Rebel Children

It was nice to spend so much time with Rose, and the more time they spent, the more Eli grew to care for her. He almost forgot she was the princess. Almost. Every now and again Tobias or Maria would remind her of why they were travelling to the capital, and Eli remembered that he was helping her take back the throne.

It was a huge deal, and it was becoming apparent in her mood. The closer they got, the more she seemed anxious. Edgar helped her a lot with her magic and she was getting better, but she still didn't seem fully confident in herself. Eli wished he could help boost her confidence a little bit, but he didn't have much to contribute.

When they arrived in Camsier, he felt Rose was more anxious than ever. As they stabled the horses, he noticed that her hands slightly trembled while she removed the reigns from their horse. Eli took her hand and held it, lowering his voice to talk to her.

"Hey," he said softly. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," she said. "Why? Do I seem like I'm not?"

"You seem about as calm as can be," Eli said sarcastically.

"I'm fine."

Eli heard a soft whistle and looked over his shoulder to see Maria waving him over. She hadn't talked to him much in the duration of their trip, and Eli feared she was about to give him another lecture about how he should treat Rose right. Tobias was distracted by Charlie, who had surprisingly sparked the man's interest when he started asking questions about hunting.

"How are you doing?" Maria asked gently.

"Me?" Eli frowned. "Uh, fine."

"Good," she said. "I'm sorry my husband gives you a hard time."

"I understand why."

Her eyes crinkled at the corners when she smiled warmly at him.

"I can see that you do," she said. "Tobias can sometimes come off a little harsher than he intends to. Not just towards you, but to Rose as well. He means well, but I don't think he realizes how much he has been stressing her out recently. It doesn't help that Edgar isn't exactly the warmest person to be around."

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that," Eli said. "He was really the only qualified person around."

"It's not your fault Lorena ruined everyone's life," Maria said. "That's not why I wanted to talk to you. I was wondering if you could do something for me."

"Of course. Anything."

"It seems Tobias has been a bit occupied with Charlie," she said. "I suppose he always wanted a son, and he's seeing something in the boy. While he's distracted, I want you to take Rose around town. Show her a good time. Find us again tomorrow afternoon."

"Really?" Eli asked, surprised. "Just the two of us? Alone?"

"She trusts you," she said. "So I trust you, too. I've seen how you are with her, and I know it's the small distraction she has from this massive responsibility on her shoulders. The closer we get to Lorena, the more it's draining her. Just take her around for a bit to distract her. Maybe it'll be a refreshing time. Don't worry, I'll cover for you."

Eli was still caught off guard as Maria put a pouch of coins in his hand.

"Take care of my girl, alright?" she said with a smile.

"Yes, ma'am."

She patted his cheek with a sort of motherly warmth Eli hadn't felt since he was a child. He hardly remembered his own mother.

When Rose walked away to keep Tobias distracted, Eli made his way back to Rose. She gave him a weird look when he took her hand and led her away from the stables.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"Wherever you want," he shrugged. "We can get something good to eat. We can do some shopping. I hear Camsier has some beautiful gardens."

"We have time for gardens?"

"I made time for gardens," he reassured her. "We're just going to have a nice day. What do you want to do? Whatever you want."

She cracked a smile and swung his hand lightly as they walked.

"Gardens sound nice."

"Then gardens it is."

Camsier was well known for its gardens. They had once belonged to a lord, but after his passing, his children had found the flora too beautiful to keep from the public. There was a small church donation to get in, but once they were there it took them to sprawling mazes of colorful flowers.

Rose's eyes sparkled as she looked around at all the flowers, and she laughed when Eli started sneezing and sniffing uncontrollably. Apparently, he had a pollen allergy he never knew about.

"To be fair, there aren't many flowers in Camsier," he mumbled.

"You poor thing," she laughed. "We can leave."

"But we haven't even seen the roses yet," Eli frowned. "I'm just supposed to miss out on taking my Rose to see the roses?"

"Your Rose?"

"I didn't mean it in a creepy way," he said quickly. "Sorry, that sounded clingy."

"I liked it," she grinned, going up on her toes to kiss him. "I would love to be your Rose, if you'll be my Eli."

"I will be your Eli as long as you'll have me."

It was good to finally see her smiling after a couple days of only seeing stress on her face. He finally got a bit of relief when they left the gardens and had a chance to sit down in a pub, where Eli downed three mugs of water before his allergies started to calm down. Rose came by a bit later with a couple plates of assorted meats and potatoes she had picked up from the bar.

After eating he took her shopping with the money Maria had given them, though she didn't really want anything. He found himself looking at a weapons stall, where there was an elegant looking silver dagger with a jewel encrusted hilt. It was pricey, but the way the sapphires and silver glinted in the light were beautiful and suited Rose well. He looked down at the money Maria had given him, then changed his mind and took out a different pouch. He bought the dagger with his own money, along with the matching sheath and belt. He wanted to get her a gift, so maybe she would remember him if she chose to leave him. A gift should have come from his own pocket.

He found her at another stall and put the sheathed dagger in her hand. She admired the dazzling knife as she pulled it from the sheath to look at the polished blade. It was so shiny, she could see her reflection in it.

"They say that if you can see the whites of their eyes in the reflection, you shou should turn and strike before they can stab you in the back," Eli told her. "I don't know how much merit there is to that, but I figured you should have a nice, polished blade. Just in case."

"It's beautiful," she said. "It's really for me?"

"I had to get it for you," he said. "It's pretty, just like you."

Rose blushed and he flicked her nose with a smile.

"Thank you," she said softly.

"You're welcome."

"Not just for the blade," she said. "For everything. I'm sorry Charlie scared you when he ran away, but I'm so glad he did."

"I guess I'm glad too," he chuckled. "Don't you tell him that, though."

"Never."

"Ready to wind down for the night?" Eli asked. "I saw an inn around the corner. It looked cozy."

"Just the two of us?" she asked, turning bright red.

"Only if you're comfortable with that," he assured her. "We can find Tobias and Maria if you prefer."

"No. We can get a room."

"Good. Let's go then."