Vaughn’s news last night didn’t let me sleep. The word ‘scouting’ and ‘rival’ doesn’t sound good together in one sentence. For all I know, we would be scouting the kingdom where the soldiers there are out to kill me.
Couldn’t they just pick another kingdom to scout?!
I also can’t ignore the underlying morals I have to brush off. That ethical dilemma where you’re also contributing to possible deaths of innocent people by participating in the scouting. But doing nothing whilst knowing the possible outcomes of their plans to scout is the same as just watching a crime unfold in front of you.
AM I A HORRIBLE PERSON?!
These thoughts squeezed tightly around my head. The nerves on my head pounded the longer I thought of my likely future. I pushed my head hard to the pole in hopes of relieving the ache.
I let my head hang and tried to clear my brain. There’s only one solution to my current dilemma.
I took a deep breath before shouting at the top of my lungs.
Just like in cartoons, there were a few birds who flew away.
I used my diaphragm as much as possible so I can still shout longer. No curse word can describe my feelings right now. I shouted until my lungs were on the verge of giving up.
The shouting helped me relieve some of the ache. However, all of it was futile when I saw another headache running towards me.
Riain running towards me with two left feet became a sign of a new day. His body is amazingly stiff. He runs like Captain Jack Sparrow, but his upper body is as still as a statue and there’s no bounce in his step. It was amusing to see and creepy at the same time.
The snow he steps on spattered around him, with some hitting his friend behind. He’s like that kid who kicks too hard in the swimming pool, ignorant of the people he accidentally drowns.
I can already feel his radiating perky mood from a distance while his friend barely catches up with him.
“HEEEeeyy…!” Riain shouted while waving something in his hands when he was halfway towards me. His voice faltered a little at the end of his greeting. I could sense he was about to shout my name. The only thing was, he didn’t know.
Meanwhile, the map guy barely caught up because of the bulky bag he was hugging while running. He kept on readjusting the bag on his arms to keep the lid closed.
I took another deep breath to prepare myself mentally from Riain’s noise. Looking at this positively, this could be a pleasant distraction from my impending doom called “Jayden”.
When they came nearer, Riain tripped on his own foot. His expression became a core memory. The look of confusion mixed with utter horror made his nostrils flare while his mouth opened exaggeratedly.
His friend was too busy keeping the lid of his bag closed that he didn’t notice his fallen friend and tripped on him, too. However, his expression was adorable. His rosy plump cheeks and the slight redness of the tip of his nose made him look more like a child, and tripping added to this trait.
The bag flew away from his arms and landed near my feet. Luckily, the contents of the bag only poked out a little.
I looked away and pursed my lips in hopes of containing the laughter bubbling in my stomach. My gut hurt for a while until I calmed down. I shut my eyes and breathe through my nose for extra calmness.
Looking back at them only made me suppress a new feeling. I avoided looking at Riain with a judgmental gaze. He was still laying face flat on the ground while his friend was already up and fixing his cloak.
His friend winced when our eyes met. His ears visibly turning more red. He coughed on the side before he gingerly reached out for his bag with a bent spine.
Even after his friend finished fixing himself and retrieve his bag, Riain did not move from his place.
We waited for a while until we started getting bemused by his actions. His friend lightly kicked his side to see if he’s still alive. Riain responded by wiggling a bit before staying still again.
Me and his friend looked at each other with the same question plastered on our faces.
What the hell was he doing?
I was about to ask him when we heard muffled sounds coming from him.
“Huh?” His friend voiced out his confusion.
Riain only raised his head and shook off the excess snow in his hair. There were still remnants of snow on his face, especially on his eyebrows. His face flushed red, and his lips looks like it was about to turn blue if he stayed there any longer.
“I said that basking in the snow is a pleasant thing to experience!” says the one with chattering teeth and who’s shivering. He rolled over and did a quick snow angel before standing up.
How come I haven’t done that?
‘Oh, right. I’m tied up. Silly me, how could I forget?’
“Why are you here again?” His face sparkled after I asked for his purpose here. He fiddled with his pockets with such enthusiasm that his body followed. His shoulders bounced, and he giggles every time he twists his upper body to pat the pockets on his side.
However, his enthusiasm seemed to falter when it looks like he can’t find his thing. He’s now aggressively checking every nook and cranny of the pockets on his pants and coat. He even went to his friend and search for his pockets, too. Gentleness was nonexistent as he kept looking for his thing on his friend.
His poor friend was probably dizzy from Riain turning him a lot.
“W-what is it that you’re missing?” His friend asked.
Riain looked at his friend dramatically before holding his friend’s shoulders and intensely shaking him.
“M-MY SLINGSHOT!” He exclaimed. This time, I did not suppress any raging emotion inside. I openly looked at him with pure judgment and disbelief.
Is he for real?
Said slingshot was hanging around his neck. I thought he knew. I should’ve lowered my expectations when it comes to Riain.
“That’s truly unfortunate! Are you able to remember where you last placed it?” His friend panicked too.
…
I can feel my right eye twitch from all the ridiculousness I’m witnessing. At the same time, all of these are amusing.
I sighed, and I was about to smile when I saw four people near the entrance of the field. However, a slingshot blocked my view.
“Look! I possess a peasant’s toy!” Both my eyes were about to get married as Riain shoved his slingshot in front of my face.
“I was able to evade the guards last night and…” I zoned out the moment he narrated how he snuck out of the palace and went to their local town. He discovered a “peculiar” store and almost bought the store itself because it sells a lot of peculiar things.
Yeah. I zoned out on that because those four incoming people just entered the field. I’m sure the two of them are the mean prince and Vaughn. A weird and unsettling sight for me.
“Nevertheless, chimney! It’s time to present our morning feasts!” the sudden shout of Riain brought my attention back to them. He plopped down on the ground and sat with his legs crossed. His friend’s eyes widened before it turned to crescents as he broke into a wide, toothy grin.
His eyes still sparkled, even if they became mere lines when he smiled.
I felt my eyebrows relax a bit, and my body ceased all movements at the sight. It felt like my eyes decided to glue themselves on his joyful face.
It’s moments like these that always left me in awe. It serves as a reminder for me that no matter how dark my life gets, I can always latch onto these little moments that can give me hope—hope that someday, even if I only have the dimmest light, I could get out of that abyss…
And that’s why I shouldn’t be left alone with my thoughts ha ha ha.
Anyway.
I don’t know why Riain said ‘chimney.’
His friend was thrilled about preparing their morning feast. He opened the bag he carried and showed me the insides with a grand gesture.
I only saw a few pieces of bread poking out. I raised my eyebrows and nodded once, still confused by their excitement.
Riain rolled his eyes and sighed dramatically.
“We’re going to have a picnic!” he exasperatedly exclaimed, like I was dumb for not knowing. His friend crouched to set up the picnic, but stopped when someone’s presence destroyed our joyous morning.
“I suggest for you to stand up. It’s unbecoming for a prince to be in a place lower than a peasant.” A bitter voice decided to join our group because he wasn’t loved enough.
“A good for nothing pest at that.” The mean prince added to feel superior. He looked at me with contempt before he shook his head to signal the guards. One of the guards helped Riain to stand up while Vaughn walked behind me.
The loosed ropes pulled me back to the reality of my situation. I don’t have the right to enjoy this morning’s supposed to be picnic. I’m not meant to enjoy anything in this kingdom.
There’s still a slight strain on my knees that made me wobble my way out of the ropes. As soon as my hands were free, the mean prince’s guard chucked a stiff-looking sack at me.
It was a sack of swords and bows and arrows.
The force of the impact caused some of the swords to cut through the sack and nicked my forearms.
Luckily, the wound was only shallow. Like a long paper cut on my skin. It’s not that deep, but it still stings.
The mean prince with his guards walked off first. As soon as they were out of hearing range, Riain snorted like a frustrated horse. I gathered some strength to hear his incoming rant, but no words came out of his mouth. Instead, I felt an impending dread on his face that shows he was about to come up with no good.
He flicked his coat away as he stood up and walked briskly in the mean prince’s direction.
Well, not my problem anymore.
“Let’s go,” Vaughn said rather quietly before carrying his own sack of whatever stuff it is.
The walk towards the back gates of the castle was quiet. I tried to breathe more quietly as I tried to even my breath. My arms and legs are about to give up until I saw the horse and the wagon with some white sheet as a roof.
After we placed all the sacks in the trunk, I only stepped on the stairs of the wagon, but I already am receiving the prince’s lovely glare.
“Where do you think you’re going?” a shimmer of hope blinded my eyes with the statement that I didn’t see the two guards snickering at me.
Is he finally discarding me?! I don’t have to go with them?!?!
My elation must’ve reflected so much on my face that he was giving me a disgusted and irked look.
Of course, nothing ever joyful lasts in this world.
Vaughn pulled me beside him, then pushed my head to bow down.
“I apologize for her insolence,” I instinctively turned my head to look at him, but his hand stopped me from doing so. Insolence?! What part of that was insolent?!
What does insolent even mean?!
“I will see to it that he’s taught a lesson.” There were a lot of things going on that it was hard to react fast. He pulled me away from the entrance of the wagon and dragged me to the horse.
He then faced me and held my shoulders. “Always remember this: never ride the same carriage or wagon with royalty, especially that prince,” he firmly said while whispering the last one.
He pulled away after I stiffly nodded.
I forgot social classes exist in this world.
When I looked at Vaughn again, he has already mounted the horse. My feet hesitantly moved closer to the horse, which made me more intimidated by the height. I only stared at the saddle while trying to come up with ways to mount the horse.
I have pretty strong thighs- I think I can handle this one. I just need something stable to hold on to.
My plan still didn’t remove my hesitation.
What if my leg got caught on the ropes? What if I fell from trying? What if— I’m flying???
For a second, the ground disappeared and my armpits suddenly became a little sore. The next thing I know I had a taller view of the wagon. The guards, of course, gave me dirty looks—just like how dirty their personalities are.
“Our food will rot before you even mount the horse. Turn around and hold on to me.” I looked back to see Vaughn holding his arm up for me. I carefully lifted my legs as to avoid kicking the horse and giving us a head start. Vaughn held me carefully until I fully faced the front.
Now, how do I hold him?
For some reason, his neck became pretty in my eyes. Should I hold on to his neck—
“Are you using this chance to dispose of me?” he grunted before flicking my hands, that mysteriously wrapped around his neck.
“Sorry… Impulsive thoughts…” I apologized meekly.
I WILL NEVER LIVE THIS DOWN. THAT WAS EMBARASSING! NOW HE THINKS I’M WEIRD!
In the end, I opted to embrace his waist.
After I adjusted the tightness of my embrace so as to not suffocate Vaughn, the two guards started throwing homophobic slurs at us. The prince didn’t join the harassment, but staying silent does not make him any better.
It really doesn’t bother me, but I hope it’s not making Vaughn uncomfortable. I couldn’t even see his reaction, so I don’t know how to act. In the end, I became conscious of him and removed my embrace. I opted to hold on to the sides of his shirt.
Maybe, if Vaughn and I were closer, or I know if he’s comfortable with topics regarding sexuality, then I would’ve provoked the two guards more by hugging Vaughn affectionately.
For now, I’ll try not to romanticize my situation.
Under different circumstances, the way Vaughn was attentive to me would’ve been romantic enough for butterflies to swarm in my stomach. Instead, I only have poverty and hunger pangs with added anxiety from this bs the prince involved me in.