SAND TRAP

IV

Before Mainu could say another word about spells of protection, Ipris tugged him to every corner of the castle, showing him the library, the dining room, a tidy enough bedroom that she promised would be his, and, when they managed to remove themselves from the watchful gaze of any nearby servants or guards, all the best hiding spots. "Half my classes are about manners," she scoffed, revealing a stash of art supplies in a surprisingly large and well-furnished closet that smelled strongly of paint. "I have better things to do." He looked on with not-very-well-concealed disapproval.

When they ran out of rooms, she led him outside and they toured the gardens, which were as lavish as Mainu expected, though calling them gardens was rather narrow-minded. Large, ornate enclosures barely containing peacocks, tigers, hippos and all other sorts of exotic animals served as decorations, and the stepping-stone paths were bordered with different miniature ecosystems matching their caged inhabitants, like a compact zoo.

They eventually reached the desert section. Mainu hesitated, and Ipris looked ahead to the rattlesnakes. "They can't get to you," she said with an amused smile. He stared down at the sand, fingering the remnants of dirt on his staff. It had been too long without another intervention from the fates. "Or, we could go back inside," she suggested after seeing his furrowed brow, and he nodded.

Just as she turned around, Mainu noticed a slim figure near a bend in the desert path. He could have sworn they hadn't been there before. The person turned and spotted them, and he realized it was Torval. "Good afternoon, princess," he called as he approached, his expression softening in a way Mainu hadn't expected.

Ipris curtsied delicately, which Mainu had to raise an eyebrow at after over an hour of her carefree antics. "Torval," she smiled.

He chuckled just once before his deadpan demeanor returned, and that was enough for her to break character completely, tittering like a mouse. "Don't you start any of that nonsense with me, young lady." Torval's intense eyes flicked suddenly to the newcomer, and Mainu forced himself to still his fidgeting hand. "And you're the new suitor."

Mainu's voice took a moment to find steady ground. "Yes, sir."

"I'm only a servant," Torval said with a twitch at the corner of his mouth.

"Only the best servant," Ipris added.

Torval nearly laughed again, but caught himself, as if his quota had been used up. "Enri's manservant, to be specific."

"I see," Mainu said, stepping to the side as a gardener walked by with a bucket of mulch. "Good to meet you."

The manservant bowed his head. "You as well. I hope to be seeing more of you, Mainu." And with that, he slipped away into the rainforest section, and Mainu was left to wonder when Torval had caught his name.

Ipris led the way inside, followed by the muted taps of Mainu's staff. "Enri?" he murmured after some thought.

"My father. You don't even know his name?" She trotted up some stone steps, glancing back to make sure he was close behind.

Before he could forget again, Mainu took out Jott. "Your Highness, like I said, I'm not a suitor. The fates sent me here all the way from Oeram to protect you. If you'll just let me craft a spell for you-"

Ipris looked over her shoulder, eyes shining. "How does crafting spells work?" She slowed down to walk next to him, and a maid dusting the busts lining the marble corridor paused and smiled at him knowingly. When Mainu caught the maid's gaze, his eyes rolled as far as they could go.

"I need to know why you're in danger," he said. "You must have some idea."

The princess shook her head. "No. But why does that matter?"

"Blocking a knife is different from stopping the effects of poison," he explained, running a finger down the list of different protection spell bases that he'd taken note of while still in training. He'd done this so many times that the originally rough page was now smooth as silver in a line down the center. "I can't just protect you from everything."

"Why not?"

Mainu wanted to believe that Ipris was simply ignorant, but with the Order of the Hydra's headquarters not too far from Ruptia's walls, she had to have had some exposure to magic theory. Enough to know that true invincibility wasn't possible. There was always a complication, a technicality, a catch. That only left him with the option that she was being intentionally irritating. "Why do you think?" he snapped before he could stop himself. "I'm not a miracle worker." Ipris flinched in his peripherals, and he focused on the floor.

They reached a sitting room with a good view of the flower garden in the front yard, and Mainu took the opportunity to sit at an elegant table facing the tall windows and pull out the writing supplies that had been weighing down his pockets. He produced the blank scroll from that morning and laid it flat. "Really, your Highness, you must know something," he insisted, twirling a less-than-picture-perfect quill in his hand. "Have you noticed anything suspicious?"

Ipris watched over his shoulder. "I really don't think so," she said. The bent feather came to a halt in Mainu's fingers. The stupidity of continuing to assume this task would be easy was starting to hit him. "Except you. You're pretty unusual."

He could feel her breath against his ear, and he leaned over the scroll, looking very much like he was thinking hard. As if his words were weighed down, he grumbled, "Then I'll have to look around some more."

"So, you're staying," she chided, walking around the table.

Mainu held his head in his hands. "Yes." When he looked up, she was sitting across from him, grinning.