Chapter 8
1924 Words
CHAPTER 8
“We’re going to the market?” Yosef asked as if he hadn't gone to the place. “The last time I went to the market was when I was eight with my mother.”
“Why do you look so excited? Does the market look exciting? There’s no fun in that place,” Azrael commented.
Hideo stood between the two. “I think that the trading and the different kinds of goods sold in the market are the things that excites him.”
“It isn’t fun. My mother was a vendor before but she didn’t earn much. Luckily, My father’s salary was raised so my mother won’t have to sell goods all day long.”
“Those things always happen in the market. We, who are in the middle of rich and poor families, also didn’t have the chance to earn much.” Leo gazed at Aragorn, who cannot digest the things that they were talking about. “Unlike those rich people and in royal family who enjoy food without thinking the money that they have left.”
Clever, Aragorn thought. He never thought of the people aside from the royal family back then. He would tend to think of himself only, how great he was doing and how great do people look at him. His father is known to be one of the best kings yet issues like poverty and hunger are still not adhered to by the government.
“What does the market look like?” Aragorn asked, changing the topic. Back when he was a child, only the palace and the garden near the palace were the only places he had been. He can’t hint to himself what the market looks like, even just a single bit of it.
Azrael’s eyes enlarged, staring at Aragorn. “You never had a chance to go to the market?”
He shook his head from the left to the right. He was about to say when Leo cutted him off.
“He’s the crowned prince of Caspian, the only son of Queen Amira and King Argon. Servants and maids took care of him. He enjoys living inside the palace, with a beautiful garden nearby. He can’t go to the market himself since the food inside the royal palace is unlimited.”
“What does the inside of the royal palace look like? I never had the chance to go inside,” Yosef said, trying to picture the royal palace in his mind. It could be filled with gold, diamond, silver, and other gems. It would be galantic inside, a truly mesmerizing home only for the royal family.
“We cannot go to the royal palace unless we’re one of the royal family, royal servants, or we were called by the king,” Hideo explained to the young peer.
“The king and the queen asked us for a mission to go with the prince. Maybe we can go inside the palace.”
“Fool,” Azrael said. “The king had given us orders and it wasn’t an excuse for us to trespass the palace.”
Yosef planted sadness on his face. “I hope I can…” He raised his head. “Look, it’s the market, right?”
Leo agreed with him by nodding. “Here we are.”
Aragorn’s eyes twinkled. Small huts were established side by side. Different goods and meats were sold in each huts. People of different colors, ages, and social status gathered in this place to buy food and medicinal supplies. This is the second time Aragorn saw a crowd of people, the first he saw a marketplace.
“The crowned prince of Caspian had arrived!” Leo announced. All the stares were now on Aragorn. He didn’t expect people to behave this way once he’d arrived.
“Why does he have to announce that?” Yosef whispered to Azrael.
“I don’t have a clue either. For them to not mess with us?”
Hideo heard the conversation of the two. “It is a tradition to announce in a place if a member of a royal family of any palace had arrived. This is for the people to show their respect to the person with authority.”
“Ahh,” Yosef and Azrael said in chorus. They both nodded to each other.
Sphyra was hiding, not that far away from the market where she can still see that man. She can’t figure out if he's an assassin. He was with Leo, who’s the young warrior of the town. A few minutes later, it was announced that he is the crowned prince of Caspian.
Sphyra cursed on herself. She talked, almost killed, and met the crowned prince and the future king of the palace of Caspian. Why did he look ignorant last night? It looked like he didn’t have the clue about the phoenix. What if he’s just pretending and being a spy to learn about where the phoenix was? Sphyra thought. But he looked clean, not ready to fight. He looked kind, but no one can judge a person by his physical appearance.
He may be using his charm to attract her or play with her and… finally kill her. She won’t let that happen. She wanted to live and not die. She thought she was safe because no one can kill her by any means except for anyone who has the royal blood. And one of them is the crowned prince of Caspian he had talked about yesterday.
Sphyra left the market. She had to leave or else she’ll die in the hands of that prince.
“Look at this gemstone.” Yosef pointed to the gemstone which was highlighted by the gemstore owner. “It looked great.”
The gemstone was round and had a glass-like figure. It’s color was the color of fire with green lines swirling around it. Without a second thought, it looked precious and rare. The glass-like fiery gem would be a good addition to Aragorn’s collection.
“How much is it?”Aragorn asked.
The vendor was surprised to see the crowned prince in front of his store. If he’ll buy the gem, the vendor would be instantly rich. “Before I tell you that, you must know what it is first,” he said confidently. “This is called the tears of the phoenix. I bought it down south at a very expensive price. This is made of really expensive rare stones and is made by an expert down south. If I’m rich, I would surely buy this gem, but I have to sell it or else I won’t have food to eat.”
“How much is it?”
“Since you’re the crowned prince of Caspian. I would give a discounted price of fifty-six golden nuggets and fifteen silver ones.” Everyone who heard the price of the gemstone, dropped their own jaws.
“Isn’t that too much?” Azrael asked his comrades.
“That was very expensive and the price would raise me for a decade,” Yosef said.
“It was darn precious but expensive. Gems were priced ten to thirty golden nuggets and that was the priciest I heard so far. It looked great, but we don’t know if it is a real gem.” Hideo helps his chin.
“I will buy it.” The prince checked his pouch where he put his golden nuggets. He was given a lot by his mother and father. His parents would love to see this gemstone and this would look good inside his room.
“What is happening here?” Leo arrived. He bought bread for his companions and he saw Aragorn who was about to give fifty-six golden nuggets to the vendor.
“We saw that precious gemstone which costs double of the usual price of gems. The prince is going to buy it since he likes it,” Hideo explained.
“Prince Aragorn, let me examine it first.”
I won’t lose anything, he thought. “Okay.”
Leo grabbed the gemstone, touched it lightly with his palms. He saw a pail filled with water, dropped it and sinked. He grabbed it again, placed back to where it was displayed earlier.
“How much is it again?” Leo asked the vendor again.
The vendor grinned. It would be a jackpot if Leo would request it also. “The tears of the phoenix cost fifty-six golden nuggets and fifteen silver ones. The price is still negotiable since I respect the prince and you.”
“Bastard!” Leo shouted. “How can you fool us with your tricks to pay for a five golden nugget glass ball? I heard that it was made by an expert and made by the most expensive stones. Its surface was smooth and didn’t have any flaws and it sank under the water. It means that it was a fake gem. How can you fool anyone with that? Especially the crowned prince.”
The vendor fell onto his legs, pleading to the prince and Leo. “I’m sorry, Master Leo and Prince Aragorn. I didn’t want to fool you but my daughter is sick and my son wanted to be a soldier. Selling this gemstone would help us in our life. I promise I won’t do it again.”
Leo smirked. “According to the law, fooling someone would cost fifty golden nuggets.”
“I promise I will pay.”
“But fooling anyone in the royal family, especially the crowned prince, would cost you life.”
The vendor slowly raised his head. All his life he worked for his family, for the education of his children. He fooled a lot of people to buy his fake gems and now he’s going to face death. He looked at the prince, wanting some help, wanting to get through with it.
“Leo, stop! He shouldn’t die by just fooling me. It’s fine that he got caught by you but he shouldn't let him die.”
“Do you mean to let this person break the rule and fool more people, my prince? Don’t you think that it would be unfair if we let him live when there are people who died because of breaking the law?”
“You’re the prince of Caspian and if you let this person not suffer with his mistakes, everyone will think that you’re biased. Do you want to ruin your image? The weakest king of the Caspian was fooled by a gemstone vendor and was biased to not let him die. Don’t you think the king and the queen wouldn’t be disappointed if they learned about your nasty decisions?”
Aragorn’s voice broke while staring at the man. “No.” He ran away, far from them. A few seconds later, he heard a scream of pain. The man would be dead right now because of injustice and the law.
Very unfair, he thought.
- Writer
