Chapter 26
The rest of the morning was a blur while I got the scarabs for my swords and dagger, opting for the option to have the sheath that went across my back because I had the sheath that would hold my dagger.
After that, I went straight to work, making sure that everything was still in order as well as fixing a leak on another house, even though there hadn't been a single sign of rain for a couple of weeks now, and that made everyone worried because the river was slowly drying up while the people that were not living on the poor side held onto it for whatever reason.
"So, this is where you are hanging out at," someone called from the road while I worked on the roof with the afternoon sun bearing down on me. "Why are you fixing the roof?"
I wiped the sweat off of my brows and turned my head until I was able to look on the roof to see Caspain staring at me with one of his guards beside him, both of them on horses. "Your Highness," I said, bowing my head before I turned back to my work, not answering his question.
"What'd I tell you about calling me "Your Highness," Marini?" he asked, and I had a feeling that he raised an eyebrow. "And are you going to answer my question?"
"No, Your Highness," I said, finishing up my work.
"I didn't know that you needed to know what I do and do not do.
" I packed up my supplies and turned my head to the west, where storm clouds sometimes gathered, and studied the open blue sky to see that there were no clouds.
Pursing my lips, I shook my head and started to climb down the ladder, grateful that this male didn't have any children that would try to knock the ladder away from the house.
Caspian's scowl was what met me when I turned around to face them, and I raised an eyebrow in question when I saw his narrowed eyes. "It's Caspian," he said. "Please, call me that and not 'Your Highness' or 'Prince Caspian.' I don't like it when you do it."
I raised an eyebrow. "You don't like it when I do it," I repeated before I went to my basket and placed the satchel in there, making sure to have it hidden from view.
"Why do you not like it when I do it, Your Highness?
You are a prince, and I am merely a commoner, living underneath "your" rules. "
He scoffed, and I had a feeling that he rolled his eyes while there was a sound of shifting leather because he had gotten off of his horse.
The prince handed his reins to his guard before he made his way over to me until he was a few feet away from me.
"I don't think you live underneath anyone's rules, Marini," he said, his voice soft.
"At least not the ones that run this kingdom. "
I stood, clutching my basket close to myself, and noticed that he was closer than I thought he would be in front of someone else. "And what do you mean by that, Your Highness?" I asked, cocking my head while I studied him.
A small smile appeared on his lips, but he shook his head and didn't make a comment. "I don't think you'd like to hear what I have to say," he said, nodding his head to the guard as if to say 'you don't want to hear what I have to say in front of him.'
"It'd be safe if he knows," I mumbled. I narrowed my eyes at the guard and earned a bowed head from the Elf sent to protect this prince by whoever's orders. "But, I do not wish to speak of it out here." I turned my gaze to the other male and saw that he was already staring at me.
He furrowed his brows and cocked his head. "What do you mean?" he asked, and I shook my head, not answering him. "Marini," he warned, and I had a feeling that he wanted me to answer.
Again, I shook my head before I started to make my way to the Town's Square to carry on with the business that I did, making sure that everyone was alright and didn't need anything.
I ignored the curious glances that some people gave me when they noticed a sulking prince at my side with a guard on a horse, leading another one.
Shilan moved to the front of my mind and stared at the prince when I glanced at him from the corner of my eyes. "I think someone likes your company," he teased, and I had to bite back a snort before I mentally rolled my eyes at him. "You should tell him what you know."
I pursed my lips. "But it is too soon," I replied, not liking the idea of telling him that his guard was an Elf and that I was a Dragon Rider. "I had found out that I was a Dragon Rider less than a week ago, and you want me to tell a "stranger" that I am one. Why?"
"Because you two will be working with each other closer than you and the other prince will be, duh," Shilan said, and I mentally raised an eyebrow at him. "Not telling, but you should tell him."
I bit back a groan and rolled my eyes. "Fine," I said. I turned my gaze to the Elf and silently signaled that I was taking him to tell him what I knew.
The Elf raised an eyebrow, and he silently asked me if both his king and Jonah would be fine with him knowing in which I nodded, and he nodded his head before he left us, muttering something about having to do a chore and leaving me in charge of the prince.
Caspian turned in the direction that his guard went in with an open mouth, shocked that his guard left without him and in my care. "Uh..." he said, looking afraid and nervous. He turned to look at me, and I could see the fear in his eyes while he waited for me to explain what had happened.
"I'll tell you later," I said. I started to walk in the direction of one of the back alleyways, knowing that the only safe place to tell him would be either the Mill or a place in the back way.
I knew that the place in the back way would have just the place that I needed not to get anyone suspicious of having the prince with me.
Caspian scowled and followed me. He didn't say a word, but I could that he wanted to know what was going and why his guard left him with me when the guard was supposed to follow him everywhere.
After a while, when I was near one of the entrances to the back way, I stopped and started to rummage through my basket before I pulled out a dark cloak that I had been tasked with fixing and was almost finished with it. "Here, put this on."
The prince stopped before he looked at the cloak in my hands and scowled.
He narrowed his eyes, and a look of disgust flashed through them as if he was disgusted with the way the cloak looked.
"Why?" he asked, looking at me and ignored the way I rolled my eyes.
He gestured to the cloak that was still in my hands. "Why should I wear that?"
I bit back and held back another eye roll, not knowing why he was questioning me when I knew what I was doing. "You want to know, correct?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "If you do, put it on and don't ask questions. We're... not safe to discuss this here."
Caspian frowned but did what I had told him to do. He set the cloak over his shoulders and pinned it. "Ok..? Now what?" he asked, shifting the cloak until it rested over his clothing.
I walked over to him and pulled the hood over his head. "Keep your head lowered and covered until I tell you it is safe," I warned. "We're going to the parts of the kingdom that do not... take kindly to the royal family, Your Highness."
Caspian raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Does that mean you will call me 'Caspian' then?" he asked, seeming ok with what I had told him.
I shook my head and started to make the rest of my way to the passageway that would take me to the place I wanted to go. I didn't care if anyone noticed me going that way or not, knowing that they wouldn't bother me.
"Then what will you call me?"
"Rupor," I replied, slipping into the Elvish tongue. "It means 'human.'"
Caspian followed me until he was shoulder to shoulder with me. He narrowed his eyes and studied me, and I could tell that he was interested in what I knew and how I knew it. "Isn't that a little redundant?' he asked. "For me to be called 'Rupor' when I am clearly human?"
I shook my head. "Not where I am taking you," I replied. I glanced around and licked my lips before I glanced at him from the corner of my eye. "Most will call you Rupor while you are there. I don't know why, but they will."
"What do they call you?"
I stayed silent and noticed an old haggard looking male with his head down and hands out, begging for scraps or change. My heart went out to him, and I felt this pull, indicating that we were somehow bonded.
My heart started to thunder in my chest, and I felt I knew who this male was but didn't know how he became like this or what it meant for everyone we had sworn to protect.
"Marini?" the prince asked when I stopped in front of him. He touched my elbow, ready to pull me to safety, but I didn't care while I shuffled through my basket to get the single thing that would indicate if my theory was right or not.
The old man didn't lift his head to look at me. He didn't look at anything or anyone, but he did raise his hand a little higher, asking me to put something in it.
And I obliged and placed the feather in his grasp before I turned in the direction that I was head and started to walk that way, pulling the prince after me and left the male with a feather clasped in his hands.