The Damsel and her Knight

18th ☾ Forlorn Destiny

"Alec," Esme called his attention, "don't you still have some things to finish outside? We would be needing more woods for the guests who were coming by the end of this month."

"I should get to it," Alec said. It had been a while since he had finished his meal, but he lingered around and kept on asking me questions.

"Yes, please," Esme replied, easily.

Alec Gaunt's eyes briefly met mine when he got up from the table, and I smiled a bit in response. He also said goodbye to a few more guests who were still eating. I subtly followed Alec's movements with my eyes, still in wonder if this was really the son of the former king.

"Feel at home, dear. Why don't you have a talk with Lancelot? Isn't he your friend?" Esme asked in a low voice, as she was watching me eat.

"I... don't really know him that well," I replied with indecision. Friend. Lancelot and I hardly even exchanged a single greeting since we saw each other here. "He's good friends with my brother, that's why I know him."

"Yes, yes, I met your brother," Esme recalled.

"I knew Lancelot because of him."

"Lancelot's a fine looking man. All of our female guests are attracted to him. Take Caroline, for example. She couldn't take her eyes off him. He doesn't seem to know, though. He's very courteous, hardly turning down a conversation," Esme said, her eyes on Lancelot and the one called Caroline.

It was hard to believe that this was the same man who had confessed his feelings for me. This familiar stranger who also kept in his thoughts pieces of those stolen moments we'd shared together.

"Yes, he could be like that. He and Caroline seem to be friendly, too," I replied.

"Her father's a professor at Signet Guilt. Lancelot met them last night," Esme replied.

"Is she a sorcerer as well?"

"I haven't got the chance to ask. Maybe. It's a gift that runs in the family, after all." Esme poured herself a cup of tea, before adding two sugar cubes in it. "Do you want some tea?"

"No, thank you," I politely declined. "Has Lancelot been staying here for a while now?"

"Just the other day. I heard he's also here for business. He seems to be well-off, that man," Esme replied, taking a sip of her tea.

"My brother also told me," I said, deciding to drift the conversation away from Lancelot. It was a good thing that nobody here realized it yet that Lancelot was the prince of Incantasi. "Your inn is lovely, by the way. Is it a family legacy?"

"Yes," Esme said, and smiled at me sweetly. "It has been with my family for years now. Alec will inherit this someday."

"Really?"

She nodded in appreciative agreement. "That's why I'm strict with him. He's still a carefree lad."

"What about his parents?"

She looked at a distance. "He's alone now."

"Oh," I muttered in a low voice. "You mean..."

Esme continued in a hushed voice, "He was thrown here when he was very young. Abandoned, some said."

I held my breath, unable to tell if it was relief that flooded over me that I had to hold on tightly to my chair and steady myself. Was I dreaming? Did we really locate the missing prince?

Finding my voice, I stammered, "He... was?"

"My husband and I, we didn't get the chance to have a child, so we took care of him."