“Shit,” Alanna whispers just as his eyes narrow on mine from afar, “that was faster than I expected.’
Keane takes a step through the crowd, his features dark and foreboding as the chatter slowly begins to resume. The crowd openly parts for him and offers a direct path to Alanna and I, as if the people here saw the initial ire in the Prince’s glance and are leading him to us. To my surprise, Cal follows behind him with Desmond bringing up the rear, the two of them glancing around with vastly different looks. Cal, unsurprisingly, has a wide grin on his face as he takes in the ambiance of the pub, while the Master Informer, on the other hand, looks downright bored walking behind Cal, his features looking as disinterested in the room as if he were walking along a mundane dirt path.
“He’s pissed,” Alanna downs the rest of her toddy and turns her cool gaze on me.
“He does look a bit bored,” I reply, noticing that the two Discerni males we were just with are nowhere to be seen.
“Not Desmond,” Alanna rolls her eyes, “the Prince Heir.”
“What? Why would he be pissed? We were planning on heading back to the castle after anyways.”
“He probably had some grand welcome set up for your arrival,” Alanna replies, flagging down Marybeth as we move towards the counter again.
“Well that’s stupid,” I shake my head, “why would he do that?”
I feel the Prince’s gaze pierce the back of my neck as he gets closer. The King did warn me that his son might hold court, but those events don’t usually take place until the late evening.
Alanna’s gaze swivels back to mine, exasperation lining her face.
“You travel on behalf of his father,the King,Alexis.Why in the Ancients wouldn’t he?”
“Stupid…” I retort, causing Alanna to laugh out loud.
“We can finally agree on something,” she grins and turns back to Marybeth, “five toddies, Marybeth. And an ale for the big man following the Prince.”
Marybeth smiles and turns to the barrels behind her to get started on the drinks.
“Remember that face, human,” Alanna murmurs, glancing at the Prince who is only a few steps away, “it’s not one you want to see often.”
“He looks calm,” I shrug, taking a large drink from my mug and willing it to still my wild heart, “a bit cool, but calm.”
“Exactly,” Alanna whispers, “that one.”
She swiftly moves past my side and greets the Prince with a smile,
everything about her aiming for casual indifference.
“You found us!”
Keane’s brown eyes turn sharp, no hint of playfulness or kindness resting behind them as he stares between me and Alanna. I ignore his glare and pick up one of the toddies Marybeth left on the counter, stepping past him as I extend it to Cal.
“You need to try this.”
My friend shakes his head with the tiniest of smiles. I know he wants to follow the Prince’s lead of being upset, but I urge the glass into his hands anyways with a grin.
“Down it straight.”
Cal shakes his head again before taking in the pub around him. He shrugs once, losing himself to the lively atmosphere of the room, and tosses the toddy back with his own grin.
Marybeth’s loud laughter can be heard from behind the countertop.
“You and your Knowledge girl downing toddy like there’s no tomorrow morning! I better not find you two passed out behind my tavern later!”
I grin foolishly at Cal who looks properly confused.
“Was I not supposed to?” he asks.
Marybeth pushes an ale towards him with another chuckle, her friendly eyes glancing to me with a nod of approval. “She did.”
