You Wear A Mask || Pax & Frannie || Private

The days had come in a blinding rush. For the past month --was it a month already? despite his mentors' best efforts, the calendar was still a puzzle for him-- Pax had been pulled in every direction by rough hands. Dirt, scabs, sweat had been scrubbed off of him, heavy clothes stretched over him. Physicians had inspected every joint and every tooth, prodding him into panic, and when they were done, the king's mentors took to prodding of a different kind. They highlighted his illiteracy, his lack of knowledge in any arena but the bloody one, snorted over their parchment and talked about him like he wasn't there. Pax was accustomed to the dismissive treatment of nobles, but the uniquely personal judgments of the scholars boiled his blood.

Pax was glad the piranhas had taken some time away from him to nip at the king for a while. Though he was tired, Pax found himself unable to sleep in the daytime-- the bed they'd provided him was too soft, and the palace servants squirmed whenever they saw him sleep on the floor. He hadn't had many moments to himself though, and the sun outside looked inviting.

The stone of the promenade was pleasantly warm under his hooves, sun-baked and gentle. The sky was clear and soft, and as he walked beneath it, the temptation to take off was significant. He was told once before that he'd be able to leave the castle, but the limitations hadn't been made clear yet. Beyond that, his flight feathers weren't fully regrown from the Crucible. His face skyward, basked in afternoon glow, Pax let his tired eyes drift shut while he imagined what the real sky would be like. He'd mastered the art of flight in tight spaces, but never taken wing in the limitless air outside. What was the wind like, that high up? What did clouds feel like? His stomach lifted in butterflies as he imagined gliding in infinite space.

A whimper from the bushes banished the fragile vision. Blinking, he moved around the groomed plants to find someone moving in the hedges. He recognized the freckled coat as Amadeus's personal slave, an individual he'd seen much more than he'd heard. She cried out once more, burying her face in the dirt beneath the branches.

He stared, frozen for a long minute as Frannie carried on oblivious.

"Do you need help?" Was his eventual question. He had a feeling he knew the answer.

Pax watched, eyes intense, as she froze. They stood there like that for a moment, two barely-acquaintances each trying to puzzle out how to best escape their current situation. Pax grimaced. He should have minded his business. He should have left her to her... whatever this was.

He snorted gently as she retreated from the bush, looking feral, clutching something in her mouth like a dog. He got the impression he was not supposed to witness what he was seeing. Was this contraband? What was she stashing in the garden? Dread began to work its way into his gut, and he lifted a hoof to turn away. Pax knew the cutthroat culture of pit slaves. He knew what trouble wandering eyes could make. If she was caught, he could be punished for his silence, or worse, she could blame him for whatever she was keeping--

Her laugh, like sunlight, stopped his racing thoughts. His hoof hovered in the air, hesitant, as she beamed at him. She was so carefree, so gentle, and radiated pure warmth. The kindness surprised him, and he watched her fix her hair with a dumbstruck expression, shocked into silence. It was unthinkable to meet someone with such kindness and candor in this artificial city. He blinked as she settled down, so easily at rest, and regarded him.

He placed his hoof back on the ground gently, and answered before the silence could bloat. "I do," he said, with a hitch. In the quiet that hung after it, he rushed to add: "Have some time. Yes." She spoke to him so readily. Everyone else in this palace (whose job didn't include prodding and prepping the king's new guard) treated him like furniture.

He felt so guilty for not remembering her name.

"The King is with his tutors," he explained, stepping closer, his curious eyes on the box. "Which means they've stopped sucking my blood for the time being." Pax offered a tense smile, and tried not to look strange. He had a hard time acting normal lately.

"Is this what you always do in your free time..." he teased, somewhat deadpan. "Dig for treasure in the hedges?"