The carriage pulled over, and the old man who was driving the carriage couldn't help but cover his nose when Reeve and company came over.
"Greetings to you, kind sir. Would you be so kind as to tell us which direction is Sky City?" said Reeve.
The old man was surprised for a moment. He had never seen anyone who looked so … eh … what was the word for it? Weird? Forget about the smell, the person talking had stitches on his face, and he was wearing black robe. When Soren realized that Reeve had 'shocked' the carriage driver, he pulled him back.
He then proceeded to say, "Good day, would you be kind enough to tell us which direction Sky City is located?"
"Hmm young man, you look very familiar. By chance, are you related to the Skycrawler family?" the old man asked his own question.
This kind of question was precisely what Soren was actually trying to avoid. The less people who knew about his background, the better. Reeve turned to look at Soren, trying to see how he was going to answer this. As for Rizaneth, she had a look of disbelief etched on her face, before wiping it off.
"My apologies, I usually get asked that question a lot. About my question … we're in a hurry, and we do not want to delay you and the person in the carriage any longer than we have already done", responded Soren.
Reeve smiled when he heard this reply. This kid hadn't denied that he was related to the Skycrawler family, and at the same time, he hadn't agreed either. The answer would leave one with more questions instead. A clever little miscreant, wasn't he?
Before the old man could respond, the person who was being ferried by the carriage came out. It turned out to be a beautiful girl. She was wearing a bright red dress, with flowers as decorations. Her long hair was blonde, and her eyes were bright, as if they contained a source of light.
"Charles, what seems to be the problem? Why did we suddenly stop?" asked the bright-eyed young lady. However, as her eyes spotted Soren, she exclaimed, "Eh? Soren Skycrawler?"
Soren couldn't help but shout out, "Cindi? Fancy meeting you here …"
His voice contained a noticeable quiver. Reeve could tell that there was something between these two. And this something was definitely quite special. The girl was quite a distance away from Reeve and crew, so she didn't notice the smell. However, a soft wind blew, carrying the odour along. She couldn't help but reflexively cover her nose when the smell assaulted her nostrils.
"Why are you here? I thought you were in the Southern Water tribe?" asked the girl, with her hand still covering her nose.
"It's a very long story. Where are you going?"
"I'm headed home. Want to ride with me?" she asked, as her cheeks reddened visibly, and her audibility faded.
"Thank you, Cindi. Come on, I'll introduce everyone inside the carriage", said Soren, as he hurriedly grabbed Cindi's hand and dragged her into the carriage.
Only the old man who was driving the carriage noticed the flush of red that showed on the girl, Cindi's face. He was quite confused as to why someone so familiar with the young lady would lie about his background. Then again, they had never met face to face, so he thought the young man didn't trust him. He couldn't be bothered about that. However, he couldn't help but feel sorry for the young lady. That smell …
"Who's the carriage driver? I have never seen him before", asked Soren, when they had sat down in the carriage, which began moving.
"Oh, his name is Charles. He's my father's butler", replied Cindi.
"How come I've never seen him before?"
"Don't worry too much about it", she urged. She continued, "What happened for you to be walking like this?"
"I ran into some issues when I was coming from the Southern Water tribe", replied Soren, with a sad expression.
"Where's Clagius and Asellus?" she asked, before continuing, "Those two always travel with you."
Soren didn't reply. His expression told Cindi all she needed to know. There was a very awkward silence in the carriage. That wasn't the only bad thing though, oh no. Remember Reeve and company hadn't changed clothes? So, the smell in the carriage reached a new peak.
After seeing the awkward silence, Reeve coughed a bit, and when Soren heard the cough, he started, "This is …"
"Reeve. My name is Reeve, and this is Rizaneth." He had to interject when he realized that Soren had forgotten his name.
"Wait … Are you by chance Hesreth's sister?" asked Cindi, as she turned to look at Rizaneth.
"Yes I am. Where did you meet her?"
"Well … she's betrothed to my older brother so …" Cindi's face reddened as she said this. It seemed she was thinking about something else.
"Where did you say you were coming from again?" asked Reeve.
At first, she hadn't looked at this person clearly, but when she turned to look at him, she was startled. This person had stitches on his face, unkempt brown hair, and red eyes. She couldn't help but cover her mouth in shock. Rizaneth saw her actions and rolled her eyes, while Reeve frowned. Soren remained unperturbed.
"Umm … we're coming from Rifthal. My father had sent us to get something from there", she replied hesitantly.
Seeing that Reeve was about to ask another question, Rizaneth interjected and asked, "When did my sister get betrothed to your brother and what is your brother's name? How come no one told me about the betrothal?"
After being showered by questions, Cindi didn't even know which one to answer first. Soren, being the prince charming that he wasn't, ended up answering some questions for her. "Well, her brother's name is Cadeius. As for why you weren't told about the betrothal, don't you think she's not the right person to ask?"
Rizaneth rolled her eyes at his pathetic attempt at being a prince charming. Not only was he terrible at it, he actually had a point, and that annoyed her. Looking out the carriage window, she saw a familiar wall in the distance.