Mythe || Folkelore

⚔︎ 8 ⚔︎

That evening, Apollo crashes after dinner, but I decide to head out to a little town near the palace. Since coming to Flare, I haven't taken much time to get to know the Court or its people.

Slipping out into the cooler night air, I sigh. This will be good. I'll get to interact with my husband's people, and he'll never know I left the palace.

It's not a far walk from Falyv to the small, cliff side town of Atilio. In the soft light, the tiny houses glow. Their brightly painted roofs peek out from between the thin trees and rocks. Entering the market square, I watch booths pack up their goods. The quiet bustle is so different than I imagine it would be in the middle of the day. Shop venders aren't calling out to passersby, instead they talk softly among themselves.

I'm not noticed in my common clothes. It's nice. No one would suspect a thing. No one does. Glancing over my shoulder, I catch sight of a tall man turning away to look at one of the closing booths. That's odd. Not suspicious, just odd.

Shaking my head, I keep wandering around the little town. A booth nearby is still selling jewelry, so I pause and look through their pieces. Most are ridiculously large and not something I could stand wearing, but a dainty gold pocket watch draws my eye. It's not exceedingly noticeable like the others, but it's still gorgeous and feminine. Apollo and I could match. I know his is a Regalia, and this would just be some old watch, but I still find myself drawn to it. The booth keeper notices me fingering it, and places it in my hand.

"This is an ancient relic found deep in an underground cave. One day it could be worth a fortune, but I'll sell it to you for a meager thirty bonnetas."

Reaching into my trouser pocket, I hand her a handful of bonnetas. "Deal."

She grins, snatching up the small coins. I replace the coins with the watch, and start to walk away. From the corner of my eye, I see the tall man standing a few steps away. He glances around a couple of times like he's trying not to be noticed.

My breath catches slightly in my chest. I need to keep moving. If he stays with me, he must be confronted. Rolling my shoulders to release the tension that has suddenly filled them, I try to keep my pace even and slow. I look around at everything near me, and converse with booth keepers and meanderers like me.

Eventually, I come to the end of the square, the man keeping pace behind me, and I turn the corner onto the next street. Spinning around, I flick out my knife and watch for the tall man. He rounds the corner before too long, stopping short when he sees my blade.

"So you have been following me," I accuse, stepping closer to him.

He raises his hands in a seemingly surrender position, and raises both eyebrows. "It's my job, Your Majesty."

"And you know who I am. Who sent you?" I keep on slowly moving closer to him, but he continues to work his way around me.

"That I am not allowed to say. I mean you no harm though." His deep voice stays even, as he eyes my knife. "You can put that away now."

I snort. "Like I'm going to take your word for it. I'll keep it right where it is."

He sighs, shaking his head. "I can't say he didn't warn me."

"Who?" I growl, advancing on him.

"Your husband." Once again, the man sidesteps around me. "He assumed you'd be difficult."

I scoff, sliding my knife away and lunging at him. He attempts to move away, but as a smallish woman, I have more speed. With a jump, I get my arms around his neck and start to choke him out. Just enough to knock him out of course.