Edward
Robert Cromwell
Astoria

"Oh, I'm sure you can. You're the queen, none of them would try to hurt you." He said, a smirk on his face as he walked alongside her, whenever they reached a door he'd open it for her.
Joseph
Anyanka Durkhan
Astoria

"It's bold of you to think no one would take the chance to attack me without consequences." She pointed out. "You're telling me you wouldn't take the opportunity to test out my abilities if I told you I _genuinely_ wanted you to test me?"
Edward
Robert Cromwell
Astoria

"Oh, _I_ most certainly would. But do you think a common guard, or man-at-arms would take the chance of going all out against the _queen_ of Astoria and Feyshore and potentially hurting her? If my entire livelihood depended on this job, I sure as hell wouldn't." He said, looking at her.
Joseph
Anyanka Durkhan
Astoria

Anya paused, and twisted to look at him. "They wouldn't be giving me an opportunity to learn." She felt her brow furrow. "I swear, if I could turn this crown over to Mikhail now I would. I'd kill for a real interaction with someone who isn't shivering in their boots over my title."
Edward
Robert Cromwell
Astoria

"No man wants to be known as the Queenslayer, especially when it was unintentional. I can show you some things if you'd like, though we'll be starting with wood swords. I'm not about to hand over steel to you." He said, "That'd also be a cruel thing to do to the poor boy. Let him relish _not_ being king for awhile longer. I'm surprised you never asked Lord Stafford to try and teach you, or for you to train on. He seemed to spend a lot of time here, and I've seen his regimen, he spent a lot of time in the yard."
Joseph
"I know it's cruel, I'll stay alive as long as possible to keep the crown off his head. He deserves the chance to enjoy his life out of the public sphere for a little bit. Especially now." She didn't like to think of her son as a budding adult, but she had to remind herself he was. 

"Stafford is a wonderful man, but when he and Angelica were around I was distracted. To say the least."
Edward
Robert Cromwell
Astoria

"Makes sense. Well, we can start training whenever you have time. Tell me, and I'll be there." He said, pausing, "Have you eaten dinner yet? You were with the prisoner for sometime."
Joseph
"Generally they stop calling for me around seven, so anytime after before bed would be fine. It kind of hurts your sunlight hours though." She mused, and when he asked about dinner she paused. "No, I haven't. Care to join me?"
Edward
Robert Cromwell
Astoria

"Would love to join you. I haven't eaten yet." He said, changing directions to go toward the kitchens to have something prepared for them. "Oh, you're aware Daemon steals wine from the kitchens, yes?" He mentioned idly as they walked.
Joseph
Anyanka Durkhan
Astoria

There was no real reason not to follow him, so the two headed down towards the kitchens. He lead the way, but only by half a step, and his comment made her laugh. "Oh I'm aware. Mikhail let it slip one night, because he felt guilty about it. I moved all the nice ones they don't deserve to drink in the span of an hour into my personal stores. Everything in the kitchens is common enough I don't care. I even told Mika they could just take it, but I think sneaking it is the appeal?"
Edward
Robert Cromwell
Astoria

He sighed and scratched the back of his neck, "About that, I know the friendship between Mikhail and Daemon is something you appreciate, so I try not to interfere. But the squires that were left here by Lord Stafford to be trained by me aren't supposed to be drinking, unless givin' special privleges on weekends. I'm holding off to give them more freedom until after they finish their winter training exercise. Daemon just _ignores_ these rules and sneaks around, he got away with it under Lord Stafford because, for all of Lord Stafford's virtues, I don't think he was ever a sneaky teenager. He was always someone who followed rules, so tends to trust his squires to do the same." He sighed, "So, with your permission, I'd like to instruct castle staff to pull inform me or one of my captains to if Daemon is sneaking around after-hours. Especially if a girl happens to be with him."
Joseph
Anyanka Durkhan
Astoria

The cadence of his voice changed, and it made her stop in her tracks. They were outside the kitchen doors, and she could hear the soft workings of the staff inside, cleaning and preparing. Her brow pulled inward, and her attention moved from him to the door as he spoke. It had never even occurred to her that Daemon could be using Mikhail as a means to get out of his own work or to get ahead. If he had been sneaking around under Eric, it was entirely possible he only maintained the friendship with her son in order to keep a pass to do whatever he pleased. Hell, she'd even turned an eye on him taking wine because she wanted him and Mikhail to have a good time, but now worry crept onto her features. 

"Do you think he's only hanging around Mika because of the perks?" She questioned, and cleared her throat. "I didn't think anyone would try that with him, most people are just frightened of him. I suppose it was niave to assume someone _wouldn't_ try to use him.." She trailed off, and nodded. 

"You have my permission to keep him in line."
Edward
Robert Cromwell
Astoria

Robert found the worrying of a mother somewhat endearing, it helped humanize a queen he hadn't spent as much time around as he'd have liked to. 

"Don't worry on that account, Daemon does seem to actually like Mikhail. I've seen how he uses people, he scarcely ever spend time with them and only ever goes when he needs something, for example, some kitchen girl named Trissa he's been toying with to get him extra rations. Effectively _everything_ Daemon does is to spend time with or show Mikhail something. I just need to get the kid to focus on training and learning some damn humility. But even exhausted the boy drives some grown men across the yard, which only emboldens him. But thank you for the permission. I didn't want to start commanding castle staff around and step out of line. Now, what would you like for dinner?"
Joseph
Anyanka Durkhan
Astoria

It felt like he was trying to assure her, and while she was still now weary of the young man who had started to teach her son how to be a man, she gave a small smile. "Of course, Lord Cromwell, anything to make your job easier, I will try to accommodate." Her mind was still wondering about the teenagers when he prompted what they would have and her smile turned sheepish. "By all means, request whatever you would like, I make dinner decisions practically every night, I've run out of ideas."
Edward
Robert Cromwell
Astoria

Robert paused for a few moments thinking, "Breakfast for dinner sound okay...? Bacon, eggs, Feyshorian Toast?" He asked, making sure this wasn't one of those 'Whatever you want... No not that.' situations he often found himself in with women. Also to ensure that Robert's favorite meal would be _okay_ with the Anya.
Joseph
Anyanka Durkhan
Astoria

The redhead cocked her head to the side and gave a genuine laugh. "That sounds _perfect_." She grinned. "I never get to ask for it, I always worry no one else would be in the mood for jams and toasts for dinner."