Hunter Sky

B2: Chapter 32 - Young Hearts

Meanwhile Zack stalled one of the escorts, Jirell and Lea followed behind their escort through the busy streets of the kingdom, planning to waste as much time as possible for Sir Gale to complete his investigations.

They strode through the middle of the street navigating through the moving crowd. And as they walked side by side, Jirell took note of how the people were eyeing him oddly as they went by. He however ignored it, as he usually would with other things that were not important to him.

He looked at Lea walking beside him, smiling subtly as he admired her vibrant cheeks, her cute little celestial nose, and the fire in her hair blowing over her round ears.

Lea's eyes shifted to the right where she saw Jirell's eyes gazing over her the right side of her face. She smiled playfully and began to twirl the ends of her hair around her fingertips, then turned her head to him.

"Been a while since you and I got some time to ourselves. Just you, me, no one else," she said softly, gazing back into his dark blue eyes.

"It has been a while, hasn't it," he responded.

Lea reached her hand for his and he held it, while they continued to walk behind the knight.

As they walked, they noticed everyone was avoiding them like the plague. Women grabbed their children guiding them out of the way, carriage riders and passengers almost twisted their necks to look back at them as if they saw two ghosts. Merchants by the stalls on the side would pause their dealings with their customers, just to watch the two go by.

Lea was intrigued by Valkyra and its culture, especially how the women were free to express themselves here, but the way they were looking at them made her feel unwelcomed. Her brows then furrowed in thought. Were they watching her because she and Jirell were holding hands? Or did they just mistrust foreigners?

"Here is a popular tavern reserved only for knights. We normally would not allow a male enter, but since he is an ally of Valkyra, and because I presume you two are?" she titled her head and rose her brows inquisitively.

Lea looked at her with a warm smile, "Ye-"

Jirell released Lea's hand, and she looked at him with a confused frown.

"No, we are just comrades, close friends I might add," he replied.

Lea maintained an earnest face, but inside she was hurt by what he told the escort. Despite what he had told her about remaining friends for her own safety, it was hard to ignore the type of connection they had with each other. Their relationship far exceeded friendship, and she was sure he knew it.

The knight shared curious glances between them, then entered the tavern.

Lea looked at Jirell with disappointed eyes, but he just walked in after knight and stopped by the front bar desk, where a beer server stood behind a tall wooden desk long in width.

Lea stepped in beside him and marveled at how elegant the tavern was compared to others she had seen in the past. First of all, it was clean! Taverns back in Altea were usually dirty and full of smelly men, not to mention puke being on the floor sometimes. This tavern had clean wooden floors, zero perverted men and few funny smells. They had organized oak tables in rows, and there was no vociferous babbling of drunkards in the background.

"Have a seat and make yourself at ease. I will talk with the hostess about fixing a meal for you two," said the knight before she went through a back door behind the server's desk.

Lea and Jirell went past a group of female knights who were off duty, sitting at different tables. The knights eyed the two carefully as they sat around a square oak table that wreaked of aged wood, and soon, the knights began to converse among themselves. Lea could hear their chatter, but it was in a strange language she had never heard before.