Road to Ruisea

❆ ❆ XIII. JAE ❆ ❆

He knew Kumari wouldn't leave without them.

But his father's words keep ringing in his mind...

Trust no one.

He really shouldn't, and when Chiro said those words, about getting back to the harbor before she left without them... He was sure it was a joke, and yet the anxiety that crept up his spine was both disturbingly foreign and eerily familiar.

She wouldn't do that.

Would she?

He's learned by now to definitely not trust the voices in his head at least, but they can be louder than anyone.

At the moment though, thankfully not as loud as the clamoring of Cevalon's royal guard as almost every single knight is on their tail.

He laughs and Chiro looks at him bemused.

Jae can't help it, though.

Cevalon's best men are really so very useless.

But they do make it, they do manage to lose the knights in the bazaar once more. Yes, they are so very useless and so very predictable, too.

They make it to the harbor, and a large crowd has gathered. No wonder the village seemed so empty, not just because of the ice — but because of the train, too.

He opens his mouth to call Kumari's name, but then clamps it back shut.

They may not know her face, but the Princess' name is indeed, well-known.

He can't risk drawing attention to them, especially since knights are always stationed by the train, for added insurance that everything goes smoothly.

It'd better go smoothly.

So he worries again, the voices return, as he and Chiro sift through the crowd, looking for their lost Princess, he's wondering if she'd bought her tickets and boarded already...

But then he spots a familiar pair of brown pigtails. A girl wearing a jacket that looks just like his old one.

"Kumari," he breathes, reaches out, puts his hand on her shoulder.

She turns around and smiles that beautiful crooked smile Jae's so relieved to see.

He knew Kumari wouldn't leave without them.

I knew Kumari wouldn't leave without me.

"Hi Jaejae!"

Oh no, a nickname...

Except he likes it.

"I bought tickets to Qiluca. The best ones! With beds and showers and free dinners."

Jae elects not to tell her aloud that he'd intended for her to buy the cheapest tickets to Qiluca. But after all, she was a Princess. She was naturally inclined to want only the best.

It was just good Jae had managed to grab a bunch of Kumari's gold coins while he was at it. And it was also good she'd started leaving them in the library for easy access, in case of impromptu adventures. Almost as if she knew something like this would happen.

Ultimately, sleeper cars seemed a whole lot better an alternative than her getting the destination wrong.

"Sounds great," Chiro sighs from next to him. "Sure could use a warm shower..."

"Me too," Kumari replies. "Should we get on? Before the crowd gets smaller and the knights see us."

Oooh. She's started thinking like Jae.