[Lavinia's POV]
Clank. Clank. CLAAAANK.
"STRAIGHTEN YOUR BACKS, YOU USELESS POTATO SACKS!"
"Y-YES SIR!"
Ah, yes. Just another peaceful morning in the Imperial Palace.
The familiar cacophony of swords clashing and Ravick's violent voice serenading the knights filled the courtyard like background music. And the rest of the knights were hiding in the bushes, guarding me like secret agents with terrible camouflage
Osric was training as usual. His movements were sharp, focused—almost mesmerizing, if you're into that kind of thing. Which I was not. Obviously.
Marshmallow, the ever-faithful and extremely distractible divine cat, was having the time of his life swatting at a leaf like it owed him money. Every now and then, he'd jump up, startled by his own shadow, then resume his battle against foliage tyranny.
I should've been watching Marshmallow. Or the knights. Or, I don't know, maybe doing something productive like throwing breadcrumbs at Osric to test his reflexes. But no.
