Of Starlight and Gold

Chapter Four

"Who was that?" Briah signed as she followed Weylen down the street. The captain took her books and tucked them under his arm. She could have carried them but why else had he joined her if not to hold her shopping?

He seemed taken with you, Asper joked.

Briah shot her familiar a withering look. Hush, you.

"A tourist," Weylen replied with hasty gestures. He looked troubled, though when didn't he look troubled.

Briah wanted to press him, but their interaction with the stranger had been swift. She had missed most of it while browsing a bookstore. Of course, Weylen opted to wait outside like a dutiful guard, rather than enjoy his outing. And, of course, he was already impatient with Briah's slow browse through the bookstore. Admittedly, she took her time to push his buttons, and she wasn't disappointed.

Somewhere between her book browsing and Weylen wandering off, he'd managed to find trouble. He called her Trouble yet there he was, talking to a stranger with a black cat familiar. Black cats were omens for the unlucky. Having one as a familiar was the worst luck of all.

Always superstitious, Asper had remarked.

Briah resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She might not be religious, but Kila was superstitious. The handmaid would share all kinds of stories and superstitions with Briah. After a while, those superstitions embedded in Briah.

"Where did he come from?" Briah asked, though Weylen wasn't looking her way.

Pursing her lips, she tapped his shoulder waving a hand at herself when he glanced her way. Then she signed her question again, and Weylen sighed. He didn't respond with signs, he responded with a shrug and carried on down the sidewalk. That was that, then. Briah wouldn't get any more answers from him. She may be Crown Princess but Weylen was too stubborn and comfortable with her to take that idea into consideration.

And Briah didn't want their outing to end so she followed, ignoring the pulsing questions that swelled in her head. She wasn't surprised to see tourists in the capital. After all, her birthday celebrations drew crowds from all over the kingdom. What surprised her was Weylen's reaction. He was troubled, over a random stranger from out of town? Did he think that man was a threat?

He didn't look like a threat. If anything, he'd been confused, which meant he had never been to a city before.

Stop trying to find a mystery to solve, Asper sighed. If there was anything to worry about, they would have told us.

What does Nova say? Briah pressed, eyeing the dog. Asper shook his head and glanced at his keeper.

Nothing. She said it's nothing. Now, we wanted some fresh air, let's get some.

Briah fell in step with Weylen and tapped his forearm with her fingers. He raised his eyebrows and she quickly signed where she wanted to go next. Her lips curled in a mischievous grin and she didn't have to hear to know the captain was cursing as he whirled around.

I don't know why he's so irritable, she pouted, it's not like we're going to a fighting ring in the Lows.

No, but the race track? Hardly a place for royalty, Asper pointed out. Nova also thinks it's a bad idea.

Briah grinned, brazenly looping her arm through Weylen's. He was still grumbling to himself, though Briah knew how much he enjoyed the race track. A little gambling never hurt anyone.

That's the point, she said to her familiar, I don't want to be a princess today.

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