Dream a little, Dream of me

losing grip, on sinking ships You showed up just in time

The winter court was not a place he could ever be happy in. It was too cold for him, shivering all the time was very irritating and so was the lack of silence. It felt odd, the atmosphere of the market they were standing in was hustling and bustling and also very loud. People walked around, baskets in hand, stopping at stalls and allowing vendors to show them a huge variety of things they could eventually buy. He was envious to speak the truth, not of the vendors or any of the hustle bustle but rather the people, and especially of the multiple furs they wore. He wanted something like a heavy jacket to fight the cold that had settled in his bones. After all he was not used to the cold, but the princess next to him, well she was absolutely enjoying it, he wasn't sure whether she was enjoying being back in her hometown or whether it was him trembling that made her laugh. 

She walked with a huge smile on her face, around the market, while he and Nicholas were shivering and not having the time of their lives. 

"Lily! I'm cold." Nico whined again. 

And she was not paying attention.

It was going to be a long day. 

He picked Nico up and walked over to her.

"Looking at the fact that we are absolutely penniless, tell me, what are we doing in a market?" He asked her

She looked around, twice or thrice.

"We are looking for my brother." She murmured.

"Oh so, your brother usually hangs around in a market." 

Lilliana rolled her eyes.

"No, you idiot, we're looking for his minions or in other words his spies." She said

Eris looked around as well.

"Well, if you are doing that, please do hurry up before I turn into an ice statue." He replied

She laughed, before placing a hand on his shoulder.

"It's fine, I'll defrost you later on."

"You'll regret it, I can look really good when I'm still since that way, you can focus on my face." 

She laughed again and he was happy he made that joke.

"I'll keep focusing on your face then. But now let's just look for the spies." She whispered.

Eris smiled.

They kept wondering around before Lilliana finally found one. The man was tall and burly and not the type that Kallias would use to have spies around. His spies were tall but not muscular, they were always gangly and thin. She began talking to him and muttered a few numbers to him before he huffed and beckoned them to follow him. He led them into a dark tavern and then slammed the door shut.

"Are you sure, that we can trust him?" He whispered the question to her.

"Yes Eris, we can-

And then the ground broke open. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Being tied was not a good experience and also she was embarrassed. She had begun reassuring him about how the man could be trusted but well not really.

They couldn't trust him.

No they shouldn't have trusted him.

And if they hadn't, she wouldn't have to be this embarrassed.

She looked at Eris who was out of it, tied up with nico beside him, the poor boy also tied up. They did resemble each other slightly, not by their faces but their way of talking, maybe that was due to the same dialect.