"What's with the heavy atmosphere?"
Allan and Nicollo -- (Oldest, second oldest)
A tired voice emerged from the scene. It was Alan, walking back with Nicollo from the stable to see what was happening after tending to the horses. Gael quickly looked up, seeking Alan, the oldest of the Knights.
The Captain quickly sighed and closed his eyes, his hands reached for his temple and gently massaged it as if trying to rid the wrinkles that formed in between his brows. The man turned around and faced the maiden, his expression was hard to determine, grabbing her wrist and quickly walking away from the scene.
"Please have everything ready, I will escort the Princes to the carriage."
All three men looked at Johan, who simply walked away, bringing his wife along with him and breaking the heavy atmosphere that they had all fallen victim under. Alan, the blonde guy with pretty green eyes, scratched his head and looked at Nicollo, who seemed to have read the atmosphere as quickly as they arrived at the scene.
"What was that about?"
"This child cannot hide his emotion… that's why the Captain got pissed."
The man with a childish smirk, Nicollo, finally sat down near the fire, following Alan's gesture when the man sat down with Gael. The knight in question, Gael, the youngest of the five knights that were there, suddenly felt ashamed. "Was I... that obvious?" he mumbled as he started mixing the oats with the boiling water.
Alan placed his hands over the young Knight's soldier, "be careful around the Captain…" he said in sarcasm, shaking his head as he looked at the two walking figures of Johan and the Princess and looked back at the gentleman, "he's very sensitive at the moment."
Johan held Elena's wrist. The touch of his hands felt feverish, yet under the warmth, Elena was certain that Johan was upset. She quietly tagged along, her eyes looking at the unpaved path of the muddy forest as they headed towards the abandoned carriage.
"It's okay, Johan."
Her words of appeasement were met with silence. The pair continued to walk silently in the dim light of the night. Elena, wanting to break the cold silence, lightly tagged Johan's hands as she looked up to him, wanting for the man to look back at her.
"I'm okay—"
"What is okay, Princess?"
The man turned around, his eyes were cold and still as he looked at Elena. For a second, she saw a glimpse of the man she once knew only from afar. The familiar stare of his momentarily cold eyes scared her for a second as if she was looking at someone who did not know of her existence, freezing her in place.
"What's wrong, Elena?"
Johan's eyes quickly soften. Elena caught herself and quickly snapped out of her paralyzed state, " I understand it's hard to trust an Ibreothan… " she lowered her gaze, trying to make sure she was calm enough to speak in a stable manner.
"You're my wife and they are your knights…" Johan explained, both of them recalling Gael's words of malice.
"... I was not offended. The sir was not rude to me, Johan." She said, her eyes looking at his hands that had loosen its grip, sensing a more comfortable warmth from the man. Elena knew it was difficult for him to take a side. Johan's choices were either to shake Gael's pride or choosing to stand up for his wife.
I wasn't welcome because I am the king's daughter.
From the look of how the other had reacted, she could only smile bitterly to herself and accept their inevitable doubts. No one, in there, was going to defend her. Not unless, just like Johan, he too was drugged with Aphrodisiac.
Out of all the knights, Gael, who she could tell was from the North, must have known about the drug. The others might have or might not have heard of the drugs because they were from somewhere else—
A hand lifted up her face, her eyes quickly matched the man's stare as his fingers touched her soft chin.
"Stay here for a bit, I will bring you food."
The man opened the carriage door for her and left. Her eyes followed him like the shadow while her feet felt pinned to the ground as Johan continued to walk away. Without leaving him out of sight, her mind tried to get rid of the words the young Knight had said, "how can we ask the Princess of Ibreotha to prepare our food?" she repeated his mouthed words under her breath. It was words to express a simple fact-- he does not trust her.
Her gaze fell on the muddy ground, a sense of guilt knocking her senses and making her look away from the scene of the four knights sitting on the fireplace who seemed to enjoy each company, they laugh and joke around-- it was a place she could only wish to have.
'"How can you ask the Princess…"' [1]
She nodded slightly as if in agreement with Gael's words and smiled bitterly as she once again acknowledged the truth behind his words. A part of her was hurt by it, learning that even outside the Palace, there was no place for her. The truth is, though they were hundreds of miles away from the King of Ibreotha, her father's shadow still aches to affect her.
"... he might say anything about the drug."