Ragged Royal

Chapter 23

 Thanks for waiting. Hope you are enjoying the story so far.

I wake up to being kicked, none too gently, in the side by a guard who gruffly told me that Prince Izana wanted to seen. With Shep at my side i follow the guard to Izana's office where he told me to wait outside to be summoned.

It didn't take long and i walked in Shep trailing behind keeping a watchful eye on that guard who lead us here.

"Your late" Izana stated as he looks up from some papers before pushing them aside. "Come with me" he adds as he get up and walks out the door.

"Your messenger has to learn where to look for me when it comes to wake up calls, i tend to change resting spots depending on the weather and how i'm feeling." I say. Glancing over my shoulder to see the guard following us.

' i don't trust that guard ' Shep growls just soft enough for me to hear.

"Keep an eye on him" i whisper

"Pardon?" Izana asks and i whip my head around to look at him

"Nothing" i flash him a fake smile that i hope passed as a good one. He took one last glance in my direction before looking ahead once more.

We ended up in the dining hall where we were served a good breakfast of eggs, bacon, and toast. We eat in silence and i can't help but feel on edge about how casual he is being, it's just not like him. I slip some bacon and toast to Shep who wasn't given any food and he took it graciously, letting out a loving moan as the food passed his lips.

"So...." i trail off. Playing with what's left of the bacon and egg on my plate before deciding to place the whole plate on the floor for Shep.

"I've given your request some thought." Prince Izana starts as he pushes his plate away from him and leans back in his seat. Shep hearing the noise sits up and watches the plate intently, fixated on the last scraps of food that were left behind. " I will run the idea by my council and see what they think before we can even start planning for it." he continues, his eyes wandering to Shep and then to the plate in front of him.

"We?" i question a tad confused.

A kitchen aid comes to take our plates but i snatch Prince Izanas and let Shep lick it clean before handing it to her. After his little meal of scraps he simply lays at my feet, eyes open just enough so he can keep an eye on the guard from earlier.

"Well since you barged into my office and demanded that something be done with those children and such, i expect you to help in the planning and building of the facilite. Seems fair to me." Prince Izana responds nonchalantly as he stands up. "I will have your answer around noon, meet me here." he says as he places a neatly folded piece of paper he took out of nowhere on the table before leaving the room.

'What was that all about, he was so tense' Shep whines, standing up so he could come over and place his head in my lap.

"No idea" i huff as i stroke his ears with one hand and grab the note with the other. "Looks like we will be taking lunch in the royal gardens." i say as i flap the paper around before stuffing it into my pocket.

'Lets go tell the others' Shep barks excitedly.

With that we set out on the sole purpose of finding the kids. The first place i looked was the medical wing knowing that Nagisa would still be with Shirayuki. I wasnt wrong and as soon as we steped thriught the doors Nagisa came running around the corrner her brother not far behind. Stoping short ending in Kuma slaming into her, both tumbing to the floor in a heap of limbs.

"Shirayuki said that you would look for us here" Nagisa was the first to speak as she huled herself off the floor before helping her brother.

"How did your talk with the Prince go!!" Kuma basicly yelled with excitement.

"He has to run it through the council and will let me know the details at noon today." i simply say and they both look a bit chest fallen so i decide to change the subject. "Have you too had a good morning?" i ask purely to switch topics.

"Yeah Shirayuki was teaching us about medicine plants!!" Kuma exclaimed

"It was really boring" Nagisa sighed "id rather do anything than sit and look at plants." she added, puffing out her cheeks in frustration.

"You eat?" Shirayuki's voice cuts our conversation short.

"Yes but Shep just got scraps because the kitchen denied to feed him" i huff out the last part because i still can't believe that they didn't have like a bone or something laying around that they could have gave him.

"Well ive got a few things he could have" she says and Shep walks right up to her and sits at her feet. Resulting in a laugh from everyone.

"That would be great thanks" i say after the laughing subsides.

"So what do you two wanna do today?" i ask

"I wanna stay here and learn more about medicines" Kuma exclaims and scampers off after Shirayuki and Shep, who are heading to her office, before i could utter a single word.

"I think i'm gonna go hang with Obi maybe he can teach me some fighting stuff." Nagisa said. Before following her brother, and i'm assuming that Obi is also in her office probably with Ryu.

"Spending time in the forest seems like a good idea today" i say to myself before heading in that direction, knowing Shep will follow after.

I spent the morning skipping through the tree branches and running the length of the forest. At one point i took out my bow and took turns shooting at the trees near the meadow, each shot within seconds of each other. When i decided that was enough practice i sat on a low tree branch but not too low that i would be spotted easily before sharpening my daggers carefully as the sun steadily climbed in the sky.

Before long i was dozing in the soft rays of the sun. back pressed against the tree trunk.