Wulfric had breakfast delivered to him right into his office, pot of coffee included. He ate quickly and perfunctorily with one hand, and leisurely perused the newspaper with the other. Despite his split attention, there were no stains or messes anywhere when he was done. He did take the time to enjoy his last cup of coffee (third today), sipping at it, and, for a freeing minute or three, thought about nothing in particular.
Then, he recalled the servant who’d brought him his meal. Haynes was a tad portly (but far less so than Edin), his black hair tied into a high ponytail, goatee neatly trimmed.
“Did you enjoy your meal, Your Highness?” he queried while the prince set aside his napkins and stood up.
Wulfric tilted his head in consideration. The quantity had been sufficient, and there’d been nothing amiss about the food’s quality. After that swift assessment, he answered curtly,
“Yes. Thank you.” He then moved from the seating area where he’d eaten to his study desk, so as to give the other man space to clean.
He engaged in busywork, reviewing some documents from the previous day. Peripherally, he noticed when Haynes paused to hover over Hendrix’s bouquet uncertainly, conspicuous as it was, lying near the table’s edge. Without lifting his gaze from the papers in front of him, Wulfric said,
“Have that transferred to Curran.” The servant startled at being addressed unexpectedly, and responded with a prompt,
“Yes, sir!”Unperturbed, the prince continued,
“He is to use it for my evening bath.” Light amusement laced his tone; not at the older man’s expense, but rather at the joke only he was privy to. Nevertheless, he got the impression that the retainer was embarrassed as he nodded contritely, and said,
“As you command, Prince Wulfric.” Apparently torn between nerves and eagerness, he added,
“I’ll attend to it! Right, ah,” he noticed he yet had a task to complete,
“…after this.”Wulfric made a sound of acknowledgment in the back of his throat, and followed with a neutral and offhanded,
“Good.” There were no more words exchanged between them, and soon, Haynes departed. Not long afterwards, the prince was done with the paperwork as well. He stood and stretched.
Time to confront his sister.
However, Anastasia had already managed to free herself of her confinement. He did not truly resent her this, though it did delay his intentions of pressing her about Marek. Having surmised she and her group had gone to the shooting range, he elected to do the same. If for no other reason than to provide additional security.
It was a swift journey to the archery contest, as he and his guards had forgone a carriage in favour of each riding their own steed. In light of the time constrain, Wulfric remained dressed the same, though he’d left the cloak behind. His treasured sabre, however, was still in its rightful place at his hip.
Out of the six guards, two were left behind to watch the horses and the parking area in general. The other four followed him to the range, where Anastasia was immediately spotted. She sat near the top, in company of Zarai. Even Princess Sadie was present, with armed escorts of her own. Wulfric took a moment to quietly confer with his guards. Then, they dispersed. One guard was stationed at the bottom of each of the two staircases, one at the summit of the yet unguarded stairs, and one was to find a seat next to Anastasia. The two up top were both people whom he knew could be trusted to handle his sister.
Meanwhile, Wulfric ascended the staircase Wystan was guarding. Many in the crowd were still watching him, as they had since his arrival. But he ignored them; sooner or later, they would be return their attention to the announcer.
He stopped once at the watchdog’s side, standing next to him. He looked towards his sister, nodding at her and her company if they saw him, then let his gaze travel over the other attendees. Finally, he looked towards the front, taking in the people there, including the first competitors; Leo and
Ezra. Only after all of this, did he greet the man besides him.
“Morning, Wystan.” His gaze remained affixed forward, and his tone was fairly cool. Though he’d stationed himself so that the battlemaster was the one with the better view of the seated audience, Wulfric kept himself partially aware of them as well.
Potter,
FulgrimLives,
Lucid Dreaming,
Expendable,
Kero,
Tim the Yeti,
rush99999,
dodododo,
Fading Memory,
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