Conversations in the carriage - IV

"I do not know." He said and I scoffed. Take me back to a few days ago and I would even dream of doing that, much less in the company.

"You do not know who you are, yet you stand in front of me with a carriage expensive enough for a Duke or a Viscount."

He narrowed his eyes at him and I felt a small shiver run up my spine. Was he aware of his effect? The mirth in his eyes said something else. 

"Are you calling me a liar?" He asked. 

"Can I not?" I rebuked back. 

He shook his head very sadly. "I'm afraid, Liars cannot call other lairs." 

Shame once again found me and burned my cheeks in revenge. "You cannot call me one!" I Defended. "If anyone lies, there have to reason about it!" 

"Behind it." He muttered looking out of the window. 

"I beg your pardon."

"There are reasons behind it," he repeated, "Not about it." 

My mouth refused to stay shit after that. I was watching him with my mouth open and I could see Estelle laughing at me as if she was there. 

A merchant, or whoever he was, was correcting my language! The one who was taught by the most intelligent and blessed scholars in the country! 

The humiliation was unparalleled. 

I quickly looked out and sighed quietly. I was witty. I had been told that numerous times but in front of two men, Prince Lysar and Tristan, my wittiness had failed. I had failed. 

From masters of war, I had been taught to stay alert of everything. Whether war or an uprising, even an attack on me, I was supposed to observe people around me know. I had failed at that as well because two men had managed to sell me off to a brothel. 

Inside the palace walls, I was a great princess who was on her way to becoming a Queen but takes that away and I was no one. 

No one. 

It was appealing to how disconnected I was to the world I was going to rule, to the purple I was going to rule and the people I was supposed to be conducting audiences with. 

If this 'little adventure' had never taken place, I would have never known the truth. I was a failure and so was Estelle because we were trusting corrupt noblemen to remain on our site and chose a king instead of a king. 

I sighed again ms opened my eyes to glance at what the lair was doing. 

He was sleeping with his head rolled back. For the first time, I noticed a few Scrolls and bound manuscripts, books as one called them, kept beside him. 

Curiously sparked inside me and leaned forward and took the top one. I was sitting idly and reading anything would seem to do the trick for me. 

 I opened it slowly and silently, careful to not wake up the owner of them and read through. 

Missing girls . . .

Missing boys. . . 

 . . Ages. . .

. . . . . Addresses . . .

Was this— a gasp left my mouth as I realised that this was not a book but a record kept of those missing young boys and girls that the price had told me off! 

But what did he have them? My eyes quickly glanced at him to found him still sleeping peacefully. 

Why did he, a merchant, have them? 

I flipped through the pages and read them over. The children were young yet over the age of thirty were kidnapped too. 

My suspicions grew as I realised that everything was matching the description the second prince of the country had told me. 

I closed the manuscript and looked at him, ready to ask questions only to find him already looking at me.