Vanya did not comprehend the extent to which she missed the sight of buildings. Buildings that were clumped together with roads between them that were actually used by people who were carrying on their day-to-day activities. She felt an unimaginable sense of normalcy seeing the chaos unfolding in front of her eyes as the donkeys from Shalom trotted down the busy roads of Elioth.

“It’s only so busy because of the market this week. Everyone from all of the West and even some from the East makes their way to this market,” Kev was being a vocal encyclopedia, a position he assumed so naturally as both Roza and Vanya were invited to take a seat at his cart, which had enough and more room for another one to tag along.

Kev’s donkey was as painfully slow as the rest. A journey of half a day by foot felt as if it took much longer on them. They reached Elioth just before nightfall to see the marvelous sight of a sunset over the towering buildings that for some reason made Vanya’s eyes water in nostalgia.

“Does it remind you of home?” Roza asked nudging Vanya out of the trance.

“A bit,” she said humbly although by this time she was noticing that the buildings in Elioth did not contain that touch of elegance Esmeth’s structures’ possessed.

“Esmeth is marvelous. But this is as close to Esmeth that we’d ever be able to experience,” Roza said, making Kev nod furiously in agreement.

Just when the darkness was taking over the night sky, they all stopped at a shoddy building by the edge. The line of donkeys stayed put as their owners started unloading their possessions as if they knew exactly what to do right away.

“Where are we at?” Vanya asked, seeing everyone busy on their own.

“It’s the inn. This is where we’ll be spending the next four nights at,” Kev replied and helped unload the girls’ belongings to the side.

Roza picked hers and handed Vanya’s. They were waiting on Kev when a tall figure came up behind them and tapped Roza on her shoulder.

“Well, well look who’s here. I can’t believe I’m seeing you in the flesh after all these years,” his husky voice sounded out.

“Taru!” Roza dumped her sack at once to jump into a hug. Vanya watched his tall figure wrap his hands around Roza. He was as handsome as the men in Esmeth she saw every day, clean-shaven, his jet black hair ruffled but just enough, and dressed in a neat suit and a tailored coat.

He let Roza go to look at her once more with admiration filling his eyes.

“You have grown so tall,” he remarked.

“So have you!” Roza punched him playfully.

“Ouch! And much stronger!”

He rubbed his arm as his eyes caught Vanya standing there wanting to blend into the stone beneath her feet.

“Oh! Hello, I don’t think we’ve met,” Taru casually let his hand out politely.

“This is Jade. She’s…visiting,” Roza found her words quick and kept it short. Sensing Roza’s awkward pause, Vanya quickly gave her hand in reply with a smile as a greeting.

“Oh! Wonderful. Where are you visiting from?” Taru, to Vanya’s surprise, took her hand to not shake it but to bring it to his lips and lightly press on her skin.

This took her aback. It wasn’t like she had never had anyone kiss her hands before. She, unlike many, had always had her hands kissed as a greeting fit for a princess and an heir to the throne. Most greeted her with a slow descending bow then took her hand to kiss her signet ring she always wore on her third finger.

Her ring was no more. She was not wearing a tailored dress made of the best silk in all of the Northern Kingdom. Nor was she wearing the thin crown she wore from the day she arrived at the castle in Esmeth to reside with her father.

She was nothing but an ordinary nobody here. And the last thing she expected was for anyone to kiss her hand as a simple greeting.

“Taru!” a familiar voice was heard within earshot.

Vanya turned to see Rhohaz, his eyes blazing with anger as if someone had stolen something precious from him. His voice was gruff. His pale eyes narrowed at Taru as if to warn him to stop whatever he was doing at once.

Taru naturally let Vanya’s hand go to cheer seeing Rhohaz, “Rhohaz!”

They went on to greet each other and start getting into topics about the villages and the journey between the villages, and about how Shalom should not have only one horse but several, and other boring details Vanya wondered how men could go on about.

“Ooh Rhohaz’s got competition,” Timmie whispered, startling Vanya. He too startled himself seeing how far Vanya jumped because of his silliness.

“When did you get here?” she asked taking deep breaths to calm herself. She looked around to see that Roza was no longer around them.

“Just now. I saw Roza heading into the inn and thought I’d stop by to check in on you after I witnessed the unmistakable look of jealousy on our leader’s face.”

“Timmie, you need to stop making things up,” Vanya started realizing the reason Kev was snickering listening to them and the reason Rhohaz and Vanya had become a spectacle to the villagers in Shalom was because Timmie was feeding them nonsense.

“Fine, I agree I made a lot of it up, but that, young lady, that look on Rho when Taru, that handsome man built like a God, kissed your hand was not something I made up.”

Vanya pushed Timmie in annoyance. “You need to stop!”

Timmie only laughed heartily to get on Vanya’s nerves. And although she did not want to admit it, she too noticed that odd look on Rhohaz’s face.

“Who is he though? Taru?” Vanya pointed back, curious to know who Taru was and why he was so well acquainted with the Cassian siblings.

“The Elioth’s Chief’s son. Why’d you ask? Are you already bored of Rhohaz?”

Vanya only rolled her eyes noticing that entertaining Timmie was going to bring the worst out of him.

“What about you?” she asked turning to Timmie, “You seem to be avoiding Roza. I doubt you can continue to avoid her now that she’s here with everyone for the next four days.”

Timmie smirked, “If you think Roza’s going to actually voluntarily help set up fish to sell in the market, you are dreaming. She’s going to be doing her own thing, scavenging around Elioth till she has nowhere else to look. You’ll be sharing a room with her but I promise you, you will never see her lay her head on that pillow on her bed.”

“Then, do you suggest I stop her? Keep her from going rouge?”

Timmie picked up Vanya’s sack for her and led the way for them to walk their way to the inn, “No one’s been able to stop that girl. You’ll be the first if you do.”

***

Just as Timmie had described Vanya arrived at her and Roza’s quarters, a small room probably an eighth of the size of her very own bathing room in Esmeth, and sat her sack down to see that Roza had left her sack unraveled on her bed and had vanished.

Vanya was so sure she saw Roza disappear running up the inn’s staircase before her and was puzzled as to how and when Roza managed to squeeze out of everyone’s sight.

She changed her clothes while missing Joan, who always helped her dress. She wondered if Joan was feeling worse with her injury. And if she was, she hoped Tilly was caring for her.

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She stepped out of her room and into the hallway dimly lit with candles pouring wax down the floors. It was narrow and crooked with a distinct smell of fresh bread engulfing the path.

She was instructed to head down the stairs, which were four stories high and creaked all the way making her doubt the stability of the structure, as soon as she got done changing to had dinner with the rest of the crew. She went on ahead seeing that none of the villagers from Shalom were out in the hallway and that she was left to herself to find the dining area.

At the first story of the inn was a nook serving food. She remembered Timmie mentioning how he craved it every now and then, the roasted chicken with mashed potatoes and spicy gravy he would eat for all three meals while in Elioth, all from his favorite ‘Mountain Home Inn’.

Vanya found herself entering a large area with about thirty to forty people occupying the array of benches and tables laid out, having their meals. They were loud and rambunctious. There were forks clinging, glasses clinking, and the deafening sound of everyone talking over each other filled her ears.

She stayed at the entrance baffled at the chaos, not recognizing anyone from Shalom.

A gentle pat on her head made her twirl around to find Rhohaz standing in front of her.

“You are early,” he spoke, practically shouting over the loud chatter, “Come on, let’s get you some food.”

She followed him like a lost puppy to wherever he was leading her through the crowd and stood at a line that had formed leading to the serving area. It moved quickly and they were given plates full of food looking cold and sad. They went with the flow to find Taru signaling them to join a table that was already filled to the brim with people.

“Make some room everyone,” Taru with his cheerful voice, made everyone grumpily move to free up a tiny amount of space so Rhohaz and Vanya could sit cramped in.

“Go ahead. Dig in,” Taru gestured and stood up to grab a few drinks for both Rhohaz and Vanya.

She did not realize how hungry she was until she looked back down at her plate. She was scraping the last bits, almost wanting to lick it in front of everyone.

Oh, Joan, you would have loved it!

Vanya thought enjoying the feeling of her stomach filled to the brim and her body letting her settle into a lull.

“Look at you, Jade. You must have been starved at Shalom,” Taru said, eyeing Rhohaz, who was equally shocked at how fast Vanya had gobbled up her food.

“Oh yes, well, I have to earn my food at Shalom. Work for it,” she said quite absent-mindedly, not letting the weight of her situation affect her anymore.

“Oh! That sounds interesting. I thought she was visiting. Is that how you treat your guests, Rhohaz? Make them work for their food?”

Rhohaz almost choked himself. He quickly cleared his throat to answer shooting a glare at Vanya, “She’s only joking. Ignore her.”

“Well well, Jade. Tell me, where are you from?”

“Esmeth,” Vanya replied, nonchalantly. Taru, his handsome tan face, wasn’t as appealing anymore. Especially since he was bothering her peace.

“Oh! Esmeth? Interesting. I didn’t think people in Shalom, especially the council, would ever agree to someone from Esmeth.”

Vanya reached for her cup to take a sip asking, “What do you mean?”

“A bride for Rhohaz…from Esmeth,” Taru finished staring at her.

Vanya immediately spat out her drink in shock making everyone at the table shuffle their food away disgusted. She promptly apologized to everyone while choking on the last bit of water in her throat.

Taru burst out laughing holding onto his belly and Rhohaz sighed in disappointment.

“What do you mean bride for Rhohaz? I’m not his,” she pointed at Rhohaz’s face rudely, “bride from Esmeth. Whatever made you think that?”

Taru barely heaved himself to a stop to answer, “Well, if you did not know, nobody visits Shalom, especially an unmarried woman, unless it is an arranged marriage already in the works.”

“Well, it’s not! I’m not anyone's bride, least of all his,” Vanya said, enraged at the idea without realizing she sounded quite harsh.

“Least of all his?” Rhohaz repeated after her in question, turning to her feeling offended. Vanya knew enough not to catch his gaze.

“Alright alright,” Taru tried calming everyone down, “I only asked because I’m curious. I mean, Rhohaz here does not have any problem looking for a bride himself. So I believe you.”

“Really? His villagers think otherwise, though. They think he has no skill to woo a lady,” Vanya pressed on, unlike herself, wondering if there was something in the water she was drinking just now.

Taru laughed aloud, “Well then, you should ask my sister.”

Vanya’s eyes widened to her own surprise. Her face was giving it all away. That shock mixed with a hint of jealousy that Timmie was saying was written across Rhohaz’s face only hours ago was now on hers for the world to see.

“That’s enough, Taru,” Rhohaz tried backtracking yet did not try too hard to change the subject as if he wanted Taru to keep going and announce his achievements.

“Oh please! He even succeeded, I’m telling you,” Taru said, picking up on Vanya’s baffled reaction.

“At what?” Vanya asked, while on the edge of her seat.

“Wooing my sister.”

She felt a sting in her heart. She sank into her seat in silence, walking her memory realizing that no one at Shalom mentioned any of this to her before. She thought all this time that Rhohaz was a recluse not engaging with the ladies, not looking for any potential suitor. She felt partially annoyed that he had such a dazzling history.

Before they could continue any further, an odd wave of silence took over the room. Several men dressed in navy cloaks entered the hall leaving some of the folk who were done having their meals to finally retire for the night letting go of their seats.

Vanya watched as some of those men occupied seats scattered across the dining hall and some walked towards them and cleared up some space. Just after, a few older men entered the room. They picked up their food from the ladies serving at the corner and made their way to Vanya’s table.

She watched them most carefully. They were definitely high-ranking officials of Elioth. The behavior of the regular folk around them was too obvious.

Rhohaz stood as they approached and greeted them.

“Chief Han, it’s a pleasure seeing you again,” Rhohaz spoke giving his hand.

Taru signaled Vanya and moved over to the next table which was now completely empty. She continued to drink her half-filled cup while staring at her empty plate having her ears perked listening to the ongoing conversation of greetings between Rhohaz and Chief Han.

“That’s my father,” Taru whispered seeing her concentrating on her empty plate.

She smiled in reply. It was more than clear Chief Han was Taru’s father. He possessed the same tall frame and dark hair with glowing tan skin.

“Please, feel free to relax. He’s only here for pleasantries, to greet Rhohaz,” Taru explained.

But Vanya had already picked up on a much more interesting conversation going on between Rhohaz and Chief Han.

“I hope you instruct your people to not wander down to the south of Elioth much. There have been reports of some disturbances from a group that’s been visiting Elioth this month,” Chief Han spoke in a low voice.

“A group?” Rhohaz asked.

“Just a group that has some extreme ideas. I hoped to only inform you, not scare you. We will not let them wander off to the market grounds. After all, we take the responsibility of keeping everyone safe very seriously.”

“Of course. I will let my people know. Any other news that we may have missed since the last visit?”

“Nothing out of the ordinary. Although, we are hearing whispers about trouble in the royal family…”

Chief Han’s words made Vanya straighten her back.

“...Apparently, the heir to the throne had been missing for a couple of days, if not weeks, now.”

“Princess Vanya?” Rhohaz asked, nonchalantly.

Vanya never knew she’d ever hear him say her true name for the first time in this context. It had been a few long days without hearing her true name being spoken, almost as if she had forgotten what it actually sounded like.

But she couldn’t savor the moment for too long. The Chief’s words on the apparent trouble in the royal family meant trouble in all of the Northern Kingdom.

“There has been no official announcement about it though. I doubt they will ever announce that she is gone.”

“What do you mean by that?” Rhohaz pressed on, his brows knotted in curiosity.

“It’s only a rumor right now. The palace servants were the first to sneak the word out. Everyone including the King is pretending that the princess had been severely ill the past couple of days. And apparently yesterday, she was spotted beside the King with his advisors. But she had a veil covering her face throughout.”

Vanya panicked listening to the words spilling out of Chief Han’s mouth. She did not believe for a second that her father would have ever agreed to an imposter playing her, sitting next to him, to deceive the Kingdom.

He’s…he’s only doing so because he’s looking for me secretly. Yes, that’s right, he’s busy looking for me as we speak!

She thought to herself. The only plausible reason she could think of was that her father was trying to not attract attention to her so she would be found easily by their enemies before he did.

“There's also a rumor of the palace organizing an extravagant event in the upcoming months. By the scale of it, looks to be a crowning ceremony,” Chief Han spoke in whispers making Rhohaz tilt closer.

“A crowning ceremony?”

“Yes, a crowning ceremony for the next heir to the throne, the next crown prince.”