No they do not. I’ve been told honesty is the best way to rule a kingdom, but as I’ve learned from personal experience the whole truth sometimes isn’t the best path either.” With both his own short stature and smaller horse, he didn’t have to duck as far as Fiori to avoid the branches.
Fi considered that, nodding as he turned the words over in his head. "I suppose I can understand that. I was always taught to speak with candor, that to hide a thought was a crime in itself, but these days… I am starting to see the value in concealing information." He sighed softly.
“What did you do in Usige?” Levi tilted his head curiously. He didn’t know much about Fiori’s life as a prince in Usige, only the few days he spent with him before the arena. “We’re you a very present public figure in your kingdom like your uncle is? Speaking everything on your mind? I would assume the news of war was like that.”
"Ah… I… I had not been home for many years, but… yes. While I was home, I was quite public. Moreso than my uncle, really. He does not like to meet with the people face to face." He shrugged, a bitter smile creeping onto his face. "I do not either, but he wanted it of me and so I did it. I would hear the petitioners, travel through the districts to see what problems needed solving, it was… not a bad life."
“You’ll be a great king to your country someday,” Levi cast a friendly glance over his shoulder. “A thousand times better than your uncle, once you overthrow him of course. I’m looking forward to that day. Do you have an idea of how you might best him yet? I doubt he’ll let you back in the arena to fight him there.”
Fi smiled back at him, warmed by the compliment. "Thank you, my friend." He hadn't really been thinking about how he would get back, but he knew he would have to. "I… I suppose I will have to go back home. Raise an army of my own, try not to tear my country apart with the fighting. We will meet on the battlefield, him and I, and one of us will cut the other down and walk away victorious."
Levi looked ahead at the path, listening to Fiori with a faint frown. It sounded reckless to him, unnecessary violence. As much as he wanted to see Fiori cut down his uncle and walk away victorious, what if something went wrong, or a civil war? “I see. Will that be possible with a war going on already? I support you all the way, my friend, whatever you choose. You obviously know your country better than I.”
"It will not be easy, but it will be possible." He sighed softly, weary just thinking about it. "If there were another way, I would take it, but my country is not…" He sighed. "… they do not respect assassination. It is cowardly and weak, and if I want them to respect my rule, they need to respect my methods obtaining it."
Levi nodded at Fiori’s reasoning. He understood the need to appease the general public, having had to consider their reactions when he decided how Johan should be punished. “That’s a fair point, it makes sense. A civil war just seems a little… drastic, at least to me. I hope the kingdom takes your side instead of being split in two.”
Fi sighed. "It is drastic, but… I do not see a better way." Whatever happened, he couldn't lose public support. Without the people, he had no money, no army, and no way to push his uncle from the throne. He would have nothing. "My people favor me, they will favor me more when they learn of what my uncle has done. It is the only plan I have, unless you can think of a better one."
“Unfortunately no, I can’t think of anything better. I know you just got here, but when should you leave?” As long as the answer wasn’t soon. Selfishly, didn’t want his friend to go back to Usige, especially when there was the threat of his uncle. He also knew that if Fiori left he would have to find someone else to execute Johan’s punishment. “I know I can’t hold you here forever, though I wish I could.”
Fi laughed at that, nodding. "I wish I could stay here too, but… I do not want him to be the one who rules. Not after this." He sighed, running a hand through his hair. It would be easier to stay here, but he knew that was a fantasy. His country needed him. "I will stay long enough to help you with Johan, long enough for discontent to brew when I am not there to smooth things along, and… and then I will go. And we will both be kings instead of princes."
“You know how much I appreciate you helping with Johan,” Levi let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you.” He smiled at the idea of them both being kings. His chest lifted with an air of pride, the ambition that was so common in Johan, only tempered. “I’ll have to wait a year or so longer until I’m of age, but yes. Kings. Maybe then we could end the war between our countries for good.”
Fi laughed a little louder. "Please, it is no trouble to help with your brother. Not when you have given me so much help in return." He smiled over at Levi, soft and grateful. What would he do if his friend hadn't taken him in? Hadn't kept him on his feet as he got used to life here? "I think we will. I think… we could change the world, you and I. Our countries are powerful, an alliance would be… good. For the world and for us."
Levi hummed in content contemplation, right after he sent another smile to his friend. “An alliance would be good, indeed. Besides our friendship, perhaps there should be another bond between the countries to secure it. A political one, like when your father was considering arranging a marriage between you and Johan.” He supposed that wouldn’t be an option now, not after Johan’s fall. “What about Mikhail?” He continued with soft laughter. “Do you have anyone in the Usigen royal family that’s around his age?”
