- Kathryn -

Without alarm clocks or the ability to set an alarm on your phone, we followed the ways of our ancient ancestors and woke with the sun. You can hear the birds singing harmonically through the thin wooden walls of the library. A beam of light streams through the window and lights up the storage room in which we slept. Cassius fell asleep right on the floor in like two seconds. He's still sleeping even though the sun is blazing right in his face.

"Wake up, sleepyhead," I say, and stand up off of the cot with a loud squeak of the rusted springs. He mumbles in protest.

Cassius had covered a random box with his sweatshirt and used it as a pillow, since we only had one pillow between the two of us and he adamantly refused my offer for him to use it.

"What kind of gentleman would I be if the fair lady awoke with a sore neck on the fault of mine?" He had said in a mimicked old-timely accent. And although it didn’t look possible, he seems to have slept quite comfortably.

"We're gonna go talk to the Wisewoman, remember? Let's get moving."

He groans, but then leaps up suddenly and stretches out his arms with a yawn. “Man I wanted to keep sleeping.”

I realize how tall he is. I stand below his shoulders and even though I’m not that short he towers over me. He’s gotta be pushing 6’5. I wonder if he’s still growing.

“What’re you thinking about?” He asks.

“You’re too tall,” I state.

He laughs. “If you think I’m tall you should’ve met my dad. He was ginormous. Made me look like a kid.” His eyes brighten. “When we find him you’ll see what I mean. His eyes sparkle when talking about his dad. “He’ll make you look like a dwarf… not that you already don’t”, He teases.

”I’m not that short.” I respond.

“To me you are,” He smiles. He has a nice smile. The kind that makes you want to smile back.

I laugh. “Can’t argue with that, Mr. Giant.”

“Fee-fi-fo-fum,” He stomps comically towards me with a grin.

“What the hell was that?” We can hear Jome yell.

I summon a flame in the palm of my hand and brandish it towards him with a playful grin. “Back, you foul beast. Back I say!”

He snorts a laugh and steps towards the bed with a mischievous grin. “Please fair lady, have mercy on me.”

I step back so the back of my legs touch the flat of the bed. “Begone demon.” I wave the flame around and he steps closer. He’s pretty close. My smile falters a little and my heart starts to noticeably thump.

“Spare me, o beautiful maiden. I shall be your servant if you grant me my life,” His eyes sparkle, a deep blue you could lose yourself in for hours. He steps closer, so that he stands a few feet away and I have to tilt my head up to meet his gaze.

“Y-you wretched beast. Come no further,” I stutter. He’s so close I can smell him. He smells nice. Like the color blue, if that’s possible. Or the ocean. Or a deep night sky.

I quench the flame and drop my arm. He steps even closer and I fall back onto the bed.

He reaches his hand out and leans down, placing it on the bed. Our faces are inches apart. He stares into my eyes with a smirk. I can feel my face flush. “Cassius?” I say, questioningly.

“You have made a grave mistake, madam.” He speaks.

“W-what?” I ask, confused. My heart is thumping so loud I’m convinced he can hear it.

”You should have never let me get this close!” He shouts with a widened smile, stepping back and grabbing the pillow and absolutely walloping it at me, point-blank range.

I fall back with a surprised giggle, my heart still pounding in my chest and the pillow greeting my face ever so suddenly.

”You dare to strike me, ugly abomination?” I say. I grasp the corner of the pillow and stand up, ready to yield it.

He puts his hands up to block his face. “Your gracefulness, I understand your rage but you must agree, I am anything but ugly.”

He jests, but he’s right. By any standard Cassius is handsome. Strong jawline, dirty-blonde curly hair, deep blue eyes, and tall as a tree. He was the talk of many of the girls at school, although the death of his dad made him somewhat unapproachable as he became closed off and anti-social. But he seems reanimated now that he’s found out his father is alive. I’m happy for him, and I beam a smile his way.

“Only speak when spoken to!” I shout lightly, and proceed to bash him with the pillow in the side of the head. He laughs and goes down in a dramatic manner, thumping loudly on the floor and holding his hands to his heart.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Some spontaneous urge takes over and pounce on him, holding the pillow above my head as if it’s a dagger in an attempt to plunge it into his heart. “Beg for mercy.” I say.

But his confidence had left him, and he stares up at me with blushing cheeks and wide eyes. I become aware of what I did and my face reddens as well. I can feel his muscular chest beneath me, and the rise and fall of his breath.

My hair falls around my face and I lock eyes with him.

“Mercy,” He says in almost a whisper. His eyes shimmer. I can feel his heartbeat synchronize with mine as it speeds up. We gaze at each other in silence for what feels like an eternity. The birds chirp in the background as the blood crashes in my ears. But then the door opens with a creak of rusty hinges.

“Just a friend, huh?” Jome says, looming in the doorway.

I scramble off Cassius and stand up, and he does the same, towering behind me.

“I don’t mind you kids staying up here but you best keep it civil when you do.” He states with a stern look. “I don’t want no funny business and all.”

Both Cassius and I blaze red. “It’s not like that,” I insist. “We were just messing around.”

“Yeah, it was just a pillow fight. You barged in at an awkward moment,” Cassius persists, but Jome looks unconvinced. He grunts and turns to head back downstairs.

“Just keep it down. You can hear a mouse breathe through these damn walls.” He starts down the stairs. “Oh and you guys best hurry if you want to catch the Wisewoman. She leaves for the forest when the sun goes down, and it’s quite the walk to her shop.” He says. “And you should probably stop and get him some new clothes. Nothing I have will fit that beanstalk and going around dressed as he is will garner some unwanted attention.”

—————————————————————

Jome was right. The way Cassius was dressed in Earthly attire bought looks from pretty much everyone as we made our way through the winding roads across town.

I could only imagine what they thought he was. A rich noble? A wizard? And his abnormal height was also a factor. Tallest guy I’d seen since I arrived had been only around six foot, if I had to guess. He looks very out of place physically, let alone the clothes he’s wearing.

Cassius didn’t seem to care all that much about the attention though. He smiled and waved politely and kept on.

“Do you remember where we’re going?” He asked. “I’m already lost.”

“Yeah. I don’t come this far into town often but I’ve been through here before.”

Besides oogling Cassius, the people go about their business. Some yell advertisements about the wares, others haul carts of goods along the road, and most are simply perusing around.

The majority of the people seem to be either women or young children, with nobody around our age to be seen.

The men work the fields during daylight hours, and the older children are in school at this time. The fact that Cassius isn’t in school only adds to his allure.

“Do you want to stop and get some clothes before we go talk to the Wisewoman?” I ask.

”Are we gonna have enough time? How far away is her shop from here?”

“Yeah we’ll be fine. Jome is old so it takes him twice as long to get from A to B. She’s only like two miles or so down the road.”

“Alrighty then,” He says and I lead him to a shop titled ‘Loude Tailory”. Jome gave us a few silvery coins to spend. They pay their librarians quite generously it seems.

”I’ll have to pay him back,” Cassius says as we walk through the open door of the Tailory. He has to duck under the doorway. “I feel bad for mooching off of an old man.”

”It’s fine,” I say. “He’s got plenty of cash stored away and nothing to spend it on. Think of it as a gift.”

”Nah I can’t. Doesn’t feel right.” He persists.

We walk over to a balding man behind a desk.

”How can I help you today folks?” He asks, giving Cassius a hesitant eye.

“How’s it going,” Cassius starts. “I’d like to buy some clothes.”

“Hmm,” the man thinks aloud. “Some of our largest stuff might be a little small. You could have something custom made, but it’ll take a few days.” He pauses. “If that’s not what you’re looking for I have some stuff another guy ordered a month of so ago, but he never came by to collect. If you can pay the price it’s yours. Not gonna wait on some cheeky bastard forever. Might be a little big on you though.”

Big on Cassius? Jeez. Unless..?

Cassius’s eyes light up. What if it was his dad?

“Yeah that’ll be awesome, thank you,” he says.

The man dismisses himself to fetch the clothing and offers us a look around the shop. There are fancy fabrics on display, and plain rudimentary clothing hung on racks. Mostly shirts and pants, but in a corner near the shop window are some fancy white and red blouses that catch my attention.

“Do you want to buy anything?” Cassius asks as he trails me, noticing me eyeing the shirts.

”I’m fine. What I have works and that’s all I really care about,” I say. “I’ve gotten used to the rough leathery trousers and occasionally scratchy cotton-or-something shirt,” But it would be nice to have something pretty to wear.

“Are you sure? Don’t pretty girls love to go shopping? This is next best thing to a mall,” he jokes.

“Oh so you think I’m pretty?” I tease, a smile creeping onto my face. I know he’s joking, but the thought of him finding me attractive makes me happy.

“Very,” he says straightforwardly.

My heart skips a beat. I look up into his confident ocean gaze, his eyes framed by that lightning smile. I’m not sure how to respond.

“Well you’re not that bad yourself,” I blurt out, unsure of how exactly to approach the situation but trying to play along.

His smile widens. “Oh?”

“Excuse me,” interjects the counter man who had walked up on us. He hands Cassius a bundle of navy blue and dark leather clothing. “Try these on and let me know how they fit.”

Cassius walks over to a curtained cubby near the back of the store to change, and I follow and wait outside the room.

A few more people enter and leave the shop to inspect the threads by the time Cassius emerges. He pulls the curtain back to reveal a deep blue shirt decorated with straps of leather that cross his chest and shoulders, as well as a pair of thick brown pants. He had to roll up the pants slightly and the shirt is a little baggy, but other than that it looks great.

“What are we thinking?” The counter man asks, appearing again after dealing with some other customers. “Does it work?”

“Yeah it’s great,” Cassius replies with a pleased look on his face. “How much do we owe you?”

“Hmm. Fifty rups and you have a deal.”

During my stay, I’d learned ‘rup’ is short for Rupert, the deified king of this country. The many hues of their minted currency is stapled with his visage.

Cassius turns to me.

“That’s pretty much all he gave us,” he says, a conflicted look on his face.

“It’s seriously fine Cassius.” It’s cute how he’s so money conscious.

”Didn’t you want something?” He asks.

“Thanks but I’m fine, really.”

“Alright,” he says, but narrows his gaze stubbornly. “But we’re coming back eventually and then you can pick out something.”

I smile.

He hands the coins, and we leave the now-happy Tailor to his business and embark out in the direction of the Wisewoman.