Ch. 42 - The Pleasure Ball

"We're friends, right?" Robb asked quietly. "At least, that's how I see it."

Arnor looked up, a complicated emotion flickering through his eyes.

"Yes. Of course, Robb. I feel the same way."

"Then if something's troubling you, just say it." Robb's tone was calm and sincere. "I can't promise I'll be able to help, but I can at least listen. Sometimes the worst things feel lighter once you've said them out loud."

Arnor sighed again. He set down his teacup and laced his fingers together, his knuckles whitening from the pressure.

"I don't know where to begin..." he finally said, a rare note of vulnerability in his voice. "It's... too complicated."

Robb waited patiently, without pressing. He knew that at moments like these, the best comfort was simply giving the other person enough time.

"Do you remember when we were chatting last month and you mentioned Triss, and my reaction was a little... unusual?" Arnor spoke again at last.

Robb nodded. "I did notice. But it didn't seem like the right time to ask."

This wasn't the first or second time, either. Every time the girl who'd gone from a hunter's daughter to a Intermediate Apprentice was mentioned, Arnor's composure would waver.

"I saw Triss at the herb shop a little over two weeks ago," Robb continued evenly, maintaining an appropriate distance. "She seemed busy."

"Of course. As Lady Corinna's student, she holds considerable standing now."

Arnor's tone carried an emotion he couldn't quite name, his lips pressing into a thin line. "Do you remember when we first gathered here in the Black Mist Order? Back then, she was still so..."

His voice trailed off, his eyes flickering with nostalgia and bitterness.

Robb said nothing, simply listening.

He had a feeling Arnor was about to share something he'd kept buried for a long time.

"I once..." Arnor hesitated, fingers unconsciously fidgeting with a button on his collar.

"I once tried to get close to her. To pursue her. It was early days in the Black Mist Order, and I still had some naive ideas left over from the kingdom."

Robb raised an eyebrow. "You pursued Triss? Seriously?"

"Don't give me that look." Arnor rolled his eyes. "I am the Thirteenth Prince, after all. You know full well how many noble ladies were throwing themselves at me back in the capital."

"And then? She turned you down?" Robb asked bluntly.

"Of course she turned me down." Arnor laughed self-mockingly.

"Quite directly, too, 'I came here to change my fate, not to relive my miserable past. A pampered royal like you should stop bothering me.'"

"Ouch. That's a hard hit." Robb couldn't help but laugh. "So you were heartbroken, and that's when reality set in?"

Arnor punched Robb square in the chest, knowing full well it wouldn't even register. "Had your fun? Yes, that's when I truly understood the rules of this world. No matter where you are, the weak can only look up at the strong. Here, nobody cares which number prince you are. They only care how powerful you are."

"But that's actually only a small part of the problem..." he continued, his voice dropping steadily. "The truth is, the people who sent me to the Black Mist Order never expected me to become a proper Mage's apprentice in the first place."

Robb raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to go on.

"The royal family gave up on my mage aptitude long ago."

Arnor smiled bitterly. "Their real purpose in sending me here was to use the abundant supernatural resources to develop my knight aptitude."

"Knight aptitude?" Robb was somewhat surprised.

"Yes. My talent for knight training far exceeds my magic potential."

Arnor explained. "The royal family's plan was for me to become a guardian knight for their key investment target, and to break through to become a Grand Knight while I was here."

His voice suddenly turned agonized. "And that so-called 'key investment target' was the very same Triss I'd tried to pursue."

Robb finally understood part of this tangled web, but he sensed Arnor's pain ran deeper still.

"Triss rejected you. That was humiliating, I get it." Robb said gently. "But that alone doesn't seem to explain the state you're in now."

"Because things got worse!" Arnor practically shouted the words.

"After my plan to court Triss failed, they started demanding I attach myself to another female apprentice, Cynthia."

The name made Robb frown slightly. "Sorry, I don't think you've ever mentioned her."

"She arrived at the Black Mist Order ten years ago." The golden-haired prince's expression looked like a field parched by months without rain.

"She's already a High Apprentice now, though only recently promoted."

His fingers clenched so tightly they nearly broke the skin. "Cynthia... has a terrible reputation. In her spare time between training sessions, she toys with her servants, especially the handsome young men."

The golden-haired prince's face contorted with pain. He pressed his fingers together and made a twisting, drilling motion.

"That madwoman enjoys some very... particular games. For instance, using thorn-ball grass to probe her male servants' most sensitive areas... They say she goes through an average of one servant per year."

Robb winced at this, a phantom ache stirring below. He was beginning to grasp the true source of Arnor's anguish.

The royal family was demanding he serve such a person, essentially offering him up as a male consort. And the most degraded kind, at that.

"Does the royal family know about all this?" Robb asked carefully.

"Of course they know." Arnor's eyes flashed with fury and despair.

"But they don't care. In their eyes, gaining the backing of a High Apprentice is well worth sacrificing one unfavored thirteenth prince."

His voice nearly cracked. "Robb, I don't know what to do. I've always hoped I could escape this fate through my own efforts, but..."

"But your progress hasn't been fast enough." Robb finished for him. "And my breakthrough gave you a glimmer of hope."

Arnor nodded, his eyes shimmering with complex emotions. "I'd originally hoped to form a stronger alliance with you. But even as an Elementary Apprentice, your influence and strength are nowhere near enough to stand against a High Apprentice."

"So you've been going back and forth about whether to tell me any of this."

It clicked for Robb. "Because you weren't sure I could actually help, and you weren't sure I'd be willing to risk making an enemy of a High Apprentice over this."

Arnor nodded weakly. "I know it's selfish. But I truly don't know what else to do."

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