Alvon wiped the corner of his mouth with the back of one hand, as if he'd forgotten how fine his coat, or how pretty those gloves of his. Skandra wondered if any of that mattered when your Prince tried to assault you, then hauled off through the corridors attacking anything that was in the vicinity of being in his way. Skandra took a long moment before he tried to catch up to that nightmare. Pathacles. He'd heard the name before but had never met the fellow who belonged to it. Leironuoth spoke highly of him. Ithacles never did, but the less Ithacles spoke well of you, the more convinced you could be that he thought well of you. Skandra would start worrying when the Prince started dolloping praise like a cook. Well done, Skandra. Nice job, Skandra. Way to finish that three-headed dog, Skandra. Those were the thoughts that kept him from tripping when he sprinted along behind Ithacles.
Captain Gorgeous stopped to check on someone. That was dumb. Then again, they made them different in the mountains.
It was easier to lose your footing on stone than it was to catch up to a fellow who made his living chasing people up and down hills in the miserable fucking mountains. Skandra could deal with a proper city and proper city folk, but the wilderness was like a friend who talked too much and drank all of your booze. You were not likely to have them around again, no matter how insightful they were, on account of they made you hate everything about the world in the time it took them to draw a breath and speak. Ithacles wasn't that kind of person but ... Skandra forgot his point because all of his air was going to power the high-knee run he was currently engaged in. The only reason he caught Ithacles at all was a careless servant - the poor creature dropped a pitcher of water at the sight of the Prince barreling down the corridor, and she let the water spill over stone.
Ithacles' boot flew out from under him.
Skandra caught the Prince mid-fall, but only so that he could carry the fellow to the ground with all the force he could muster. They both let out rushing gasps of air as they fell. Ithacles' elbow came back. Skandra caught it on his forearm, flipped onto his side and kicked with both heels together, sweeping the Prince's legs out from under him. The Prince's foot moved as well, but only to kick Skandra in the chin. He could feel blood on his teeth as he caught the second kick. A sharp tug put the Prince on his back, and Skandra scrambled to his feet while holding that foot securely in both hands, sidestepping constantly to keep him off-balance.
"That's enough!" he snapped. "Enough! Are you out of your damn mind! Get ahold of yourself so we can talk about this like men instead of children!"
Maybe that wasn't the right way to talk to a Prince. Or maybe it was the pikemen who appeared on the scene, five in number, blotting out the light of the hall. They recognized Ithacles, but they knew that he'd tried to assault Alvon. And for a moment the fellows seemed hesitant on who or what to skewer with those sharp pieces of steel.