The Kingdom of Talador

Chapter Thirty-Six

Rowan of Monalin

Wow, alright, bye then.

Rowan watched the prince go all of a sudden with a slight frown. And as he remounted Dune, it looked like their break was going to be short lived. She walked over to Thunder and quickly checked on the egg before scrambling up into the saddle again. Unfortunately, considering the fact that she was forced to ride differently from the rest of them, with their fancy pants, she was the last one onto a horse. Not to mention, they were all probably well-versed in speedily mounting and dismounting.

Whatever.

She couldn't help but stare at the back of William's head as he and Quinton rode ahead. Obviously, there was something about his sister that he didn't like talking about. Rowan could understand that; there were things about herself, and her Mum she didn't like talking about. But at the same time, she felt it might be better if she knew, so she knew what to avoid saying to him.

Plus, she was nosy as fuck.

Deciding to put her grudge with her brother aside for a moment, she glanced at him and said quietly, "Hey Seán?"

"Oh, talkin' t'me now are we?"

Ro glared at him. "Oh grow up, will ye?" To her right, Charlin snickered. Then she nodded subtly ahead of them, indicating the prince. "Did somethin' happen?"

Seán glanced at William as well, before furrowing his brows at her. "....Why?"

"He mentioned 'is little sister 'n then...jus' got all weird an' walked away."

Over her head, both knights shared a knowing look, and that frustrated her. So they did know. Then Seán sighed and murmured, "It's....It's not an easy thing fer a royal family t'talk about, Ro."

"Aye," Charlin agreed. "Just let it go, lass. Don't let it bother you."

Rowan let go of the reins, pretty confident there wasn't anywhere her horse could go at the moment, and crossed her arms, glaring at either of them. "Aye, but yer not the royal family. I ain't askin' him t'tell me, I'm askin' you t'tell me. An' y'obviously know, so don't try an' play dumb."

Seán cleared his throat and glanced at Charlin with a shrug. The other knight sighed. "Not really supposed to talk about this, but...." he muttered. "Shit happens to the royal family more often than you'd expect. I feel like threat of an assassin is nothing at times. But the Royal family knows that they can depend on the knights. Something they can trust in, always." Charlin made a face slightly and shook his head. "But when you get a bad apple in the bunch, it... ruins everything."

Charlin snorted and leaned back slightly. "Shit. S'been four years since it, huh?" Charlin glanced over at Seán before continuing. "Yeah. Evelyn was six and Will was barely seventeen. There was a knight at the time - Tyron. Fucking Tyron." Charlin dropped his voice to a softer tone, likely so that William couldn't over here. "Don't know how the bastard snuck into the knights, but he did. He weaseled his way up and even became Evelyn's personal knight for protection."

With a sad smile, Charlin glanced over to look at Rowan from his own horse. "I dunno what made him snap, but one day the bastard decides to try to take Evelyn out of the kingdom. He was gonna try to get a ransom off of her in a neighboring kingdom. Learned that through torturing the bastard." Charlin snorted and shook his head.

"Y'know, if it wasn't for Will and I returning from training in the forest and catching 'im, not sure what would've happened." Charlin admitted. He frowned and scowled. "Now Evelyn can only handle being around one particular knight. She couldn't even look at another knight for the longest time. Only recently has she warmed up to being around me again, though she can't be around me alone." He shook his head. "The Princess rarely leaves the castle as it is, unless it's with her brothers. Barely speaks at all." Charlin shook his head, scowling slightly. "Fucking Tyron. What I'd give to see that bastard alive again just to kill him."

Rowan was silent the whole time. There wasn't exactly much she could think to say. Only that that was horrible but she figured they both already knew that pretty damn well. She looked straight ahead at Will and Quinton again, a sad expression on her face.

Or at least, it started that way, until she watched the prince kick his knight off his horse. Immediately, Ro started to laugh, before covering her mouth to stop it. Seán snorted, and Charlin shook his head and rolled his eyes with a smile. When Quinton had gotten back up and started moving again, Seán called, "How's yer arse?"

"Fuck you!" Quinton shot back, and they all started chuckling.

—

They'd all been riding for quite a few hours before Rowan started to feel herself getting tired again. She hadn't slept for that long to begin with, and whatever sleep she did get was terrible. She was pretty sure the knights had it the same way, and she would wager coin that William hadn't slept at all. But thus far she was the only one even remotely showing it.

But she wouldn't fall asleep.

Nope.

If they weren't sleeping, neither was she. She would not be the one to slow them all down. Nope, nope, no.

And that's what she told herself as her eyes were slowly closing.

Ro was pretty sure she heard somebody swear, before she snapped to alertness again, luckily still straight in the saddle and holding the reins. However, just to make sure nobody had witnessed that, she glanced around. Charlin was oblivious. As was Quinton. And William. But Seán was looking at her with a raised brow. "What?" she muttered, her eyes darting to the side shiftily.

"I saw that," he said, smirking.

"Saw what?"

"You were fallin' asleep."

"Pffft," Rowan snorted, her face scrunching up dramatically at the sheer ridiculousness of that. "No."

"Aye, y'were, I saw ye."

"Y'didn' see shite. I think yer the tired one. Yer seein' thin's."

Seán chuckled sarcastically. "Alright, but if y'fall off that horse, I ain't pickin' ye up." Meanwhile, everyone else was laughing quietly.

"Cock," she muttered at him, avoiding his gaze.

He rolled his eyes. "Jokes aside, if yer tired Ro, y'shouldn' be ridin'."

"Look who's talkin'."

"Listen lass," Charlin piped up. "We're tired. But we're not the one's falling asleep. Y'get it?"

Rowan realized he had a point, but she was stubborn. She could ride just as long as they could on just as little sleep, and she would prove it. "I'm not...." She was interrupted by a yawn. "....fallin'...asleep."

Seán rolled his eyes again, then pulled his horse to a stop and pat its rump. "C'mon."

She stopped and stared at him, as did the others. "No," she insisted stubbornly. "I can ride. Fook off. Besides, if somethin' happens we can't have ye...." Another yawn. "....tryna...fight...with me sleepin' all over ya."

"She's got a point there," Quinton commented.

"But," William interjected. "Seán's right too." He gave Ro a stern look. "You can't ride a horse in your sleep."

Rowan flicked a hand dismissively. "Sure I can, I jus' did."

"Y'almost fell off," Seán pointed out.

She stuck her tongue out at him.

William brought Dune around to stand close beside Thunder. "One way or another, you're not staying on that horse, Rowan. And I think you know that too."

But Ro was persistent. "I ain't ridin' with nobody but...me...self...." Her eyelids were also persistent. Without another word, Will nodded at someone, and it was a team effort getting her off of Thunder and onto a horse with someone else. Her eyes remained closed despite her weak attempts at fending them off. "I can fookin' ride. Gerrof me, ye bastards! Who am I touchin'?"

"Take a nap, Ro," Will chuckled, and she realized they'd all shoved her behind him. "The trip will go by faster."

"Fine," she mumbled. "But only because I'm really comfy here and not 'cause y'asked me to."