Asbel returned Frey's glare, though he was more wounded then angry, and turned his back on both the brothers as they left the room. One perk of being holed up in the castle was that he had very few possessions and essentially nothing to pack. As such, he waited until both princes were safely out of the room before he relaxed and dimmed the lights again -- this time for his own benefit. Sleeping now would be safe; his nemesis would not, surely, be bothering him again tonight.

As such, the phoenix slid into his mess of cushions and blankets and curled up beneath the soft flannel. He glowed, softly, in the dark -- the soft and golden halo of an infant star, but Asbel was used to that, had been used to it since before he could remember, and he fell asleep despite the continued luminescence.

The morning would be daunting -- a challenge as yet insurmountable. Weeks' travel with Frey and his insincere apologies? Ah, but at least Prince Augustine would be coming, too..
---

Augustine followed his brother out of the room and touched a hand to Frey's shoulder in hesitant comfort. He did love his brother, for all the hell that the younger boy put him through. And he was not so blind these days to his siblings' moods that he would miss the beginnings of tears on his younger brother's lashes. Cassius always implied (with impossible vagueness) that there was more to Frey than what met the eye, but even the wise, wise dragon was difficult to believe on that count; not even tears could fully shake Augustine's impression of Frey as an inveterate troublemaker. 

"What bothers you?" he asked, speaking softly, amber eyes gleaming with concern in the dimly-lit hall. Even as he asked, he began to steer Frey away from the phoenix's bedroom and back up toward the proper floor. "You can speak to me, brother. I know you do not often leave the castle and I did not mean the Oracle's orders to come so suddenly or as such a shock."