“There, all perfect.”

Six crates were adjoined together to form a table, and a white cloth tossed over them to give a semblance of proper one. She had arranged and wiped each cup, plate and utensil to their sparkling states now. Rhine inspected the ensemble that she prepared, it was the best that she could do with their current situation. Lunch in the middle of a road, or by the side of the road—there weren’t a lot of travellers this season right? She’d hate to have to move them all over again. She frowned and moved a cup slightly to the right. Okay, now it was really perfect. Did she miss anything though? It was better to ask now than humiliate herself later. She turned towards her twin.

“Hey Hyde, what do you—”

The young lady faltered at the sight of her brother with two of his friends. The Darby and the one known as Jamie, they were all fooling around and acting like idiots. Hyde was waving around his bow like the buffoon he was. One day he’d stab himself accidentally with an arrow and she’d get a headache. She sighed to herself; well it would be useless to ask him for any opinions. She doubted her brother actually remembered anything on their fine dining and etiquette class.

“It’s not like I’d get criticized upfront by the butler, which would be beyond his authority.”

Rhine whispered to herself, rubbing an arm as she took in the sight of the ‘table arrangement’ she made. She bit the inside of her cheek.

“Plus, I don’t think the soldiers would even notice if the three pronged fork was misplaced with the four pronged one…but I’m positive that I got everything right.”

She clasped her hands together and looked around. The remaining soldiers and cart drivers gathered underneath the shade of the trees. Some of them had offered assistance earlier, she kindly declined them all. Sir Gus had entrusted the task to her, she’d see to it that everything was well done as things should be. It didn’t matter that she pushed the crates by herself… did she sweat though? Heavens forbid if she stank! Be it noblemen or commoner, status didn’t matter, anybody would laugh behind her back at that.

“Hyde! Please watch over my table arrangement! Ensure that everything stays in its place!”

She called out to her sibling, already making her way to the carriage. A couple of chuckles would erupt from the male behind her, to which she chose to ignore.

“It’s not like the plates would run away with the cutlery or something!”

“Hilarious.”

She muttered to herself and walked inside the carriage, promptly shutting the door. Rhine pressed a hand on her temple; she could feel beads of sweat dampen her hand. It was a good thing that she kept her essential items in a sling pouch that she always had on her person. Except for this particular instance though, she essentially dove for the pouch on the furniture before taking out some vials and resting on her seat.

“Just a little bit of freshening up, and maybe a few whiffs of the perfume.”

The young lady pulled out a handkerchief from the pouch and dabbed it across her face. She then stretched her arms before massaging the back of her neck for a bit. The tight muscles were loosening up a bit with her touch but she still felt stuffy.

“I suppose staying put in a carriage for a couple of hours can already make one’s muscles sore. Perhaps stopping for lunch was a good choice indeed.”

She grabbed a vial and removed its cork. Rhine poured a small amount of a shimmery liquid onto her palm; it smelled reminiscent of lavender. She then applied some on her temples and pulse points. It was quite a relaxing scent and it seemed to melt the pain away from her body. If only other girls around her age were willing to try her brewed potions, instead they favoured doctors and chemists. It was a shame.

—

“Now tell me, did I miss anything?”

Rhine carefully stepped out the carriage, taking in the sight of the dusty ground before lifting her gaze to the sight of her brother standing around and looking rather grumpy beside the makeshift table she made. His bow was slung behind his back with his quiver, and his lips were curved down slightly.

“Finally! You took so long!”

“Was I?”

She tilted her head and bit back a smile. He would often make a remark on her or their mother’s tempers yet here he was, complaining as much as them. It was like whenever she won an argument back when they were younger.

“It took forever, lunch is over. I’ve eaten everything including your desserts.”

“Very funny, I wasn’t gone for that long—plus I’m avoiding sweets. Where are your other friends now? They haven’t returned yet have they?”

Rhine looked around for the Darby and Jaime, she spotted them talking with an old man. He was one of their cart drivers. Were they already eating apples? She frowned slightly but chose to say nothing. There was no sign of Hyde’s two other friends, Frank Kelton and Tom so ‘lunch’ still hasn’t officially started without all of the soldiers. It was a nice touch that their father had implemented into the soldiers’ routine that their tutor had praised when they lectured her and Hyde that time. She gave her brother a smirk to which he waved his hand lazily into the air.

“Okay fine, you made it in time for lunch.”

“Which I so happened to prepare, your thanks shall be now accepted.”

Her brother simply shrugged at her, she bit back a snicker and crossed her arms. Ungrateful brat. Rhine’s gaze flittered to the distant road; the cart must surely have not gotten that far right? It was not as if she was feeling famished for simply freshening up… but shouldn’t have the butler returned yet? The road had slopes, rocks and other objects to slow it down.

“Aren’t you awfully concerned with his return?”

She blinked for a moment, and flicked her hand into the air—as if swatting a fly or a winged insect. It was a nuisance to be asked of such a thing. What was her brother trying to imply? She’d have to set things straight with her twin and tell him the truth.

“Enchanted carts are highly prized Hyde, and we had valuable crates in it…what if the cart was seen by a caravan of traders and they were beating up sir Gus as he tried to claim it as part of our belongings?”

“Um…”

“We should send some of our soldiers to check on him! Does he even know how to ride a horse?”

“He wouldn’t have gotten on a horse if he didn’t know how to ride one.”

Rhine sighed and ran some fingers through her hair, of course her brother had a point. Perhaps she did need to replenish some clarity by partaking in some nourishment now. Perhaps desserts wasn’t a completely closed off option today. But right now she had to salvage her perspective in her brother’s eyes. She was being an idiot, thus Rhine cleared her throat. She’d prove herself as a calm and collected person.

“As you have said, our father would never hire someone incompetent but… ugh, I can’t help bu— they’re here.”

She was cut off by the onslaught of horses’ hooves sounding like thunder. The soldiers erupted from the forest, they had finally returned back to their location. One of the soldiers led two horses forward by foot, the man holding their reins. It was Frank, and Rhine was not actually surprised. The man reminded her of a gentle giant… if there was actually one of those kinds. It was a lovely and peaceful sight. It felt like sipping a warm and hearty broth of chicken soup. Perhaps the man would have made a good beast tamer or something similar.

“Ooh you guys got the horses back! Great work Frank!”

Jaime’s voice seemed to burst in a moment; somehow it beat her own brother from saying something first. She’d have to give it to the boy as she eyed him for a moment, he was an energetic kid. Sometimes Rhine liked that, other times it was troublesome. Hyde was already a good example. A soldier spoke up, a bucket of ice to the good news that was just delivered.

“We lost one horse though, the stallion got away.”

An older soldier frowned, before throwing a look at Tom who seemed to droop and flounder despite atop his own horse. If Rhine could remember the events correctly, Tom was the first one to chase after the horses and he was the last one to come out the forest. It was only natural that he was to be the one to be blamed the most but her heart pinched at the sight. She may have only met him today, but it was apparent that being upset and meek was not a ‘Tom’ that was typical.

“Rhine.”

The young lady felt a nudge on her side. She turned to her brother but the young man motioned his head back to the soldiers. She glanced into the direction to see what seemed to be the eldest soldier ride their horse towards Rhine and her brother. Once he drew closer, the man got off his horse and bowed his head.

“We apologize for the failure to retrieve one of the horses, Sir and Lady Falcon. We express our deep regrets and ask for your pardon. We shall pay for the loss of the horse, but if one could boldly request to divide the cost of the horse between me and my men…”

The soldier addressed the two siblings, but his gaze was directed at Hyde. Rhine’s fingers twitched, of course it was only expected that the heir would answer for them. If the butler had been here, perhaps sir Gus would have been the one to resolve it but now it was on Hyde’s shoulders. Rhine glanced at her brother, the young man visibly fidgeted.

“Um, well… I’d love to accept that…”

Rhine exhaled and tapped her twin’s shoulder; he would gaze at her for a moment, slightly confused as he searched her eyes before nodding slightly. There was a look of relief in his eyes. This was her chance. She had the opportunity to answer and with it, thus she smiled kindly at the soldier.

“Mister, I think that there is no need for such fuss about reimbursements. As far as my brother and I are concerned of, it was an accident. It was an unfortunate one but still an accident nonetheless—there’s nothing that can be done with it and nothing to pay for.”

The young woman did not need to look at the soldier to imagine his eyes widened.

“But my lady—”

“Please, be at ease soldier. You’ve done the best that you could. Please have all your men relax underneath the shade of the trees, have the horses fed and taken care of. It’s terribly hot right now and it would be such a shame if one would get a heatstroke… lunch will be served now.”