A Scope of Treasure

Chapter 5

"She's quite ridiculous, isn't she?" Millie muttered to me.

We were outside on the training grounds, bringing Queen Seraphine's weapons and gear to her as she chatted with Thatch, one of her personal guards. Sienna was buzzing around her, dabbing at her face with a towel, straightening her training gear, even fixing her nearly-perfect hair. She did look quite ridiculous.

"And Her Majesty has only done her warmups, as well," I remarked. "I can see what you mean. She does indeed adore the queen."

Millie didn't answer.

"Perhaps an unnatural amount," I continued, but she still didn't say anything. "Millie?"

I glanced over at her. She was staring at something, an enraptured look on her face.

A couple of guards were fighting, their swords clanging against each other, their grunts and shouts echoing over the training grounds. Their sparring was elegant, and they themselves weren't too bad to look at. "Which one are you looking at?"

"Hm?" She started a little, then tugged at her hair. "Ah, well— both of them, really. I want to be able to fight like that."

I raised my eyebrows. "You're staring because you like the way they spar?"

"Oh, yes." Millie nodded, eyes sparkling. "I know I'm employed as a lady to Her Majesty, but... it's really my dream to be a knight." She grinned. "I'd love to join the royal guard someday."

"Well, why don't you apply? Change jobs?"

"My pay from being a lady-in-waiting is much more than a beginning knight's would be. And since I send most of it home to my family, the job change wouldn't be practical right now." She sighed. "I can dream, though."

"I see." I frowned. "I'm sorry about that."

"Oh, don't be. It's not like I hate my job. And now it's much more enjoyable with a friend, so we can hate on Sienna together." Millie shot another disbelieving look at the redhead.

"That's true." I chuckled. "We might as well head over there, before Queen Seraphine actually starts her training exercises."

"With her brother?"

"The prince?" A nervous twinge shot through me. "Why would she spar with him?"

"Because he's over there." Millie gestured behind me, and I turned around.

Sure enough, Prince Aurelius was leaning against the entrance to the courtyard, arms crossed, face set in his usual glower.

Which was directed towards me.

"Is he staring at you?" Millie mumbled, looking first at me, then back at him. "The look on his face is very... intense." She looked at me again, wide-eyed.

That's probably because he needs his glasses, I thought, but didn't say anything. Instead, I followed Millie back towards the queen, ignoring the urge to turn around and see if the prince's gaze was still fixated on me.

"Your training sword, Your Majesty," Millie said, presenting it with utmost care to Queen Seraphine.

"Thank you."

"And your gloves and leather guards." I held them out. Sienna snatched away the gloves, so I affixed two of the guards to her shins as the redhead did the rest of them.

My curiosity won out by then, however, and I turned around back to where Aurelius was. He was no longer staring at me, but headed towards the training grounds. I watched as he purposefully strode up to several of the guards and drew his own wooden/ sword.

"I guess he is going to spar, then." Millie turned back to the queen, but I couldn't help but still stare at the prince — especially since he kept casting glances at me. Did he want me to see him train?

From this distance, I couldn't hear what he was saying to the guard in front of him — but I could certainly see when he pulled off his tunic and his shirt, leaving his chest bare.

I blinked several times, my confusion growing. It was a breezy autumn day — what on earth was he doing?

A couple of the guards seemed confused as well, but he apparently waved off their concerns as he started a sparring match with one of them.

I turned back to Queen Seraphine. She herself had given her brother one exasperated look before turning around completely and starting her stretches. That's probably for the best. I don't want to draw anymore unwanted attention from him, especially since he knows my secret.

But even with my back turned, I could still hear the sound of the prince and guards sparring, coupled with the dull thuds of swords against swords. I could distinguish Prince Aurelius' shouts from the others, which almost sounded to me like they were exaggerated. My curiosity won out, and I snuck a glance over my shoulder.

The prince was holding his own quite well against his opponent — unless he was just letting Prince Aurelius win, which was also plausible. I followed Aurelius' moves closely. Much like when he had been fighting me, he showed a lot of dramatic moves — but sometimes they were cover for quicker, shrewder maneuvers and landing blows that his sword dealt. It was almost impressive. I still didn't understand why he had to have his shirt off, though.

During one of my observations, when he was between sparring matches, the prince ran a hand through his hair, pushing his bangs away from his forehead and glancing in my direction. The look was unnerving, his dark eyes piercing, and I briefly wondered whether he was about to challenge me for his next fight.

Alone, with my other half, I could certainly take him. But here, by myself in front of everyone, it would probably not go over well. Maybe it was best to leave before he actually did do something like that. With the behavior I'd already seen from the moody prince, I wouldn't have been too surprised to see it.

"May I be excused?" I asked, turning around. "Yes, get out of here," Sienna replied instead, flapping her hand in my direction without looking at me. Millie rolled her eyes.

"I wasn't asking you

"Oh yes, you may," Queen Seraphine said, as she stopped to wipe her brow and take a sip of water. "After this, though, I need to go over our picnic plans with all of you, so just report back to me in another fifteen minutes."

I heard Millie tsk as she gave Thatch a skeptical look. The guard had been sparring with the queen after her warmups, and he was sweating a lot more than her. The poor man seemed like he needed his outer layers off more than Prince Aurelius did, especially as he fanned his hands frantically in front of his face.

"Will do, Your Majesty." I curtsied, then strode across the training grounds, the breeze lifting loose wisps of my hair. Before I stepped inside, I looked back at the prince — just once.

He held my gaze, even as he lifted his own cup to his mouth and drank, throat bobbing as he swallowed. It probably hurt his eyes to look at me at that awkward angle, which was all the more confusing on why he did so.

I entered the palace. Was this odd behavior what he meant about taking matters into his own hands? If the purpose was to intimidate me, then he fell short of that goal.

Shaking my head, I dismissed it as a fluke — not knowing it was the first of many strange incidents to come.