Royally F**cked

XIII: Trēdecim

Lavinia had spent the last day preparing Delvin for the upcoming ball, a celebration for the successful delegations between the two nations. And for the budding alliance between Delvin and the rulers of Havenvale. She'd been rushing around, sorting through his clothing to find something suitable and matching for the Master of The Magic Tower.

It was more difficult than she'd expected. Delvin had packed lightly, only bringing in the bare minimum. Which meant she had to go into the town, begrudgingly with an escort, to find him something more suitable.

The town was a 20 minute carriage drive away from the main castle, and it was everything she'd expected it to be. It was more of a village than anything, bustling with life, and the smell of freshly baked goods wafted in the air.

Above them a cacophony of brightly coloured dragons flew, though smaller than the royals ones, they were still as awe inducing.

Vaeros smiled at her, pointing his finger to one of the errant food stalls. Lavinia tilted her head, and he wandered off, leading her towards it.

The aroma of freshly baked bread, alongside caramel and burnt sugar hit her as she got closer to it. Vaeros nudged her gently, and she was momentarily thankful that he'd forgone the typical Dragon Knight armour this time. Instead, he was dressed in a loose black top, with baggy sleeves, and simple beige trousers.

He pointed to one of the several pastries on display, gesturing for the stall owner. Lavinia looked at him for a brief moment, before getting the hint. Vaeros held out two fingers.

"Er, yeah. Two of those?" Lavinia questioned more than asked, looking to the Dragon Knight besides her for confirmation.

The man nodded, pulling out two silver coins from his pockets. The stall owner happily provided the two pastries, putting them in a small paper bag with a smile.

Walking off, they went to stand by the water fountain. "Is this what you wanted?" Lavinia had to make sure. He nodded, taking the bag from her hands, and pulled one out for himself.

Then he pushed the bag back into her hands, pointing to her. "For me?" Lavinia said, peering into it. Vaeros grinned, and she took that as an invitation to eat whatever he'd just brought.

It looked like a peach tarte. It was cute, and coated in powdered sugar. She went to eat it, but before it could even get to her mouth it was stolen from her hands. Lavinia went to snap at the person who'd dare take food from her when a heavy arm landed across her shoulders.

In the corner of her eye, she could see Vaeros' expression darken. "Excuse me?!" Lavinia huffed, attempting to shove the man off of her. Instead, the person behind her doubled down, pulling her more closely to himself.

From this distance, she could smell the scent of his cologne, citrusy and fresh. The dots in the back of her mind began to connect.

"Thank you for the food." The deep voice rumbled in her ear. Shifting slightly she finally got a good look at the Prince. He was wearing a large hooded black cloak alongside a black top and trousers to match. She supposed this was his attempt at being incognito.

"What are you doing here?" Lavinia hissed, looking around to make sure no one had discovered the Prince yet. "I thought you were meant to be doing, I don't know. Royal stuff?"

The Prince chuckled, and she could feel his breath tickle her cheek. She turned her head away from him, hoping he couldn't see the blush on her face from this distance.

"Royal stuff?" Delvin mocked, not once taking his eyes off of Vaeros. He was glaring at the man, and in his eyes was a warning. One Lavinia didn't have the knowledge to understand. She wondered what had happened between the two of them when she hadn't been looking.

Vaeros gave as good as he got, staring the Prince down.

"Oh my god." Lavinia moaned. "Can you guys get over yourself? For one minute, please?" That got their attention. Delvin moved away from behind her, opting to stand by her side instead. Finally breaking the awkward tension in the air.

"Finally, thank you." Lavinia sighed, rubbing her forehead. "Look, I came here to get you an outfit for the celebration. Vaeros came to take me, since I don't know the place that well." She didn't know why she felt the need to explain to him, she felt like she'd been caught out somehow.

Delvin raised an eyebrow at her rambling. "Well, now I'm here, won't it be easier for you to get something for me?" He grinned, moving so her view of Vaeros would be blocked partially.

He had a point, now that the Prince was here, she wouldn't have to guess at his sizes. Lavinia was going to use Vaeros as a sample size, seeing as they were similar height and build. But it was always better to have the original.

Reluctantly she nodded. "Fine, come on then, you child." She said, rolling her eyes as she caught onto part of his cloak. Tugging it so he would follow. Finally she got a good look at Vaeros. He seemed less than happy that the Prince had appeared. Maybe it was because he'd stolen the pastry the Dragon Knight had brought.

"Vaeros," Lavinia called, the Dragon Knight seemed to perk up at the sound of his name, "Do you know any good clothing boutiques here?" He nodded, reluctantly guiding them through the village until they came up to a small quaint building alongside a long winding canal.

The shop front was covered with overgrown vines, the building had clearly seen better days. Bits of brick had crumbled, aged with time and the windows hadn't been cleaned in ages.

Lavinia, safe to say, was sceptical. She gave the Dragon Knight an odd look. He simply smiled in return, as if to say 'trust me'. Vaeros knocked on the door, and in the time I took her to blink someone was ripping open the door.

A tall, spindly woman opened the door. She looked somehow 21, and 40 at the same time. A confusing mix of the two. She had dark black bags underneath her eyes as if she hadn't slept in days. Blonde hair had been tied up in a high ponytail, with a few grey hairs peeking out. The woman looked like she'd rather be anywhere but in her shop.

"Hi?" Lavinia waved a little weirdly, not knowing what to do in this situation. The person stared through them, rather than at them. Vaeros waved his hand in front of her face, and Delvin took one step closer to Lavinia.

The woman screamed, jumping out of her skin. "What are you doing?!" She shouted. Vaeros shrugged his shoulders, while Lavinia winced at the high pitched shrill. Was this girl real?

"Hi," Lavinia repeated awkwardly, "Erm, we were here to find formal clothes. But I think we have the wrong place?" The woman seemed to pause for a moment, as thought the words hadn't really sunk in yet.

"Formal clothes?" The stranger whispered, a hand on her chin in thought. "Formal clothes!!" She then shouted. This time it was Lavinia's turn to jump in surprise. "Yes, come in!" The woman rushed off into her shop, pausing only for a moment to gesture for them to come inside. She seemed incredibly inpatient all of a sudden. Vaeros was the first person to move, gladly walking into the place.

Delvin and Lavinia hung back a bit.

"What is with that woman?" Delvin questioned, face scrunched up in scrutiny. Lavinia shook her head.

"I don't know. I mean, let's just go in and see what it's like. If its too much we can always look for clothes elsewhere." She offered up, following after Vaeros and the strange woman. Only seconds after she'd left, she heard footsteps to indicate that Delvin was close behind. 

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Authors Note:

Hey guys! Here's another update of RF, i hope you're enjoying this series so far. Just to keep you updated in case you didn't see my community message. A lot is going on right now in my personal life which has meant its been difficult to keep updating both my series. 

If you read TVATD, this is why i haven't been able to update it in the last couple of weeks. Whereas RF is all pretty much written, so i just have to upload it. I hope you can continue to be patient, life's really been hectic <3 

I'm not dropping TVATD! Updates are just a bit slower than norm, i hope to get out a chapter for it either this week or next week. 

Thanks so much for reading. I appreciate all of you! 

Lots of love, 

Sam.E