The cart bumped along the path, not stopping to admire the flowers or the bushes along the way.
Janus, however, couldn't say the same.
His eyes grew wide at even the slightest new thing. A little yellow caterpillar inching its way along Remus's finger earned a cute gasp, after which Remus wouldn't stop teasing Janus about how adorable it was.
"I told you, I'm not cute!" he protested, shoving Remus to the side, against the wooden walls of the cart. Disi jumped aside elegantly, settling down on the wooden floorboards with a dignified snort. Emile giggled, sitting cross-legged on a milk crate.
Remus reached over and ruffled Janus's hair. "Whatever you say, princess," he flirted, at which point Janus was ready to toss the other over the cart's walls.
Logan looked back from where he was driving. "You two should be quieter," he shouted over the cart's noise. "If you need an example, simply look at Roman. He's being silent."
"He's sleeping," Remus cried in frustration. "Do you want me to hit my head and pass out?!"
Raising an eyebrow, Logan turned back to the road. "You really do not want me to answer that."
"Oh, come on!" Remus sighed, falling back onto the floor of the cart and pouting. When Janus tried to get him to turn back around, an amused smile flickering across his face, Remus merely huffed and put an empty milk carton over his head.
Janus snorted, annoyed and brought to laugher at the same time. "Remus, you can't just sulk," he chided, tapping the red milk carton. "Stop acting like a child and talk to me. I've never seen these things before!"
Remus fidged with the carton before gasping loudly. "It's stuck!"
"Wait-- really?" Janus cried, concerned. "Are you okay?!"
"Just kidding," Remus snickered, easily twisting the milk carton off his head and tossing it behind him at his twin.
It conked the redhead on his shoulder, making him wake up with a half-sleepy yelp. Remus snuck a glance at Roman, wrinkling his nose and giggling. "I would never get stuck in one of those. Unlike a certain moldy cucumber back there."
Roman tried to throw the carton back but missed, hitting the wall of the cart instead.
Immediately, Disi dove into the empty carten and began eagerly licking the milk-stained wall.
Roman crossed his arms. "You edgy wanna-be," he growled. "I was napping!"
Remus looked back, smirking. "Aw, is the happiness-spreader indignant?" he asked teasingly. "You look so cute right now. I bet your friend at the castle would love to see this."
"What-- wait-- do you mean--" Roman spluttered. "You mean Virgil? He wouldn't-- I'm not--"
Laughing, Emile turned to face Roman. "Just admit it, you lovestruck idiot. You like him. No point denying it now, not when you're this cute!"
Roman raised his shoulders, looking away dejectedly. "Yeah, but... he's a knight and you know... I'm nowhere near..."
Janus rolled his eyes. "Aw, cheer up. My mom was a blacksmith's daughter, my dad liked her after a visit to the village and now they're married happily."
"R-really?" Roman raised his eyes, looking hopefully at Janus. "Is that true? Oh, maybe I do have a chance after all!"
Smiling, Janus bopped Roman on the head. "Of course you do, you eggplant. And does the Virgil you're talking about have short-cropped, black hair bleached and dyed purple after an accident with mulberries?"
Remus looked shocked. "You know him? I didn't know that. Roman here is in looove with him," he teased, sneaking a glance at a seething Roman, "so we still see him a lot. He liked the purple and dyed it permanently with some sort of magic dye from the castle."
"Oh, yeah. We would play sometimes. Me, that kid Patton-- the nurse's son--, and two girls Maya and Chiana." Janus tilted his head. "I guess you wouldn't know. But he talked about a ginger boy he liked talking to a lot. Was that you, Roman?"
Roman blushed to the roots of his hair. "He-- he likes talking to me?"
Emile ruffled his hair. "Sure! Why wouldn't he, everyone likes talking to you!" Chirruping in agreement, Disi rubbed his head against Roman's side, purring.
Looking startled and happier than Janus had ever seen him, Roman could only mumble. "O-oh." He reached down and started scratching behind Disi's ear, earning him another purring rumble from the tiny dragon.
Remus burst out laughing. "Oh, Roman. You need to talk to him sometime soon, alright? I hear he's hiding out in the Chista Towers with Patton after the Taking."
"That's conveniently on our path," Logan cut in. "You can probably check in him before we go into hiding in your village."
Janus snickered. "That sounds nice, doesn't it?"
Roman nodded, keeping silent. He kept glancing around at all of them and then at the floor of the cart, nervously pulling apart a leaf he had found. "Aw, is the Roman in love?" Remus teased, chuckling.
Opening and closing his mouth, Roman sputtered for a few seconds before shoving Remus into a crate filled with milk jars.
One of them subsequently broke, pouring milk everywhere. Disi leapt from the milk carton and wound his tail around Remus's shoulders, twining it around his neck to steady himself as he lapped at the creamy white liquid.
"Disi, down," Janus ordered. The tiny dragon glanced at Janus, snorted, and went back to licking at the milk. A few snowflakes floated out of his nose, one landing on Remus's arm.
With a yelp, the milkman nearly fell backwards, rubbing at his arm with a pained expression. "Damn, that's cold," he whined.
Janus laughed, stepping forward to grab Disi from the milk. "Yeah, I've had a few encounters with his freezing breath stuff myself, and it's never fun."
The dragon squirmed in Janus's grasp, snarling cutely and snapping at Janus's arm. "Dejame ir," Disi protested, and although Janus didn't understand, he thought the dragon wanted him to let him go.
"No, sorry Disi," he replied, patting the dragon's indigo-swirled snout and promptly getting bitten by a set of sharp teeth. Janus jerked his hand back, glaring at Disi, and the other only hissed in response.
Emile sighed. "C' mere, Disi," he called. "No fighting, please?" Disi blew out another burst of snowflakes and bounded into the boy's lap, curling up and nuzzling at his stomach. Emile let out a delighted giggle, stroking Disi's downy wings as the dragon purred contentedly.
Opening and closing his mouth, Janus crossed his arms. "Why don't you do that for me?" he muttered to Disi, but he turned away, rubbing his head against Emile's shirt. "He never does that for me!"
"Perhaps Emile gives off a scent that is particularly pleasing to dragons," Logan suggested from the reins, and Roman snorted.
"Oh, you're saying he smells good?" Roman leaned forward, trying to sniff Emile, but the other shoved him away with an offended expression. "He does smell a lot like apples."
Emile squeezed Disi tightly, still looking embarrassed. "Leave me alone," he mumbled, and Disi hissed at Roman.
The milkman backed up, raising his hands and laughing. "Sorry, Emile," he said. "Oh, hey, look! A village! We might be able to stay the night." He pointed to a large clearing, surrounded by large, old, dark oaks with emerald vines hanging loosely from the branches.
Everyone looked at where he was pointing, but nobody could see anything. Janus turned with exasperation to Roman. "Yeah, right."
"B-but I swear, it was right there," Roman objected, his brow furrowing. "Look! There it is again!"
Remus turned his head and with a small gasp he saw it.
A large, empty town was in the middle of the clearing. Beige wood and pale rock made the walls, and the paths were made of flattened grass that was clearly overgrowing. Old, frayed ropes hung from the walls, tethers tied at the end of each one. Carts with cobwebs, moss and cracks leaned against the houses, and the well had a huge split down the middle. Doors were hanging on hinges, windows were either shattered or cracked, and an aura of heavy silence settled around the place like spiderwebs.
Then it flickered and disappeared, leaving not a trace behind except for a clammy, ice-cold breeze.
Emile shivered, squinting at the place. "I know what this is," he whispered, an awestruck and terrified expression on his face. "It's a ghost town."