Thus relaxed and happy for the first time in ages, Ed stumbled back to camp as the sun slowly spread over the savage land. He sang to Steve and Regalia, to the reception hall fountain, and to the bar in his room as he poured himself something to help him sleep. He had just settled into his bed when Teddy stormed in with two cups of coffee. The Mechmian was shouting something about a morning workout that he expected Ed to attend.
“No. No. It's time for sleep,” Ed whined, covering his head with one of the silken pillows of his bed made for entertaining even a seven-foot-tall Callian woman, though he knew better than to bring the willing home. Not that anyone wasn't willing to accept his family's curse. How was he to see if they were willing because he was rich, handsome, and charming or because they had no choice? It felt gross to do things without knowing. Plus, the jealousy such things caused could and had led to murder. The only reason his brother's wife hadn't been killed yet was that she was undead. It was not for lack of trying.
“Well, ye should have thought of that when ye went out drinking on a work night,” Teddy scolded apathetically as he made his way through the massive bedchamber the prince had commissioned. From the marble with gold inlay to the rich royal purple tapestries and original artworks, no luxury went unrepresented. His personal bar was fully stocked, his sitting area had its own grand fireplace, and his personal fountain flowed into his personal hot tub and pool. He even had a few auxiliary chambers, including his office, recording studio, and display room for antique musical instruments.
Still very much drunk, Ed sat up the best he could and reached out for the coffee mug as Teddy reached his destination, sipping from the other. Much to Ed's horror, Teddy handed him the empty cup and began on the second while Ed headed for his closet.
“I seem to remember you being fond of the bow. Why not try that instead of the sword-and-shield combination? Ye skill with such things is something squires condemn. If they could see with their eyes, ye poor excuse for a skill, that is. Yes, here's one. It's a bit oversized for ye. Can ye even draw? I suppose ye can always use telepathy to draw and lose. Go on then,” Teddy asked, stated, and conversed with himself, returning to the room with a longbow and a quiver of arrows.
“It was the most powerful,” Ed grumbled, trying to stand, “And I can pull it back.” With telepathy, he mentally added, unwilling to give Teddy the satisfaction of his admitting to being as strong as a regular human knight. Teddy was a scientifically enhanced human, not him. Though not illegal, the Mechmians looked down upon those who altered themselves as if being human wasn't good enough. It was one of the stigmas his mother had left him with. Ed would have rubbed it in, but Teddy would counter the verbal spar with his lack of physical enhancement magic. It was an argument he'd been baited into far too many times and didn't have the patience to repeat so early in the morning.
“Perhaps with telepathic assistance,” Teddy quipped on schedule in his apathetic tones. It was like the man tried to start arguments for fun.
However, this insult would not stand, even if it were technically accurate. Perhaps it wasn't. The prince was still extremely drunk, and his pride was wounded by someone embarrassed to be stronger than the average man simply because he'd gone through many dangerous and socially unacceptable surgeries to obtain it. His drunken mind jumped at the insult to his strength. He may not be a large as the body-building obsessed Callians, but he was a knight just the same. He drilled every morning and worked out in the evening. In his drunken state, he felt the need to prove the blue knight wrong, the only way he knew how – by using the bow.
His drunken mind had forgotten one tiny detail. Teddy was correct, which is why he'd decided the thing wasn't worth the trouble. He'd been too embarrassed to return it and get one better suited to him. Bow and arrow in hand, Ed struggled for a few minutes trying to pull the bowstring back without telepathy. The annoying blue knight stood there in his classic Mechmian pose: feet together, hands in the small of his back as if to mock him. Ed knew it was to mock him because Teddy was saying some pretty mean things poorly disguised as compliments. It definitely wasn't because that was how all male Mechmian children were taught to stand with some harsh Pavlovian tactics.
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Though his telepathy was technically invisible, Teddy's equipment could detect it. That was unacceptable. Teddy would have to think of him as strong enough to draw the bow! Notching an arrow, Ed casually mentioned how it was specially designed for Azure Knights and other psychics. He had to buy time until Teddy grew bored enough to be distracted. It took less than a second for Ed willing the blue knight to pull out a slate before his head turned to look the the one he was taking out from one of his many pockets and pouches. He was distracted! With as quiet a mental push as possible, Ed rapidly pulled the arrow back without considering a target. The bow was almost entirely drawn when he realized Mechmians could compartmentalize their brains, making them incredibly adept at multitasking. Even if he weren't, Teddy's equipment would definitely catch him. The sudden obtrusive thought gave his addled brain a shock.
Standing there blinking, Eddy tried to figure out what had happened. Teddy was on the floor, clutching his knee with one hand and his amazingly not-spilled coffee with the other.
“I am laughing. Ye got me, mate. That bow does a good job of drinking magical energies and filling arrows, no mistake. I concede. Sword and shield it is,” Teddy almost mocked. He continued without missing a beat, “I do believe this is ye first victory against meself. Ye clearly need sleep. I'll return in a few hours for ye. Let's not make a habit out of this, yes?” The blue knight broke the arrow and pulled it from his leg. The red blood that accompanied it contrasted nicely with the blue of his armor. An observation that sickened Ed, who had once despised the sight of the stuff. It was funny how the mind adapted to repeated viewings.
Suddenly giddy yet drained, Ed fell back on the bed. The bow clattered to the floor beside it. In his brattiest tone, he questioned, “Shooting you in the knee or spending the night having fun?”
“Both,” came the direct answer, "And I'm sure when ye father hears about this, we shall say ye collected valuable information concerning the Callian realm. Things that are not filtered through the Hassassani. I'm sure the Fabled Returned One will love that."
The blood stopped, and the armor quickly repaired the man's leg and itself. It had almost finished cleaning itself as Teddy rose, coffee cup in hand. He was a knight. Most knights, including Teddy, felt pain. However, they were selected for the training as children for their reactions (or rather, a magical test to determine the likely reactions) to giving and receiving pain. Then the pages were further conditioned, and pain was normalized as much as violence was. Knowing Teddy and Stone, the pair had likely suffered worse injuries sparing with each other that morning than a little arrow to the knee. His amethyst eyes adverted themselves, knowing his family was at fault for making this class of people out of innocent children.
Depressed and ashamed of his part in perpetuating the cycle of violence, Ed crawled back into bed. His mind suddenly exhausted to match his spirit, Ed asked drearily, “Maybe one nation shouldn't hold power over all intelligence for all thirteen individual nations. I don't often agree with my father, because he's wise and I'm too stupid to understand, but I think he has a point about that old hag. Speaking of power someone shouldn't have. How'd you get in my room anyway?” He didn't want to think about the children currently bashing each other's heads in and shooting each other under the watchful eye of the teaching knight core. Any conversation seemed better.
“I'm Mechmian,” came the uncharacteristically short answer with a shrug, "And I'm certain Queen Shinob knows how the emperor feels. She knows he can do nothing to stop her. His reign depends on her not backing one of ye siblings. Or perhaps ye."
“I wasn't just drinking last night,” Ed suddenly claimed, his drunken mind remembering panicking at the mere hint of possible accusations of conspiracy to commit regicide. The thought of his father sobered him up a bit, but frightened him into less coherent thoughts. He would need an excuse that sounded good. He began to blather, “I was collecting intelligence. Do you want to know about the Callian princesses? Let me lie here and I'll tell you.”
Calm and controlling, Teddy corrected apathetically, “Callian beta-alphas. I suppose the title doesn't matter, though. It is good to know the situation."
