Womanish Lady

Chapter 18:

"I wanna spend the day in the town."

"Eh?" Fuyaiyah turned around from preparing the morning tea. "So suddenly?"

"Yeah. I remember there being tasty things that are only in the town. Plus," she looked away with a devilish smirk.

Fuyaiyah got curious and gave the Princess a look to continue on.

"To make Kyuni apologize for his behavior the other day, we'll go to him, and I'll make him give me the money for everything."

She laughed out loud.

"But, Princess. No one's going to make you pay for anything."

"I'll make them take the money. Besides," the air changed for a moment. "Anyone would say that I saw wrong, but I could've sworn I'd seen my mother paying for her goodies in town. I want to do the same."

She couldn't help but smile at the Princess.

"Alrighty then. Here, drink your tea, and I'll get started with the preparations."

Princess Zyla smiled wide and took a sip.

Three hours later, the two ladies stood in front of Prince Kyuni and his horsemen, who were just about to set out. Zyla held out her hand for them to stop, and Prince Kyuni was impatient as they walked up to him.

Fuyaiyah bowed and the Princess smiled at her brother.

"What do you want?"

She held out her hand. "We're spending the day in the city. I need money."

"You're a Princess. You don't have to pay for anything." he furrowed his brow.

"But I want to. I want to pay everyone I buy from for their hard work. Aren't you sorry for ruining my fun yesterday?"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

By now, his horsemen were finding it difficult to hide their amusement.

"If you're any kind of sorry, you can show it by paying for everything I want." she stuck her hand out again.

"You'd best pay her," said one of his horsemen.

"She doesn't look like she's gonna move."

Prince Kyuni sighed impatiently and opened his sack.

"How much?"

The Princess only smiled wider.

They were finally in the carriage on their way to the town, but Fuyaiyah was unable to share the excitement with the Princess.

When they were approaching Prince Kyuni and his men on horses, Fuyaiyah was reminded of the scene just before her mother was killed. It barely helped, but she kept her head down before she acted out of her place.

Fuyaiyah still needed a moment to recover herself so it was good that Princess Zyla fell asleep on her shoulder. However, the feeling of resentment seeped out so strongly that it was hard to calm, and Princess Zyla, in her sleep, felt it.

But in town, she didn't have time to be upset anymore. The Princess went to almost every shop and vendor she saw. At one shop, when the coachman and Fuyaiyah were struggling to keep an eye on her, the Princess found a pair of charms, and brought it before walking back to them. And finally, the Princess stopped to eat.

"Here's your plate, Princess." Fuyaiyah put down a plate of hot food then sat down to eat hers.

She watched as the Princess clapped her hands in glee and dug in which made her smile.

"It's quite noisy today," she commented after a while.

"I like the noise. It's better than the quiet palace." smiled the Princess.

Fuyaiyah nodded but wasn't satisfied. She listened closer, and realized that around the corner, where a group of men whispered quietly amongst themselves. Fuyaiyah overheard some of their conversation.

"We confirmed the location. When should we go?"

"As soon as possible. Before the King somehow gets word of us. Let's do it tomorrow."

There was one who kind of stood out from the group. He looked immature. He complained.

"Nooo. Not tomorrow - the day after that."

The guys gave him a look.

"What's tomorrow for you?"

"I have," he looked away. "-an appointment."

His partners looked at him unbelievably.

"We're about to accomplish something big and you're thinking about being with a woman?"