Elena's P.O.V.
"I think I have a heart attack," I sang the last line of the song, listening to the final chord played by Francis on the enchanting piano.
"That was absolutely marvelous, my child - I have never heard anything like it before." The monk complimented, looking at me with his silver orbs filled with amazement that mirrored his smile.
I scratched the back of my ear and looked down, feeling conflicted about how I should react. "Well, it was you who did most of the work," I started, giving him the rightful spotlight. "I mean, do you really think that I, Elena, could have done this without you?"
Francis laughed briefly by blowing the air out of his nose. "Looks like we have to work on you taking compliments too, dearie."
I shrugged my shoulders, a small smile playing on my lips before it fell. "By the way, Frans, have you figured out what those noises you heard the other night were?"
The monk shook his head and let out a deep breath. "Unfortunately, I have not found any clue of who the confused souls were, but on the other hand, I have not heard anything out of order."
I nodded, letting air slip out of my mouth as if some of the weight had been lifted off my shoulders. "That's. . . good, I guess."
Although it may have been a coincidence, I still felt it was my fault that the theater was having unwanted visitors. The thought alone ate me alive, but it was the possibility of Francis getting hurt that actually left clear traces in my daily life due to the disoriented sleep I was having.
Francis smiled kindly with a hint of reassurance in the wrinkles surrounding his lips, "Elena, my child, do not worry - I am sure it is nothing." He covered my hand with his raisin-like hand, squeezing it in an attempt to make me breathe. "And even if there were some wolfs lurking around, it is not your fault that they are here. Do not beat yourself up, darling, because you have done nothing but bring life in this dead air."
My eyes met his gray orbs in an encounter that was filled with some kind of an understanding. An understanding that the both of us needed to fill the other with a light to drive the emptiness away.
To be alone was Francis' darkness, whereas mine was to be unwanted.
I guess we are quite alike; scared of ending up blind.
As I opened my mouth to tell him my gratitude, an idiot of a prince broke the atmosphere's borrowed moment. "Good afternoon, Francis, how has your day- oh, Elena, my apologies, I didn't recognize you behind your smile."
I rolled my eyes with a following sigh. "What do you want, your Royal Stupidness? If it's your dignity you're looking for, you should check the hall, but if it's your brain then good luck finding your imagination friend."
"And she's back," Ethan walked towards us with a smile tugging on his features. Although the prince didn't seem bothered by my harsh words, Francis didn't let it go unnoticed as he gave me a look of disapproval.
"Elena, dear, you should apologize to Prince Ethan for such loud and unnecessary comments." The monk said, rolling his glasses down to tell me that he meant serious business.
I scoffed with my arms closing in front of my chest. "He started it."
Francis' eyebrows arched even higher, settling on his forehead. "Do not make me repeat myself, dearie." His eyes mirrored his voice that told me to not contradict him.
With a staring-contest ending up with the monk winning, I suppressed half of the annoyed groan that flew out of my mouth. "Damn you, Francis. . ." I mumbled, glaring at the smirking prince and his crossed arms.
Ethan's sly smile widened when he saw my hardened eyes. "Well? I'm still waiting, dear Elena."
I inhaled a sharp-like knife air through my gritted teeth, "Fine." With a last glance aimed towards Francis, I bit into sour apple and suppressed the urge to undergo my plan of murdering Ethan. "I'm sorry, Your Majesty, I hope your ego wasn't hurt too badly."
The prince snorted. "That's your apology?"
Francis shook his head with a soft sigh flying out of his lips. "Looks like we also have to work on your apologies as well, child."
Why must everyone annoy me today?
"And for the record, Prince Ethan, only Francis is allowed to call me by those names - not you. Therefore, I suggest that you stop before your arm matches mine." I held up my broken limb with the dirty bandage around it.
His Majesty narrowed his eyes in what seemed to be curiosity, however, a smile crawled on his lips, almost as if he was amused with the words resting on the tip of his tongue. "Very well, dear- oh, pardon me, My Lady. What I was going to say was that I will, from today, stop call you all the nicknames you have heard before." He gave me an innocent smile, which I knew was used to hide his sly smirk like a masquerade mask due to the roguish tone I detected in his voice. "Ella."
He's more sly than a fox and a snake combined together.
Before my burning annoyance could make me say or do anything that would most likely end up with a violent episode with Ethan, Francis finally spoke the words that prevented bloody fists to be thrown around.
"Well, I think our time for today has elapsed, my child. I do hope our hard work on your homework will impress your teacher enough so she will not, as you put it in, 'erode your soul to nothingness'." The old monk spoke, catching my attention and summoning a smile that was, for once, not sarcastic.
"Wait, you're leaving?" Ethan asked me before I could share my thoughts with Francis. "Oh, come on! I even skipped class so I could hear you sing."
The monk smiled with a cunning twinkle in his eye whereas I just rolled my orbs at the prince's stupidity. Not weird his IQ is dropping when he skips classes like that.
"I told you, Ethan; the day you will hear me sing is the day I cannot finish a song - and I always complete what I have started." I stated my words, finding joy in the prince's failed attempt to eavesdrop on me. "Oh, and Francis," my attention settled on the wise and kind man. "Thank you for helping me, I really appreciate everything you have done. If there is anything I can do in return to-"
The monk held his hand up, "Please, darling, do not think of this as a favor to be returned. I am more than happy to continue our sessions in the future. Do not even think that you are bothering me in any way because you are more than welcome here, Elena. Always remember that." He held my shoulder to look steadily into my eyes with a warm smile, every word reaching me due to the pure honesty filtering in his voice.
Physically, a dancing gleam reached my lips, while emotionally, the warmth of his message reached my heart. Unknown of what to do, I dumbly nodded to Francis' powerful words. "Thanks, Frans, I will remember that - just as I will remember how much of a stalker you are," I pointed my finger at His Majesty.
Leave it to me to ruin the moment.
The monk laughed whereas Ethan rolled his eyes. "After all that, you're just going to end this with a-"
"Bye, Francis, I will see you for our next lesson." And then I left with a wave aimed towards the wise mind - obviously not His Majesty, as we all could predict, - who returned it with an amused smile.
"Hey, wait up!" Ethan's voice clang behind me when I stepped out of the dusty theater. Instead of stopping and letting him catch up to me like most people would do, I just continued to walk on my own pace, not bothered to waste my time on this turtle.
"You should go back to school, you know," I said when I met the warm, brown eyes that belonged to the tall prince. "If you return before the class is over, you will have a better chance to survive your teacher's wrath and the torturous death he has planned for you."
He rolled his eyes, "Such calm and reassuring words you have there. . ." He trailed off with a following chuckle, which also filled the brief silence with mischief. "Ella."
Inwardly, I choked Ethan to death and threw him into a burning volcano, but outwardly, I growled an animal-like sound. "I swear to God, Ethan, I will ki-"
"You will what, My Lady?" The prince cut me off, a sly smirk painted on his lips with what seemed to be a tattooed amusement. "You will hug me whenever your name, Ella, is put into use? Or perhaps you will want to sing and let me hear your dancing voice?"
"You're such a strange, strange guy, Ethan," I shook my head, not bothered to throw a comment back, because I knew, no matter what I barked, I would end up annoyed. "How do you even have friends?"
Although my words were aiming for a reaction that would irritate the prince, it did, to my surprise, the opposite as he laughed. "That is actually a good question," he shook his head in a chuckle, causing me to lift the corners of my mouth.
I can't be the only one who finds it comical when someone laugh at themselves?
"Speaking of friends, where are your companions?" I asked and threw a brief glance around us to double check that I had not missed them.
Ethan flinched, "Well, they are - hopefully - alive and well." My raised eyebrow spoke my silent question that flew over my head. "Our short-tempered teacher has a tendency to. . . well, become quite mad if we skip one of his classes, which also explains that episode where he chased us with his horse."
If Mr. Walter could ride a horse too, I swear, it would have been the death of me.
I shook my head with a small laugh flying out of my lips, the gleam hitting the air around me. "Wow."
"Yeah, I know," His Highness smiled with a grin spilling over his defined features. "But that's nothing compared to what he has done before. . ."
And then he began to tell me about the story of how his teacher almost managed to send him to another kingdom - a tale I listened intensely to. The way Ethan told about his crazy memory was what hooked me up to his every word, making me addicted to the comical story.
"He was so mad, I swear, if he didn't work as a teacher, he could have become the perfect assassin in the history," Ethan continued with his amusing tale, causing both of us to laugh at the embellishments he put around the story. "'I cannot stand this birdbrain of an imbecile anymore! He must be sent to the Kingdom of Ethics and stay there till he has left his infantile colic and has grown into the role of a sophisticated prince suited for Areadan's future ruler'." His voice changed into a deep, rugged tone that was supposed to mirror his teacher.
Our laughs added more sounds to the chaotic village, drowning in the turbulence of noises that no villager batted an eye of attention to.
Wow, cloaks can really do wonders when making someone invisible.
"He said that in front of your parents?" I asked with disbelief mixed in my amused smile. "Isn't that, I don't know, against the law or something? Usually, parents aren't really fond of hearing someone speaking. . . that creatively about their kids."
"Well, considering that it was sort of my fault for all the mess I had created - both in the castle and the village, if I must remind you, - I don't really blame Mr. W's barbarous speech about me."
I shook my head in laughter, "I wonder what kind of a speech he will hold when you graduate- oh, pardon me, if you graduate."
His Majesty rolled his eyes, "Ha, ha, you're so funny, Ella."
Oh, how the tables have turned.
A sigh of annoyance escaped me as I began to walk away, leaving him to chuckle for himself. "You know," he started when he caught up to me. "I'm a bit surprised that you haven't heard about it before - the thing about Mr. W, I mean."
Uh, oh, I shook my head inwardly, hoping he wouldn't go further into the depth of his sentence. Not this again.
"It was probably the hottest topic to talk about for almost a year; both domestically and abroad the kingdoms. But then again, not everyone are into gossiping about royals - like you, I guess." He spoke with a question following his words like a shadow. "So, I have to ask: where did you live before you ended up in this village?"
The odd tone in the last word of his sentence did not come out unnoticed, in fact, it actually made me plaster a mental note on my brain for his doubt of me living in this village - which is sort of stupid, considering that I do, in my time, live somewhere around here. So, technically, I'm not hiding anything about my whereabouts.
I let out a nervous chuckle, scratching the back of my neck unwittingly. "Well, I mean. . ." It was certainly not the best way to start a lying response, and considering that I was an awful liar, it would only make the matter much more worse than it was to begin with.
"Three apples for the price of two, folks! You won't get any better offer than this, I can assure you that!" The voice to one of the many salesmen shouted, catching my attention in my vulnerable time of being tongue-tied.
"Jeez, I'm quite hungry - are you hungry too, Your Highness?" I spoke with words flying so fast that my sarcasm didn't even reach the name I usually mocked him with.
"Perhaps a bit, but-" That was enough of an answer for me, and not a second later, I took a hold of his upper shoulder, dragging him to the booth that was covered with the rainbow colored apples.
"Well, good evening, My Lady and Gentleman, have you heard my special offer for today? Three apples for the-" The man with the stubble-beard spoke, his salt and pepper hair covered with dust as his loose, once-white shirt flew under his elbows when he motioned to the fruit surrounding him.
"Yes, I have heard," I cut him off with a rushed smile that fell on my lips. "How much?"
"Straight to the point, I like how you deal, My Lady," he pointed at me, a satisfied smile spilled over his mid-thirty features with beaming wrinkles surrounding his eyes. "You must surely hold an eye on this one, Sir, because she knows her stuff."
Most people would have blushed to a statement like that - like Ethan, for an instance, - but I, on the other hand, just laughed instead. "Please, the only reason I would as much as think anything beside him being an idiot, is when I'm most likely poisoned," I tipped my head towards the prince who turned his head and pink checks away from me with an eye roll.
The blue-eyed man burst out laughing, holding his round belly while the roar of amusement shot out of his lips. "Ah, it is the best thing I have heard all day," he said when he finally calmed down from the joke's attack. "Here, you can get the apples for free, considering the mood you put me in."
He held the blood-red apples out for me, but I shook my head and dug into the pocket of my cloak, finding, to my surprise, some bronze coins. "No, a deal is a deal, Sir - it wouldn't be fair if I took something you have grown with your own hands for free." I gave him all the five coins that were laying in my hand, knowing it was more than the original price. "Keep the rest, and have a nice day."
"You too, My Lady - and to you, Sir, keep what I said in mind." He winked to Ethan, who, in response, nodded awkwardly with a small blush creeping up his cheeks. However, the satisfied man's smile soon fell and was replaced by narrowed eyes. "Hey, you look quite familiar?"
The prince's orbs widened in what seemed to be panic, "Oh, that must be impossible, Sir, I just arrived to this village- oh, look at that, time flies faster than I expected," he looked at me, and then at the apples before he took the fruit from my hands and stuffed them in my cloak with a swift move. "We must hurry now, Martha, if we still want to see the jousting - thanks for the apples, My Good Sir and farewell!"
Martha? I gave him a puzzled look, waiting for him to answer my silent question for the fake name he just gave me.
His Highness mirrored my silent communication by shrugging his shoulders, and with a running time that only Ethan rushed to act on, he took a hold of my arm and dragged me away - the same way I did to him just minutes ago.
"Whoa, hold your horses, Your Majesty," I spoke with a half-amused and half-confused smile erupting from my lips. "What was all that about?"
Ethan pulled the hood over his face in an attempt to hide as much of it. "Well, considering that I am the Prince of Areadan and they find out about it, the entire village will be running after me."
"Wow, they must hate you a lot then."
"It's not out of hate, it's- ugh, forget it."
"Hey, wait, you said something about a jousting?" I asked with a hint of excitement in my words, burying my hands in my cloak to rest them.
Ethan snapped his head towards me, "Yes, I was actually going to ask you if you would like to accompany me, but considering how your rudeness has caused me to not wanting to go with you, I am not so sure anymore."
I rolled my eyes. "Oh, get over it, you crybaby," I threw one of the apples to him, which he, to my disappointment, caught gracefully with one hand. "If you don't want to go - fine, suit yourself. But I'm going to see that jousting, whether you want to join me or not."
His eyebrow arched for just a millisecond before he crossed his arms in front of his chest, making the red fruit barely stick up from his hand due to his vast chest hiding it. "Mhm, okay," the prince nodded, the corner of his mouth slowly lifted up into a sly smile. "Do what pleases you, Ella, I won't stop you. However, I do have to ask you if you know where the jousting is."
Why must people be so annoying these days?
"Of course, I know!" My reply was filled with a transparent lie that even a blind man could have seen. "It's. . . somewhere around here, I just need to, well, yeah."
Ethan laughed, "God, you're such a horrible liar, Elena."
I didn't even bother to protest, because what he said is true; I am a horrible, horrible liar. No argument needed.
"Do you want to go to the jousting or not?" I crossed my arms, throwing an irritated look at him.
He shook his head with a glistening smile on his lips, "I'm not sure if you are in the right position to ask me that, but sure, Ella. Follow me."
The annoying nickname he gave me almost triggered the urge to kill him and ditch his body in a pit, but the sparkling excitement outweighed the dark temptation.
This is my first time watching a jousting tournament, killing a prince can certainly wait till the show is over.