The Trickster's Test {Prinxiety}

Chapter 3

Third Person

"Virgil, if I'm going to do my job, you need to stand still."

"It's hard when you keep pulling on that tape measure," The prince complained, barely managing to stay on the small box Patton had brought with him.

"Don't worry kiddo, I'm almost done. Are you going to come to town with me to choose the fabrics?" The seamster asked happily, apparently not noticing how much he was cutting off the boy's air.

When Virgil could breathe again, he responded, "You already know I rarely pass up an opportunity to get out of the castle. As long as we bring Roman with us, I can go."

"Well," Patton said, drawing out the single syllable for a few seconds, "I have all your measurements now, so we can leave whenever you guys are ready!" He said cheerily, standing up.

"I'm already done with everything else, so we could go now," The prince suggested, "Unless mister high and mighty here has something better to do than his job," He added, jerking his thumb towards Roman.

"I am a respectable guard who has no objections to escorting both of you to the market," The man in question butts in defensively, "By the way Patton, do you buy your fabrics from Yvonne Flores or Sandra Dais?"

"Yvonne," He answers, "People keep bringing up how Sandra's fabrics use some Correon dyes, which are apparently brighter, but I don't want to feel like I'm betraying Yvonne."

"I understand that; Yvonne has a way of making all of her customers feel like family to her," Roman agrees, the two easily continuing their conversation while Virgil observes. Patton was the simplest person to get along with, as long as you could tolerate puns and positivity. Observing him as he talked to a new person was kind of interesting for the prince, given how hard making friends was for him.

"So you've met her?" Patton asks.

"My mom sent me to her shop to pick up some stuff for her all the time," He explained, "Yvonne usually had to help me figure out exactly what I was supposed to get."

Virgil silently went to pull his boots on, taking the free pass to not socialize. He suspected they would be holding up most of the conversation. They kept it up while Patton put away all of his equipment, but by the time Virgil finished tying the laces of his footwear they had already come to some sort of agreement about the color red. He didn't really know what exactly they had determined about it, but neither seemed upset at all so that was good. Hopefully, he would never have to give Roman the 'you hurt Patton, I hurt you' talk; those were a lot of work.

"If you two want to get out before the time where we're most likely to get murdered, then we should leave now," Virgil finally brings their attention back to their current mission.

"There's a specific time when we're most likely to get murdered?" Roman asked. His inquiry could be excused given how he was knew to the job, but in the future Virgil sincerely hoped he would learn not to ask such stupid questions.

Patton quickly jumped in before the prince could begin his explanation as to why the early afternoon was the perfect time to kill him aside from night, "He means rush hour," He clarifies, "Don't worry kiddo, we're all set to go!"

The seamster pulled the prince along, trusting that Roman could follow on his own. He wasn't sure if the guard would be okay with the contact, and didn't want to assume lest he make an as of Sue and me. The trio quickly arranged for a carriage to be prepared; riding into town on horseback wasn't regal enough apparently. At least Virgil wouldn't get sunburnt under the protection of the carriage, only having to worry about staying outside for a couple straight hours.