26 XXV. The Market

"Don't let him get to you. You know how he was called as plutonious prince after all," Casey said as she was walking next to Magnus. He smiled before he turned to look at his wife. How can he be so lucky to have a nice wife but her brother was a royal pain in the ass? Magnus never knew how to answer that.

"Well, he was scary at first but I think I can see the real man underneath all that brooding," Magnus said as he remembered the night where Chad had come to him to warn that if he ever hurt Casey, he will be answering to the crown prince. A shiver ran his spine.

"So, what do we do now? It's hours away before luncheon," Casey said before Magnus heard some bells and the clattered of the hooves on the cobblestones that made him stopped and turned to look outside the window. A smile was on his lips.

"Well, how about we go for an adventure?" he asked his wife before Casey was arching her eyebrow. Magnus laughed before he pulled her to get changed.

"Come on. I don't think these robes can stand the heat in the market," he said before they went to their bed chambers and changed into more appropriate clothes.

*****

Casey could smell the roasted beef and the ciders that the vendors were selling to the passerby in the market. She never thought that she would be sneaking around with her husband and without the presence of the guards.

Her brother and parents would be furious when they found out about this.

But Casey was not worried to let her husband guide her through the market. He was eager to explore as much as she was. And it was something that she cannot ignore for Magnus Flemington was something to behold when he was trying to bargain with the vendors.

"For you, my lady," he said as he was putting the rose in her hair. Casey was drabbed in a maid's clothes whereas her husband was walking around as if he was a stable boy. That would be a good show when the princess and her consort were running around the market without any protection.

The bandits could take them out if they wanted to.

But Magnus has shown them not to mess with him. It didn't matter that he was a lord from Fiktown. He can surely hold a sword and knew martial arts. And Casey never felt safer than in the arms of her husband at night.

"Shall we taste that chocolate cakes?" Magnus asked her before Casey was nodding at him. He pulled her hand before they were walking on the cobblestones to stop at the vendor that sold those cakes he mentioned. There were a variety of cakes that were on display but Magnus told the vendor that he only wanted the chocolate cakes.

"Can we have some of the honey cakes as well, please?" she said before Magnus was arching his eyebrow at her. Casey shrugged before the vendor wrapped their orders and Magnus paid for them. They went to find a spot that they can eat the cakes.

They sat on the edge of the market where there were benches for sweethearts as well as people to take when they got their stuff from the market. The rushed talking of many dialects and languages was something new for Casey.

"Here," Magnus said as her husband was handing her the chocolate cakes. Casey thanked him before her husband put one in his mouth. He moaned before Casey was taking a small bite as well. Flavors hit her taste buds and she cannot control the moan that was coming out from her. The passerby was looking at her. Her face heated.

"Save that noise when we're alone, my love," Magnus teased her before she punched him on the arm. Her husband laughed again.

"Okay, I think this is the best cake I ever had in my entire existence," Magnus said before Casey smiled.

"I never had something like this as well. I think it's better than the ones that they served at the castle," Casey said before she was looking at Magnus. Her husband was smiling as the sun was shining on his black hair and his green eyes shone like emeralds.

Casey could not resist her hands pulling him by the nape and kissed him on the lips. It was something to be done when she was the princess of the realm but right now, she was undercover as a maid, a normal citizen of Caga that enjoy her outing with her husband, the stable hand.

"What was that for?" Magnus whispered as they were still inches away from each other. Their hot breaths mingled and Casey leaned forward for another kiss.

"I think it's for everything that happened to bring me to you. The disguise as a maid, the chance for me to get to know you when I was a lowly servant and when you saved me from the bandits," Casey whispered before her grey eyes were looking at the emerald stones of her husband.

"Casey, my love—" Magnus did not finish that sentence when there was an explosion took place at the center of the market. The vendors and customers alike were running for their lives before Magnus and Casey were holding each other.

"Come on!" Magnus pulled her by the hand as they were running from the panic. Casey was trying to keep up with the running and the crowd until her hand slipped and she was lost in the sea of people.

"Casey!" her husband called for her before she was looking for the familiar black hair.

"Magnus!" she shouted before she heard something that was sending a chill to her spine. The voice that has been haunting her since her abduction in the Fik Forest.

"Citizen of Caga! Here me and hear me clear. I have claimed that the king was neglecting you for his King's guards cannot protect you from us now. We have cornered this market and you will be our hostages. If the king loves his citizens, he would send us the ransom that we asked from him which is 1 million!" the leader said before Casey turned around to see that the vendors and the customers were still running, trying to get out of their clutches.

She was looking around before she saw that the bandits have them surrounded and Casey was once again at the mercy of bandits, alone without Magnus by her side.

*****

"Damn it!" Magnus said as he was looking around for Casey. It has been a few minutes since he last saw her and right now, he heard the proclamation from the leader of the bandits. He really needed to get his wife to safety.

But first, he had to locate her.

"Casey!" he shouted at the top of his lungs before he saw that Casey was standing in the middle of the crowd, her face was drained of blood as she was focusing on the leader. She was standing still and will be an easy pick for a hostage by the bandits.

"Damn it," Magnus cursed under his breaths before he was walking toward her. The running crowd was making it impossible for him to get to her on time and perhaps before anything drastic happened.

And his prayer has been neglected when Magnus saw that one of the bandits was taking Casey to the center of the market. She was screaming and shouting as she was trying to get away from the leader.

He was seething with anger before Magnus was running across the market to get to his wife before someone was snatching him from behind. He was ready to fight the person before he realized that he was someone that Magnus never thought to see around here.

It was the crown prince, his brother-in-law, Chad.

He put his finger to his lips, wanting Magnus to stay quiet as they were hiding in the alleyway, out of the crowd.

"What is the situation so far?" Chad asked someone before Magnus noticed that there were three people behind him again.

One was a baron.

One was an earl.

One was a duke.

"It looks like the situation is as we predicted. We should have known that the leader would take the market to gain his balance," the duke said before Chad nodded at them.

"Okay, I have my sister in my sight. Do you know what your roles are?" Chad asked his crew before they were nodding at him. The baron was smirking at him and Magnus.

"Don't worry, boss. We got this," the baron said with a cocky smile before they all disappeared into the shadows as Magnus was stuck with his brother-in-law.

"Now, let's save Casey," Chad said as he instructed Magnus to follow him around the market. Chad's crew was moving around the market as the commotion was still high pitch along with the crowd. Chad nodded and some signals that his peers understood before he turned to look at Magnus.

"Okay, here's how we go. You went to Casey while we distract the bandits and draw them to the center with the firepower that I had hidden at every corner of the market. On my mark. Get set. Now!" Chad pushed Magnus to run to the center of the market to save the love of his life.