A King Without a Crown

Practice Makes Perfect

Making his way inside from the courtyard late in the evening was almost as peaceful as being in the courtyard in the first place. Especially on a night like tonight, everyone would have retired to their rooms, not daring to run into each other in the halls. There was not any doubt in Camden's mind that the King would hold onto his words carefully. Elenora on the other hand, could not be trusted to be quite so civil. Winding through the quiet hallways Camden made his way to the eastern wing of the castle. He was listening for the quiet shuffles of servants and guards through the shadowed corridors.

None of them dared to stop the crown prince as he walked with his head low and his intent unclear. Watching each step that he took on the cold floor he made sure not to draw any attention to the wound at his throat. As soon as he made it to the door to his room, he dared a through glance around to be sure there would be no other surprise guests greeting him. The adrenaline of the ambush had faded now. His brain was finally beginning to register the fear and unease that should have met him through the entire meeting with the one and only Scarlet Levings. With a shake of his head and a deep breath, he pushed open the door to his room, entered and sealed it tightly behind him.

Rather than crashing onto his bed with the exhaustion and thoughts that had begun to catch up with him, Camden made his way to the mirror and water basin. Gently rubbing at the scratch along his neck with a soft cloth he cleaned off the blood. A gash any deeper would have raised far more questions than he wished to answer tomorrow. He was thankful for Scarlet's steady hand, knowing he'd be able to easily brush this one off or cover it up come tomorrow. Feeling confident with the cleanliness of his wound, he moved to his closet and chose an outfit suited to a few rounds of training and some riding. The long pants and loose shirt would be perfect attire for the rest of his evening.

As planned, Cam made his way into the training room with ease. There were very few guards or soldiers who would be using it this time of the night, which made it the perfect place to burn off frustrations or anxiety without having to answer too many questions. Not to mention the perfect place to scope out any potential allies for guards as Scarlet had suggested. He would be a fool not to take her recommendation seriously.  Only the men who were dedicated to their positions and the utmost respect for their country would be here now. 

As expected, there were only about 10 men in the room when Camden entered. To his dismay they all stopped what they were doings as soon as he entered in order to bow to him. A young man about his age was the first to speak, "Prince Camden, what can we do for you this evening?"

"Please. There is no need formalities gentlemen. I'm here for the same reasons I would assume the rest of you are. To burn off the events of my day and improve my skills. I don't mean to infringe on your practice."

The man next to the one who had spoken grinned, "We heard there was some interesting conversations at the royal dinner table tonight. I can only imagine you need to improve skills other than those with a..." He was cut off sharply as he landed hard on the floor, courtesy of a swift move by the man who had been the first to speak.

Camden attempted to stifle a laugh at the interaction. He failed to contain it at the fallen man's grunt of shock and pain. The man who had taken him down bowed again in Camden's direction, "I am so sorry, My Prince. Weston sometimes forgets when to shut his mouth." The pointed look he gave would have been near impossible to miss. 

Camden grinned, offering the downed solider a hand. Weston gladly accepted the hand and let Camden help pull him upright again. He kept his head down as he apologized shyly in stark contrast to his first interaction. "Sorry, Prince. I should not have spoken at all. I'm afraid that sometimes my mouth keeps moving ahead of my brain's ability to keep up."