I took his hand. It was warm, and softer than most men’s hands in the vilge. He helped me up. I was still holding the sshed bag, and awkwardly tried to dust off the dirt from my dress It was wet, though so it didn’t really work. The skirt had also ripped and torn in various spots.

  “Do you want me to carry that for you?” the man asked, amused.

  “No, thank you,” I muttered, suddenly shy.

  “Do you think I’ll steal it?” he ughed.

  It was dark, but I had seen his big shiny sword, and I knew he was the man I had just seen ride into the castle in luxurious clothing. It was absurd to think that he would try to rob a girl in a ratty brown dress, but after the scuffle I couldn't imagine letting go of my ring.

  “No, of course not,” I mumbled. “But let me carry it anyway.”

  “Fine,” he said. “My name is Jarion, what is your name.”

  “T-Ria,” I replied.

  “Tria, that’s a lovely name.”

  “No, it’s uh, it’s Ria.”

  Maybe I should just have gone with Tria, I thought. Who would ever mess up saying their own name?

  “That’s a lovely name too. Where are you going Ria? Could I accompany you there?”

  His voice was so lovely.

  “Uh yes, I’m going to uh, the Goose Inn, I think it’s called.”

  “The White Goose?” he asked. “I don’t think that pce is very clean.”

  “Oh, I mean I guess really any inn I could afford would be good really.”

  “Listen, you’ve had a really rough night. How about I pay for a room for you at a nice pce?”

  Although I was raised on a small isnd with very few people I was not naive. I knew what it usually meant when a rich man wanted to pay for things for a young woman. But I was tired, and feeling hopeless and scared and well, he was very handsome.

  “That sounds good, thank you.”

  He led me down some streets until we were at in front of a big white house that was lit up by oil mps from the outside. Inside was a busy tavern. I could hear the cttering of people eating, drinking and talking and see the warm glow of light coming through the gss windows. I had never before seen such rge gss windows in my life.

  He opened the door for me. I walked inside and immediately saw that I didn’t fit in. Everyone there was wearing very eborate clothes made of silk and other fine materials. A lot of them wore jewellery too.

  “This is the Candlemaker Inn. It’s quite nice,” Jarion told me.

  Jarion gently put his hand on my arm and led me through the crowd of people to the bar. In the soft light of the oil mps I could see him up close. He looked even more striking than he had from afar. Behind the bar stood a ruddy old man with a big moustache.

  He spoke to Jarion in that same nguage he had been speaking when he rode into the castle. Then Jarion turned to me.

  “Have you eaten yet? Would you like to have dinner with me?”

  I looked down at my dress.

  “I don’t think I can eat here like this,” I whispered.

  “I’ll ask them to bring the food to the room,” he said softly. “You can say no, by the way. If you want I can go and you can have your dinner by yourself in the room.”

  I was surprised. Would he really pay for my room and board without wanting anything in return?

  “I would like to have dinner together,” I said and smiled at him.

  He smiled back. He looked gorgeous when he smiled.

  “That sounds good. What do you want to eat?”

  “I uh, it’s my first night in Medora. I don’t know what food people here like,” I said, almost apologetically.

  “I can order for both of us if you want,” he said.

  “Yes, please.”

  The old man guided us up to a room on the top floor of the building. He opened the door for us and handed Jarion the key.

  The room was huge. Larger than our entire house at home. There was a big bed, with drapes over it. The room had two rge gss windows, a big wardrobe, a bathtub, a sofa and a dining table. I looked at it in awe.

  “Do you like it?” Jarion chuckled.

  Suddenly I was very determined not to make him think I was too impressed with his money.

  “It’s fine,” I tried to sound nonchant.

  “They have bigger rooms as well, if you prefer,” he replied. “But this one has the best view, you’ll see in the morning.”

  “Honestly, I don’t see why a room even needs to be this big,” I said. “It seems wasteful to me.”

  He smiled.

  “Maybe.”

  He walked over to the couch and sat down. I followed him, but was careful not to sit too close. My dress was still so dirty.

  “Jarion?” I asked.

  “Yes?”

  “What nguage were you speaking with that man? I thought everyone in Medolina speaks Medoran.”

  “It’s called the High Tongue,” he replied. “It’s the nguage that nobles speak.”

  I furrowed my brow.

  “A special nguage just for nobles?”

  “Yes,” he replied. “You see noble people often marry nobles from other countries. The High Tongue is spoken by almost all noble families on the continent. Having a shared nguage is easier for us in a lot of ways than it would be if we all spoke the nguage of our home country all the time. Some do learn the nguages of their own countries and some don’t. It was always very important to my mother that I learn Medoran as well.”

  “And you’re noble?” I asked. “What… sort?”

  At this he ughed heartily.

  “I am a duke,” he said, still chuckling. “I’m the Duke of Aloria, which is one of the regions of Medora. Where are you from? I’m sorry that I haven’t thought to ask.”

  “I’m from the Midway Isnds,” I said proudly. “Coconut Isnd to be specific. We don’t have royalty or nobility there. We have a council of representatives.”

  “Yes I’ve heard of the Midway Isnds political system. It’s very fascinating. The isnds choose their representatives in many different ways. On some isnds it is an inherited position, somewhat like nobility.”

  “Well on Coconut Isnd we vote for it,” I said glibly. “Which I think is the best way to do it.”

  “And how many people live on Coconut Isnd?”

  I paused. He smirked. His blue eyes twinkled in the soft light of the mps.

  “Twelve hundred,” I muttered.

  “Hm, yes, that would simplify things a lot.”

  I pressed my lips together.

  Two women came in with our dinners, and pced them on the table in the room. They kept their heads down, but I thought I detected a slight smirk on one of their lips.

  We ate together. The food was good, if a bit bnd. I got to try a new thing called butter, which I really liked. Jarion tried to expin the animal it comes from, which was apparently even rger than a horse. I ughed as he did. We had a lovely conversation. He told me about Medora. I told him about the Midway Isnds. In stories noble people often acted haughtily towards normal people, but Jarion was very polite to me.

  “Do you have any siblings?” he asked me as we were finishing the st bits of our meal.

  “Yes, I have one younger sister,” I said smiling. “I’m guessing you have at least one younger brother.”

  “Why do you say that?” he asked, leaning over the table.

  “That man I saw you with earlier, when you were on the horse. That was your younger brother right?”

  He cmmed up and his face became clouded. I had said something wrong.

  “That was Prince Cato,” he said coldly. “He is not my brother.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry,” I wavered.

  I had hit a nerve, but I didn’t know why. He was clearly friendly with the man, so why was he so offended to hear that they looked alike.

  “It’s fine,” his expression softened. “You couldn’t have known, you only just arrived here. I’m an only child actually. My father died when I was really young, and my mother never remarried.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry to hear that,” I felt a pang of pain in my chest. “My dad actually died recently.”

  Tears started to form in my eyes.

  “Oh hey,” he moved his hand across the table and held mine.

  As soon as his warm hand touched me, the floodgates opened. I started to sob. Not cute little sobs, but big, horrible, ugly ones.

  He held my hand steadily and in my torrent of emotion I stood up and went over to him. He stood up as well and embraced me.

  He was so tall, and strong. I wrapped my arms around his torso and he held me around my waist with one arm and held my head to his shoulder with the other. My hair was in a bonnet, which got pushed down by his hands. He put his hand on top of my hair and stroked my head comfortingly.

  I couldn’t stop sobbing. I had cried a few times over my father, but never with such intensity. My nose was getting snotty, and a little bit of saliva dripped from my mouth. I was disgusting. It sted for a couple of minutes, then slowly the pain started to subside and I could see how I looked from the outside. I pulled away a little bit.

  “I am so sorry,” I whispered. “I don’t know what came over me.”

  Jarion looked down at me and smiled.

  “It’s fine. I’m just happy if I could make you feel a little better.”

  “You did, thank you.”

  I moved away to wipe my nose with a handkerchief. As I did I saw that I had gotten dirt from my dress on to his clothes.

  “Oh no, I’ve made you dirty. I’m very sorry,” I said.

  “It’s fine, it’s all fine Ria,” he said comfortingly. “Are you all right with being here alone tonight or would you like me to stay?”

  I looked at him. He seemed like he genuinely just wanted me to feel better. His sparkling blue eyes looked at me in the warm light of the candle.

  “It would be nice if you would stay,” I said softly.

  “Then I’ll stay. You must be so tired after your trip. Do you want me to ask them to warm up a bath for you?” he asked.

  I looked at the bathtub which was standing in the room with us and then back at Jarion. I blushed.

  “Oh, I don’t mean,” he paused. “I could go downstairs while you do it, or stay here and look away.”

  “I guess you could stay here and not look,” I muttered.

  Or stay here and look, I thought.

  He had the servants come back in and fill the bathtub with warm water. They also brought a white bar of soap, which I had not seen before. He y on his side on the bed, facing away from me, and talked to me as I scrubbed myself in the bath. It felt heavenly to be able to wash my body again after those two long weeks on the ocean.

  Then I only put my linen dress back on and y down on the bed next to him. He turned around to look at me.

  “Hi,” he mumbled. “Do you feel better after your bath?”

  I leaned over and kissed him.