Chapter 88

Dimitri wrapped his arms securely around Brigitte as he steered the horse along the path. He smiled as they trod passed Ariston, his brother's hand trying to steer the horse around the small boy.

"Can we go faster?" The brown haired child asked.

"No." Ariston answered in a monotone voice as his brows were drawn in concentration. The boy wouldn't stop moving.

Dimitri stopped the horse in the road and pointed to the wide open hills that spanned to the left of them, "Look, a deer."

He heard Brigitte sigh happily and he smiled warmly at her reaction.

The group then continued down the road, the dirt patched with drying mud.

When they finally arrived in town Rowan stopped the cart and Rose began to delegate.

"I need to stop at Mrs. Potter's for more preserves, Mr. Harris' for meat scraps, Mrs. Campbell's for some old bed sheets and curtains and then when I'm done I will pick up Linden and we'll use his pay to spend at the market." She paused, "Who wants to come with me."

"I will." Ariston said almost immediately. Dimitri cracked a smile that hinted at his white teeth.

"I want to go to!" The little boy with Ariston said. Dimitri held in a chuckle at silent Ariston's eye roll and sigh.

Two other children raised their hands and then they all got loaded into the cart.

"Peri, Palmer, Asher. Keep your hands to yourself." Rose warned from her front seat on the cart. Ariston climbed onto the seat next to her and grabbed the reins. They were soon off and all five waved to them as they turned a corner and disappeared behind a low wooden building.

Dimitri sighed as he looked down at the rest of the children. The small blond haired boy was looking up at him with awe, "Can I ride the horse?" He asked in a whisper.

Dimitri smiled and nodded, "Of course you can." He dismounted the light brown stallion and turned to help Brigitte down. His hands grabbed her waist gently and he settled her to the ground. She blushed and he chuckled softly.

After settling the young boy on the horse Rowan said that he would lead them to the docks, where Linden should be working.

One of the girls, the one with black hair and green eyes, asked to ride on Rowan's horse and he traded places with his sister.

Then they all set off down the dirt streets, Rowan and Gladiola both leading a horse, Magnolia atop it, and Dimitri and Brigitte leading another, Hickory atop it.

They came to a long line of shops and stalls with people standing at each of them, their faces were cold and bitter. 'Not at all like Wanington.' Dimitri thought a little smugly as they passed a stall selling wooden totems carven in likeness to the Primals.

When the string of shops and stalls ended Dimitri sighed in contentedness, before him was the ocean. The breeze blew a bitter cold to his skin and a salty scent of the sea to his nostrils.

He glanced over the horse's neck to see Brigitte smiling softly as she watched the waves.

They followed Rowan down a wooden boardwalk, the planks were a little slick and he worried for Brigitte.

"We can tie the horses here." Rowan said as he stopped and helped Magnolia from the saddle.

"Hey, what are you all doing here?" Linden came up and asked, his shoulder was weighed down by a coil of coarse rope and his boots were covered in muck. Dimitri looked between the twin brothers; the only way to tell them apart was their eyes; Linden's were a startling green and Rowan's were a dull hazel colour that made him seem as though he should be calm, when in reality he was not.

"Rose is in town running some errands and-"

"Alone?" The second brother asked, setting the heavy rope down on a pile of fishing nets.

The hazel eyed brother sighed and shook his head, "No. Ariston and Peri, Palmer and Asher went with her. You don't need to worry Linden, she's done it by herself before."

"And what happened when she did it by herself?" The second one asked, his green eyes blazing.

Rowan looked down, "She managed to get out of there. And Ariston will protect her, and Asher's there, he's eleven now."

Linden huffed but nodded. It amazed Dimitri how different these two brothers were from him and Ariston. Both he and his brother were tutored and trained separately, their father had wanted them to be independent but it had only driven a wedge between them.

Ariston was quiet and did everything on his own without ever asking for help and not desiring attention. Dimitri was the opposite, he liked attention. He could get attention with his looks and his voice but he'd never craved it, no. If he could achieve it he would welcome it, but he would never seek it out. He and his brother were similar in that instance.

However, he did want Brigitte's attention. How could he not when whenever her brown eyes met his they shone? Whenever he managed to get a laugh out of her timid person it made his heart tremor? How could he not when when he kissed her, she'd reacted in a way that made his chest pound? How could he not when he believed he loved her?

He smiled when his heart warmed at the thought of confessing his feelings to her. He looked up and saw Rowan picking up the coil of rope his brother dropped.

"Where do you need this?" He asked.

Linden simply pointed to a small shed on the road above the docks and Rowan trudged off in that direction, his shoulder weighed down by the rope.

Linden turned and looked out at the docks, "There's this one boat owner who refuses to pay for docking and he's scaring away other customers." He ended with a sigh.

Dimitri nodded, the young man seems to have grown up too fast, his eyes were tired and he reminded Dimitri of his father. His father overworked himself and he hardly slept. His eyes saddened with the thought of his now deceased father.

Putting on a merry smile he looked up, saying, "Well, I suppose we should go talk to this man, shan't we?"