“Yes, him.” said Robert, reaching into the folds of his clothing to produce a gold coin from an inner pocket. “Is this not his face etched into the eastern gold?” Hoxley’s eyes darted around and found the steady stream of passing travelers to be too close for this conversation.

  “Everyone, come here.” she said, leading the group away from the larger crowd. As they walked, Morell looked more shocked than anyone as he kept attempting to peer around the edge of the cloak obscuring the prince’s face.

  “So, his name isn’t John Buttersby?” He asked in disbelief. “Is this the reason my grandfather attempted to kill him?”

  “Tried to kill him?” the twins asked simultaneously.

  “Yes.” Confirmed Hoxley. The faun girl would go on to convey the series of events that had not only drawn the prince and her together, but also the ones that had left Morell without a home or guardianship. The more she spoke, the angrier Morell’s expression became

  “You told my grandfather you miscalculated having to stop in Sweet Water.” said Morell.

  “I knew we were being followed by his uncle’s men.” Hoxley said. “I’m sorry I had to make up a story but it was getting late and Sweet Water didn’t seem like a safe place to stop.”

  “Just say you lied.” Said Morell.

  “I lied.” Said Hoxley. “I’m so sorry. I was trying to keep him from being killed. I swear on my heart and hooves that it’s the truth. We would have departed early in the morning to leave you and your grandfather as you were when we found you. I give you my word that all we wanted was shelter and some food.”

  “But he attacked you.” said Morell. “But why?”

  “There was likely a bounty put on his head.” Said Hoxley “When we arrived, I noticed fresh hoof prints in the dirt that weren’t mine. I’m guessing the prince’s uncle sent word far and wide of a great reward for his kill or capture.”

  “How great of a reward?” Robert asked, to which his sister elbowed him in the ribs to make him silent again.

  “I don’t know, but I must have been enough to convince Elder Brookum to attempt to take Prince Damron’s life. It was only by luck that I awoke when I did and managed to stop him in time.”

  “So why bring him here?” Siouxsie asked

  “We’re not staying here.” Hoxley said. “We’re continuing on to seek help from the western throne so we’re only stopping to trade for or buy some supplies and then we’re leaving.”

  “You’re heading west?” Siouxsie asked.

  “That’s right.”

  “That’s where we’re heading!” The witch girl offered. “We should travel together!”

  “They’ll slow us down.” Robert said.

  “Oh, shoosh.” Siouxsie “We’d be traveling with Hoxley. She always has the best stories to tell.”

  “Yes, but this time she has a fleeing prince with her who’s wanted by men with swords.”

  “Yes, but nobody knows that but us.” said Siouxsie

  “I recognized his face when we landed. Anywhere we go where people have spent enough time looking at a gold coin is going to know who he is.”

  “Then we’ll get a big hat or a mask or something.” she said.

  “I think you’re making excuses.” said Robert.

  “And I think you’re being difficult for no reason. You and I were already planning on heading west before they got here and Hoxley is a good friend. Besides, we’re headed west not east so we’ll be further from those looking for the prince. Now that we know they’re heading the same way it couldn’t hurt for us to travel together. Safety in numbers, right Hoxley?”

  “Yes, that’s right.” She nodded before looking to the boys. “I take it neither of you two have a problem with the twins joining us?”

  “I suppose not.” said the prince.

  “What about you, Morell?” She asked. The expression on Morell’s face was one of slack jawed enrapturement. He said nothing but instead was watching Siouxsie without so much as a blink of the eyes. “Morell!” she reiterated with a stomp of the hoof. The boy came out of his trance like state to look at Hoxley bewildered.

  “What? What did you say?” he said with some confusion.

  “I asked if you had a problem with Roberts and Siouxsie joining us as we move on.”

  “Yes please!” He said with a wide grin. “Let’s go!” Hoxley laughed to herself. A sideways glance to Siouxsie and back assured her that he’d become bewitched was like so many others who witnessed the beauty of the girls with the pointed hats.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  “We can’t leave yet.” She said before looking back to the twins. “If Robert spotted the prince so quickly then it’s not wise to take him into town with us and we can’t leave him here alone. Siouxsie? Is it too late to purchase provisions for the trip?” She dug into her money pouch and produced some gold coins, holding them in her palm. “We need canteens and rations, bread if you can find it. Prince Damron will need a sack or pack to hold his things. I can even buy some for you and your brother since you’re coming along.” Faster than the eye can follow, the witch girl snatched the coins and tucked them in her pocket.

  “Done!” Siouxsie exclaimed. “Wait here by the trees, We’ll be back soon.” And with a nod the two mounted their brooms and shot straight up a hundred feet, like lightning bolts in reverse, before leveling off. They cruised back across the sky as little black dots until they vanished into the settlement.

  “Are you sure we can trust those two?” Prince Damron asked. “The shadowy one was quick to ask how much the reward is for my head.”

  “Robert and Siouxsie?” Hoxley gave a small smile. “Perfectly trustworthy. Siouxsie is my closest friend and if she was unwilling to keep your secret, she would have told me.”

  “What about Robert, Hoxley?” Morell asked. “Is he your best friend too?”

  “Robert isn’t anyone’s best friend. He mostly keeps to himself.”

  “So, we don’t know if he can be as trustworthy.”

  “Robert and Siouxsie share a special bond. Wherever she goes, he follows. If Siouxsie doesn’t object, then he doesn’t object.”

  “Why does he dress like that?” The prince asked. “Keep himself covered from head to toe? I couldn’t see more than his eyes.”

  “That…” Hoxley paused and took on a more serious demeanor. “That is a sensitive matter and some things are best left unsaid. If he decides to tell you, that’s his choice.”

  “So, there’s a special reason behind it…” the prince thought aloud.

  “Where do we go from here?” Morell asked her as he plopped down next to a tree to enjoy the shade

  “The stone lands are west of here.” She told them. “Hilly and rocky, but not treacherous. There’s lots of wide valleys and open spaces. You can see long distances in every direction.”

  “My grandfather once told me a grey cyclops lives there.” said Morell.

  “I’ve heard the same thing,” Hoxley replied. “But I can’t say I’ve ever heard the word ‘monstrous’ used. I was told there’s a lone hill, taller than the rest that holds a gassy geyser and that’s where it lives. If there is a cyclops, I’ve never seen it because I always spot the geyser and steer clear of it so I never have to meet it.”

  “I bet it’s gruesome and fierce and feasts on the flesh of men and fauns.” The prince said.

  “Why would you say that?” Morell asked.

  “It’s a cyclops, a monster! That’s what monsters do!”

  “Actually,” Morell said. “Cyclops are titans. And they’re rare. There’s not too many of them in the world now.”

  “I wonder why that is.” said Hoxley.

  “Probably because of too many people calling them monsters.” Morell said, glaring at the prince. Prince Damron didn’t much care for his answer and moved away to sit beneath the shade of another tree nearby. Hoxley turned herself about to watch the procession of people pass. A line of people hundreds of heads long continued to emerge from the crest of the hill.

  “Where do you think they’re going?” Morell asked.

  “I don’t know.” Said Hoxley. She was about to make a guess when the twins dropped from the sky to land only a few feet in front of her. The collection of wind that followed almost blew her off her hooves. She planted the end of her pugil on the ground to keep from teetering.

  “We return!” Siouxsie announced with a wide smile on her face, her arms and those of her brother were loaded with goods. She quickly laid everything upon the ground in three piles, one in between her and those in Hoxley’s entourage. “You said you needed supplies and canteens so I brought you what I could find. I brought a pack for Prince Damron. There’s fresh goat cheese and some rations of salted meats, some nuts, a little fruit, as well as a loaf of bread each. I hope you don’t mind that’s its day old and a little hard, it was fresh yesterday and flown in from Sweetwater.”

  “I’m sure it will be fine.” Hoxley said, her mouth already watering a little from the bounty.