The two princes from Tralon walk down the main road together, the oldest with his hands behind his head, and the youngest keep glancing towards him.
"Why are you following me, Felix?" Anoi asks.
"Am I following you?" Felix asks, looking towards him. "I'm just heading to the market. I heard from the servant there are merchants from Runeswift."
"Then, you're heading there to interrogate them?" The younger brother inquires.
"Interrogate them? No, I'm going to see what they are selling. You can get a lot of information from merchants if you see what they are selling and how much. It's like what my mother use to say. You can get more from people when you use sugar than lemons." He says, looking over to his brother and notices he's not paying attention. "Anoi?"
"What are you babbling about?" He asks, annoys, looking over to his older brother.
"Nothing." He shakes his head and looks away. "Where are you going?"
"I'm going to the market as well." He informs him, looking at a manor covers in dead brown vines. The grass around it has overgrown, hiding the walking path to the door. He wonders how it looks like on the inside.
Felix raises a brow. "Really? Are you going to the market on foot? Not even with an escort?"
Anoi looks back towards his brother, getting more annoyed. "Why do I need to have an escort just to go to the market?"
"Well, back home, wherever you go. Lady Rosabella would insist that you had an escort. You cannot blame me for being a bit surprised. But this is great!"
Curious, the second prince raises his brow. "How is this great?"
"Well, we are both heading to the same place; why not accompany each other? We can Shop around, and I can show you how to get information subtly. I can even help you meet some young maidens." The first prince tells his brother as he waves at a few girls walking by and smiles as they giggle to each other. He looks back at his little brother seeing an unconvinced look on his face. "Come on; it's going to be fun." He insists as Felix sling his arm over Anoi's shoulders, giving him a broad smile.
The younger prince looks at his older brother and wonders how this fool can run a kingdom if his only thoughts are girls and having fun. Shouldn't he be in the manor with their father planning for the meeting tomorrow? "Maybe another time." He shrugs off his brother's arm and walks a bit ahead of him. "I have something to do today."
"Oh?" The first prince tilts his head a bit curious. "We've been only here for a few hours. What do you have to do in a place you never been before?"
"It's none of your concern." Anoi walks further away, trying to prevent his brother from asking any more questions. He doesn't want Felix to figure out that he's heading to the monastery's library.
Felix looks a bit hurt by his brother dismissing him, but then a thought comes across his mind, and a smile appears on his lips. "Oh, I see where you are heading, but you don't have to lie to me."
"What are you talking about?" Anoi looks back to his brother with a look of confusion and worries on his face.
"Come on, little brother, nothing to be embarrassed about." He assures him.
"Embarrassed? Embarrassed about what? Not wanting to spend time with my brother on this trip?" Anoi inquires.
"No, no, about going to a brothel."
"What?!" Anoi looks around, horrified, hoping no one else hears him. "Will you lower your voice?" He hisses at Felix.
"Why? You're a young man; there's no shame in it. You heard the soldiers talk about going there, so you can't help but wonder what it's all about." Felix's smile widens even more, seeing his brother getting fluster. "I have to say it's about time; I never saw you with a woman. I seriously thought you favor the other sex." He continues, unaware that his little brother is creating a fire in his hand. Felix turns to Anoi. "I'll go with you."
"What?!" Shock by his brother wanting to go with him. A look of disgust comes across his face. "Why the Vuphae would I have you accompany me to one of those places?"
"Come on, Anoi, it will be a good idea to have me come along." Felix reason with him.
"Why?" Anoi sneers. "You want to watch me and give me pointers? I would question what you're attracted to."
"Hey now," The crown prince raises his hands. "No need to be defensive, I don't want to watch you. You know for a man that read so much. I'm surprised you can be so foolish. I want to make sure you're not going to be deception and ends up with the Snake Soreness."
"What the Vuphae is The Snake Soreness?" Anoi looks a bit shock but takes a slow deep breath to calm down. "Look, I do not have to worry about that because I won't be going to a place like that. I will be going to the market to look for books to add my collection."
"Is that what everyone is calling it now?" Seeing the glare given by Anoi, he laughs again. "Alright, Alright, I'll stop, I was only teasing you. But I can still join you in your quest to look for books."
"No, why don't you enjoy your visit with your men? Go to the brothels with them. I just want to walk around the market alone. I've been traveling in that carriage for months with everyone. I don't want you hanging around me with your vulgar language, while I'm looking."
"Hey now, no need to be hostile. You can't blame me for trying to mend the bridge. What happens to us, Anoi? We used to play when we were kids. What happen?"
"I grew up; that's what happens. I realize we are not equals. Everyone knew you are going to be king. I was never going to be king, and everyone knows this. They treat me differently." He glowers.
"Anoi, no one treats you differently because of that, they did because your mother," He stops himself from telling Anoi, his mother gotten involved with the servants causing them to be fearful of getting busy with the young boy.
Anoi stops and turns to Felix. "What about my mother?" His amber eyes go hard.
Seeing this look in his brother's eyes, he knows if he continues, one of the abandoned houses will catch fire, and they don't need that kind of attention. "Nothing, look, Anoi, I just want to go back when we were kids. Before we part ways."
"But what's the point? Once we finish here, we will be heading back, and you will be busy with your duties and courting Lady Ishtar." He scoffs, not believing that their bloodline will be soiled by a water mage marrying into their family. "I will be heading to Wepis to begin my studies as an ambassador and court one of the ladies in their court."
The crown prince bites his lip a little, preventing himself from telling Anoi his plans have changed. But he knows their father wants to break the news to him over dinner. Not out in the open where he can lose his temper. "Then more the reason to use this opportunity to spend time together. I'll help you with your book quest." He continues to stop Anoi from declining. "You will have your peace when you arrive at Wepis. Indulge your future king."
Seeing the determined look in his brother's eyes, Anoi let out a sigh knowing there is no way he will be able to avoid him during this outing. He'll have to make an excuse to step away for a few hours tomorrow. 'I wish Noros were here; then, he could have gotten the book with ease.' Letting out a sigh, he looks at a fool of his brother. "Alright, brother, you win."
Felix smiled warmly and slung his arm over his brother's shoulder again. "Let's go on a book hunt. All these merchants here, they must have a book you don't have in your collection."
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Roy closes the door after the small mousy girl leaves the room. He turns to his comrades who are looking over the tray to see what's on it. "He just left, if we leave now, we can catch up to him."
Charlie did a dismissive wave. "Leave him." He commanded, picking up a half-cut sandwich.
"If we go after him, he will quickly lose us in the crowd and won't find him until tomorrow afternoon, with a lecture ready for us. Quincy says, taking a brown star-shaped cookie and pop it in his mouth.
"But it doesn't feel a right to have him to be going on his own without protection." Roy cannot believe how calm his comrade is with their king out on his own.
"You fail to realize that he isn't a child anymore. He can take care of himself since." Charlie pauses and lets out a painful sigh. "Since the passing of the late King and Queen. So instead of worrying about the what-ifs, for now, we will rest and wait for him to return tonight. If he doesn't return tonight, then we will worry." He assures Roy as he takes a bit of the sandwich. "Hm, this is good," He commented with his mouth food before swallow. "You think we can ask for Ale instead of tea?"
Quincy chuckles. "We can certainly ask you are the king after all." Both men let out a loud laugh.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Moonlight stands in the middle of a four-way section of the road and keeps looking up and down from her map to the streets, figuring out which one to take. "Left, or right? Left, or right? Oh, why can't I figure out this map?" As she examines the map, someone from behind her bumps into her cause her to stumble and bumps into a man dress in dark blue clothes and white fur. "Oh! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to bump into you. Are you okay? I didn't hurt you, did I?" Moonlight asks her words fast as she panics. His father warns her that few people would be forgiving if they get to bump into even if it was an accident.
"I'm alright. It will be embarrassing if I have gotten hurt so easily by a girl bumping into me." Damian asks, turning her and is stunned to see a farmer from Tralon coming all the way here. "Are you alright?" He asks, wondering why a farmer would make the trip. As soon as he looks into her eyes, another thought comes across his mind. 'Is she a civilian of Drover?'
Unaware that the man before her trying to figure who she is, she flashes him a smile to assure him she's okay. "I'm alright, but I'm sorry. I wasn't paying attention. You see, I was looking at my map and," She raises her hand to show him the map but quickly realize she lost it. "Oh, no!" She looks around in a panic as she spins around, looking around.
Seeing her panic, Damian tries to stop her from franticly looking around. "Calm down, what's wrong?"
"My map! I lost my map," she tells him, her voice quickens as she begins to panic again. "If I don't have my map, I won't be able to find the inn. Then papa and I will have to sleep in the wagon tonight, and that would hurt his back, and poor daisy won't get fresh hay and,"
Unable to get her attention, he looks around to see if he could find it. He notices a small brown paper lying in the dirt. Picking it up and turning it over shows a map from a market stand to an inn called Illuminate Inn. The king must admit he didn't realize a ruined city will have running in. He looks back to the panic girl and waves his hand in front of her. But failing this attempt, he takes a deep breath and calls out to her. "Excuse me, miss!"
The yelling stops her into a train of thoughts and frantic search; she turns to him. "I'm sorry, I-"
Damian holds up the map in front of her. "Is this it?"
As soon as her violet eyes lay on the dirty map, they light up with relief. "Oh! Yes, yes! Thank you, thank you so much!" She takes the map back.
As the paper slips from his fingers and before Damian couldn't stop himself from asking what's on his mind. "I don't mean to be rude, but I'm wondering, are you from Tralon?"
Not surprised by getting asks, but this question again responds with a shake of her head. "Oh no, I'm not from there."
"Oh sorry, I just thought because with your hair,"
"That's what my papa said too. He said people would mistake me from Tralon. But I live here in Drover." She assures him.
"From here?" Damian says, sounding the surprise and unconvinced. "But I thought Drover only have monks, is that not true?"
"Oh, that's true, the monks live inside the city, but they have farming colonies around the capital, that's where I'm from."
"I see, but if their farming colonies outside the capital them, why are there so many people here?" Damian gestures towards the crowd of people walking around them.
"Oh, that's easy to explain. The monks allow the farmers to hold a market here once a month. That's why my Father and I came here today."
"That makes sense, so when the market closes, the population is just the monks?" He asks.
"That's what my father told me. He also said there are a lot more people because of the treaty signing here.
"I heard the refugees from the war countries are coming here for safety. Do you know if they are staying the capital?"
"The monks are sending them to live in the farmers' colonies." Moonlight explains.
"Then wouldn't the colonies become overcrowded with more people?"
"Maybe? Father should know since he is the only one that speaks for the farmers. But I overheard them one-night complaining about the refugees trying to start their farms on the already establish farmers that live and own those lands."
"I see, well, hopefully, the treaty will work out, and the refugees will be able to head back to their homelands."
"Maybe?" Moonlight shifts to one foot to another, getting worries about time passing. "But they already settle, so it will be a shame to move them."
Noticing her shifting, he asks if she's okay. "Are you alright? Am I making you uncomfortable?"
Moonlight quickly shakes her head. "You're not. It's just," She lets out a sigh. "I'm worried about being late and missing on getting a room. I'm sorry I don't mean to be rude. It's nice talking to someone beside papa." Her cheeks grow red with embarrassment.
The king gives her a reassuring smile and steps aside. "Then, I better not keep you any longer. Miss, thank you for answering my questions."
"You're welcome. If you have any more, I'm sure my father won't mind answering some. He attends the monthly meetings the council holds with the farmers." She offers.
"I might take you up on your offer. But I think for now you must go. You don't want to miss out on a room. Have a lovely day, miss." He gives her a small bow and couldn't help chuckle when he hears her giggle.
Moonlight did an awkward curtsy not used to doing one. "You have a good day, good sir." She bid him goodbye and hurry down the street.
Before he continues his way, he turns back to around to watch her hurry down the street and then pause, look at the map, turn back around, and hurries down another road. He couldn't help but let out a little chuckle. "Good Luck, red." He says to himself as he turns around and heads towards the market.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nox stands in front of the door to Father Lanney's office. 'It will be fine; you just need to convince him what's he's planning isn't going to work. It's going to make it worse.' With a deep breath, Nox put on a calm face and knock on the door with three hard loud raps, to announce his entrance. Hearing no response, he opens the door to see Lanney sitting at his desk working.
Hearing someone entering, Father Lanney looks up and sees it's Nox, his frown deepens. "What is it, Nox? Can't you see I'm busy?" He asks as he looks back at her parchment and continues to write.
"I see that you recovered quickly." Nox jabs.
The scraping of the quill stops, and the room falls to silence. Lanney looks up with an unamused look on his face.
Nox clears his throat and continues. "I came to tell you that I had gotten Dismas to settle down."
"Good, then if that's all you are dismiss." Lanney dismisses the young monk and goes back to his work. But not hearing Nox leaves, he looks up, seeing him still standing there. "Is there anything else you need?"
"Yes." Nox clears his throat and close the door, to give him a moment. "I just want to see if you're still planning to,"
"Get rid of you?" The father interrupted him. "I should; it will be a wonderful way to make an example out of you?" He watches the young man squirm for a moment before he goes back to his work. "But I'm not; you can thank Brother Maller for talking me out of it. He suggests I send you to one of the monasteries."
"Which one?"
"The one in Alves."
"Alves? Their monastery is in shambles." Nox says in disbelief.
"I know, Brother Maller said your skills could bring it up to par."
"If I leave, who will take care of Dismas?"
"Well, that won't be your concern anymore, would it?" He tells him as Lanney dip his quill in the inkpot.
Nox digs his nails in his palm a bit to try to calm him down. The thought of being away from Dismas upset him. "Then, I will say goodbye to her when I bring her dinner."
"No, you will not, I can't take a risk you trying to sneak her out or upsetting her. Someone else will bring her food."
"She's going to be upset if I don't show up for dinner."
"I'm sure we can handle her for tonight." He assures him, placing the quill in the inkpot to rest. "By the time she figures it out, the new chains will be in place."
"You're still planning to do that?"
��Her powers are getting stronger; of course, I will do that."
"Have you forgotten what happens in her room?" Nox is in disbelief that the father is planning to continue to chain her down.
"Of course, I haven't forgotten what happened. Hence the reason I'm ordering stronger chains. I took care of here before you did. Dismas only attack me because you were involved. Once you are gone, she won't do that again." The father tells him as he folds the letter in three parts, then pours the melted purple wax and places a brass seal stamp on top. "Your concern should be packing. The supply wagon will be leaving right at down." A smug smile comes on his face. "I suggest you go start packing."
Anger begins to boil in the young monk veins. "Do you know what you're doing? You're placing a bandage on the problem that is growing bigger as the day pass. Sending me away or chaining her up will not fix the problem."
"Oh?" The older monk raises a brow. "Then, please tell me what I should do? Let me guess train her on using her powers?"
"Yes! What's the point in telling the other countries we have this all-powerful mage, but we only lock her away? Wouldn't teaching her how to control it be more beneficial to all of us? Can't you see locking her away is making it worse?"
Lanney looks unimpressed. "Do you think we never thought of that? Tell me, Nox, how many mages can connect to the spirit world?" As he waited for an answer, he removes the stamp to show an impression of the council's crest. A unicorn on its hind legs facing towards a snake that's ready to strike. "Well? Have you thought of one?" Lanney takes Nox's silences as an answer. "You can't, can you?" He asks, putting the stamp away. "That's because all of them succumbed to the Rabid Banish and died seventeen years ago. So, no mages mean we need to keep her safe."
"You mean lock her up in a cage." Nox places his hands flat on the desk and leans in. He pays no mind to the look that Father Lanney was giving him. "It's not working. She's getting curious about the outside world. Today it's the crows. A year it will be Dismas, either by your blessing or on her own accord. Even without her using her powers, someone else with power will know about her and will take her. What will happen then? Are you going to stop them?"
The room falls silent as both men stare each other, waiting for the other to break the silence. This one will be Lanney as he sighs and gets up from his desk. "Nox, you've met her after the downfall, correct?"
"Yes, you took me in, a year after the fall." Nox remembers. "Then, a year later, you assign me to care for Dismas."
"Then you never witness the chaos she unleashes in this kingdom. How she single-handily brought Drover to its knees at the age of eight."
"Never witness it?" Nox says in disbelief. "I'm only a few years older than her, Father. I'm one of the survivors; I lost my entire family to that plague. But I don't blame her for my loss because I know what she has done was because she was scared at the time. The ones I do blame id the elder, like yourself, Father Lanney."
Lanney spun around his voice, venom. "Watch your tongue, boy."
Nox continues moving closer toward him. "You all fail the ritual, and instead of taking responsibly, all of you just lock her up and pretend it didn't happen., hoping she will die soon."
"If I wanted her to die. I would've killed her during the fall. But I didn't. I'm keeping her safe and having someone care for her. It was never my mistake to create her; she was a success; it was her mother that was the mistake. It was one of the others that couldn't keep her away for the ritual that her parents are part of."
"How would she react, seeing her mother getting killed?!"
"Then what would you like for me to do? Let her go? Let her wander around the city?"
"Yes! She's not a criminal! Let her interact with more than one person all her life. She's making people up in her head just to keep her company! For the goddess' sake, treat her like a human. I mean, she's supposed to be the embodiment of a goddess, but we are treating her like she's a criminal or a wild animal.
Anger flashes in Father's eyes, but instead of unleashing it and attacking him, he takes a deep breath and slowly lets it out to calm himself down as he starts to talk, his voice again a bit calmer. "You're right; we are treating her poorly. But tell me, what would happen if I let her wander the streets on her own and talking to other people?"
"She'll be happy; she will finally have a normal life."
Lanney walks over to one of the bookshelves, his hands behind his back. "Will she?" He asks, looking towards the young man that's now confused by his change of demeanor.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Don't play dumb. You know one of Dismas' powers correct?"
Unsure what's he's implying, Nox plays dumb. "I'm not sure which one you are talking about; she has so many."
Seeing that's he's going to play dumb, Lanney plays along. "The one where people want to please her and make her happy."
"She doesn't have that power." Nox deny.
Lanney continues. "Let's pretend she does." He says, turning back to the bookshelf and pulls out a blue bound book. "Imagine what will happen if she has that power and is among the general population."
"I don't see the problem if you're implying that she has that need to please gift. I think she will be fine."
"She could," He nods, putting the blue book away and pulling out a brown leather-bound book. "But it seems this gift could be considered an ability to make people love you."
"What are you implying? Are you telling me I've fallen for it?"
Lanney ignores him and continues. "LoveLove comes in different forms of affection, martial, obsession, or worse. Now I'm immune to this gift of hers. But what will happen if someone falls under that spell?" He asks, walking back to his desk. "Now what will happen if a large crowd falls under that spell. Before you answer, how will she defend herself from someone that can be too aggressive."
"You know what she would do; she defended me against you." Nox answers are unsure where's he's implying.
"Yes, she did, but you were there to calm her down, correct?" Father Lanney sits back down at his desk. "But what would happen if you're not there. What if she's alone, with no one there to calm her down. What do you think the outcome will be?"
The young monk stays silent, realizing she could kill someone with her powers if she would lose control. He then thinks of how a crowd of people will react, seeing her harming someone. Knowing love can turn to fear and panic, and that can convert to hate. But he thought about why she would be alone. Why would she be alone? You're implying that I'm not going to be with her."
Lanney opens the boo and begins to read the contents. "Why would you? If she's set free, then she doesn't need you anymore, correct?"
"Of course, she needs me; I'm her friend."
The father looks at Nox, not impress, "Oh? Your 'friends'" He said the word friends with a sarcastic tone, before going back to his book. "Let's not play dumb anymore. You can fool the other brothers easily, but you cannot deceive me. You two are more than 'friends'" Stopping at a blank page, he reaches for the resting quill. "You merely have fallen under her spell."
"Under her spell? I haven't fallen under her spell."
"I'm pretty sure you have."
"I haven't fallen under that spell, but I do admit, I felt that urge to please her, but I could easily ignore that feeling." The girl's thought from the market makes him wonder who else has that power, and he debates if he should inform the father as proof it doesn't matter. But then he remembers her father and how protective he is with her.
"Then you won't have a problem leaving." The father looks up from the book once more.
"If you send me away, she will get upset. You see what happened when she gets upset; she loses control."
Placing the quill back, Father Lanney picks up the sealed letter and holds it out towards Nox. "We shall see. I suggest you head to your room and pack before dinner."
Seeing the discussion is over, Nox snatched the order from the father and stormed out, slamming the door behind him.