His Ocean Blue Eyes

♔Chapter Five

"I'm beginning to think I'm bad luck," my whisper echoed around me in the vast green sea as I kicked the wolf's corpse over. I crouched down, grabbing the hilt of the dagger, pulling it from the wolf's skin.

Mare calmed down once she realized that the wolf was just a corpse. She walked over, leaning her head down to investigate the wolf as I stood up, wiping the blood off of the dagger and onto the side of my trousers.

I walked to Mare, putting the dagger into a holster on my side before mounting her. She stood straight up, waiting for me to give her any command, but I didn't.

I sat where I was seated on her saddle, and reached into her saddlebag, grabbing the journal I had been given. I had yet to even open the book.

Mare began walking to the path a bit away, taking it slow since I had given her nothing to go by. I opened the journal, looking over the map that was already on the first page; it showed the perimeter.

The pages after had lists and lists of guard station around the perimeter until it came to a map of the entrances to the castle. After that, it was once again lists of guard stations.

I turned to the map of the inside of the castle. It had been given to us from the memory of an elder that used to work at the castle, from what I had been told. The map showed that it was based off memory, pieces and parts were missing and some places overlapped lines that hadn't been fully erased.

It was barely eligible, but the lists after were completely helpful for the most part. It wasn't pages full like the rest, it was one and a half. It seemed to have also been done from memory, but at most, I knew where to enter and where to go. Get in, get the crown, and get out.

Mare stopped suddenly, making me jerk forward before slipping and falling to the ground. "Fuck," I cursed, standing up and brushing myself off before looking up and seeing a group of men.

They all sat atop their horses, all of the steeds as pure colored as a white tuberose. My eyes took notice of their holstered swords and their bows that rested on their backs.

I bent down, grabbing the journal and putting it in Mare's saddlebag. I grabbed Mare's horn, pulling myself back up into the saddle and grabbed the reins, ignoring the men in front of me.

"What is a boy like you doing around the castle?" One asked, his accent annoying, and his hand rested on the hilt of his sword. I looked up at the group once I got situated.

"Last I heard, the town is open to everybody," they seemed surprised by my difference in accent, looking between each other before back at me. Mare kept her head up, watching all the men and waiting for them to move from her way.

"We are meant to know the business of all who come here," one said, all the others turning their head towards him to glance before returning their gazes on me.

"That is a lie," I spoke, getting ready to pass the fools that sat in front of me. "I was here just last week, and nobody asked to know of my reasons."

"Dickens didn't ask the reasons?" They all turned to each other, distracted now by whether or not this Dickens fellow asked for reasons. Mare walked past them, and I ignored them when they stopped her.

Instead of fighting, I pointed towards the woods beside us, where a group rested behind a bush, watching us. I had seen them the moment they came up, which was only minutes before.

Two of the guards dismounted their horses, beginning to walk to the group. "Also," I spoke, looking towards the guards, "my father's sent me to bring a letter to the king before the traffic for the ball gets here."

The guards that remained in front of the archway moved and allowed me to pass. My mouth curved into a smirk as I passed them. Kingdoms always had idiots to guard their doorstep.

Mare was placed in the stables. I grabbed the journal from her saddlebag before paying for her stay.

I made my way out of the stable, walking down the path towards the inn. My eyes caught sight of the large castle at the far end of the highly populated town.

I walked to the market, deciding that before I do anything else, I needed to stock up on supplies. I was left with only an apple and a few coins from my start of the journey.

People pushed and shoved others out of the way, making everyone annoyed and the atmosphere an awful feeling. Children passed between the people's legs and ran out of the market. I sighed, taking a step into the crowd before finding my way to where I needed to be.

The woman looked at me as I grabbed food that would last longer than a day or two. "That's thirty coins, sir," she said, making my brown arch. I grabbed my bag, placing the food inside before paying the woman, seeing her expression turn to one of surprise.

I continued on throughout the market, looking at random stores' merchandise. After about ten minutes, however, the crowd got aggravating and I pushed my way outside of the marketplace.

I heard children scream and laugh from off in the distance and looked up to the sky to see that it was about noon, meaning that all the children and adults would be out and wondering the streets.

Their numbers just added to the vast majority that was already up and going. I made my way throughout the crowd, finding the inn and walking to the bar. People were already drinking and bickering.

I realized that that was all I ever heard in most places. Bickering. Everyone was always bickering.

I shook my head, ordering a drink from the bartender as I sat on one of the barstools. My drink came soon and I grabbed the handle of the glass, bringing it to my lips and taking a big swig of the alcoholic liquid.