[FweepFwopFwoop]

After a small eternity, Astien picked himself up and carried himself out of the castle, cradling his belly and weeping. A few servants stopped and asked him if he was okay, but he ignored them. He walked out into the gardens and sat beneath a shady tree, still weeping.

"Yes, that's fine. I want you to practice holding this stance today, along with tackling the dummy. If I am to instruct you, I must go and make preparations. You and I will meet back here tomorrow." With that, Aralith pulled her clothes and armor back on, and walked away.

[Eskal]

Marius eventually wandered back to the carriage.

Cormac nodded and set to practicing.

[FweepFwopFwoop]

Astien eventually stopped crying, and he rubbed his belly, trying to calm both himself and Aiden.

[Eskal]

Cormac dressed himself after a while of practicing and made his way to the gardens. "Astien? You look horrible." he sat down beside him. "Have you been crying?"

[FweepFwopFwoop]

"Maybe..." Astien didn't bother looking up as he kept rubbing his belly. "Ssssshhh, Aiden it's okay. Everything's going.…" he gulped and his voice cracked. ".…to be... O-okay…" Astien sniffled as tears escaped his eyes once more.

[Eskal]

"What happened?"

[FweepFwopFwoop]

"M-Marius and Loke cornered me. They made me tell them… that Aiden hasn't got a father. That he's not human." Astien sobbed. "This wasn't how I wanted Marius to find out! And then…" Astien cried harder. "H-he just w-walked away. Didn't even look back!"

[Eskal]

"Oh..." Cormac groaned. "Well...In Marius' defense, you kind of lied to him and on top of that you told him Aiden's not even human... It's a lot to take in, you know?"

[FweepFwopFwoop]

Astien couldn't speak he was sobbing so hard.

[Eskal]

Cormac put an arm around Astien. "Do you want to get some ice cream or something?"

[FweepFwopFwoop]

Astien wiped away his tears and nodded.

[Eskal]

Cormac stood up and offered a hand to Astien to help him to his feet.

[FweepFwopFwoop]

Astien took Cormac's hand and, with a small bit of difficulty, pulled himself to his feet. "So... Where are we gonna go?"

Delas hopped into the carriage, and there saw Marius. "Hey Marius!" He chirped. "I found someone who's gonna train me to use a spear! Hey, you look kinda mad. Is something bad happening?"

[Eskal]

"Let's start by going to town," Cormac said. "We can windowshop and get something to eat."

"Uh. No," Marius said quickly. He forced a smile. "So you're going to work hard right?"

[FweepFwopFwoop]

"Let's just get the ice cream. I REALLY need some chocolate right now."

Delas frowned. "I know when a smile's being forced. Whats going on?"

[Eskal]

"Sounds like a plan," Cormac said.

"Nothing you need to worry yourself about," Marius said with a huff.

[FweepFwopFwoop]

At the ice cream shop, Astien got himself a big bowl with everything chocolate. He morosely, quietly ate his treat, a fretful hand rubbing his belly.

"No, you're too worked up for it to be nothing. What is it, really?"

[Eskal]

Cormac slowly ate his ice cream and added more chocolate syrup to Astien's bowl.

"I just found out I've been lied to by somebody that I trusted." He huffed. "I should kno wbetter by now. I always fall too hard adn too fast..."

[FweepFwopFwoop]

Astien forced a smile as Cormac gave him more syrup. "Good ice cream." He said simply.

"What'd Astien lie to you about?" Delas asked.

[Eskal]

"It is," Cormac agreed.

"Pretty much everything," Marius grumbled. "And here I thought I finally found somebody to settle down with..."