Sneaky

"So, where do you wanna go next, boy?"

"Stop calling me boy," the boy said angrily. "I do have a name, you know."

"Oh, well I apologize for not knowing the name of the great Empire's crown prince." I rolled my eyes.

I mean, who does this kid think he is to lie about such things? If he told these claims to other less kinder people, he would have his head cut off for his insolence, regardless of his age... or sanity.

"Well, if you aren't telling, then we can go to the Dome-" I started.

"No! I told told you, didn't I?"

I rolled my eyes again. "So, come on. Tell me what you want to see."

"... The sunset," he mumbled.

My brows furrowed. "The sunset? Of all things..."

Oh, but who was I to refuse? Anyway, I also haven't gone to the edge of the Isle yet. I did want to see how high up we really were. It was kind of hard to observe these things when on top of a flying drakon.

My only problem to his suggestion was that sunset was still a while away, and I really had to go back for lunch...

"Can you come with me to my house for a bit? I have to tell Regina about our plans," I uttered in defeat.

"Sure!" he said energetically, marching on to a random direction.

"Ummm... It's the other way," I said, keeping in both my laughter and my annoyance.

After an uneventful travel back to the Flower House, where I had to talk the boy out of buying a winged tigress and where I had to apologize profusely to a glass artisan after the boy 'accidentally' nudged the artisan while he was blowing hot glass from his pipe...

Well, anyway, we were practically unharmed by the time we arrived at the the magician's doorstep. That is to say, we were intact... until now.

The door busted open at the next moment, as though someone was eagerly waiting for our arrival at the other side. Instead, I was faced with the demonic face of my friend, the Second Magician of Elrock.

"Hi Regina," I muttered weakly. "The day surely is nice. The winds are cool and the temperature is just right for a long, long walk."

"... Is that all?" the woman asked monotonously. I glimpsed at the edge of my vision how the boy slowly backed away from the demon who had me in her grasp.

"Uh- Well..." I stuttered in fear. "Umm... There was this glass artisan? And another o-one of those swords that could turn into snakes..."

"Yes?" Regina asked with the kindest smile.

I knew I was dead, and couldn't get out of this with my usual excuses.

"I'm sorry I'm late..." I managed, my head bowed low.

I felt a great surge of power in front of me, and I wondered if this would be my last day in this world... when I heard a high pitched whimper from behind me.

The boy!

Ah, the greatest excuse I could possibly have!

"R-Regina!" I called out, bravely, or quite stupidly, clutching at her robes. "You see, I had to help a poor, young soul! This boy-"

But when I looked behind me, he was already gone. Dust was settling from his wake.

'That bastard!' I screamed at him with my thoughts. 'That little Sneak!'

I was about to cry myself into submission when I heard Regina's voice from above my hunched out,  depressed form.

"You mean this boy?" she asked, and when I looked up, I saw the boy dangling from the ground from the back of his robes, like a poor whelp being caught by its mother after it had wandered off from the pack. "I sensed him near you a moment ago, but I didn't know you were friends."

"Oh, we aren't friends, Regina," I explained, but inwardly sneering at the little, sneaky boy. I had never been more thankful of the woman's great magical prowess. "That is the boy who needed my help!"

She looked down at the boy in her hands, staying still like he was nothing but a pile of rags. "Who are you, boy? Did you have something to do with my little one?"

I groaned, recognizing the fearsome spectacle from a passing circus' play back in the palace in my first life. I remembered how foreign a few parts of it were since they showed some very strong-headed girls and women. That's what you get from a world-wide travelling troupe, I suppose. Anyway, the one character that struck me the most was the mother of the female protagonist. Basically, the mother was incredibly doubtful of the men who would come to court her daughter...

Regina looked very much like the mother in that play.

'But no!' I thought. 'This isn't right... The boy doesn't even see me as a girl, mother, umm, I mean, Regina!'

"I-" the boy stuttered out, still hanging in the air. "I am Kareem, but the people call me Charles. Your son helped me out after I got separated from my parents."

That little-! He even used the crown prince's actual moniker!

"Oh, oh, you poor dear!" Regina put him back gently on the ground. "You must've been so scared."

Showing a pitiful look I have never seen him show on his face, he started fake-sobbing. "Y-Yes, I was!"

'I am so gonna kick him in the **** later!'

I don't know why, but I felt like I could do anything to this boy. Maybe it was because I have already met him once. Maybe it was because he seemed too mature for his own good. But, I wanted to know him better.

Not too mention he might even be as cute as my second brother!

But, well... that wasn't all. He just seemed like an interesting boy, and meeting him twice in unlikely places did make me think that we were destined to become acquaintances at the very least.

Regina ushered us inside and soon brought us into the dining hall. It seems like the only places where I lingered in this house was either my room or the dining hall. Eating and sleeping were the two things that I deemed very important.

Regina sat at the head of the table. "I hope you don't mind me asking, Kareem, but might you be from the Mond Empire?"

Sneak looked like he was looking for a way to sneak his way past the question, so I decided to help him out a bit. 

"Well, he does have the right complexion and appearance." I sipped at my stew.

"Y-Yeah!" the boy caught on to my words. "I did come from the Empire. Umm... my mama named me after the prince. They say, uh, I have a likeness to him."

I groaned inwardly, not even hoping that the woman would buy his obvious lies. But, anyway, I was glad he wasn't confidently proclaiming his lie to adults. I wouldn't have been able to save him if he had done that.

Weirdly enough, Regina said nothing about it. She quickly accepted his silly request to have me accompany him around the Isle, and soon we were busy filling ourselves up with the once again delicious meal. I dreaded the days when Farseer would finish up with all of his chores here in the Isle and we would have to leave. I had grown used to Regina's cooking, and I knew I would badly miss it, and a lot more, when we were back on the road again.

But, for now, I choose to enjoy these small moments. Seeing the boy's cheeks all rounded up from stuffing too much food in, I laughed out loud, unconsciously spitting out some food particles onto Regina's immaculate face.

~~

"Alright, where off to, my Lord Emperor?" I bowed mockingly at the brown-eyed boy. We were now standing at a popular main street, where it branched out into several other streets.

"Ugh, stop it with the teasing, and I'm not the emperor yet," he said tiredly. "Anyway, didn't I tell you I wanted to see how the sunset would look like from up here?"

"Yeah, yeah," I said, stepping away as a carriage hurried past us. "But, a little elementary problem, Your Highness. Sunset is still hours away."

He rolled his eyes, yet said nothing. However, his glare couldn't hide away the excited gleam in his eyes as he looked around us. I probably looked like that on my first few days in the Isle. I've grown a bit used to the weirdness of the Isle after a month of exploring, but I would still see or taste new discoveries at least once a week.

So, I wasn't surprised to sense the excitement bubbling up inside me. I grabbed onto the boy's hand, and dragged him forward. "Well, let's just aimlessly waste the hours away then!"

But, that is to say, adventure seems to be following us whenever I was with this boy, because soon enough, we had found ourselves into a challenging situation.

"Little boys!" a large, bear-like man with fur-like hair on his arms called us out from side of the street. "I bet ya young lads would like to be Winged Mercenaries, ey? You up to a little test?"