Dragon's Mother

Chapter 12

"We almost have everything we need for our trip. We just need to pick up a few things in the market and we can be on our way," Sir Hendrick said as he was going over their check list, Sir Rodwell and Sir Stephen packing up their things while Sir Chester was helping Ansel get ready.

"Do we really need all this stuff? We can just get more supplies along the way," Sir Stephen muttered as he lifted a whole barrel of fruit to follow Sir Rodwell down to the wagon they had bought in order to carry more supplies with them.

"Yes we do and no we cannot. It's better we take a lot of supplies so we don't stand out in town while making our way to the castle. If we get supplies too often, that could leave a trail of bread crumbs for our enemies to follow us so we should preserve our supplies for as long as we can before we have to replenish it," Sir Hendrick said seriously but that didn't stop Sir Stephen from complaining about the heavy barrels and supplies. "How we doin' Chester?" Sir Hendrick asked with a smile as he looked over when he went bug-eyed, gawking at Ansel who looked nothing like himself.

Ansel was wearing a soft blue grey dress with a white shawl around his shoulders that covered up the fact that his chest wasn't natural. He wore a blonde wig on his head and Sir Chester even went above and beyond to put some light makeup on Ansel so looked more feminine. He didn't need the blush on his cheeks as Ansel was blushing like crazy already, his arms hugging his belly which seemed to comfort him even as he felt wildly uncomfortable in these lady clothes.

"I'm never going to live this down," Ansel thought with a sigh, shuffling on his feet a little as Sir Hendrick complemented Sir Chester on his work.

"You look good, kid," Sir Hendrick said with a chuckle. Then he suddenly coughed into his hand masking a laugh, taking a moment to bow to Ansel. "I mean, you look majestic my lady," Sir Hendrick said like how one would address a young lady of nobility.

"I look like a clown," Ansel muttered causing Sir Chester to gasp dramatically.

"That's some of my best work," Sir Chester said moodily, pouting which was a rather strange sight to see for such a big muscly guy. "You better not mess that up, you hear me?" Sir Chester said warningly before gathering his things and grabbing some things to take to the wagon.

"Alright, kid. I'll walk you to the carriage and get you settled in. We shouldn't be too long getting the supplies so read that book I bought you while you wait," Sir Hendrick said, circling his arm around Ansel giving the boy a comforting squeeze before gently guiding him toward the door.

"Actually, can I go with you guys?" Ansel asked, his heart hammering a little as he asked this. Ansel knew he couldn't run away from the knights even if he wasn't round and fat. They were among the best knights in their kingdom and also the best trackers which is why Ansel had to be very careful with his plans.

"Why do you wanna go to the market with us? You've pretty much seen everything there is to see," Sir Hendrick asked as he helped Ansel down the stairs to the ground floor.

"I just wanna see if my disguise works. We've been hanging out in town for a while and many people have seen me around. I wanna see if anyone will recognize me like this," Ansel said with a chuckle, saying how he wanted to trick the rude bread maker that had called Ansel fat their first day here.

"I don't know. We don't need all that much before we get going," Sir Hendrick said, thinking about it as they exited the Inn but then he saw Sir Stephen and Sir Rodwell arguing about the best way to organize their things onto the wagon. "On second thought, its going to take forever so you might as well have one last look around before we go," Sir Hendrick said with a sigh, Ansel chuckling as they watched the knights bicker with Sir Chester acting all flustered trying to quell their anger.