New Company (I)

Sorin, Altair and two other young officers were walking along the riverbank when they heard the urgent yells. Seeing the disturbance, they understood the situation and Sorin sent them to apprehend the thief and hand them over to the guards.

The culprit probably took his chances since it was so busy, hoping that he could disappear into the crowds.

"Young Master aren't those the girls from earlier?" asked Altair while looking up at the bridge.

His young master turned to look up as well and realised that indeed it was the little fae from before. She was still with the two young women, and they were shouting and pointing at something in the river?

It wasn't until the fae queen looked as if she was about to climb onto the sides of the bridge that he really paid attention. His eyes scanned the flower lanterns and realised what had them in a panic.

"My Lady, look, someone is fishing it out," excitedly said Raisa.

They couldn't clearly see who the individual was, but they could see two young men on the bank of the river. They quickly ran across the bridge and down to the bank to retrieve the lost item.

"Is this what the Lady was looking for?" asked the young man when they were close enough.

Kamaria recognised him from their earlier encounter. They stared at each other a bit longer than they meant to, but her eyes finally went to the comb in his hand.

"Thank you for retrieving it," she said in her most proper voice and then she reached out to take it, but he pulled it away at the last second.

Altair smiled a little, it was good to see his young master getting along with someone other than those already close to him.

What was also surprising was that the young woman was rather confident and spoke without any fright in her voice after meeting them.

"Sir, do you perhaps want compensation?"

"No, I just had to see how much this was worth that the lady would be willing to jump into a river for it."

Kamaria wasn't crazy, at least not the extent of jumping into rivers for hair accessories. She had simply tried to stand on the railing to get a better look at the lanterns below, but she didn't say anything about this.

She thought that she didn't have to explain herself to someone they didn't even know and would likely never see again.

"My Lady, isn't this harassment? Clearly, they weren't planning on giving it back," mumbled Raisa with a look.

Sorin looked at the three young women in turn. They looked fittingly dressed and made up. The costumes seemed premium even to a layman who wasn't a clothing expert. Not to mention, the hair accessory in his hand was made of top-grade gems and pearls.

No doubt about it, they were some sort of high nobility and yet they were wandering around at night without a visible guard.

Either they were sure about their abilities, or they trusted that help would appear if needed. Any way one looked at it, it gave them a high status.

He remembered that he had seen one of the young women earlier while riding with the convoy. It turned our he was right about her not being a commoner.

"This was a very important gift," said the young woman who had been addressed as a Lady.

"Alright, I'll give it back, provided that I escort the Lady for the festival."

"Escort?" Kamaria echoed questionably.

She studied the two young men more carefully. The young man standing a bit further looked more imposing in terms of stature but the fellow talking to her was clearly in charge.

He didn't seem much older but besides his small teasing actions, the young man sounded and looked like a very serious person.

Although the two people seemed a little roguish, their clothes were clean and neat arrow sleeve robes made with expensive material.

The clothes were darker and simpler like the Northern regions and not the bright embellished clothing of the capital.

Simple as they were, their outfits were still well put together and while the style was not local, it still looked elegant. If anything, they gave her the same aura as the commander when he was not in uniform.

They even had slight accent so were perhaps from a visiting aristocratic house. It was one of the biggest festivals in the Jaroya after all which was attended by visitors from far regions.

If it was the case, she didn't have to worry about them recognising her, but she did have to do something about that serious attitude.

She had left the palace to have fun and not end up getting lectured by a stranger.

"Are you visiting from outside the imperial province?" the young lady asked in a more relaxed manner, clearly wanting them to drop the formal speech.

Sorin concluded that her observation skills were decent.

"Correct, we're just not used to seeing noble ladies unaccompanied," he said.

"I was… with someone, we just got separated that's all," insisted Kamaria.

"That's fine, allow us to escort you until you find the person," he said.

"Reasonable, may I have the comb back then?"

Sorin looked at the comb and then held it towards her nestled between his index and middle finger without placing it in her hand.

She stared at him wondering what he was trying to do, and he almost smiled at the cheeky look on her face despite the elegant way in which she spoke.

Kamaria turned away for a few moments and sighed in exasperation.

'Is this busybody overlord trying to annoy me to death?' she thought.

"It's not very nice calling people names the first time you meet them," suddenly said Sorin making Kamaria turn to him again.

She didn't deny it but extended her hand palm up as if waiting for the comb to be dropped into her hand, but he barely moved from his original position.

Kamaria suddenly moved her hand straight up, aiming to hit the comb out of his hand but he swiftly moved it out of the way by pulling his arm back flawlessly moving it to angle to defend himself.

Without hesitation her hand moved towards the opening on his torso.

He quickly realised her intentions and their arms crossed at the low angle. Their hooked arms quickly rotated up again in their entanglement pulling them a step closer to each other since neither side was willing to let go.

They both looked at the comb between them and then at each other.

"Young Lady, where are you trying to touch while we're in public?"

"Sir, I'm a medical professional, I was just checking that your liver is doing well," she insisted with a smile before grabbing the comb that was still between his fingers.

"I don't think the Lady has to worry about my liver or kidneys, I'm completely healthy."

"Hmm, that's what most say," said Kamaria while rolling her eyes before putting the comb away.

Altair didn't know whether he should laugh but he had a strong sense of survival and ended up rubbing his nose while slightly coughing instead.

Raisa on the other hand felt no such pressure and giggled behind her hand while Lili nudged her to get her to behave even though she was also smiling.