As Brendan and Alina strolled back out into the sunny street, the two Knights that had been seated behind them could still be heard howling from the depths of the theater. They, like their Princess, had found Brendan’s dalliance on stage to be a source of great entertainment.

Alina was still in the process of wiping tears of humor from her cheek, while Brendan’s face had resumed its usual scowl. He hadn’t minded when it had been his betrothed’s amusement, but the Knights were a whole other matter.

Turning to stare up at the Troivackian King and noting his soured mood, the Princess gently touched his arm, drawing his dark gaze down to her.

“Shall we have an early supper and return to the castle? I believe we passed a relatively clean tavern on our way here.”

Brendan’s expression softened when in the remaining light of the day, he saw her bright hazel eyes alight with excitement.

“Very well, the more walking for you the better I suppose,” he managed to say while clearing his throat and turning his warm face forward.

He was more than a little pleased when, without prompting, he felt her small cool hands wrap around his forearm, and immediately drew her closer.

For some reason it became incredibly hard not to smile…

“Ah! Pardon me, you two there!”

Both Alina and Brendan stopped and turned towards the voice, and found themselves staring at a man in his mid-forties, with deep green eyes, light brown hair with silver touching his temples, and a strange, slightly mischievous, smile on his face.

He was handsome for an older man…

“You two wouldn’t happen to be a Troivackian King and our one and only Daxarian Princess, would you?” he asked while stepping forward and dropping his voice so that only the three of them might hear.

“I believe there is only one Troivackian King as well,” Brendan noted coolly.

Who was this man?

He didn’t look light a fighter judging from his relatively thin appearance…

“Ah yes, yes! I meant no offense, Your Majes-”

The dark expression that crossed Brendan’s face made the man instantly cease talking, and was forced to reroute his choice of words.

“Apologies for interrupting your outing, I am Mr. Reese Flint. I will be meeting you officially, Princess, in the near future.” The man winked at Alina while giving her a charismatic smile.

The Princess’ gentle features hardened, and the Troivackian King growled.

Reese had the good sense to no longer look so frivolous and gave a small bow.

“Apologies again, I meant no offense. I only meant my services have been acquired for the Princess at a later date and I-”

“What kind of services are you supposed to be providing, and who has paid for them?” Brendan demanded, his tone threatening and his stare cold.

“O-Oh, well it was meant to be a surprise for the Princess for her birthday, so I-”

Brendan took a step forward and the man named Reese Flint gave a rather unmanly squeak and stepped back hastily.

When the King didn’t proceed with beating the handsome from his face, he cleared his throat and tried again.

“Viscount Ashowan has purchased vocal lessons for the Princess for her birthday.”

“He did?!”

Brendan’s head snapped back to see Alina’s face once more filled with excitement.

“Wait, Reese Flint… aren’t you that infamous bard who has served two different courts?!” she asked, stepping forward eagerly.

The infamous musician’s previous wary expression gave way to pride. “It’s good to see I am not completely forgotten. Yes, Your Highness. I am indeed that very bard. I was the musician who heralded your birth in court, as well as the one who entertained your father during the dark months of war.”

Brendan remained unimpressed.

“Why is it you are approaching the Princess so boldly here today?” he asked, while noting Alina’s complete shift in attitude towards Reese Flint, and not liking it one bit.

“Ah, forgive my impudence, after seeing you on stage and then catching the Princess’ profile, I couldn’t help but let my curiosity get the better of me. Your Highness,” Reese turned to Alina. “While not many of us commoners have received the privilege of glimpsing you in public, you and the Crown Prince carry an undeniable resemblance to one another.”

The Princess’ expression grew taut for a moment before she remembered to mask her features, and instead issue a composed courtly smile.

“That is kind of you to say, Mr. Flint.”

“Yes, though I count our crossing paths early to be quite fortuitous! You see, Your Highness, I have been working on arranging a wide repertoire of music for you to learn during our lessons, but would love to hear more of your preferences so that we might make the most of our time together.” The bard gave a slight bow and a friendly smile.

Alina was opening her mouth to reply, when the two Knights that had been gradually recollecting themselves in the theater appeared behind Reese.

“Sir, could you perhaps step away from the young woman,” Sir Cas’ voice was sharp and the Bard nearly leapt out of his skin (much to Brendan’s secret amusement).

“Sir Cas, it is alright, this man is-”

“Reese Flint?!” Sir Vohn interrupted the Princess before he was able to stop himself. Realizing his error, however, he quickly bowed an apology to her. “Sorry for the interruption, I was caught off guard by the bard’s presence. I have not seen him since my childhood when I would train with the Crown Prince.”

Alina’s lips twitched for a moment, but she was quicker about covering up her surprise than she had been after initially hearing about her brother from Reese. Turning back to the bard, Alina felt a spark of curiosity ignite as the man grinned at the Knight while studying his face closely.

“Let’s see… you said your name was Sir Vohn? I believe I remember you as one of the children in his Highness’ band of friends in Rollom, yes?”

The Knight smiled and crossed his arms as Sir Cas beside him looked equally stunned with the Princess.

“Ah… yes… sorry again about the… the Winter Solstice incident. His Highness was rather down those days, but tormenting you seemed to be one of the few joys he got.”

Reese sighed, though a laugh burbled in his throat as he did so while he shook his head at the memory.

“Yes, I’m afraid when the Prince and I first met- actually he and I had both met when Lord Ashowan was still known as Mr. Ashowan, the Royal Cook… anyway… I fear the Viscount at that time had colored His Highness’ opinion of me.”

“My brother pulled pranks on you? Like what?” Alina asked eagerly, unable to hide her interest.

Reese’s smile widened when he regarded the young royal’s renewed interest. “Princess, the stories I could tell you about your brother, I believe would surprise you a great deal.”

Brendan glanced down at Alina’s attentive stare, and felt another strange burst of irritation as a slow realization worked its way through his awareness.

“Mr. Flint…” the King began slowly, the words thick in his throat as his crossed arms stiffened. “Would you care to join us for a meal to tell the Princess these… stories.”

The words pained him, and he wished he could take them back…

That is until Alina turned to look at him.

Her expression was nearly indescribable, and yet… it made Brendan’s heart stop beating.

There was appreciation, shock, hopefulness, and… perhaps something a little bit more that made him feel… moderately… or a great deal more than moderately… well… pleased.

“Well, it would be my absolute honor!” Reese beamed while splaying his hands onto his slim hips before turning back to the Knight he recognized who looked stunned at the Troivackian’s invitation. “I must admit, Sir Vohn, I have been curious for quite some time, how is it you and His Highness managed to change the tuning of all the instruments and oil all of the musician’s chairs when we only left the musicians corner for at most a matter of minutes that Solstice?”

Alina’s jaw dropped as she turned to one of her father’s elite Knights who, aside from laughing hysterically at her betrothed, had always been a model Knight.

The man blushed all the way to the roots of his hair. “W-Well… it was Eri- I mean the Prince’s planning that had us be so… er… efficient.”

There was a moment of absolute silence as the Knight appeared too embarrassed to find the right words.

Letting out a grunt and rolling his eyes to the sky, Brendan startled everyone into looking at him. Somehow they had forgotten the giant of a man was listening to the entire conversation.

After briefly shutting his eyes as though forcing himself to remain relatively polite, the King then fixed Sir Vohn with an expression that could only be described as resignation.

“Let us go to the tavern. Even I would like to know the details of this story.”

*

Alina sat shoulder to shoulder with Brendan, and across from the bard who was smiling at her despite Brendan’s scowl. Sir Vohn sat beside Reese Flint while Sir Cas had pulled a chair up to the end of the table.

The tavern that Alina had chosen was called The Wet Whistle, and after seating themselves on the slightly sticky booths, Brendan’s eyes finally adjusted to the dim light and was far from pleased with the kind of company that the establishment welcomed.

He didn’t get a chance to suggest moving to somewhere safer however, before the busty auburn-haired serving wench arrived and the Knights hastily ordered ales for everyone- the Princess included.

Brendan had been about to interrupt and insist that she not partake, but once again was not given a moment to do so.

“So, you’re saying my brother… he organized you into two groups. One for putting the instruments out of tune, and another group for oiling the chairs,” the Princess began slowly.

“Yes, Your Highness. The musicians promptly slipped out of their chairs onto the floor, and Mr. Flint here found himself singing… more than one solo to accommodate his fellow performers… becoming suddenly indisposed,” Sir Vohn laughed, then quickly transitioned into a cough over the bard’s wry gaze.

“I must confess, I don’t remember you all that well, Sir Vohn. My brother and I are eight years apart in age after all.” Alina felt her hands begin to fidget in her lap.

“Ah, you wouldn’t recognize me from court my lady, I’m the youngest son of a former Knight. I have inherited no land myself, but the Crown Prince was never one to discriminate his friendships based on status you see.”

Alina smiled. “I do remember that bit about him.”

Encouraged by the Princess’ positive reaction, the Knight leaned forward conspiratorially.

“Did you happen to hear about the time we got ourselves shipwrecked on the Southern Islands about a year and a half ago?”

Both the Princess and Troivackian King grew still.

A year and a half ago… that meant that Sir Vohn had been with the Prince more recently than anyone else they knew, save for the Viscount.

Somehow, even the talkative bard knew not to point this out to the man.

“What happened?” Alina asked as she feigned lighthearted interest.

“Well, it was not yet spring, and it was bloody cold… we had taken a boat to try our hand navigating around the infamous rocks by the Islands, only we didn’t fare so well. It was the Prince and myself along with perhaps three other friends, all piled into a fishing vessel… not our brightest idea of course, but His Highness was rather adamant about it.”

“Why was he so adamant?”

Sir Vohn grinned then shook his head. “I fear that is a story I most likely can’t share. I apologize for bringing it up, I wondered if His Highness had told you, and if he had, I was going to share my take of it. I imagine the King would not be exactly pleased to learn that I didn’t stop the Prince from doing something so foolhardy, so perhaps we don’t mention this again if… if that’s alright.”

The Knight had grown rather sheepish, his light brown eyes dropping to the table in a subtle bow of apology as the bar wench came and passed around the ales.

“When is it you moved from Rollom to Austice?” Alina asked while taking a small sip from the tankard that required her to use two hands to lift.

Brendan watched her out of the corner of his eye.

He was willing to wager that a few mouthfuls of the drink in her hands would render her immobile.

“Oh, I transferred up last spring for my qualifying exam under Captain Taylor to see if I was fit to be an elite Knight. With the Crown Prince’s recommendation,” Sir Vohn added, a hint of pride passing through his face.

Alina gave him a warm smile, but Brendan could see the pain in her eyes that she was working to hide from the man.

“Last spring, you mean a few months ago?” Reese Flint asked with casual interest.

It was the first moment Brendan had been grateful the man was present.

They needed the Knight to keep talking before he realized he was revealing precious information.

“Ah, I wasn’t clear. No, I came up just over a year ago,” Sir Vohn nodded his head, but his good humor was suddenly dwindling as he glimpsed around the table at the attentive faces.

A small frown began to work its way across his brow. “Is something the matter?”

Sir Cas spoke up then.

“Er… I don’t think I’ve met anyone in the past three years who has seen the Prince and spoken about it.” He was the newest addition to the elite rank of the Knights. Though despite at least seven years of Knighthood being a requirement- meaning he had to at the very least be in his late twenties, Sir Cas looked to be a similar age to the Princess.

His short blonde hair and round face was the primary culprit in giving him a boyish appearance.

Sir Vohn stared at his comrades' tense features, then slowly turned to stare at the Princess who looked like a rabbit caught in the carrot patch by the gardener.

“Well… I don’t understand why that would be the case… His Highness is perfectly fine,” the Knight began slowly before trailing off as though a sudden thought were occurring to him.

He blinked several times, his hand curling around the handle of his tankard. Then closed his eyes with a wince.

“Oh. I’d forgotten… what the Viscount said… I’m so sorry Princess that was thoughtless of me. We were just talking about some of the mischief His Highness got into in his youth when he was upset about moving to Rollom, and I just happened to think of the most recent event… I’m sorry.”

“What is it the Viscount said to you?” Brendan demanded, as Sir Vohn began withdrawing from the conversation.

“Knowing our beloved House Witch something along the lines of ‘do be a dear and keep quiet about having seen the Prince as it might upset certain people,’” Reese Flint interrupted airily while taking a deeper drink from his ale.

Alina’s eyes snapped to the bard, and it was then she noticed something…

Reese Flint had a strange knowingness in his eyes that he didn’t bother to hide when he gazed calmly back at her.

“Mr. Flint, did you happen to see my brother recently?” she rounded on him swiftly, the sharpness in her tone taking everyone aback.

The bard opened his mouth to reply when a sudden burst of violence broke out in a booth by the bar.

A large man was being restrained by two smaller companions as he lunged for someone standing in his way. The bartender was rounding the corner wearily, clearly having experienced such occurrences more times than he could count, only he had not been prepared for the table of men where Alina sat to burst into motion the moment the fight broke out.

Immediately the Knights stood and created a human shield as Brendan roughly hauled her up, and then ushered her past the bar to the back entrance.

‘How did he even known where this exit was?!’ Alina found herself thinking as the series of movements happened faster than she could properly process. The group burst out into the alley, that was fortunately empty, but Sir Cas began leading them to the left towards a main road.

Sadly in the chaos of her Knights and betrothed whisking her away from the tavern to the back alley, Reese Flint had strode away quickly in the opposite direction without another word.

Before she could stop the bard, Sir Cas gave a single sharp whistle and a black carriage with no adornments pulled up immediately at the opposite end to the alley that Reese Flint had taken.

There was nothing she could do, but at least all was not lost.

She had the name, and private music lessons with someone who may have seen her brother far more recently than anyone else…

And that was more hope than she’d had in years.