“That makes two of us. Taking an extended swim in the river that far would make anyone hungry. Wait a minute…” said Hoxley aloud. “If you’re the prince, where is the princess? Don’t you have a sister that’s about ten summers old? Where is she?”

  “I don’t know where she is or if she’s dead as well.”

  “You left your little sister behind?!” Holey asked with some shock.

  “I didn’t have a choice! My sister’s room is next to my parent’s room and mine is a little further away. My man had so little time to ferry me away that there wasn’t enough time to reach her before the group of men with swords stormed the area between us. I do not know what’s happened to her. I could be the only surviving member of the royal family and they’re hunting me.”

  “Perhaps they just want you in exile.” Hoxley offered. “If they can keep you away from the throne you can’t sit upon it to rule.”

  “That would be mostly true if not for the fact that I was carrying the holy crown of the east. For my uncle to truly rule he has to have it in his possession. Those men at the bridge wanted both me and the crown.”

  “That’s a sad story.” Said Hoxley. “What will you do now?”

  “I have to retrieve the crown from the river first. After that I must travel to the western lands and call upon the king there to aid me in reclaiming what is my birthright.”

  “Do you think he will?”

  “He must. Our kingdoms have shared a long and prosperous peace. For him to deny me would undo that pact between our lands.” He paused to step over a fallen tree. “What about you? What will you do when you get your bag back?”

  “I’ll continue my duties as I always have. There’s an elder who lives on the far edge of these woods and he’s owed a letter. My first priority is to deliver it to him before I do anything else.”

  “Then you’ll take me to the western kingdom?”

  “I have many stops to make between here and there. And after the way you’ve swindled me into your company you should give me that receipt back, take your crown and we should part ways.”

  “For how long?”

  “After I have that receipt, you won’t be my fare anymore.”

  “But I gave you all my gold for you to deliver me!”

  “I told you my rates and you insisted on overpaying at the same time you were knowingly deceitful. I should return your crown and keep the rest as ‘moron tax’ for the trouble you’ve put me through. Before we met, I was still dry.”

  “Moron tax? You can’t talk to me like that! I’m the prince of the eastern throne, next in line to wear the crown!”

  “Keep your voice down, your highness. The men who dispute your claim to the throne may not be far off.” Lowered his voice he did.

  “Even if you return the crown, I still have receipt that you said you would deliver me safely to the western throne.”

  “That receipt is false and you know it.”

  “Do you want me to give it to you now?”

  “Yes!” Hoxley said, twisting about. “Give it here.” She held her hand out. He prince just grinned at her.

  “If the receipt is false then you shouldn’t need to worry about it. If it doesn’t bind you to your duty then you shouldn’t need me to give it to you and you’ll never have to worry about me telling others about how your kind are not to be trusted.”

  “You…” Hoxley fumed, one of her hoofs angrily scratching at the grass. “You are the worst prince I have ever met.”

  “That may be true, but you and I have an arrangement. If you deliver me safely to my destination, the contract is complete and the forty gold coins are yours to do with as you please.” Hoxley’s nostrils flared with agitation and she turned back around to continue walking.

  “Unbelievable.” She snorted.

  “You said something about bread?” he asked.

  “Perhaps. Fortunately for us, my money pouch was secured to my person. So, yes, we have means to buy bread.” Onward they went, moving parallel to the sound of the flowing water. Hoxley tried not to stomp thickets and briars as not to make tracks, but the necessity to keep moving forced her on. The prince kept pace but made so much noise in doing so that he flushed birds every fifty paces and scattered more small forest animals than an approaching rainstorm.

  When they’d traveled more than a mile, Hoxley adjusted her path and started to slowly veer back toward path leading to Sweet Water. Her trajectory was correct and after she shoved her way through a dense hedgerow, she found herself on the outskirts. Prince Damron followed close behind but clumsily tripped on the roots to fall at her hooves to go sprawling. She rolled her eyes but stooped to help him up.

  “Look and listen,” she said. “Do you see that mill over there?” She pointed across the way to a small stone building with a water wheel turning along its side.

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  “Yes, of course I see it.”

  “I have to go over there to look for my bag. You should stay here and hide behind this hedge until I get back.”

  “Stay here? Why don’t I come with you?”

  “Because you’re a well-known prince who’s on the run and doesn’t want to be noticed, that’s why.”

  “I’m not staying here.” He said defiantly. “How do I know you’re not going to find your bag and abandon me here to be found by those men who were following us?”

  “I’m not going to leave you, but you’d be safer if you stayed out of sight. These people are accustomed to seeing me but we don’t want to chance someone recognizing you.”

  “How long will you be?”

  “Not long. Just long enough to comb the area around the water and maybe ask the miller if he’s seen something.”

  “I don’t think you should leave me. Let me come with you. I want some of this bread you’ve been talking about.”

  “I promise to bring you some bread, just stay here.”

  “No, I don’t feel safe here on my own. I think I should come with you.”

  “You…” Hoxley paused to swallow her growing exasperation. “You are not listening to what I’m saying…” She took a breath to gather her calmness. “Right now, people are looking for you, yes?”

  “Yes.” He nodded

  “And you don’t want those people to find you, no?”

  “No.”

  “Then stay here behind the bush and be quiet while I look for my bag.”

  “But I don’t want to stay here in the bush and be quiet.”

  “Right now, I don’t give two fat cabbages what you want.” Hoxley stomped a hoof. “It is in your best interests to stay here, out of sight, while I look for my bag.”

  “I’m coming with you.” He insisted with a big smile on his face. “I’ve made up my mind in the matter.”

  “You….” She held her tongue as the cheeks beneath her freckles flushed an angry crimson. “You are endangering yourself needlessly. Someone is going to recognize you. Why won’t you be reasonable?”

  “I can do what I want. Are you ready to go?” Hoxley paused and tilted her head back to keep hateful words from slipping out of her mouth. The sigh that followed took most of the bite out of them.

  “Ok, fine.” She agreed. “You want to come with, fine. But you’re going to do it my way, understand?”

  “What do you propose?” he asked. Hoxley looked to the millers building and then back to him with his sword and hooded cloak.

  “We can’t have you looking like you are now, especially holding a sword with no sheath. Take your cloak off.” He did and Hoxley went to work. She unfastened her own belt with her money pouch on it and looped it over the prince’s shoulder to lay diagonally across his body a spare strip of leather was just enough to loop under the hilt of the rusty short sword. It didn’t completely hide the sword but the point was just to make it less noticeable. After that she had him put his cloak back on and pulled the hood high up to lay it over his head and down to cover most of it.

  “I can’t see anything.” He said.

  “That’s the point. If you can’t see out then others can’t see in to see your face.”

  “How am I supposed to walk if I can’t see where I’m going?”

  “I’ll guide you. You’ll walk next to me and hold onto my pugil strap.”

  “This is ridiculous.” He said.

  “On that we agree. Keep your head down.” She pulled the hood down a little more. “Do you like plays?” she asked

  “Plays?”

  “Yes, plays, theatre. People putting on costumes and masks and making up stories to entertain others.”

  “Yes, I love plays. I can juggle and tumble. I learned that from the court jester.”

  “Then that’s what we’re doing. Only this time you and I are putting on the opening act of ‘Keeping our face hidden so the men tracking us don’t discover who we are and kill us with swords’. In our next scene together, I’ll be playing the role of the messenger who searches for her missing bag.”

  “What’s my role?”

  “You’re the mysterious person who is stricken blind and mute that’s paid me to guide them to their destination far away after I recover my bag. It should be easy. All you have to do is stay by my side, keep your head down and not say a word. Think you can handle all that? because if you can’t, you’re going to have to pay the role of ‘person in hedge’. Play the roll well and there may be tasty bread for both of us.”

  “Alright.” he nodded. “I’ll do my best.”

  “Let’s hope that’s enough” She pulled at the hood one last time and pulled his hand close so that he could hang onto the strap holding her pugil. “Stay close to me, keep that head down and we’ll be fine. Come along, the stage is waiting.”