A Tale of Crown and Country

Reila

Reila and Obira pushed their way out of the dense crowd just as Castin did the same to their right. The trio walked to the other side of the street, out of the way of new arrivals to the festivities. It was quieter here, and they had a better view of the market square. Yvid hadn't turned up yet, but from here they would easily be able to spot him. Obira watched the ebbing crowd carefully for her brother's mop of blonde hair. Reila watched too, but Castin pulled her away from their friend.

    He was acting strange: making sure they were out of earshot, glancing around furtively as if someone was watching him.

    "Cas, what are you doing?" she asked impatiently, still watching the edge of the crowd for signs of Yvid.

    Castin stepped close to her, leaning over her. He turned his back to the crowd and spoke softly. She almost didn't hear him.

    "I saw this girl," he began.

    "And?" Reila asked. She didn't know where this was going, and whatever Castin was doing, it was some sort of exaggeration. Unless he'd uncovered a plot to kill the king, she wasn't really interested.

    "She was..." he stopped again, trying to find the right words.

    Reila swore to Erayd if he said "pretty" or "beautiful" or anything of the like she'd roll her eyes so hard the Reightneirian gods would be able to catch them.

    "She looked like you," he said.

    Reila was confused. How was that of significance?

    Castin caught onto this, because he elaborated, frantically grasping at things that might grab her attention. "She looked exactly like you," he said. "Eerily similar."

    "But she wasn't me," Reila pointed out. "There are a lot of people who look similar in this world." She didn't have a name for it, but it was true: oftentimes people looked almost identical to one another. It was just a lot less common for them to be in such close proximity to one another. Reila started to walk away. She was tired of this conversation, and besides, they still had to find Yvid. With her luck he'd be tucked away in a corner somewhere consumed by his own mind.

    Castin grabbed her by the arm as she tried to leave. He held her back and spoke with such agitation that she grew worried.

    "I have this... feeling."

    This time Reila really did roll her eyes. She turned to leave again.

    "Reila," he hissed. "I'm serious. I have this... feeling–something weird is going on here."

    Reila refrained from rolling her arms, but she did cross her arms and tilt her head, trying to tell him with every inch of her that she did not care and he was being ridiculous.

    "Castin, I am being entirely honest here–and as your friend I feel that I must say this: you feel too much." She stalked back over to Obira who grew excited, having spotted Yvid amongst the flowing crowd.

    Obira waved him down, with Reila's minor help. When Yvid was within yelling distance, his sister did just that. She chastised him for being late, for wandering off, and in general for making her worry so much. Reila wondered if the only thing keeping her from smacking her brother upside the head was Reila and Castin's presence.

    Reila's attention turned back to her friend. She glanced back to where he had told her his strange story. He was leaning against a building, watching her right back. He was most likely mad at her, but she decided she wasn't going to let it get to her. She joined the Wairton siblings as they threw insults back and forth at each other, the majority of which coming from Obira's mouth, and walked beside them down the street. Even their constant bickering would be welcome over Castin's disapproving glare. Just because she didn't take him seriously didn't mean he had to overreact like this. That was why she was mad at him in return. She just had the good sense to ignore him.

    Reila tuned out Obira's high-pitched squeals and Yvid's moans of annoyance. Obira chastised him for being late again and again. Yvid groaned that she sounded like their mother. Obira rejected this descriptor. Yvid retorted with "you're not my mother". Obira huffed and swore she wouldn't say another word to him. She broke this promise less than a minute later when no one spoke. Yvid announced that she couldn't handle silence and had to fill it with her whiny voice.

    At this point Reila seriously reconsidered joining Castin in trailing after the siblings. But one glance back at his haughty figure and she decided she wasn't in the mood for a lecture, or for being ignored–if anyone was doing the ignoring it would be her. She split the Wairtons apart, asking them gently to please stop fighting, and then spending the remainder of the walk home in between them.

    She alternated between asking Yvid about his observations, which she was much more interested in, and talking to Obira about anything that came to mind, because the girl couldn't go long without opening her mouth.

    Finally they reached the small house in the back of Ilane where the Wairton's aunt and uncle–and their quartet for the time being–lived. Reila continued to stay out of Castin's way. He could sulk all he wanted at her disbelief, but it wasn't going to change what she thought of his observations, and this "feeling" he had about them.