Isabelle stepped around Egan running up to her uncle.
Ea knelt down to grab her. "Are you okay? We've been looking everywhere for you! Hayate reported that you were taken. He tried to get you back on his own but the man who took you had back up and he lost the trail. Do you know who took you?"
Isabelle explained everything to Ea who sent a guard to inform Astrid and Albus that he had safely recovered her. With that taken care of, he turned his attention to Egan. It was clear that Egan was still a little unnerved by Ea's presence. Sensing his unease, Isabelle let go of her uncle and went back to Egan. She linked her pinkie with his in an attempt to reassure him that everything was okay.
Ea looked the boy up and down before smiling warmly. "Thank you for taking care of my niece. Would you like to come back with us? You look like you could use a nice meal and a warm bath." Ea paused, looking the boy over before pointing to the blood trickling down his arm. "You're hurt!"
Isabelle gasped, unwraping the scarf she had around her waist and ripping a piece of it off. "It must have happened when we were trying to escape! Here, lemme bind it." Isabelle delicately wrapped the torn scarf around Egan's wound. When Ea knelt down to examine it Egan stepped back apprehensively.
"If it makes you feel better, we can always drop you off in the village instead."
"I can take care of myself!" Egan snapped, pulling his hand away from Isabelle's.
Ea chuckled. "I don't doubt that. It's just it's against my policy to leave wounded children alone in forests. You'll humour me a little won't you?"
Egan grumbled to himself. The boy had never known someone to do something solely out of the kindness of their own heart and unlike Isabelle, who was a child, Ea was a completely different story. But as the boy looked up at Ea he couldn't deny the soft warmth that filled him when he looked at the Prince's smile. It was a different kind of smile. Not one of malice, nor one hiding ulterior motives. It was genuine and while it was such a foreign feeling and it did scare him, he decided to take a chance. It wasn't like he had anything left to lose.
"Fine..." He huffed quietly.
Ea beamed that the children. "Great! Come. Let's get back to the horses."
Egan let Isabelle take hold of his hand again and they followed after Ea.
•~•~•~•~•~•~•
When they arrived at the village, Egan, who was riding with another knight, hopped off of the horse and followed Ea to an inn. Ea explained that the boy needed a place to stay for a short period of time and that he would pay for his stay there in return for their hospitality. The owners agreed and Egan had successfully bagged himself a place to stay. Ea said his goodbye and got back onto his horse with Isabelle who waved goodbye to Egan as they rode away. Egan watched the pair ride off with their squadron of knights and silently thanked whatever Gods were looking out for him that Ea was the one who found them and not some other thug. The boy turned away from the retreating figures and looked back towards the inn, his next mission? Getting a warm meal.
•~•~•~•~•~•~•
|Noon|107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm3ZMBkLH8W
June•30•xxxx
Zur-Sin lounged in the royal gardens and Dez sat quietly with her own cup of wine beside him. A tired groan erupted from his throat as he threw his head back, his long black locks falling from his face.
"Illya seems to be really laying on the work recently. You keeping up alright?" She asked, peaking at him through the corner of her eye.
Sin chuckled. His handsome features held an an unmistakable childish aloofness as he spoke. "Of course! Who do you think I am? The workload's just gotten a lot heavier recently is all. Now I barely have time to do my usual rounds through the village." The Prince pouted.
Dez rolled her eyes. "If you have time to fool around in the village, you should spend it doing your job!" She chastised.
The two of them had gotten significantly closer over the years, though it wasn't immediately noticeable. Whenever he wanted a break from his princely duties, he would always find himself seeking out her company and whenever she wanted a little fun, she would always come to him. After years of forcing him to eat when he skipped meals and making sure he didn't inadvertently die doing something stupid, they'd like to consider that they had some level of friendship going on, though it was often saturated with sarcasm and odd jabs at one another. It was a mutually beneficial friendship, that wasn't quite friendship given that they'd almost always have some kind of argument whenever they met. Not to mention that over the past six years, he had begun to socialize less and less with his usual trysts in the village or elsewhere, his friends in the palace and his brothers very rarely saw him stay long in any social function.
Avarice was the one to theorize that perhaps Sin was just trying to avoid Nikiro, but it continued long after their little incident. Dez had assumed that perhaps he was trying to throw himself into work to distract himself from the mess that was his tragic first love. Of course, he had still made time for the man and they hung out together every now and then but the times that happened were very few and far in between. Nikiro didn't oppose it when Sin spent less and less time with him either. He just wanted to give Sin the time he needed. Six years of non-stop working seemed to have done something because, at present, romance was the very last thing on Sin's mind. It did help that a year or two after the events that took place, Nikiro and Kashino had moved back to Aruma An for some time. Sin said his brief goodbyes but didn't bother to stay and see them off.
Out of sight out of mind or so they say.
"I don't know how Illya gets anything done through you with all your pouting and complaining."
Sin huffed jokingly. "Please, I'm plenty reliable...by the way...since when did you start calling my mom by her name?"
Dez looked away bashfully. "She asked me to. She's been visiting a lot recently. Said something about wanting to get out more but I'm pretty sure she's just been checking up on whether or not your actually working or worse, working yourself to death."
Sin hummed in response and took a swig of his wine. "The palace has changed so much, hasn't it? Although it doesn't seem like it at first glance. I mean, my baby sister has a child, you're apparently besties with mom now. I think there's something going on between Minny and Ea too."
Dez propped herself up on her hand and sighed. "Well, you guys did turn twenty seven this year. I'm sure marriage is on the table now that you're getting older. Being the workaholic she is, I know Illya's happy you all like your work and all but she's definitely beginning to wonder if there's anyone you're interested in at least."
Sin scoffed at the idea. "What about you then ya old hag? You're older than we are and not a single man's been caught trying to woo the great former Pirate Lord, " he teased.
She punched his shoulder. "Shut up! You think I want some average joe pestering me for the rest of my life? I'd much rather have a man that can keep up with me. Just haven't found him yet."
Sin faked heartache dramatically. "Ouch. And here I thought I'd finally melted away that ice queen thing you've got going on!"
"Dream on lover boy. This ice queen's got the air conditioning turned aaaall the way up."
The pair laughed. Their banter was cut short by the arrival of Avarice.
"Sin! I got news," he called.
Sin turned nonchalantly to face him. "What is it?"
Avarice shifted awkwardly. "Well, we've received word that Nikiro and Kashino have returned."
ns 15.158.61.20da2
