Unexpected Encounters
1817 Words
The journey to Dandi takes two days in ordinary circumstances. So they had decided to spend their night in the town of Ruva. It was small, but a bustling town below the mountains where Dandi was situated. And it was also close to the illegal road to Sukh.
They had gotten rooms in a nice high-class lodge to stay in. Having been cooped up in the carriage for so long, the small party decided to have dinner in the dining area of the inn.
They ordered the food in recommendations and it was a bit too spicy for her tastes but she was satisfied after the dessert. Martha and Daphne were talking about the latest news from the capital and Risa and other maids and the knights were busy chatting when Ayana noticed a suspicious figure.
The figure was short, possibly a child and they were cloaked heavily, a dark hood hiding their head. What attracted her attention was the small glimpse of fiery red hair. Ayana had to blink thrice to make sure she was not hallucinating. Suddenly the person stood up and left the diner with more than enough money on the table for the food.
Before she knew what she was doing, she followed the figure out into the cold night. It was a good thing everyone was so engrossed in conversation and had some wine and beer. Otherwise, she would have trouble.
“Did they vanish?”
She murmured to herself, turning her head this way and that hoping to catch another sight of the person. She walked around, making sure that she still stayed in the vicinity. She had contemplated on returning back to the inn when a blood curdling scream of a child echoed on the streets. And Ayana, despite knowing how stupid this was, found herself running straight towards the danger.
The origin of the scream was at the end of a lonely alleyway.
There were some grown men surrounding a little girl. One of them had her small arm in his vicious grip and the other was muffling her cries and was pulling her. She had half a mind to run back and get some of her Aunt’s knights but then one of those bastards punched the child to the ground.
“Get away from her!”
Her mouth moved before her feet did. She smacked herself mentally for her stupid mouth. The men turned towards her shocked and then sneered.
“Oh? Another little girl?”
“I think we are getting lucky today.”
They tittered amongst themselves and one of them advanced towards her. Ayana gripped her dagger tightly beneath her cloak, ready to harm the man if he came too near and a part of her was begging for the help to come soon.
The man extended his arm towards her, his leering gaze reminded her to something so dark that she froze in fear. She realized too late that her hands were not moving. A scream lodged inside her throat. But before she could open her mouth, out of nowhere, a knife sailed past, slicing through the air with finesse and lodged itself into the burly man’s arm. The man was stunned before pain caught up to him and he yelled, “Arghhhh!”
Ayana was smart enough to use the distraction as an opportunity and lunged towards the young girl, hauled her up and they ran like their lives depended on it, ignoring the screams of the men. She mentally thanked her saviour and cheered for him.
This is insane. She thought to herself. They had gotten to a safe enough distance and decided to take a breather when a cloaked shadow jumped down a building in front of them. She could not see them properly due to the darkness but they looked short. Oh. They probably were the same person she had wanted to follow.
“You can go.” The person gestured to the little frightened girl hiding behind Ayana who seemed to be hesitant to leave her alone. Ayana felt her heart go warm for the child.
“Go.” She pushed the child towards the exit when she sensed no hostility from the dark figure.
She took two small steps to the exit, halted and turned back to look at Ayana. After another nod of encouragement to urge her to move, she sprinted away. They watched the kid run away before the cloaked person addressed her.
“Now that-,” the person spoke, coming into the light, removing their hood to reveal bright red hair and familiar cyan blue eyes, stealing Ayana’s breath, “-was stupid. Even for you, Princess.”
It was Ryan.
It was Ryan Lucas Ednaq standing in front of her in all his twelve year old glory. Her eyes instantly welled up with tears.
Her heart jumped when she saw some blood splattered on the front of the cloak but after two deep breaths she deduced, thankfully, none of that was his.
He looked so young.
Ayana wanted to curl up and cry her eyes out because the last time she had seen him, he was bleeding to death and poisoned in her arms. And she had been the one to do that. She stepped back, her feet cold.
“Uh, Princess?” The haughty look on his small face changed into one showing worry. “Princess Ayana?”
She felt her breath hitch as he stepped forward to examine her.
“Are you hurt?”
She wordlessly shook her head.
“Do you want me to get someone to help you?” He questioned, turning on his feet towards the alley exit to get help. But before he could take one step, her hand snaked out to grab the edge of his robe.
“No, w-wait!” she found herself exclaiming and grimaced when her voice wobbled.
His brows shot up in surprise, lips curling into an infuriating smirk. “Oh, she speaks!”
‘Shut up you little brat!’ She wanted to scream but chose not to. He did not understand what it meant having him stand in front of her - breathing and smiling.
“Is this...really y-you Ryan?” She stuttered out and he turned towards her fully.
“Yes, this is me.” His eyes softened at the emotion in her voice. “But why and how are you here?”
Ayana did not answer. How was she supposed to tell him the reason without inviting a load of trouble. Instead she huffed. “What about you? Evanti is my Aunt’s territory anyway.”
He shrugged. “Father sent me here for an assignment.” He said that and nothing more. As if that would tell her the entire story. She rolled her eyes and but did not press further.
“I’m going to Dandi with my Aunt.”
He raised his eyebrows in question. And Ayana clamped her mouth shut. Her true reason was not something an eleven year old Ryan should know about.
“Uh, I-I wanted to see the mountains!” She replied lamely and he made an unimpressed face. She remotely wondered if he was a bit too intelligent for an eleven year old. When she gave no reply he sighed.
“Come on. Let’s get you to your Aunt.” Before she could say anything, he had her hand which was still holding on his cloak, in his grasp and was pulling her towards the exit. She wanted to argue that hey, she was the adult here but alas, that wouldn’t be advisable.
“But why are you alone?” She questioned after a while, looking around for his guards.
“I’m not. I came with some of my estate’s knights. They were busy drinking and chatting so I sneaked out to explore. I did not imagine I’d find you here.”
They walked towards the inn silently and Ayana found herself staring at their conjoined hands. She could feel the warmth of his hand seeping into hers. Comparatively so smaller than the hand she remembered holding back from her previous life.
It did not take much time so the inn came into view and they walked to it still holding hands.
“Okay, so, I’ll be returning back to my inn. It is across the street.” He said awkwardly and Ayana was aware that she had to let go of his hand sooner or later but it was so incredibly hard.
“Would you believe me if I said...I love you.”
His words ricochet in her brain and her eyes water again remembering the warmth that burned in his eyes back then.
When had he started loving her?
“Hey,” he nudged her gently, “Do you want me to call the Duchess? Are you alright?”
“I am.” She answered, wiping her eyes with her sleeve, wondering why she was behaving more and more like a crybaby. His blue eyes were glinting in the moonlight, narrowed with concern for her. She nodded and gave him a smile.
“I’ll go in.”
They slowly let go of each other’s hand and she wondered if he was reluctant too.
She turned on her feet and stepped towards the gate in the inn. Something tugged on her heart so she whirled around again and launched herself on to the young boy, wrapping her arms around his back and burying her face into his neck.
He was alive.
The fact came crashing down on her.
He stiffened in response to her hug and let out a surprised yelp.
“W-what are you doing?”
Ayana looked up at him with fondness. She had to admit, he was quite adorable as a kid with his face as red as his hair. A cute child.
“Thank you for saving me.” She told him as sincerely as she could. But she didn’t mean it only for today but also for all times in a lifetime ago. A flash of the memory when she had held his limp, bleeding body in her arms similarly made her squeeze him tighter. Just to feel him alive. He looked utterly confused and embarrassed but nodded and she gently pushed him away from herself.
He stood there, rubbing the back of his neck and eyes averting when he said, “Hey you know. I’m here and, I’ll always save you, alright?”
She blinked. Those words...did he even understand what they meant. Especially to her.
His eyes shined with determination and she knew that he did and she could not help but smile, somehow having not even a shadow of doubt about believing him.
- Writer
