His Ocean Blue Eyes

♔Chapter Nine

An hour. An hour is what I had spent for the guards to take down the archers. An hour I was held back, and an hour I lost towards my journey; an hour I lost towards helping my sister.

Mare had noticed that I was upset and took off the moment we were allowed to leave the town. I had seen Peter once again playing in the streets with the other children, and showing off his bandage to people.

He was proud of himself, it was obvious in the steps he took, and I couldn't help but laugh when he had yelled that he was like me. He was nowhere near me, but if he thought that I was some hero, he could. Eventually the truth would come to him anyways.

The wind blew Mare's mane around as she walked along the path. It made my uncut hair fly into my face, and I was thankful Mare knew how to guide herself.

"Three damned hours for nothing, absolutely nothing!" I brought my hand to my hair, pushing it and holding it back as I looked around, searching for the owner of the voice. "That damned bar is nothing special!" I looked throughout the trees, spotting a moving figure a few feet away.

"Hello?" I asked, knowing it was stupid the moment the words left my mouth. I was right. The figure looked towards me, eyes glowing as he put a hand to the quill of his arrow, his bow already in hand.

"Who's there?" He called out, his eyes searching for anything misshapen. Mare had stopped, looking around for herself before spotting the man. "I will gladly kill you!" His voice wavered, and for a moment, I reached for the dagger holstered on my hip.

"Mare, go," I whispered instead, making Mare take off, bounding through the trees as she made her way to the clearer plains a step away.

I searched around, seeing that the man was nowhere in sight, and opened Mare's saddlebag, pulling out a drawn map. I looked down the path that I was on, tracing it thoroughly.

"An hour, Mare," I spoke, looking up as I place the map back in the saddlebag, "that's all." She turned her head, stopping before beginning to walk again. I shook my head.

I looked around the city, seeing men and women walking about in expensive clothing. Children ran around playing in a courtyard, an adult watching them.

A bell rung from ahead in town and I jumped up, looking ahead to see a church's bell ringing. I shook my head, clearing it of the paranoia.

Mare stopped in her tracks as a dog ran across the road in front of her. I sighed, jumping off of her saddle and pulling the reins over her head, grabbing them as I led her through town, a stable nowhere near the entrance.

"The kingdom can have such a big city, but not a stable near the door," I mumbled, grabbing the last of my coins to pay for Mare's stay. I shook my head, throwing the bag into my pocket as I walked out, going towards the kingdom to inspect the perimeter.

"Guards along the left, right, and back, entrance only having two," I whispered to myself as I wrote. "Openings on the northeast and west walls, and entrance to the castle past the courtyard."

I growled as a kid shoved me into the table, looking over my shoulder to see a group of children running down the street playing tag.

"I'm sorry," I jumped, turning around to see a young woman standing on the other side of the table. I pulled my notes closer to me, covering them so that she couldn't read.

"My younger brother knows no manners," she said, looking down before bending to pick up something. She stood back up, holding my pencil out towards me. "Maybe I should continue teaching him more when he gets home later." She was speaking to herself instead of speaking to me so I continued writing.

"What are you doing out here anyways? Why not go to an inn or, well, anywhere besides under the stars," I glanced up at her as I covered my writing again. Her eyebrow was arched as she dusted nothing off her dress.

"I spent the last of my money putting my horse in the stables," I answered, my eyes watching her as hers wondered around.

"Meaning, no inn, or anywhere besides under the stars," I spoke, copying her words. I looked back down at the papers on the table to see they were thrashing about in the wind, my hands the only thing holding them down.

She sighed from above me and I looked up at her, an eyebrow arched. "Do you need something?" I asked, grabbing the pages and folding them before forcing them into the journal I still had in my possession.

"If you need somewhere to sleep, my family has a farm on the outskirts of town," my eyes widened as she spoke, "or I could give you enough coins for a night at the inn."

I shook my head, holding my hands out as a guard. "I'm more than capable of staying outside all night," I spoke, making her frown and shake her head. "It's not a problem."

She walked around the table, grabbing my arm. "Jonah! Time to go home," she yelled after she had gotten a good hold on my arm. One of the younger boys in the group appeared within a couple of moments.

"Who's this, Mary?" He asked, tilting his head as he pointed at me. "He's not your husband, is he?" The girl, Mary, shook her head, laughing as my eyes stayed wide, looking at the ground as I tried to jerk my arm away, shock doing no help for me.

"He's going to be a guest at home tonight," Mary spoke to Jonah, grabbing a bag off of the table and handing it to the boy. "Go ahead and bring that to Mama." Jonah nodded, taking off towards the outskirts.

"Come on," Mary spoke, trailing off after she had spoken and looked up at me. "What's your name?" Her face flushed as she asked, making me wonder what was so embarrassing about asking for a name?

"Lyric," I answered, still trying to get my arm away, and I wondered for a moment if she helped around her family's farm and not only help like people thought a woman should.

"Like, the words in music?" Mary asked, letting go of my arm as she began walking. "Or like that prince that died, how many years ago?" I followed her, answering her questions as she answered mine on the way to her family's farm.