Emerald followed behind him. When they finally got to the tavern, relief washed over her. Finally. She looked at Zero’s hand, but after she had such a hard time getting up she figured she’d swallow her pride and take it. It would be a lot harder to deal with a sprained ankle than a cut hand. Emerald hopped down beside Zero. “So this is it?” She prayed she’d find some information about the knights.
Ren smiled when she took his hand, following beside her, “So you really used to live here?” It was hard to imagine, but it made sense. Her drive to get out of the palace was quite strong.
(sorry it’s small I got to go oof)
"Yes. My friends are all here. The Queen refuses to let them visit because they are commoners." Walking into town the first thing you notice is the smell of fresh bread. "Come. Sir William makes the best bread, even better than the cooks at the castle." She led him over to a small store. Once inside there were many shelves filled with freshly baked bread and some sweet cakes as well. "Pick whatever you want, I'll pay."
Aurelie was sitting in a corner booth of the tavern by herself, a few empty glasses and one half-full one in front of her. It was nice to be able to blend into the crowd tonight. Well, sort of. She was definitely one of the younger people in the tavern, and definitely the youngest female in the place, but she didn’t mind. She glanced up when Emerald and Zero entered. Something about the two of them struck her as familiar, though she couldn’t place it. She quickly went back to her drink, electing not to acknowledge their presence. It wasn’t as if she knew them.
Zero nodded his head in response, not really seeing the question worthy of a verbal answer. The tavern was rather full, which earned a curse from him. To many ears, but plenty of mouths loosened by liquor. "Split up?" He asked Emerald. He hopped if they did that she wouldn't ditch him. But at the same time he didn't feel like sticking with a princess, though if she found information- he shook his thoughts. Zero could care less, at least for now.
The smell fresh bread made Ren smile. He could tell it was baked with care. His eyes searched through the shelves, snagging on a small loaf labeled cinnamon. “Ooo, that the cinnamon bread looks delicious… but I can’t let you pay,” Ren said defiantly, already reaching in his pocket for his coin purse, “My brother would hold it to me for the rest of my life.” It was true, Ren’s eldest brother had pretty strong morals and being a ‘gentleman’ was one of them. “Gavan’s like that a lot. Besides, I have plenty of coin on me.”
Emerald nodded, already shuffling into the crowd. She had to be nimble to avoid the stray hands of men who had a few too many drinks and the occasional waiter or waitress scurrying by. The smell of alcohol stuffed into her nostrils, but she held back her gag as he eyes pierced through the crowd looking for someone. Her eyes landed on a sturdy looking man -most likely a soldier- who was talking his mouth off. Emerald weaved her way through the crowd, and as she had done many times in previous taverns, and sat herself a few seats away from the man. He was prattling on about some war story.
“And then I sliced his whole arm off! Now this brute was a fighter, so he charged me and…” blah blah blah blah, “…now since I’m such a strong warrior, I could take on anyone.”
Emerald saw her chance and cut in, making sure her hood was covering her face as she asked, “Anyone, sir? Even one of the fabled knights that have magically weapons?”
The man turned to her, then let out a large laugh, “Sure, little missy. Even one of the knights from fairytales, I betcha if they did exist I could kill them on sight!” He howled out a laugh, and Emerald sighed. This man wouldn’t be any help.
But then she heard one of the man’s friends add in, “You know there have been rumors of magical knights in this area, right David?”
“Rumors are light as a feather, brother, don’t give them any extra weight to the words,” The sturdy man responded, taking a large swing of his beer.
Emerald turned away from the two men, holding her breath. Rumors of a knight, possibly more, here? This could be her chance to finally find some help, for once.
Aurelie noticed the pair that had recently entered walking around. She couldn’t hear what they were saying from where she was, with the clamor of voices and glasses clinking, but it looked like they were looking for something…or someone. If they were sniffing around for answers it made Aurelie anxious. She hadn’t become a knight by sitting idly by, after all.
Aurelie debated whether leaving now would be a good idea, but it was possible she was being a touch paranoid. She decided that it most likely had nothing to do with her, and if it did, she was an excellent liar. In the end, Aurelie came to the conclusion that leaving wouldn’t do any good, since she was curious now, and possibly way off from what the twosome truly were up to. So she stayed in her seat, finishing off her drink.
Emerald slid away from the two men, looking for who she’d talk to next. Someone alone, preferably… Being able to talk to someone in a one-on-one situation was a bit harder to keep her identity a secret, but sometimes she could get better information… Emerald glanced around the tavern, looking to see where Zero had gone.
"But you're a guest in my town. It would be rude of me not to pay." Fay was a bit disappointed that he wouldn't let her pay, but deep down there was a fuzzy feeling. "But if you insist." She grabbed a loaf of bread, holding it close to her nose and took a deep breath. "I love the smell of bread." Her smile looked different from the one inside the castle, it was brighter and a but more childish.
Ren breathed in the soft scent too. “Yeah, it’s nice.” He grabbed the cinnamon loaf with a smile and bringing it to the counter with a few silver coins. “Bread isn’t as common in my country since it’s harder to grow wheat with our soil and temperatures, but we do have many rice delicacies.” Ren grinned at Freya. She seemed even happier out of the palace, he couldn’t stop his smile. It felt good, to make someone joyful like this.
Once paid for Fay took a bite of bread and walked the streets of the town. It was a nice sunny day with a slight cool breeze. This was her favorite type of days. "I can already smell the ocean. But first, let's go see my old home." Taking his hand once more she led him down to the more poor side of town. Maybe my friends are still there. Holding Ren's hand made her feel more comfortable for some reason.
Zero sat close to a group of people, eavesdropping on their charter.
"Knights where everywhere!" Shouted a drunken man. He was scrawny, differently not a fighter by Zeros standards. But most definitely, they where not talking about magical knights. Probably something that happened in the town. If so most talk would be of that.
He cursed under his breath, got up, and moved somwhere new. Scanning the tavern, and meeting Emeralds eyes. He shook his head as if to say he'd yet to find anything. 'look for someone out of place.' he silently told himself just as his eyes landed on a girl sitting by herself in the corner.
Aurelie looked up from her drink, feeling eyes on her. Sure enough, the guy was looking her direction. This would be interesting, she supposed, raising her eyebrows almost as if daring him to talk to her.
"Challenge accepted." Zero muttered to himself. If someone looked back like that, they obviously knew something. So he just hoped she knew what he wanted to know. Zero slid into the seat across from the stranger, his eyes narrowing. "Strange to see a woman in a tavern." He hoped they weren't hopelessly drunk. If that was the case he'd be wasting his time.
Aurelie rolled her eyes. “Strange to see two people looking for someone they clearly have no clue how to find,” she replied, setting her drink on the table. She flipped a lock of long, strawberry blonde hair coolly, studying the newcomer.
Once paid for Fay took a bite of bread and walked the streets of the town. It was a nice sunny day with a slight cool breeze. This was her favorite type of days. "I can already smell the ocean. But first, let's go see my old home." Taking his hand once more she led him down to the more poor side of town. Maybe my friends are still there. Holding Ren's hand made her feel more comfortable for some reason.
Ren smiled when she took his hand, a weird warm feeling swelling in his chest. “I’m excited,” He said with a smile, before taking a bite of the bread himself. “Oh my gosh this is delicious!” Ren exclaimed, quickly taking another bite. “Mmmmhmmm….” He hummed happily, savoring each bite.
Zero cringed. The stranger was right, he didn't even know where to start. Let alone what kind of questions to ask. "Watching everyone? I'm assuming you might know what we're looking for then?" His eyes flickered around, trying to find the princess. If they wanted answers. Maybe it would be good to ask together.
Aurelie snorted. “I’m observant, not a mind reader,” she replied, a smirk playing across her lips. “I’ll help you…for a price. That is, if you can let me know what or who it is that you’re looking for.” She raised her eyebrows expectantly.
"I'm helping a, friend to find something out of a fairytale." Zero pulled a silver coin from his pocket and placed it on the table, sliding it across the table. He needed to save his coins, but the information could be worth it. Or so he hoped. "Magic knights ring a bell?"
“Magic knights? I’ve heard of them,” Aurelie said smoothly, though her it felt like her heart had skipped a beat. He was looking for her? Well, she wasn’t going to say anything until she was sure of the twosome’s intentions, but she didn’t want to just end the conversation, either. “I can help you find them, if you would like. But they’re not really a package deal, exactly.”
Zero was shocked to say the less, But he made his fetuses stay blank. At least as blank as he could keep them. To throw a wrench into the kings plans. Mess them up and take his revenge. Suddenly he was glad to have run into the princess. Even if at first he hadn't been. "One is better then none."
Aurelie smirked. “Perfect. Now get your friend over here so you can stop looking so horribly conspicuous and we can come up with some semblance of a plan,” she responded. “If you want information, I would like some as well. I do like to know who I’m working with, after all.” She neglected to mention that she was leaving out a very important piece of information. If he was trustworthy, she would tell him soon enough.
Ren smiled when she took his hand, a weird warm feeling swelling in his chest. “I’m excited,” He said with a smile, before taking a bite of the bread himself. “Oh my gosh this is delicious!” Ren exclaimed, quickly taking another bite. “Mmmmhmmm….” He hummed happily, savoring each bite.
Fay walked towards the sound of water. The smell of salt filled the air, and the breeze got cooler the closer they got. Which made Fay grateful for the warmth of the bread. As they got closer she realized that a crowd of people were gathered around a large and fancy ship. "Must be someone important. Wanna go see?"
“Of course,” Ren smiled, really only glad to be around Princess Freya as they walked closer. As they got closer to the crowd, Prince Ren lowered his voice and asked, “You don’t think many people will recognize us as royalty, do you?” It wouldn’t be very good for them, considering they had snuck out of the palace, to be caught at the port with tons of townsfolk.
Emerald had ended up sitting next to yet another burly man, yet this one probably had a few more drinks than the last. “Magical knights aren’t -hic- real, sweetie. You should -hic- shouldn’t waste your time on them, you should -hic- come home with me, and I can show you -hic- something to spend your time on,” The man let out a booming laugh and Emerald quickly began to get up. He clearly couldn’t help her either. She nimbly dodged the man’s hand reaching for her waist as she got away, ignoring his jeers at her. Emerald was used to it by now, since she had been to many taverns before this.
Her eyes searched around for Zero again, and she saw him talking to a female across the tavern. She weaved her way over to him, planning on telling him this place seemed to be a dud.
Aurelie smirked. “Perfect. Now get your friend over here so you can stop looking so horribly conspicuous and we can come up with some semblance of a plan,” she responded. “If you want information, I would like some as well. I do like to know who I’m working with, after all.” She neglected to mention that she was leaving out a very important piece of information. If he was trustworthy, she would tell him soon enough.
Zero nodded his head. Whatever it took. Well almost anything. If this ended up being a scam he'd have no one else to blame but himself- and maybe the princess if he was angry enough.
Zero stood, and looked around for the princess. He wasn't sure if she was walking towards them or not, so he waved a hand. Signalling for her that he possibly fond someone with the information they needed.
