The Princess and The Bandit

SIXTEEN

* * *

He knows he's being followed. He just can't tell which one of these people are the ones out to get him.

After realizing that maybe he didn't escape from the dungeons but was purposely released instead, Shawn did not bother to climb the secret treehouse. He kept on going and going until he reached a peasant's dwelling and collapsed half way through its open door.

If he can help it, he will not lead those traitors to wherever he might find the princess.

He now has to be more careful.

The dwelling he found was a shack made of twigs and branches, pretty much like a beaver dam minus the surrounding water. It was dark and damp and smelled like rotten corpse. If not for the discarded pieces of clothing on the ground, a rickety and dusty old table, a small and hazard-prone looking fire pit, and a makeshift bed made of indiscernible materials, the place was otherwise empty.

There were people going around and about outside, but none of them paid him any attention. He looked pretty much like them anyway with his dirty face and bruises and wounds. So they must thought he's just another one of them who just had a regular day of struggle. This part of the Arcade city, right at the edge of the city border, are considered the poorest part of the imperial capital. A stark contrast to the towering, impressive majority of the buildings within the bustling city, it was the harshest neighborhood where the hopeless and derelicts reside.

Shawn was losing his consciousness but before he faded into the darkness, he saw a face. A face with the softest features he has ever seen, so much like an angel. His dazed mind thought he must've finally transcended from death and reached nirvana. He tried to say something but he couldn't quite find the strength to even move his mouth.

The owner of the said angelic face didn't say a word. Just looked at him curiously. The last thing Shawn saw before darkness took over was a sight of beautiful eyes, and thought that skies shouldn't be that brilliant shade of blue . . .

* * *

Something about Lucy's smirk irritates the living shit out of him. It's like everytime he sees her, she's got this smirk on her face that implies she knows something he doesn't.

It was very annoying and it's about to shred the last layer of his patience very soon.

Some of the other elves keeps an eye on him too.

From the dark skinned elf but not so tall who cooks up the gumbo for everyone else, to the pale skinned scarfaced tallest elf who tends the horses, these elves eyed him like he was seconds away from slashing their throats in their sleep. It's like they're all very wary of him. But then again, he's only one regular person with no special attributes. If anything, he should be the one wary of them.

So far, Carlos, the chieftain of this group of elves, hasn't given him any reason to doubt him. As far as stories go, his tale of his acquaintance with the emperor seems compelling. Not that commander Austin fully trusts them all just because of an unverified account of events that occurred many years ago.

Upon the suggestion of Carlos the chieftain, he went along with them as they traveled further north but not passing through the faerie kingdom of Zaragoza, even if it was a more convenient path. Apparently, the once magical and flourishing paradise where all faeries originally came from, has become a very dangerous place for any traveler who seeks passage in there.

A sinister faerie used dark magic to rule over the lands after stealing the throne from the last faerie monarch. And this particular dark faerie enslaved all and everyone, faeries and nonfaeries alike who are within the borders of the kingdom. Harnessing and abusing the sacred magical powers of their lands, striking fear on every citizen, torturing and murdering anyone who opposes the iron-fist rule. Not even the great emperor Michael could help this dark magic infested kingdom even if he tried.