**RAYAN'S POV**
"What happened after? Did they find you?" Princess kept pestering me as we walked.
"I'll tell you later. Can we focus on our journey? We only have three weeks of travel until you are safely back home, so let's travel in silence," I said in a slightly irritated tone. I swear to the heavens this woman will make me die due to her constant nagging.
"But you can't blame me for being curious. Just tell me what happened after you fell, please," she pleaded.
I sighed, "Fine, the men found me, and they slowly ran their blade through my throat, and I slowly bled out till I died. The end."
"Really?" Her eyes widened.
"Bitch, if they did that, I wouldn't be here being annoyed out of my fucking brains," I said as I brought my face close to hers.
"Argh, you are such a..."
A loud grunt interrupted Princess. Our eyes instinctively went to the source of the noise. Behind us was a wagon being pulled by a mule. One of the wheels of the wagon had gotten stuck in a pothole, and an old man who looked to be around fifty or maybe sixty (I was mostly judging his age by the amount of white hair on his head and the wrinkles on his face) was struggling to push the wheel off.
I turned around and started walking away. After a few steps forward, I didn't hear another set of footsteps following me. I stopped and turned around to see Princess looking at me with a disappointed look and her hands on her waist.
"What?" I asked.
"We aren't going to help him?" she said.
"No," I said, "let's go." In all honesty, I have three swords, a bow, and a quiver attached to me. The old man will just think of me as a bandit and scream for help.
She completely ignored what I just said and went to where the old man was. I couldn't hear what she was saying to the man, but in a few seconds, she tied her hair up in a messy bun with a ribbon she had bought a few days ago. So that's why she bought it. She went to the back of the wagon and tried helping the man to push.
I couldn't help but wonder how the old fart would react if he heard that Princess here was, well, a Princess. I shook my head in irritation as I walked to where they were. This is the worst job I've had in years, and I've done a job with Mikael.
"Allow me," I said when I reached the old man. The old man's eyes traveled to my face, then to the scimitars and bow on my back, and finally to the long broadsword on my waist.
He didn't say what he was thinking, but I could guess from his expression that he thought I was a bandit. He backed away from the wheel, and I bent down and grabbed the wheel.
"Prince... Elena, on the count of three, we push together," I said.
"One, two, three," I yelled, and I pushed with all my strength. A soft grunt escaped Princess's mouth as the wheel finally managed to get out of the pothole, and without turning, I could hear the panting of Princess. She was the one who wanted this, so I better not hear a complaint come out of her mouth.
She walked to me. I could see a bit of her hair sticking to her sweaty forehead. She made a small wry smile and we went back on our way.
"Stop," the old man yelled. We both stopped and turned to him.
"Well, I'd like to repay your kindness. I don't have any money on me, but judging from how you are, it seems the two of you are traveling. If you'd allow me, I'd like to take you to my home for a meal and a rest," he said.
I was about to refuse the old man because I didn't want to impose, but Elena managed to beat me to it.
"Sure, we'd love it," she quickly said. I glared at her, and she quietly averted her eyes.
We got on the wagon, just the two of us, since the old man had to drive the mule. The wagon had a log stuck on the opposite sides of the wall: one at the driver's side and the other on the back wall. Princess sat on the wall that was close to the driver, while I sat at the opposite. She was still avoiding my eyes.
I moved forward and flicked her forehead.
"Ouch! That hurts," she said, rubbing the spot I just flicked.
"Next time, you'll listen to what I say, okay?" I said in my low tone.
"Yes, dear husband," she said, this time making eye contact. Her eyes had this look when she was sarcastic.
I rolled my eyes at her, sat down, and rested my head on the wall. This woman is annoying as hell, but it's better that no more money comes out of me in terms of accommodation.
After a few minutes, the wagon finally stopped, and the old man opened the door for us. The moment my foot touched the ground, and my eyes scanned the area, I felt a vague sense of familiarity with this place. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but possibly in my life, I've traveled to numerous places, so this might be one of them.
The old man's home was nothing unique, just a dining table in his living room, two rooms, which I assumed would be the bedrooms, and a kitchen. I couldn't see inside the kitchen, but I could hear someone there, the sound of utensils being cleaned.
"I'm home," the old man announced as he requested us to take off our shoes. We did as we were told and took them off.
"Oh, well, you're early today," the person inside the kitchen said. From her voice, I could only assume that she was the wife of the old man.
The wife came out, missing her right leg from the knee, and struggling with a walking stick that might have seen better days. The moment I saw the walking stick, I quickly turned my eyes and glared at Elena.
"Don't worry about my wife's leg. She still has a good kick left," the old man joked.
The wife's gaze traveled from Princess to me, but she lingered longer at me. Yeah, I should hide my weapons now. The man went to his wife and whispered something to her before they both left us alone in their living room. Morons, if we were bandits, then what would have happened to them?
"So, Princess, how does it feel? Intruding in these lovely people's house?" I said.
"Well, we can leave, and I didn't know about his wife," she said.
"Well, now that you know, how does it feel? I bet it feels really good."
Princess didn't say anything, but from her expression, I could see that she was feeling guilty. The old couple came from wherever they had gone, and even though we both refused, the old lady was adamant to help. They gave us a room with only one bed.
Uh-oh, I forgot that we are masquerading as husband and wife. I looked at Princess, who was also preoccupied with our current predicament. The old woman noticed our discomfort.
"Sorry about the state of this room. It's the best we could come up with in such short notice," she said, her voice filled with hints of disappointment.
"No, no, it's more than enough. We just feel like we are the ones who are imposing," Elena quickly said, and I nodded in agreement with her.
The old lady sighed in relief after our words, and she assisted us in unpacking our belongings. Once we were all finished, she left us alone.
"Uhm, so about the bed..."
"What about it?"
"Uhm, I don't mind sharing it... If you promise not to misbehave."
"Misbehave?" I burst out laughing at her choice of words.
"Okay, I promise."