Miavel

Lord Malin’s land was south and west of the capital, enjoying slightly warmer weather, and closer proximity to lands that bordered our Thera Kingdom’s trusted ally, Amasan. The Kingdom of Amasan fought alongside Thera to overtake a few other smaller and poorly ruled lands to the West over the past five years.

Goods from both Thera and Amasan were available every few steps within the marketplace, making it a little more wondrous. Occasionally, I would stop to look at something a little closer, speaking with the owner of the stall about the item, while Talyn just held my hand quietly.

After I left the first few stalls without a purchase, Talyn cleared his throat. I stopped at turned to look at him.

“What?”

He seemed to hesitate for a moment. “If… You know you can buy those items, right? I’m not going to stop you from doing so.”

“This is your trip,” he added a few seconds later. “I’m just tagging along.”

I held back my laugh, seeing as he looked almost embarrassed to admit it, adverting his gaze from mine. Holding a hand to my face, I pursed my lips until the urge to laugh died down.

“I’m not buying anything unless it speaks to me.”

He stared at me quizzically. “Speak to you? Those didn’t…”

“If it feels as if the universe is aligning and telling me I should buy something, the item will make me feel such a way.” I turned to gaze at the rest of the market down the street. “Everything is pretty in its own way, but that doesn’t mean I should buy every pretty thing I see.” When I looked back at him, his eyes were trained on the people, the stalls, the things people were buying. I could tell he’d been listening to me, taking in my words seriously.

I squeezed his hand and took a few steps forward.

“Come on. There’s more I have to see.”

Once we made it to the next set of shops, I slowed down. These were of people selling items in front of their homes or out of the front rooms. I could see that some of the buildings were designed with the living space above the store. Taking a look around, seeing as much as I could, I noticed the upkeep of the buildings were lacking horribly. Paint was peeling or flaking off. A broken wood step was fixed by adding several smaller pieces of wood underneath it in a stack. Bushes were a bit wild in places people wouldn't need to venture.

I pulled Talyn into several of the shops, browsing silently. At least, I pretended to browse. The first several shops, I struck out, not overhearing a single thing.

In this particular shop, though, a young man was in the back with an older lady.

“Ma. We don’t have enough to go buy that.”

“Do you expect us to run this shop in the heat without a way to cool down customers? Ours broke at the end of last season, we need one. Just find the cheapest.”

The man sighed.

“If I do that and it doesn’t last through the hot season, what’ll we do then?”

“Well, what if we buy a nice big new one and it breaks down? Go.”

The man turned and counted the small bills in his hand. He walked past us, muttering that they wouldn’t have enough to pay the tax.

Tax.

The feeling I got from that interaction and that simple word had me walking toward the register with a simple necklace that held a green gem in it. I’d grabbed it randomly, but as I strode toward the woman, I realized it was almost the same color as Talyn’s eyes.

“Ma’am?” I called.

Nearly running to the counter, the woman smiled at me.

“Yes? How might I help you?”

“I’d like to purchase this.”

“Would you like it in a bag? Is it a gift for someone?”

I shook my head.

“I’ll just take the box it’s in.” As I handed her the appropriate amount of money, I glanced at her. She looked as though she’d been skipping meals. Her dress was looser around the waist and hips than when she’d bought it. Either it was just a coincidence and she bought a dress slightly too big, or she’d lost weight. I slid an equal amount to before onto the table. She glanced at it as she was counting the first money I’d given her.

“Pardon? Are you purchasing something else?” She held out the change to me. I folded her hand back over it and slid the money closer to her.

“Instead, I’d like to ask you something.”

She stiffened for a moment and then sighed. “What is it?”

“I might’ve overheard… you talking with your son.”

Her eyes widened. “Ah. I see.” Despite the pain in her eyes, she smiled. “I’m sorry if we disturbed you.”

“Don’t report getting this extra money. Just tell me one thing.”

My heart was heavy as I left the store with the necklace tucked away in my pocket. I had felt only a little better giving her more money than necessary, but now, I had a whole new dilemma. My gaze sharpened as I looked around. I had guessed something might be wrong when I saw the ledger. I didn’t realize it would be this big though.

I recalled what the woman told me.

“The tax?” She’d sighed even more heavily than before. “I see. Nobody outside these parts knows of it. We’ve a high tax on all of the goods we sell, as well as the land and buildings we own. Most of what we make goes back to Lord Malin. We don't even get thirty percent.”

Gritting my teeth, a rush of anger flowed through me. I could see it more clearly now – the lack of resources, of money and food to sustain themselves. These people looked as though they hadn’t eaten much or slept well in a long time.

It wouldn’t make a big difference to give them all a bit of money, under the table, out of Lord Malin’s sight. Short term, they’d have enough to eat well for a few days. Long term, the money would just go right back to Lord Malin’s so-called taxes.

I went through several scenarios in my head, trying to think of the best way to do this. I didn’t want to alert the other nobles in case I didn’t have enough time to finish looking through their files before taking down Lord Malin for his misdeeds. By the time I’d get to checking any questionable things, they might have their people pretend to be fine in exchange for coin or meal. On the flip side, if I didn’t alert anyone right away, these people would continue to suffer. An idea came to mind, and as I slowly worked out the details mentally, there was a crash farther down the street.

Lost in thought, I didn’t hear the shouts and commotion right away. By the time I looked that direction, I was already moving.

Well, I guess the better way of putting it was that large warm arms grabbed me and took me off of the street into a tiny alley entrance. I looked out, just as a thief raced past us, followed by several guards. Several people tumbled to the ground in their wake. That would’ve been me too. My gaze drew to Talyn, holding me with a worried expression.

He wasn’t holding my hand anymore. He was holding me. Close. His natural scent filled my nose. My breath caught in my throat as his gaze turned to me, holding, still worried.

“Are you alright?”

My mouth and mind seemed to malfunction at his simple question. He had gotten us out of the way in plenty of time, so he really didn’t need to ask that, right?

I stared up at him silently, my heart aching in my chest.

It took me a moment to realize why.

I’d been ignoring it, pushing it aside. Waiting for never to arrive in order to unpack whatever it was that kept making me feel funny things. I wasn’t ever planning to figure it out. I was just going to keep ignoring it.

The reason I’d felt comfortable in the carriage with him now.

The reason I felt giddy randomly.

The way I could speak back to him regularly, knowing he would let me.

“Miavel?”

His green eyes looked me over carefully, trying to read my face.

How was it that this happened?

How was it that I could feel this way, and so soon at that?

Then again, as I looked at him, searched his face, felt the warmth of his body and arms that had physically removed me from danger, it seemed ridiculous to ask those questions.

I mean, how could I not love him, even just a little bit?

How could I say he meant nothing to me, when he made my heart feel warm?

I ached in that very same heart because I liked this moment a little too much. I wanted him to feel the same.

I wanted…

For maybe the first time, I wanted to beg someone to love me.

I wanted it to be him.

“Mia, are you alright?”

He enunciated his words more and more, growing increasingly concerned vocally and physically as he did.

Mia?

Not princess.

Not Miavel.

Mia?

Instead of those swirling thoughts and the constant ring of his voice calling me Mia, which were both consuming me all the same, bit by bit, what came out of my mouth was a bit different than either of us were expecting.

“I want to be present on the council.”