41

"Where were you?" Belle asked the prince who made his way through the forest towards her. Her face held a frown. What if a bandit had woken her up and not a sweet dog? Is this how a good travelling partner would behave? She was disappointed.

"Would you like some water?" The prince asked ignoring her previous question. Izabelle wondered if the prince would ever give her straight answers.

"You should have woken me up if you were going somewhere. What if someone had come and stolen our horses? I wouldn't have realized!" The prince grumbled and made his way to a tree and sat against it.

Looking at the prince she wondered what was wrong with him. As much as she loved the thought of being in so many new cities and crossing borders she couldn't help but it feel a better company would have been more suited.

As soon as the thought crossed her mind she heard barks in a distance. The owner of the bark soon made its appearance. Izabelle smiled looking at the four legged creature.

"Clay!" She called out. A life with a dog so sweet must be fun she thought.

The dog made it way towards her but stopped mid way and started growling. Izabelle frowned and followed his gaze and found him looking in the prince's direction.

"Clay?" Izabelle called out but the dog won't listen. Instead he started to bark angrily.

"What's wrong?" Warren asked coming up from behind the dog. The dog however wouldn't listen even to its master.

"Most animals don't like me." The prince said quietly.

"Clay, calm down." Izabelle tried. She realised just why the prince had vanished a while earlier.

"I am really sorry, normally he doesn't behaves like this." The new arrival to the scene said to the prince who replied nothing. Slowly Warren took out a rope from his bag which held the woods and started towards his charge. Once the dog was tied, he straightened up and faced Izabelle.

"This must be your companion?" Warren asked, checking out the prince with a rather curious expression.

"Yes, this is Sir Drake Willington. " Izabelle introduced. To the prince she said, "This is Warren. I met him while you were gone to get some water."

"It is nice to meet you. Now that you have arrived, Miss Izabelle, would you like to proceed to the village?" Warren turned his gaze back to Izaelle and looked ready to head out.

"He told me he knows the Blacksmith we are searching for." Izabelle clarified for the Prince's sake. Unknown to her the prince had heard all the conversation between the two.

"Should you really be trusting strangers?" The prince muttered slightly but kept any other disagreements to himself.

"We should proceed." Isabelle said with a smile. The prince's frown deepened. Without much ado, they set out towards the village.

The town of kareem was a quiet and comfortable location. However their journey through was not. Izabelle could almost feel the daggers in the prince's eyes aimed at the person who had joined them. Warren, however, did not seem fazed by it. He continued to walk with Clay as the poor dog tried to get away from the big beast who made him internally uncomfortable.

After passing a lot of turns and farm land they made their way across the town to an house that wore the marks of its old age. It was an average house on the front but as they ventured deeper into the vicinity they came across a workplace kept in a much more well off conditions.

"If you would wait a few moments here I would get Master Ryes for you. I believe he's in the other workroom" Warren stated as he proceeded to go into the workshop.

"Would you stop brooding?" Izabelle scolded in a hushed tone. Not wanting their hosts to overhear.

"I do not "  The beast grumbled.

"Then what is it?" Izabelle raised a brow. She really felt like she was dealing with a child and not a prince nearing hundreds of years in age.

"How is it that we were searching for a man and then this perfect person who happens to work for that man passes by?" The prince voiced out his doubt. A milestone, Izabelle thought. His words sunk in and got her on a hold. This journey had been filled with troubles more often than not. What are the chances of this helpful person finding them in the woods? The more she thought about it the more the princes' concern made sense to her. Paranoia was sure to set in after being unable to trust people for so long.

"We should wait. I'll go tie up the horses."

Izabelle stated and proceeded to find a place to knot the reigns on the horses. As she walked, her horse whined and looked at the water body nearby.

"Are you thirsty love?" Izabelle asked already expecting the answer and walks over to the small pond. She let the horses have their fill while wandered around.

It was a beautiful location tucked in between a forest and farm. Some bits and pieces of metal made their way all over the ground near the quaint workshop.

"Belle, Let's go in," Warren called out to Izabelle. The prince had since decided to snoop around without notice. His distrust was probably getting the best of him. Izabelle sighed. She could do nothing but follow him inside. She needed to know how to get to Virania and this man was the quickest way in.

*

Do you think there's something wrong here or is the prince just paranoid because of how his life has been?

Let me know what you think!

Love and hugs! Oh wait - social distancing. How's that going?