Chapter 62: Chapter 62: Enjoying Freedom

“Who do we talk to first?” They had just finished a light breakfast early in the morning. Braydon had woken up because Nela had made sure that he drank the exact same tea that he had yesterday and gotten him to recite it’s name every time he drank it. She had given him four cups. 

“Well, we could talk to either one first, but I would advise talking to Lani first. She is a more valuable person as a partner than Duke Burn over the long term. He is our enemy after all.” Nela replied once she was satisfied that Braydon would not mistake the most popular tea in Fiveria for something else.

“Then should we meet her today or later?” Braydon asked, it felt odd to him that he could just up and meet other nobles. He was used to requiring several day’s travel to see one and return. 

“We could or we could wander around the capital and see her tomorrow.” Nela suggested. Braydon was surprised before realising that she wanted to make use of her new found freedom immediately. She had been locked up in his castle or the King’s mansion for several years at this point, unable to leave lest Earl Blake’s men catch her and bring her to his fief, Brasbury.

“Do you have any particular preference? I don’t really know anywhere outside of the main street and the palace.” Braydon was not really one for exploring city streets, not after he almost died in that backstreet somewhere in the capital. His scar was a constant reminder of that.

 “The main street and markets sound like a fun idea. I would like to feel the atmosphere at least once.” Nela’s suggestion was agreed to by Braydon. He did not fancy seeing many other places and anything worth seeing in the palace was currently a congregation for many nobles, socialising or making deals before they head back to their fiefdoms. 

When Gerald was later informed of their intentions he groaned. ‘Seeing the markets’ would mean walking around them. It was much harder to be a guard when the two of them were not inside the safety of a carriage. Protecting the two of them as they wandered a busy market place sounded too much like hard work.

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Gerald was right, looking after the two of them was too much like hard work. There were way too many pickpockets for his liking, it did not help that they were by far the most lavishly dressed people in the market by far. Even if neither one of them liked to dress fancily, that was by noble standards. By a common pickpocket’s standards they looked like they were dressed in denars, gold denars.

“Oh, those look interesting.” Nela said to Braydon as they moved onto a new street stall. They were blissfully unaware of Gerald’s plight, or at least they just ignored it if they were. While they had not bought anything over the past few hours, they had still looked at many stalls along the main street. The sun was now high in the sky and the markets were at their busiest point.

“My Lady has a good eye these are very rare…” They obviously weren’t but they were still pretty.

“Sire, would you be interested in some…” No, but the sales pitch was a decent one.

As the crowd started to thin out some, Braydon noticed that he was feeling hungry. When he looked up, the sun could no longer be seen directly above them, just obscured by the roofs of the tall buildings that lined the main street of the capital. When he looked to Nela, she seemed to have slowed down as well. The most crowded part of the day was over.

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“Should we get something to eat? I know of a decent restaurant further down, nearer the richer districts.” Braydon asked, getting a ready agreement from Nela. They had not eaten much at breakfast and it was later than they would normally eat lunch. It just so happened that one of the only places that he had been to in the capital before was this restaurant. He did not know if it was the best in Boshil but it was by no means a bad place.

“That would be nice.” Nela said as they started making their way to the restaurant. 

“Finally.” Gerald whispered under his breath. Those two might have had their fun but he was exhausted. He looked and felt haggard, it had not been an easy several hours. It might only be march but between the crowds, the midday sun and his armour, he was melting at this point. He had fended off no less than 20 pickpockets, had to deal with the angry glares of passers by who thought that he was in the way and many more small things. Just once or twice was fine, but it had been over and over again across several hours. 

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“It’s pretty.” When they reached the restaurant half an hour later, Nela could not help but exclaim at the sight restaurant. There were rose vines growing on the walls of the building, combined with the stained glass for windows at the front, it left a very appealing image.

“Welcome to Rosy Glasshouse . Did you make a reservation?“ As they made their way into the restaurant, they were immediately greeted by a waiter. They obviously looked like nobility, they were not going to be served poorly. Whilst it was not peak hours any more, there were still a lot of patrons, there were some tables clearly set aside for people who reserved them. 

“No, will that be a problem? Braydon asked, they did look pretty busy here. Although not many people were eating, there were quite a number who were tasting wines. They had either finished their meals or had come just for the wine. By the looks of the people the latter were the majority.

“We don’t have any unreserved tables at the minute, and we are expecting the patrons who have reserved their tables in the next hour or so. We deeply apologise for our lack of good hosting.” The waiter made an apology, he did not want to upset noble clients. That was almost guaranteed to end with him losing his job.

“Do not worry about it, we merely came when you were busy. Having lots of customers is not bad hosting.” Nela assured the man. As she was about to speak to Braydon about eating elsewhere somebody came through the door.

“That is indeed true, though I have reserved a table. If you two would care to join me, I would be more than happy to eat with you.” Lani had ended up walking in behind them. She had a pleasantly surprised smile to see Braydon and Nela.

“It would be our pleasure, we had intended to meet you tomorrow anyway.” Braydon had managed to speak what felt like more than he did the entirety of the day before in the gardens. He was glad that they were able to eat here, he did not know what else in the capital was a good place to eat. His father had not often brought him to the capital in the first place.