Chapter Two
"She rules her life like a bird in flight/And who will be her lover?"--Rhiannon, by Fleetwood Mac
"Okay, so here's the plan," Dart said, "We're going to split up. Shana, Haschel and I will ask about Lloyd. Albert, Lavitz...you do the same."
Albert nodded. "Where should we meet, and when?"
Dart looked around, trying to think of a suitable place. His eyes wandered to a sign on the second floor of the inn. Twin Castle Bar.
"We'll meet there," Dart said, pointing to the sign.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Albert asked, "I mean, bars are known to be less-than-reputable--"
"It'll be fine, Albert," Lavitz said hastily. He wanted a head start on his search.
"If you're sure..." Albert said quietly.
Within five minutes, the group was seperated. Dart and the others headed for the east side of town, while Albert and Lavitz headed northwest, stopping to ask everyone they could about Lloyd. Much to their frustration, all of the townspeople had roughly the same answer:
"Platinum hair? Haven't seen him."
"If there was anyone like that here, we'd have noticed!"
"Hm. No, I haven't seen anyone like that."
Lavitz finally sighed and leaned against a building. "That was discouraging..."
"Yes..." Albert sighed. He crossed his arms and looked over at the castle. "We haven't tried there yet."
"I don't know that we'd find out anything new," Lavitz sighed, "But we might as well try."
He followed Albert to the small open-air marketplace near the castle...but before he could begin asking the townspeople about Lloyd, a man darted away from the castle.
"Shoot!" he shouted, "Princess Emille is coming!"
The crowd seemed to be gripped by a panic. Many of them hurried away from the castle as a lovely young woman of about twenty, with blonde hair done up in ringlets, emerged from the castle.
"Who said shoot?" she demanded in a harsh, grating voice. She glared at the crowd with a sour expression on her face. "Well?" The crowd shrank away from her.
"I'm the princess!" she snapped, "You have to be nice to me!"
Lavitz exchanged a glance with Albert. The poor king looked horrified.
A young woman, obviously in the late stages of pregnancy, slowly approached the Princess.
"P-Princess...E-Emille...would you n-name my b-baby--"
"No! Not happening!" the Princess growled. The woman slowly backed away. The Princess glared at the crowd one more time before striding back into the castle. The crowd remained for a moment, and Lavitz looked around. He and Albert were standing very close to a woman with deep tan skin, like many other Tiberoans had. She was wearing a long, dark purple skirt slit high up on her thigh and a top that was more like a wide strip of fabric than proper attire, although given the heat in Tiberoa, her skimpy clothing was . He took a good look at her face. She was pretty, yes, but not a great beauty, but what made him take a second look at her was her red hair that fell to the middle of her back.
As if sensing that Lavitz was staring at her, she turned and looked at him. She had violet eyes, which was not so unusual. But there was something in her eyes, a sort of...wisdom...
"Real sweetheart, isn't she?" she said in a low voice, gesturing toward the castle.
Lavitz looked back at Albert. He looked half-heartbroken. "Princess Emille was always reputed to be very kind..." he lamented. Lavitz looked back toward the woman, but she was already walking away.
Damn! I could have asked her about Lloyd!
Without thinking, he followed her.
"Lavitz?" Albert asked, worriedly, "Lavitz..."
"I'd like to ask her about Lloyd."
He continued to follow her down the winding streets, until she stopped abruptly and turned around. "You are following me, Sir Knight."
He gaped at her.
"Your armor gives you away, you know. Is he your squire?"
Lavitz opened his mouth, but Albert elbowed him and narrowed his eyes. "Yes," Lavitz said after a moment.
She chuckled. "Now, then, Sir Knight...why are you following me? It's perturbing me, you know."
Lavitz couldn't imagine this woman being perturbed, for some reason.
"Actually, I'm looking for someone.."
"Oh?"
"A man...with platinum hair. He wears a lot of black."
"Hmm...I've seen him. He was asking me questions about...an object I procured the other evening."
Lavitz's breath caught in his throat. "What kind of object?"
She crossed her arms. "Something I'd found the other evening. Some kind of gem."
"What color was it? What shape?"
"Look," the woman said, somewhat impatiently, "If you want to know, you'll have to pay me. The platinum haired man didn't want to know, so he didn't pay."
Albert was outraged. "What! All we want is some information and you--"
"Gotta make a living, too, you know," was all the woman said. She looked from Lavitz to Albert and back again. "I guess you don't want to know." Uncrossing her arms, she turned and walked away, pausing briefly enough to say "If you change your mind, my shop isn't far from here. You can't miss it, there is a large eye on the sign."
Then she had disappeared into the crowd.