Nate watched Sean take Verlaine's arm to walk her out of the room. Sean didn't seem to enjoy it, but even in merfolk culture it was custom for royals to escort each other. Verlaine wrapped both hands around his arm, leaning into Sean as she walked and told him happily. "You certainly keep your people on their toes, don't you?" Nate rolled his eyes, following behind them. She couldn't see how unhappy he was? Sure, Sean hid his feelings. However, there was traces of his unhappiness in his small forced smiles and a tenseness to his dignified shoulders. Nate winced thinking about his family. He'd lived so carefree compared to Sean. Sean's burdens were only just starting. Yet, Sean was trying to be the leader his people wanted. He wasn't rebelling against the burdens they were pushing onto him. The guards followed them all outside, where more servants had horses waiting for them. As they made their way down the steps and into the courtyard, the servants bowed in union. Anslo then pointed to a horse that was attached to something he called a carriage, upon asking Sean. "Highness, the carriage is ready for you and Princess Verlaine?" Sean glanced at the carriage then at two horses that were set aside.

Sean looked torn by the decision. It was clear to Nate that he wanted to ride on his own. Yet, custom would say he had to ride with her. To Nate's surprise, Verlaine patted Sean's arm and told Anslo. "I think I'll ride in the carriage on my own this evening. I'm sure his highness would prefer to ride with the boys instead?" Sean blushed, giving her a warm smile. Anslo tensed, starting to say. "My lady, it is quite a long ride. Shouldn't you like some company?" Verlaine released Sean's arm, straightening up as she told him. "Nonsense. I can entertain myself. It's why I brought my book. Besides, the day is quite lovely. Why spoil the scenery with a lot of mindless prattle." Sean walked her to the carriage, then held out his hand to help her climb in. Once she was seated and comfortable, she inhaled the fresh air and told Anslo with a sweet smile. "My own father has never ridden in a carriage a day in his life. He prefers to ride. I'm used to it. Let his highness ride." Sean gave Verlaine a bow in thanks, then moved to tap Nate's arm to lead him to the horses.

Sean approached a beautiful black mare, patting her neck as he told Nate with an excited smile. "This is my horse. She was a gift from my father. She is the fastest horse in my kingdom." Nate looked over the horses a little nervously. They weren't the hippocampi that he was used to. These had four legs and no fins. Approaching Sean's horse, the mare snorted uneasily and tried to back away from him like it was afraid. Sean tried to hold her steady, while Nate reached out to gently touch her. He was used to animals being scared of him. Merfolk were predators after all. Although, as he slid his hand up the horse's long nose, he stared into her eyes with a respectful expression. The horse responded by relaxing and hefting a sigh. It was a merfolk trick. It always worked with horses. Since hippocampi were the horses of the sea and were used by Poseidon, they were treasured and respected creatures. Never harmed. He wasn't sure it would work on a land horse, but it had.

Sean gawked at him, uttering out impressed. "Wow. You have a way with horses. Did you have a lot of horses on your ship?" Nate smirked to himself a little but nodded. Even if it wasn't true, it was close enough. His father did have a lot of Hippocampi back home. Nate watched Sean climb up onto his horse, then made his way to a soft bay stallion. It snorted at him and pawed the ground impatiently. From his horse, Sean told him in warning. "Be careful. He's a little wild. He was my father's horse... He hasn't been ridden in... a while." As Nate approached him, the horse straightening up to its full height and locked defensive eyes on him. Nate stared the horse down without a trace of fear. Taking a step closer, Nate kept his hands at hip level as he showed the horse his palms. The horse looked at his hands, shifting from foot to foot. Lifting one of his hands palm up, he waited for the horse to touch his palm. When the horse did, Nate ran his other hand up his nose to pet his ears. It was clear he hadn't been touched in a while. The servants seemed impressed that he had touched him so easily.

Keeping his hand on the horse, Nate ran his hand along the horse's neck and climbed up into the saddle like Sean had. The moment he was on, the horse's head jerked up and he strutted to the gate on his own. The horse pawed at the wooden door, making the guards laugh. Sean nervously told Anslo. "Maybe we should give him a different horse... I'm not sure that Blaze is the horse he should be on. He might be a handful." Nate waved to the guard to open the gate, pulling on the reins to turn Blaze around. Blaze turned around but refused to face the stables. He did not want to go back, and Nate wasn't planning to get off. Waving Sean to follow him, he faced Blaze back to the gate at more of a distance. Sean rode up beside him, asking with concern. "Are you sure?" Nate nodded, leaning over the horse in a racing position. Sean huffed, stating out. "You can't be serious? I just told you my horse is faster." Nate gave him a disbelieving shrug. Anslo's voice suddenly rushed out. "Highness?!" Sean waved his hand to the gate guards, yelling out. "Open the gates!"

The guards rushed to open the gates and Anslo ordered the guards to follow them. The second the doors were open wide enough, they bolted through. The horse's hooves clattered over the wood of the covered bridge and then thundered across the dirt. Nate was used to sitting sideways on the hippocampi because of his tail. With legs, he found it easy to grip the horse and let Blaze run. He had thought that he left Sean in the dust, but upon glancing back he saw him hanging back by his horse's flank. Farther behind Sean, a few of the castle guards were chasing after them. Riding up beside him, Sean asked him with an evil grin. "Care to lose a few guards?" Nate nodded, letting Sean take the lead to race down a dirt side road that led down to the sandy beach. Nate followed, his smile displayed on his face as he watched Sean ride over the sand like he'd done it a hundred times. His horse looked like it could take flight it was running so fast. Sean sat back to extend his arms out, enjoying the wind as it rustled his clothes and hair. He looked happy.

Nate tried to keep up with him, glancing out at the water to see Mark was following beneath the surface of the water as best as he good. Farther behind them, the guards were racing down the beach to follow them. As they galloped across the beach, a few people that were fishing off the coast stood up to bow and wave with smiling faces at them. Sean waved back to them, laughing as they called out. "Good day, Highness!" Sean's horse drifted a bit to run through the water that lapped the beach, spraying it everywhere. Nate smiled, seeing how much his people seemed to love him. Nate was mesmerized by him. The people they passed were all fishing in small boats and were enjoying the day as they were. Then Sean called back to Nate hopefully. "You're not afraid to jump, are you?!" Nate didn't understand, until Sean rode up another path up off the beach. The road was completely gone due to a river gully, but Sean's horse leapt to clear the large open gap. Nate leaned over Blaze and stroked Blaze's neck to encourage him to follow. Blaze accepted the challenge. Charging forward to leap over the clearing.

Blaze whined as he landed on the other side and sprang forth in a bolt with excitement. Looking back, the guards turned up the foliage covered road and yanked their horses into a stop. They had not expected to jump, and their horses protested the jump. Sean laughed heartily and called out as their horses bolted up the road together. "That was fun! I didn't think you'd do it!" Together, they rode down the road with bright smiles. Nate couldn't help noticing how different Sean was away from everyone. He smiled and laughed more. He shined like a star. Slowing their horses down, they began to trot over a large white stone bridge that led into a large port town. People were bustling about and chatting to each other. Below the bridge, small boats were going in and out of the lower docks. Nate marveled at everyone he saw. He'd never seen so many humans. No matter where he looked there were people doing many different things. A few people on horses rode past them, tipping their hats to them and wishing them a good day.

Before they left the bridge, Sean slowed his horse to a stop to look out at the oceanside docks that lined the outskirts of the town. There were a few large ships docks there. Nate pulled his horse to a stop, wondering which one was making Sean look so... tense? A merchant man raced across the bridge, removing his cap as he bowed and rushed out to Sean. "Your highness? Where are your guards? It's not safe in town today. You should go back. Quickly!" Sean tensed, asking the merchant man seriously. "That ship in the harbor. The red one. What's it called?" The merchant man shook a little as he pleaded nervously. "Please, Sir. There are some unsavory men in town today. I don't know what their ship is called... But the word is they are a rowdy bunch." Nate looked at all the happy people, wondering if he would be able to spot the rowdy ones. Sean turned his horse to walk around the merchant man, telling him confidently. "Thank you. But this is my kingdom and if they are disturbing the peace. I'm going to deal with them." The merchant man bowed, uttering out nervous. "Yes, your highness. Just please be careful."

Sean rode on into the town and Nate followed while staying alert to everything going on. There was so much going on that it made it hard for him to know what to look for though. Sean hopped off his horse and left his horse with one of the city guards. Nate did the same, then walked with Sean around the market stalls. The smell of fresh food and the all the shiny stuff that was for sale had Nate completely distracted. Sean laughed watching him go from stall to stall to smell and look at things. Sean on occasion bought bits of food for them to eat and Nate bounced overjoyed by the flavors. As they passed a little booth that kids were sitting in front of. Nate stopped to watch. Strange tiny men were beating each other with small wooden sticks and the kids were laughing. Beside him, Sean told him with a chuckle. "It's a puppet show. Have you never seen one?" Nate shook his head. As one of the puppets stabbed another one and laughed, Nate rushed up to yank the little evil man from his box. When the little man went lip in his hand, Nate stared at it confused.

The kids laughed, while a human hand patted the stage for the lost little man. Sean laughed, taking the puppet from him. Slipping it on to show Nate how it worked, he then took it off to give the puppet back to the hand. Then dropped a gold coin or two into the booth. Wrapping his arms around Nate's shoulders, Sean laughed and lead him onward. Nate leaned back into him, brushing his head against his briefly before Sean pulled away to point at something. Rushing over, Sean bought a small box and turned to tell him with his own excitement. "They got more in! You must try this! It's this new stuff they are importing. It's called chocolate!" Sean took a piece and bounced as he chewed. Nate took a piece to try, and his eyes rolled back as the rich flavor melted over his tongue. When a small child in rags tugged on Sean's shirt and held up her hand, Sean gave her a piece without hesitating. Some of the city guards disapproved and stiffened as the lower class kids rushed up to him. Sean handed out pieces of the chocolate to the kids, making the adults smile in awe of his kindness.

After giving the kids the rest of his chocolate, he bought a few loafs of bread and passed it around to the adults that looked like they were struggling more than others. They accepted the loafs and blessed Sean for caring. Nate saw a few people cringe as Sean passed things around to the poor. Though, no one dared to stop him. Finishing with those he saw; Nate turned his attention to a few people that were playing music in the square. Kids and adults were dancing. It looked like fun, but he didn't know how to do it. Sean took his arm, dragging him out to the center and began to show him how to dance. Every movement was agony on his legs but seeing Sean have so much fun. He forced himself to dance through the pain. Sean even took his hands to dance with him for the amusement of the kids and people around them. Nate held him close, spinning around the square with him like they were the only ones there. When the bouncing music turned to something slow, Sean forced himself to stop dancing.

It was easy to dance with a man when the music was lively, and people just wanted to have fun. Slow dancing with a man was another matter. Sean reluctantly pulled from Nate's arms, telling him in a low warm voice. "I love dancing. It's something I did a lot as a kid. I danced with my mom in the old ballroom. She always made it look so breathtaking. You move like her. Light on your feet and you don't rush..." Clearing his throat, Sean stepped away from him to leave the dance floor. Nate wanted to keep dancing but walked after him. Straightening up, Sean gestured toward a tavern and asked him curiously. "Wanna stop in and get drink? Then we can go back and see if Verlaine has arrived yet. Those carriages are so slow. Especially, when Anslo drives." Nate laughed silently and Sean laughed heartily before they stepped inside. Stepping into the tavern, Nate coughed a bit. The air inside the tavern was thick with tobacco smoke. The fireplace was crackling, and the place was dimly light with candles on iron chandeliers that hung from the ceiling. Animal heads were mounted along the walls of the visible second floor. The bar was big with barrels set behind the bar and bottles lined the narrow wooden shelves.

The tavern was pretty packed today with men that were drinking and playing card games. Almost all of them looked like sailors and fishermen. Nate tried not to breathe too much. Some smelled like rotting fish and bad body odor. Sean only took a step or two in, when he noticed that one of his royal sigil banners was burning in the fireplace. Grabbing Nate by the chest, Sean tried to back out as he said softly. "You know what... I'm not thirsty." Nate turned to open the door, when a burly man slammed his hand on the door to keep it shut and asked them with a wicked grin. "Leaving so soon? What's wrong? Do we offend the likes of YOU?" Nate moved to put himself between the man and Sean. From the bar, another man glanced over his shoulder as he said over the sudden silence in the tavern. "You're thirsty? Come. Join me. Plenty of rum to go around." The man kicked a stool next to him to scoot it out a bit. Nate stared at the man anxiously. The man wore a long black leather coat with black shiny buckle boots that went up his shins. The man's hair was a short, straight, and black in color.

The other men in the room turned their eyes to them. Some parted from the center to let them walk straight up to the man. Nate wondered who this man was and these people. Whoever they were, Sean was certainly terrified of them. Inching closer to the bar, the man removed something from his mouth and blew out a breath of grey smoke. Nate tilted his head a little. The man had the weirdest pipe. It looked to be made of gold and was split to hold two thick cigars. The man turned the smoking pipe between his fingers, then told them a bit more sternly. "Come on now. I won't hurt you. At least... not right now. And you can hold me to that." Reaching the bar, Nate inhaled sharply as the man turned to finally look at them. Raising his hook hand, the man smirked as he  added a bit darkly. "Captain Hook is a man of his word, after all. And you, your highness... are worth more to me ALIVE." To Be Continued...