Knightly (A Reverse Harem)

Chapter 21: Walking Adventure

I ate my rice and nodded. Mun-Wah packed away the maps and continued to eat his own dinner. "So, the conversation today. . ."

"Ugh, don't remind me." 

He shrugged. "I'm just curious about something. When Snowen said your name it seemed like you weren't all that surprised. It was like you knew how he felt. Did you know his feelings prior to this afternoon?"

I sighed. "Yeah, I did. He mentioned it a few times but the bottom line is that neither him, anyone else, or even me can date right now. My princess is looking for a husband. Imagine the chaos if she finds out if I was secretly dating a prince she wanted to marry."

Mun-Wah thought about it. "Well, it seems to me that you just can't date a prince at the moment. I bet if you wanted to date someone who wasn't a prince you could. You wouldn't be breaking any rules and she only said she wanted princes."

I let out a short chuckle. "I guess that would be a possibility. But I honestly never really thought about settling down with someone. I don't even think I know anyone around my age that's not royal and not just one of my brothers. Figuratively. Most of the boys I befriend are definitely more like my brothers."

"You'll get there when you get there. I'm positive that there's someone who isn't a prince and is really interested in you."

"Oh, yeah? Care to name any names for me, Mun-Wah?"

He almost choked on his food. "No. They'll get there when they get there."

I smiled. "Fair enough. We should get some rest for our next walking shift. I'm going to head to my own caravan. Thank you for sharing the battle plans with me."

"I can be reliable!" He blurted out. I quirked my brow. "Good night, Rion."

"Um, yes. Night." I hopped out. Mun-Wah was strong and assertive. However, sometimes he acts a little strange and flustered. It was a unique character to have that paired with his headstrong attitude.

I woke up early the next morning to walk alongside the carts and caravans. The men outside earlier retreated to their own spaces to rest. I noticed that most our troops were absent. They must've went ahead to their battle stations. 

I yawned and stretched out my back, hearing a loud cracking sound and the feeling of relief. 

"Morning, Orion." Cinder greeted. 

"Morning, Cinder." I acknowledged back. "Did you sleep well?"

"Well enough."

I was growing annoyed at his curt responses. He used my full name too, not just my nickname. What was his deal? Little did he know I could play the same game too. We walked in silence. The tension could be cut with a sword. Why was Cinder so pissed?

It didn't take long for him to finally burst. "Why didn't you tell me about you and Snowen?"

"Excuse me?"

"Don't give me that." His voice was stressed but he didn't raise it. "Snowen said that he liked you like it wasn't a big deal. You didn't seem that shocked either. What's going on between you two?"

"Nothing is going on between us! How many times do I have to repeat myself? It doesn't matter because their is something bigger at hand! Along with the war and the quest I can't think about something as silly as love right now."

He scorned at my answer. "You don't care about his feelings at all."

I was offended by his accusation. Cinder wasn't the type to argue like this. Or at least, I didn't think he was. "That's not true! I care about his feelings but their is simply nothing I can do with them right now. Why are you getting so upset about this?"

"God! You're so dense! I'm at a disadvantage! Just when I thought I was ahead of everyone, when I thought I had the best shot I was wrong. It's like nothing matters."

"Cinder?"

"With the whole dancing at the bar together and the night at the hotel room and the picnic I set up, I just thought if I was patient then everything would fall into place. I really thought that at the picnic you would be mine, but Snowen had to come along and. . ." Cinder ranted. 

I wanted to say something but it was like air was trapped in my throat. I would normally let words like these roll off my back but these words made me feel guilty like I missed something very important. 

When I was finally able to get something out my voice sounded raspy. "Cinder, I-"

"Don't worry about it. I now know that you don't belong to anyone no matter who comes along to try to take you and you plan to have it that way for a while." He gave me a sad smile. "Sorry. I'm gonna go up ahead."

Before I could reply or stop him he sped up ahead to the front. 

My heart hurt.

Was I really being that cruel of a person?