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Cherry woman spoke firmly. I said nothing, watching as she shouted her demands. And then she motioned towards me. My horse shook out its mane and I suddenly didn't like the attention. "Ah, ugh," I murmured quietly. I put up my hands in innocence. I really had no part in cherry woman's argument…nor did I want to be.

The Prince of Baldur stayed silent before leaning towards his general. I watched as they exchanged a few words, obviously because the prince was a little more than an idiot.

"Oh, my dear," the prince said, thinking himself cunning. I rolled my eyes. "Not if you and your blasted sisterhood lie to me and steal from my own treasury. In which case, is treason in Baldur and Jania. Especially so if Jania and Baldur are having quite a strained relationship at this point in time. So lest you want a war, then come by me, be my bride, return my money and you will be pardoned from your hideous crimes."

At this point, I couldn't take it anymore. My horse ambled nearer to cherry woman's. I gave her a peculiar eye. She wasn't who she appeared to be at all then, if what the prince said was true. I looked back to the prince and then to his men. They seemed so eager to jump them. Whether cherry woman denied them or not, I didn't think we'd have much of a chance either way.

"A thief?" I asked of cherry woman. Might as well be honest now.

I raised a brow. The cherry woman was certainly very peculiar and mysterious. She was lucky that I very much indeed liked very peculiar and mysterious things.

I kept my eyes on her as I tugged on my reigns, before my horse began to move.

The Baldur men raised their weapons. I held my hands up. "Ah, pardon." I used the strength of my legs to keep me upright.

"And who are you?" The Prince of Baldur asked, now feeling aversive to my being there after witnessing the cherry woman's lips in my ear.

I gave a lofty smile before reached behind me, to the bow hooked onto my bag. The men were alarmed now, aiming their weapons towards me. I shook my head to show I didn't mean any harm before I raised the bow above my head. "It hurts me that you don't remember me, Kahrel Baldur."

"You know this insignia." I said after a second thought. The prince seemed to tense up after recognizing me. It's been awhile since the last we've seen of each other.
His general came to his side, murmuring something. The prince seemed to have some discomfort. And then a hateful expression. I couldn't say I had a very good relationship with Kahrel in the first place. I knew he loathed me.

"Ren Valtemeri de Frahil," the prince spat. I laughed. No one called me by that name unless I was in front of an audience. My horse was getting antsy. "Of Lyrias." I nodded, putting the bow down. I finally spoke up. "You will pardon this little lady of Jania. You will never see this redhead ever again in your country nor will you lay your hands on her ever again. I will pay you back every cent you think you lost once I get the facts straight. But you will not threaten this lady, as she is now a guest of mine. A guest of Lyrias."

Kahrel was obviously angry. "You can't do that. I am an heir, unlike you." He seemed to get ahead of himself. I scratched my head. "I may not be heir to my own throne, but you are in my country. Being an heir in a country not of your own means nothing."

I would probably have to hear this in court. I wasn't looking forward to the complaining nor the scolding. It was bad enough it was that I had snuck out for two days. His general now seemed to be arguing with Kahrel. I didn't care much to hear all the details. Kahrel bit his lip. I knew what he was to say next, which made my smile grow wider.

"We will leave. But expect a follow up in the upcoming weeks, Valtemeri," he growled. His men left with the command of the general. Kahrel was the last to leave and gave me a lingering, scornful look. I waved him off and they disappeared down the road that went around Wysteria to the borders of Baldur.

I then turned to cherry woman. I wanted to see her expression. What she would think and say.

Who knew it to be so funny? I laughed a little too, though awkwardly. I scratched my head, my horse walked back to the red head. I gave her a smile and a shrug.

"Kahrel is an idiot. We used to have playdates when we were younger. I remember one time I pushed him into a pond and he cried for three hours about it." I guess the beans were out now. It wasn't like I was hiding that I was a prince. However, it wasn't very often that princes are found in the forest like that.

I ran my hand through my hair. "Well now, Jania woman. Now that you know who I am…What is your name?" I was curious.

"And stop laughing," I urged lightheartedly. By this time, I couldn't help but chuckle, covering my mouth as I did. When a person laughed, one couldn't help but laugh too. And the redhead seemed much too happy for me not to laugh.

Ah, Rakia. An exotic name. Ameras did not ring any bells though, but I was fairly certain that my sister would recognize it. She was more acquainted with history and lineage, far more so than I.

I tilted my head, my blue eyes scanning her. "Well, that'd be nice, after all the trouble you put me through." I raised my brow, gripping the reigns with one hand as I looked at the redhead. I then looked to the northeast direction before back at the woman. "What are you doing all the way in west? I suppose you being a dancer isn't the whole story."

My horse sure was nervous. It was probably the most jittery steed I have ever ridden. I let it pace around to calm herself, though I kept my attention on Rakia.

I laughed at that, quite amazed at Rakia's foretold abilities. She was certainly an interesting one, but how much could I trust of her story? She did owe me her life, so I had no reason to think she was lying, but how could I trust a liar and a thief?

"So you are the bait, the accessory so that the other two can steal from rich bigots." I scratched my head. "While Kahrel is a stupid prince, perhaps stealing from the Baldur family was not so wise, especially with the strained relationship with Jania." I patted the horse's mane, who snorted. "Now that I promised Kahrel to return his money once I learned the truth of things, I think the best thing to do is return the money. You see, I can't exactly go back home asking my parents to fund an entire country's treasury, especially one that Lyrias doesn't really care for." I shrugged. This turned out to be much more trouble than I thought.

"Do you know where your two friends are now?"

"s**t." I rubbed my chin as I thought. My horse did a lot of the pacing I would've done for me. If they were truly her friends, they wouldn't have taken off. I didn't say that, since she probably cared deeply for these friends of hers. I ran a hand through my light hair, before looking up at the sky, judging the time. "Well, they weren't exactly looking for you, if you were held prisoner for that long," I murmured after awhile.

"That just means we'll have to look for them and make them return what they've stolen." My horse whinnied again. I looked to Rakia.

"Let's go to my home first. I myself have people looking for me." I motioned her horse to begin following my own as I guided it northwest. The welcome party would be…quite large. Not so much a party necessarily, no one would be celebrating me coming back. Only scoldings and complaints. To say I was looking forward to it…meh.

"You better," was what I wanted to say, but I said nothing and paid her a sideways glance. He kind of liked the dirtiness of her, with leaves in her hair and dirt in her nails. But he didn't say that either and let her fix herself. She was pretty either way, he was sure, but he supposed he was more attracted to imperfect allure than comeliness.

The group of people could be easily identified as imperial guardsmen. I waved my hand, though not eager, I made an attempt to crack a grin. "Yoohoo~"

The guards hated me. My shenanigans deemed either too troublesome, annoying, or too silly to handle. To be honest, I only messed with the guards cause it amused me. I guessed I played with them a little too much.

"Lord Ren," they made a short bow and introduction upon closing the distance between our horses and their men. The banner man spoke up. "You have been missing for two days now. Your sisters, Lady Cathril and Lady Guinevere, and your brothers, Lord Indra and Lord Stark, have all sent search parties for you. They sent word, saying that if we do find Lord Ren, to tell him that next time there will be no search parties for a lousy cat who doesn't like the color of his fur, but instead closed doors to his own home. Their words, my lord."

I leaned over to Rakia. "My siblings are quite poetic," I whispered. I was very used to the dramatics.

"Even Her Highness Sansa, your mother, has expressed worry of your leave. If you would like my opinion, Lord Ren, but maybe you should not leave the castle without such permission next time. It becomes a trouble when a member of the royal family goes missing." With that, he bowed his head.

I made a small face, thinking little on his words. "I like your opinion, my friend, but I will not heed it. I assume you are to escort me back?"

The guardsmen nodded, though a bit hesitantly. They kept looking at Rakia, at the redness of her hair. I noticed their stares and added, "And she is an important guest of mine, and thus to this country, so you will treat her like an extension of myself."

The guardsmen nodded shakily before turning around. They formed around us to escort them, so there was little we could do to escape if we wanted to. The castle wasn't too far from here. The capital city was small and we would take a back way directly to the castle so there were little people to see the return of this country's prince on the way there. Only guards. It seemed that they upped the ante with patrolling, probably to kick my escaping habits in the bud for good.