Mikhail Aberdeen Mareth, third prince of the Mareth kingdom smack in the centre of the continent, was not happy. The lordling -he preffered to think of him thus even if he was a yeah older- was frustrating, but now he could imagine why the lady of whispers was interested in him.
He reeked of secrets. And he'd kept insisting he knew nothing. That lightning the night before. There was no doubt in his mind James Halden knew its source. In two nights, when his allies made their move, he had to ensure Halden was captured alive. He was so preoccupied, he didn't notice a young man wearing the cream and light blue colours of house Halden servants, nor the other young man staring a storm at him from behind a pillar.
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The quartermaster was slow in retrieving a bow, he claimed, fit for nobility. James was happy enough to push his return to the court at any rate.
He had Hansworth fetch him a horse when he showed up. Hansworth couldn't ride, so he had to join the hound keepers and other court hunters on the ground. The quarter master arrived only moments before someone was sent to fetch James.
He wasn't getting back into the court. Only about thirty nobles would make up the party, their servants well in tow. But still, it looked almost a column two hundred strong as they matched through a section of the city James had yet to see.
It took them only a few minutes to reach the third gate James had seen, this one even more exclusive than the noble gate. The woods, continuous with many of the more agey trees in the city, were a stone's throw from the hunter's gate.
James didn't much care for conversation, so he rode at the back of the column, lost in thought. At the head rode the king and around him many nobles. The royal children held their own little courts on the road. James saw Gertrude ride just beside princess Emily. It took him a moment to realise he was riding among the servants.
Prince Mikhail rode only with Timothy Raven. Prince Roland was surrounded by a dignified looking group, and the youngest had a swarm of women paying him the most avid attention. James looked to his side, and was startled to see Jason riding beside him as if he belonged there.
"So the Ken heir was invited?"
"Hmm? Oh, yes, my lord," Jason replied.
The thirty nobles invited were being highly honoured, but there was a deeper truth here. The fact that a third of the nobles invited were from the North showed just how much division still remained in the North. James couldn't help but wonder if the capital knew what was being planned by the Northern lords. And were perhaps encouraging that kind of thing.
A hint of black just at the edges of his vision. There was nothing there. Like a phantom, that darkness had followed him over the last few days. He was starting to get impatient.
He nocked an arrow, aimed at a group of birds winging above the column. He'd not practiced with moving targets since he'd taken up the bow, but if he was being honest, these were kind of his specialty. He shot, a bird fell. He shot again and again. Maybe the hunt wouldn't be so much of a waste after all.
He stopped when he'd used about half his supply of arrows. It wouldn't do to waste his whole supply before the main hunt even started.
"Here my lord," someone extended bundles of well butchered fowl meat.
James frowned. He hadn't known someone was working on the birds for him. He supposed that's how hunts with nobles usually went though.
"I'll hold on to that," Hansworth said from behind the man.
"Do you have a bag, Hans?" James asked his guard.
"I'll just borrow one from this here horse man," Hans nodded toward Jason.
James hesitated, staring at Jason's clothes meaningfully. The fools ignored him.
"Al right, friend. Here, have at it."
"Are you sure your lord will be fine with that?"
Jason shrugged. "It is my bag though. And I still have another for any meat he'll get."
The way he said that last part said he doubted very much his lord would be doing any hunting.
"Halden! That was splendid!"
James looked forward to see the king's horse galloping towards his own. The others in the hunting party were now frowning back at him. He hadn't realised how much attention his shooting had earned him.
"What an elegant shooting style! I have to admit, when I first saw you, I thought you were just trying for a picturesque pose, but you haven't missed a single shot. Tell me, where did you learn to shoot like that?"
James couldn't help but blanch at the attention. He'd shot down the birds to burn off steam, but now he was once again the centre of attention.
"I taught myself," he said with false pride.
The king's eyes shone though.
"I want to see it again. Aha, see that Falcon over yonder?!"
It was a not so modest distance away, but James supposed it was a worthy challenge. He drew one more time, loosed, and the king clapped like a little child when the falcon started to descend. A hunter broke off from the column and hurried to retrieve it.
"Good man, Halden!" The king thumped him on the shoulder. "Good man!"
And then he was riding away, laughing and shaking his head and praising James all the way. James stayed poised in his seat. But internally, he was tone between wincing, sighing, and crying. There had to be a way out of this—
"You're from the North, right?" he asked Jason on his right.
"What? Uh, yes. I'm from the Baron's territory, as you can tell."
James nodded in understanding. "How old are you? How long have you worked for the Baron? You look awfully young?"
"I'm just sixteen, my lord. And I haven't worked for them long. In fact, I won't be working there long. They only hired me on as a pretext to escort me to the central domain, so that I may go to the Royal academy this coming semester."
"Oh? What a kind lord? And you are going to the academy, you say? How interesting? Why don't we walk together for a while? You can tell me all about your interesting adventures."
"Walk?" Jason asked, confused, but James was already shouting for two stable hands.
"Take care of the horses, won't you? Me and this interesting young man are going to get better aquainted."
"But my lord, this ground is a bit rough, and we are going up a slope. It may be tiring," one of the stable hands, an older man warned.
James slid off his horse more gracefully than he could have done a few weeks past, tested the rough ground with his booted feet, and smiled at the man.
"Its fine. My feet were getting crumped anyway. You coming...? Um, what's your name?"
"It's Jason. Jason Kon."
Jason slid off his horse as well. James made to follow, but then remembered something at the last instant. He took off his jacket, complaining about the approaching noon heat. He was trying hard not to pay attention to the watching line of nobles, he didn't notice when a few gasped.
He did once notice a hint of black in the vestiges of his line of sight though. He started walking, asking Jason the most useless of questions. He had no direction in mind. He just wanted to get as far from the column as he could. He noticed Hansworth moving towards them from where he'd been moving with the other hunters.
He joined them, walking on the left. James felt the least bit more comfortable then, and by and large the nobles lost interest in the trio. James kept the conversation light until they were a distance away from the column. He sighed.
"Sorry for taking advantage of you, Mr Kon. I just couldn't stand the attention. At times, it felt like a physical sensation."
"Its fine, I guess. Hey, you wanna stop calling me Mr Kon?"
"There might be someone paying attention magically or some thing. We can't let our guards down," he commented. "Though I would have liked to speak with you. I'm getting tired of your stalking."
James wasn't looking at either Jason or Hansworth. He was staring slightly aside and elevated.
"What?! Who're you talking to?" Jason looked around in bewilderment.
James sighed. He seemed to be doing that a lot today.
"It wasn't you. I've just been seeing things lately, I guess."
"Someone's stalking you?" Jason and Hansworth said at almost the same time, their heads twisting this way and that and their bodies tensing.
James snorted. "Don't go playing knights just now. We should keep moving, at the very least. I will have Jonas look into it when we get back to the house."
James kept his bow slang over his shoulder, his quiver on his back. They walked for a while after that, only stopping to partake in a late lunch.
"We've reached the area the boars were tracked to. We shall split into a few teams and take them!" the king announced, getting more animated than James had seen him yet.
James sat with Hans, Jason having been called back to attend his lord Ken. He watched as the different nobles jostled for spots on any of the royal teams. There was someone walking up to him too, but only one.
"James, how are you? Its been quite a while, hasn't it?"
"Albert. I'm surprised they invited you here. Where is your friend?" James looked around for the lady in question.
"Mariane? She's with the princess. I'm in that party too, actually."
"Are you now?" James plucked on his bow distractedly.
"As should you be, if you wish it?"
James smiled. "I kind of like it. The old Northern cartel, as they used to call us. Back together at last. But I can't join you all, I'm sorry."
"Why not? I know you and Mariane are practically strangers, but surely you'd want to talk to the princess at least once, considering—"
"You'd best hold your tongue, friend, if you wish to stay in her highness' good graces."
"What are you talking about?"
Just then, Jason Kon came jogging back, signaling that the young lord Ken had permitted him to join their party for the hunt. Or maybe he'd sent him to spy. Not that that would do any good.
"The princess is not a fan of that rumour, I assure you. And neither am I for that matter."
His old friend, or the original James's old friend looked at him in utter bewilderment. James fancied he could understand his confusion. Who in their right mind would not want to marry the princess?
"But? What even are you saying? You don't want what? The princess herself extended the invitation. And we used to talk about her all the time back then, remember?"
A memory popped up unbidden in James's head. Him and a group, Albert an uncomfortable priar, all staring at one girl and whispering their fantasies and giggling like hormone devils. He frowned. Was there perhaps once a time James Halden had had a crush on the princess? Perhaps a real kind of romantic interest.
The more he examined his memories though, the more he found it to be superficial. He started to shake his head. It wasn't even innocent sexual attraction, it was some kind of sick perversion. A horror striken look started to take shape, then a wince, and then he was palming his face.
He had a lot of things to do to redeem his reputation. Then a demure voice broke into his musings.
"Excuse me, um, lord Halden?"
He turned at that, frowned at the young woman behind him. Owlish silvery tinted eyes, flowing auburn hair, and a slight figure. She looked hesitant even to be there, in her tunic and riding breeches, a sword strapped to her hip.
"Are you forming your own party?" she asked.
"Yes. If prince Mikhail sent you, then I'll have to respectfully decline."
"No, uh, sorry. I didn't get to join any of the other parties, so I thought maybe—"
Now wasn't that interesting. Was this a sign the crown already knew of the Raven's growing influence in the Central region. And wasn't she recently announced as prince Mikhail's official fiancee.
"So what?" James said to her. "You'll have to settle for us now that the others are all full?"
"What?! No, I meant—"
"Can you blame her, my lord," Jason thumped James on the back, a bit hard.
Maybe he'd deserved that for giving her a hard time. But how was that enough to get anyone flustered.
"Fair enough," he gave Jason a pained smile while he rubbed his smutting shoulder.
One hand rubbing his hair, he extended a hand to the lady. His smile turned shy, and it wasn't intentional.
"I'm James Halden. We'd be happy to have you."
"I'm Crescida Bladhaven," she smiled very brightly. "Thank you for having me."
James lost his smile, let go of her hand a little too fast, and almost fell right into Albert's arms when he turned suddenly.