Chapter 37: Chapter 37

~Talfen, the capital of Coldshore~

~Inner Court, The King's Palace~

Andras could see a noticeable difference between the inner court and the outer court; it was impeccable for one, which was expected as the King himself and the Royal family resided here. It was also quiet and calm, a contrast from the outer court which was always bustling.

The guards in training had been divided into two units that would briefly patrol the inner court until sundown and then they would return to the outer court.

As his unit marched in the opposite direction from the unit Randall was put in, he couldn't help but overhear the conversation of the two guards in front of him.

"I heard that this is going to be a test," One of them leaned slightly over to whisper, sunken eyes fevered.

His partner was more reticent, "What kind of test? What will happen if we fail?"

The first guard wasn't weighed with similar worries, he shrugged, "Who knows? Just remain sharp," He advised wisely.

His advice seemed to have the opposite effect on his partner because he started to sweat from nervousness, his brain working overtime to try and predict what kind of test it would be.

Andras considered the possibilities, it was so out of place for them to decide to do something like this out of the blue that he could see some truth to their conversation.

Worrying about whether there was going to be a test or not wouldn't change the outcome, and he would be strung up for no reason. He decided to just take everything in stride and tackle each situation as it came.

~*~

"I love keeping ponds, it's a favorite pastime of mine." Princess Aethel said after pointing out the second pond in a row that was apparently hers.

Reqiel listened intently, finding this fascinating. They had left the cobbled path a while ago and his new bracelet was snugly around his wrist.

"Why? Do you like fish?" He asked with genuine curiosity.

"Well yes," Aethel said, her cheeks brightened by her enthusiasm. "There were imported Koi fish in the first pond that we went past but I love ducks best of all."

"There were water lilies in the second pond though, where are the ducks?" Reqiel asked curiously.

Other than horses, he had never really gotten the chance to interact with other animals as the Royal Mount was kept clean of them, to preserve the sanctity of the Mount.

Aethel looked sheepish at this question, "Ducks can be quite noisy so I'm not allowed to have a pond for them in the inner court, however I have a large pond for my ducks in the outer court, I could take you for a visit tomorrow if you don't mind."

"Of course I don't," He agreed eagerly, "Do you leave the palace often?" He asked curiously, as much as he wanted to explore the King of Coldshore's palace in its entirety, he was far more interested in going to the city.

Aethel glanced down, "I don't, I never leave the palace." She said, looking back up at him.

Reqiel leaned closer enthusiastically, "Don't you want to leave sometime?" He whispered conspiratorially, thinking he had found someone similar to him.

Aethel furrowed her brows, looking a bit confused by his words, "No? It's quiet in the palace and I have my ponds, besides, I'm not restricted from leaving the palace, I just don't want to."

Reqiel fell quiet for a few seconds to process Aethel's words, he couldn't physically comprehend how and why someone who was granted freedom wouldn't choose to use it.

"So I can leave the palace?" He asked hesitantly.

Aethel beamed again, now she could understand why Reqiel had asked such an odd question. She vaguely remembered her father saying something about Reqiel being a hidden child of King Brummel so perhaps he had been restricted from not going out.

"Of course you can!" She agreed excitedly only to lose some of her color, "Unfortunately, I can't accompany you outside the palace, I wouldn't even know where to go," She said with a tinge of sadness in her petal soft voice, kicking her feet.

"No, no, it's alright," Reqiel tried to reassure her, "I don't mind at all."

Aethel wasn't having it though, "Cederic knows the city like the back of his hand, I could ask him to take you," She quickly suggested.

Reqiel hid a wince, he doubted that that would be as helpful as Aethel thought it would be. Cederic hadn't even made an effort to hide his aversion to him; exploring the city with him would be intolerable, for the both of them.

He couldn't turn down Aethel when she had been so sweet and friendly to him though, he hoped that Cederic would turn down her request. Although he didn't see that happening, he was too wrapped around his younger sister's finger for that to happen.

They had seen a handful of people on their walk but it had only been from a distance, Aethel didn't bother introducing anyone to him and he didn't ask. The last thing Reqiel wanted was to somehow get into the thick of court matters, he would rather be shunned by the members of the King's court than attract their attention.

He just wanted to spend his time in Coldshore exploring the city and getting to do things that he otherwise wouldn't have been able to. So it was easy for him to ignore the odd stares he got from important looking Ministers and wives of noblemen that they walked past.

They were currently walking close to the walls of the inner court, the sky was stained with wreaths of red shades, the setting sun a golden orb in the red-hued sky.

Reqiel's feet were starting to hurt, unused to this kind of physical labor. A stark contrast to him was Aethel who bounded in front of him, very spry and energetic although they had been walking for close to half an hour now.

Although they were walking slowly and occasionally stopping to take in the sights, Reqiel was starting to lose his breath, his hair feeling like a weighted blanket that he had to carry around. Now he was beginning to wish that he had let Sarell hold back his hair in some way.

It was in the middle of all this that four figures came jumping out from behind the statues they were walking past. They separated into two, two of them going for Princess Aethel while the other two went for Reqiel who had fallen back a considerable distance from Aethel.

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