"Owe you? Of course he does." Vihr scoffed as he bit into his bread. The honey he'd applied on it generously, dripped from the other end right onto his trousers. Grumbling, he reached for his napkin and some water.
They'd all gathered at the clearing for lunch. It was the perfect spot, a patch of level land between the fields being cultivated and the forests which were in the process of being cleared. Most workers preferred to gather here for their meals.
Ahead of the site marked for the extension, there was just thick dense forest surrounding them, and a river flowing somewhere in its depths, which could only be heard rushing in the dead silence of the night. Before all of this, on a levelled piece of barren land, was the housing camp. A few miles before that was the town of Rannerre, Raaz's hometown.
"Like I believe he means it." Raaz rolled her eyes.
"There's a chance he does. You did save him from immediate death, after all." Laaj said.
"Why did you, though?" Vihr asked, frowning at the spot on his trousers that he wasn't able to clean entirely.
"Why did I...what?"
"Save him."
"Because otherwise he'd have died..?"
"And?"
"C'mon Vihr. Even you don't hate the Royals enough to let one die right in front of you. Especially if you had the ability to save him right then" Raaz said.
Vihr sighed. "I suppose you're right. Not incredibly fond of them, but standing by and watching one get impaled is...a little extreme, I'll admit."
"You're awfully quiet, Mani." Laaj asked her brother, who just sat there staring down at his food.
"I can't believe you yelled at him." Mani's voice was low and his tone was laced with concern and a hint of disappointment.
"What's the big deal, Mani? He didn't seem to mind it." Raaz said.
"And what if he had?" Mani looked up at her sternly. Making sure neither the Prince nor his guards were within earshot, he continued in a low voice, "What if he had minded, Raazan? What if he'd have had you arrested for contempt? What would I do then? In fact, what makes you think he didn't mind? Maybe he did, and he's waiting for a perfect opportunity to make you pay. You never know with these Royals and their ego and their twisted sense of revenge."
It was obvious that he was overreacting. However, Raaz knew exactly why he was overreacting. She wanted to tell him she'd barely said one full sentence to the Prince, but she knew that was of no use. Mani wouldn't have it.
"Sorry Mani. It was on impulse, and I'll make sure it doesn't happen again."
"Impulse? Honestly, Raazan?" Mani looked at her incredulously. Raaz thought it wise to say nothing. Drawing in a deep breath, he relaxed his tense shoulders a little. "Look, Raaz-" He started, looking a little apologetic.
"I know, Mani. It's okay." Raaz smiled reassuringly. "I'll curtsy and everything next time."
This got a feeble laugh out of everyone. They didn't talk about the Prince after that, but for some odd reason, Raaz couldn't get him out of her head. Every now and then, she would think about the way he had looked at her back then while thanking her. Why did he look like that? Like he was…breaking apart? Was he just shaken up from the near-death experience? Or was there more to it?
Even as she lay there on her sleeping mat that night, this was all she could think about. She wasn't sure why. What was it in Prince Faiz's deep brown eyes that she couldn't quite forget? Something told her she knew exactly what it was, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.
She shook her head. This was stupid. The gent was seconds away from death. It was probably just the shock and disbelief that she'd seen and was now making a big deal out of. And even if there was something else in those deep-set eyes, it hardly mattered to her. Leave the overthinking to Mani and get some sleep, she told herself.
As she drifted off, however, it clicked. Before she surrendered herself completely to night-long slumber, a tiny voice in her head told her what it was that she'd seen in the Prince's eyes, or at least thought she saw. It was what you'd see in a deer's eyes moments before a hunter strikes it down: a plea for help.
The next day, Raaz woke up thinking about heat and pests. Any thoughts of Royals, deers and brown eyes had vanished. Unlike the previous day, she wasn't the first to wake up, so she had to wait in line for the showers. While getting dressed, an observation made her groan. Both the tunics she owned were dark. No wonder heat and mosquitoes seemed especially fond of her.
Raaz decided that the first thing she'd do on this New Moon Day was buy herself a lighter coloured tunic in Rannerre. But then, glancing at her trousers she saw they were tearing at the knees. And her shoes...those were a sad sight. She sighed. She wasn't sure if she had enough silver pieces to make all of these purchases. She'd just have to prioritise.
Halfway to the clearing, Laaj stopped in her tracks. "Ugh."
"What?" Raaz asked.
"I'm Vihr today."
"What?"
"I acted like Vihr. I forgot my bag back at the camp. I'll have to head back and get it." Laaj whined.
"I'll come with-"
"It's one bag, Raazan. I don't think we need two people to carry it."
"Yes, but-"
"Go on ahead. I'll hurry."
"If you're certain."
Feeling a little odd at letting Laaj go back by herself, Raaz headed towards the clearing. The boys were already waiting there. Mani looked a little flushed and Vihr was grinning ear to ear. When they saw her approach alone, both looked at her quizzically.
"She's Vihr today." Raaz said in response to the looks.
"What?" They chorused, looking further confused.
"She forgot her bag back at the camp."
"Oh." Mani nodded, her previous statement making perfect sense to him. Vihr glared at her, which she ignored.
"Oh, did you know?" Vihr's face was lit up with a devious smile.
"Know what?"
"Mani has an admirer."
"I swear, Vihr-" Mani started, his face turning red.
"I hope you didn't scare her off like last time." Raaz chuckled.
"Oh right. The blacksmith's daughter...what was her name?"
"Dani." Raaz reminded him.
"I didn't scare her away. Stop messing around, you two. I already told you that-"
"Mani!" Someone called out from a distance.
"I'm fairly certain that's her. Mani's admirer." Vihr said.
Raaz smiled, but her smile faded as the girl came closer. Her face was scrunched up in concern and she looked breathless, like she'd run all the way from camp. The three shared worried glances.
"Mani." The girl said again, stopping a few feet away from them and bending a little to catch her breath.
"Zuma, what's wrong?" Mani took a step towards her.
"Your sister...camp…she's hurt" She managed to get out between deep breaths. Hurt. They tensed up.
"Where in the camp?" Raaz grabbed Zuma by the elbows.
"The woman's quarters. Third roo-"Before she could even finish, all three were zooming back to camp.