Picked for a fight? What even kind of bar was he talking about? If someone in real life could look like a confused cartoon, swirling eyes and all, that would be Rhys right now. For the entire time he was next to Tristian. Confusion and straight up stranger danger. He didn't seem dangerous but the poor baby had been wrong so many times over in the past while. At the very least, he knew what Elysium was, but seeing as he'd been on house arrest and only recently that got lifted? Even without that, he probably wouldn't have gone anywhere, anyway. Maybe... Maybe he should? He could learn other things that weren't dependent on Amadeus.
With that last little bit, a curious spark of defensiveness sparked in Rhys' chest. Over Henry, over Amadeus that was doing his best with a burden he had not asked for. Without thinking, he flattened his lips into a thin line before speaking, his hand on the other side of Tris tightening into a ball. "Proper training is hard to come by when your sire is missing or dead by means not his own, leaving you after being embraced for less than a month." He hadn't spoken up like this with even the Prince and if he had a moment to wonder about it, Rhys wouldn't have known where this sudden lick of courage was coming from. "I've read up on the clans enough to know you're a Malkavian."
He was grateful to Amadeus and if it wasn't for him, he'd definitely be dead. "The only reason I'm still allowed to have life is because of someone taking me under their wing."