The King & the Stable Boy

BONUS: The King's Mate

"You should come back and visit—Two fours." Samara suggests, placing two cards face down on the pile.

"Bullshit—Yeah you should! I'm sure Rachel would be over the moon to see you again—You've gotta be fucking kidding me." Ramos adds, taking the entire pile into his hand where he formerly only had two cards left. He claims to have four fives, and neither of us question it.

"One six—I'd have to ask my brothers if it's okay to take the week off, but I'm sure it'd be fine." I agree, placing down a queen of hearts.

The game went on like that for a while, each of us gaining the pile as a result of calling someone or being called out until finally Ramos placed down his last card and won the entire game.

Both the witch and I groan throwing our hands into the pile.

"That my friends is what I call a comeback!" he boasts, making us both roll our eyes.

Two weeks later I found myself sprawled out on Sammy's couch, tossing a hex bag into the air and catching it absentmindedly as I waited for her to get her coin purse so we could go to the market.

"Found it! Let's- Noah if you continually play with my hex bags like their balls and you wake up with green skin and snakes for hair, I will not be held accountable!" she chides.

I catch the hex bag, sitting up, and gently place it on the table, walking away from it slowly as if that would stop that bag of tricks from laying a curse on me.

Sam shakes her head at me and we're off.

If you've never been to the marketplace of Hebe, it's a wonder on its own. Nobles, royals, and commoners alike could be found in the streets being enticed by some vendor selling merchandise from around the globe. It was simply breath taking, and I could tell it's changed in my absence as the children of vendors I once knew have now taken over.

"Sammy, come on! I wanna go look at the pets stall." I say, grabbing her hand and dragging her along with me, shoving through the crowd and accidentally tripping over some carelessly placed bag just barely being caught before my skull hit the cobblestone.

I regain my balance, the seller sheepishly grabbing their bag of apples from the middle of the street and I turn to see a slightly more aged version of Ramos.

"Noah Matthews. Funny seeing you around here." Roman remarks.

"I came to visit for the week."

"Samara, buying or selling today?" he asks her.

"Buying. Can't send this one back home empty handed, now can we? What brings you to the market?"

"The king. He's just over there, buying his mother something." The guard points and I see our leader, his cloak pulled over his head.

It's so crowded I wouldn't be able smell him even if he wasn't scent blocked, which is precisely why he'd be shopping here.

I never got to interact with the infamous royal, as most of us didn't, but I did see glimpses of him when Ramos would drag me off to see his brother.

"He still hasn't found his mate?" I question.

"No, but he says he felt their bond open some time ago. They must've recently come of age." A curt whistle is heard and Roman looks to me apologetically. "I must go, but it was nice seeing you. You must come and visit the castle."

"Of course, I will." We both give him a hug and just as quickly as our paths crossed he was gone.

I grab Sam's arm and we continue on through the market.