The Princess and the Bootlegger

Kade wasn't sure he had slept so well... ever. Maybe it was the crash from all the sugar they had at the carnival or maybe it was the mattress that wasn't lumpy, but he wasn't sure he had ever been truly well rested until now. He had stuck to his word and stayed on the far end of the large bed, away from Celine. She, however, had migrated. When he opened his eyes he saw that she had moved to his side and his arm had found its way around her. She was still fast asleep with her head on his chest, arms wrapped tightly around him. It actually felt really nice.

Shit. She was going to kill him.

Kade wasn't sure how he was going to untangle himself from her without waking her up and he tried wiggling away, but she only held on a bit tighter. It seemed like she needed to be held a little. She put on a tough front, but her subconscious had betrayed her in her sleep. He decided against making an escape now. He sort of just relaxed back into bed, gently stroking her hair and whispering to her to wake her up.

"Celine," he said. "It's morning."

She stirred and her eyes fluttered open. She looked up at him for a couple of moments, then suddenly seemed to process where she was and jerked away from him. Her eyes were wide and she cowered to the other side of the bed.

"I'm sorry," she stammered nervously. "I must have gotten cold or-"

"It's fine," Kade told her. "Hey, Celine, breathe. It's fine. It's only you and me here. No harm done."

She opened her mouth to say something else, then decided against it and shook her head. Kade just watched her for a minute. She wouldn't meet his gaze, but she was trembling a bit.

"Are you alright?" he asked, finally.

"I'm fine," she said.

She got up from bed and disappeared into the bathroom before anything else could be said. Kade just sighed and sat on the edge of the bed, running his hand through his messy hair. It took a lot to keep it in place, so usually it was a shaggy mess in the mornings. He heard the bathroom door open after about ten minutes and looked up to see Celine hesitantly coming back out into the room.

She looked a bit shaken up. When Kade stood up and walked towards her she seemed afraid that he was going to be upset with her or something. Instead he pulled her in and hugged her. She was surprised, but didn't pull away. She just stood there with her arms limp at her side.

"What are you doing?" she asked softly.

"You won't say it, but you need it," he told her. "Things have been nothing short of unhinged. It's okay, you can keep thinking I'm atrocious after this."

She hesitated, then hugged him back. Turns out they both kind of needed it.

"I don't think you're atrocious," she told him. "Annoying sometimes. Not atrocious."

"Well, I don't hate you," he said.

"What?"

"Last night," he said. "You said I probably hated you. I don't. Really, I've always thought you seemed nice. And you're talented. I kind of stay in the back where Christophe wants me, but I like the parts of the shows I can hear."

She let go and leaned back to look at him, the slightest of a smile playing on her lips.

"Next time, you can sit right up front," she said. "No matter what Christophe says. You'll be my guest, not his."

"Careful, someone might think you like me."

She rolled her eyes and flicked him on the forehead, but it was more a teasing gesture than genuinely upset with him. She moved to sit at the vanity and he flopped back into bed, savoring the soft pillows and sheets.

"Back on the farm, I slept on hay," he said. "Literally a bale of hay. With a sheet on it."

"You lived on a farm?" she asked as she pulled a brush through her hair.

"I did," he said. "My uncle had a self-sufficient farm. It was a few miles away from a human-only town called Wolford, but he wanted to distance himself as much as possible from non-humans. Even the rare ones that passed through town. I never really understood why until I came here and saw how humans were treated. Anyways, after my dad passed my mother moved us to the farm."

"And you haven't talked in ten years?"

"I left when I was sixteen," he said. "She didn't want me to go and said I had no chance at success. I told her I'd find a way. She told me that if I walked out the door then I could never walk back in. I left anyways. I guess I thought a mother's love would shine through and she would get over it eventually, but I guess I was wrong. Once I started making some decent money I started to send some to her, but she's never cashed it in or responded to my letters. I still send them. She's probably ripping up the checks."

"All because you're associating with non-humans?"

"I mean, the illegal bootlegging probably doesn't help," he chuckled. "But yes, the prejudice is probably the bigger part of it."

"At least you have Mrs. Redfoot."

"Yeah," Kade sighed. "I hope she's okay."

"She's probably fine," she said. "She's eating her salty cookies and shoving walnuts down her sink."

Kade laughed, knowing Celine was probably right. Mrs. Redfoot was probably so wrapped up in her squirrel drama. Celine was mostly ready by the time Kade got out of bed. It only took him a couple of minutes to completely change his appearance, putting on a crisp suit and smoothing his shaggy hair back with a stiff pomade. It really took him from a sloppy tramp to a respectable gentleman. Mostly respectable, anyways. He always looked a little sleazy no matter what he did. The new earring he sported didn't help.

"If we need anything, we should go out while the sun is still up," Celine said. "The wolves will be recovering from wherever they were last night, but they'll probably be back out by nightfall."

"I don't know what to make of what Fobble said," Kade admitted. "All I can think is to go back to the carnival and see if we can ask around among the other carnies. If we're lucky, one of them might have seen something. Or at least give us something to go off of."

They did their best to keep their faces hidden when they returned to the carnival, just in case anyone recognized them from the off-script part of the magic show. The circus performers were breaking down their tents to move on, and they noticed Fobble hopping around and helping with magic. The ducked in the opposite direction and Celine pulled him into a random tent to hide. They had assumed it was empty, until they bumped into someone.

Kade spun around and found him face to face with a man nearly seven feet tall and shirtless, showing off his stacked muscled body. He must have been mixed with some kind of elven blood because he had those ethereal facial features and golden hair, but he was way too buff to be full elf. Maybe he was mixed with an orc or something. Either way, Kade felt like a puddle of gelatinous goop next to the demigod of a man. When he spoke, he even had the sort of deep, husky voice that made women swoon.

"Are you two lost?" he asked, flashing them a charming smile of perfectly straight white teeth.

Kade glanced at Celine, who seemed a bit awestruck at the man. He resisted the urge to scowl.

"No, we're just in the wrong tent," he said. "Come on, Celine. Let's go."

"Maybe I can help you find the right tent," the man suggested, turning his attention to Celine. "Pardon me, madame. Where are my manners?"

He put on a shirt, but left the front unbuttoned like it made any difference in terms of modesty.

"I'm the strongman around here," he explained. "Anton is the name. Maybe you've seen my show. I can lift things the average man can't."

Kade couldn't help but feel like Anton looked pointedly at him when referring to the "average" man.

"We haven't had the pleasure," Kade said dully.

"Ah, that's too bad. Perhaps next time. Please, madame, have a seat. No lady should have to stay standing in this blistering heat."

"Oh," Celine said. "Um, that's alright. We were just on our way."

"To meet, Fobble, I assume? I believe you two had some sort of meeting with him last night. He has lots of those."

Kade was ready to walk out, but Celine seemed interested in what Blondie-McBuffBlonde had to say.

"You see Fobble's other, ah, meetings?" Celine asked.

"Yes, he uses my tent at times when I find myself occupied with other things," Anton said. "It's quite funny, just a few days ago I could have sworn he was making jewelry for someone."

"Jewelry? Silver jewelry?"

"Yes," Anton said. "You know silver, don't you? I'm sure your husband buys you silver jewelry."

"Oh, he's not my husband. Just a friend."

"Ah, forgive me," Anton chuckled, though Kade was sure the man had perked up when hearing that Celine wasn't married.

"Please, can you tell us more about this man Fobble met with?" Celine asked. "Did you see what he looked like, or where he went?"

"Of course, but only if you'll do me the honor of joining me for tea," Anton said.

"We don't drink tea," Kade said.

Celine shot him a stern look, then turned back to Anton. "That's very kind, thank you."

Anton offered Celine an arm to lead her out of the tent to whatever bullshit tea shop he wanted to go to, flat out ignoring Kade on his way out. Maybe Celine was just being nice to get information from him, but Kade wasn't sure why he felt so bothered by seeing the two together. Maybe because she looked good with a guy like Anton.