 “Horse smells a hell of a lot better than that sulphur stuff that stinks out your lab” he countered, a little distractedly, “at least I never smell of that.” Tristan frowned at his friend as they continued through the castle. It wasn’t a deep scowl, in fact it was rather under-expressive for the prince; just a slight pinching between his eyebrows. He couldn’t understand how well Thoth was taking what had just happened. At first he had been prepared to put it down to shock or some kind of coping mechanism. When he realised that it was neither it troubled him. It was as if Thoth couldn’t see how deeply wrong the whole incident had been. It wasn’t just bad or unpleasant and it wasn’t like being thrown in the lake or locked in a cupboard, it was more than that.
First of all an adult who had been in a position to look out for the welfare of those in her charge had allowed people who were hostile to Thoth freely onto the ward. Tristan knew that the nurses knew what the situation was because he had had a quiet word with his father and he knew that the king had spoken with them all. Secondly, she had turned a blind eye whilst bullying had taken place under her nose and thirdly, she had done absolutely nothing when Thoth had been pushed out of a window. Then of course there was Tarquin who had crossed a line Tristan had never imagined him crossing. He was well aware that the older boy was an obnoxious newt but he had thought he knew when to stop. It had very nearly been murder and yet Thoth didn’t seem to bat an eyelid. It was as if it were normal and Tristan found that troubling.
“I don’t understand,” he managed at last, “I don’t understand how you’re taking this so well. They could have killed you! And just because they didn’t it doesn’t make it okay!” Tristan made a small noise of irritation as Thoth came out with something that sounded like something Arthur would say.
“You honestly think he should get away with it?” he demanded of his friend, searching the familiar face for some kind of answer or explanation. “Tell me you can see why I can’t just let him walk away? The longer I look at you the more I feel like I’m over reacting, but I’m not. You’re under-reacting!” Tristan had begun to pace back and forth across the width of the narrow corridor. He couldn’t do nothing. The way Thoth had phrased it made it sound like he was after some kind of petty revenge but it wasn’t that it was justice...wasn’t it? The prince came to a stand still running his fingers distractedly through his hair. Why was it bothering him so much?
“There are very few people who can touch Tarquin,” Tristan said turning back to Thoth, “I’m one of the only people who can. Doesn’t that mean I have some kind of responsibility to do something when he pulls shit like this?” It was a genuine question and he valued Thoth’s opinion. “What if it wasn’t you...” the prince posed taking a step back towards his friend, “what if he’d done the same thing to someone else, or if he’d attacked one of the kitchen girls? Would you think I should do something then? Or if I did do something would I be doing that for selfish reasons too?”
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