"Don't worry! I promise we won't get caught. It'll just be a few minutes, and then we can sneak back in before lunchtime!"
Though curious eyes glowed brightly at Ali, Snow pressed his brows together as his lips curled into a pout. He was still worried and even a little suspicious. "Really? Won't we get in trouble? Father will be mad at us if he finds out!"
"We'll be fine! Just a few minutes and then we'll come back! Would you rather go practice horseback riding, or go on an adventure?!" Ali took the other boy's hand and began tugging him along through the castle corridors. Their footsteps patted on the rugs until they came to a halt at each corner for Ali to stretch his head around. He was taking every care to avoid anyone on patrol. The closer they got to the garden the more excited he was.
"Lucky us! They left the garden gate open, and no guards are around," he said as they passed under the archway. "Just follow my lead and it'll be fine! I do this all the time back home!"
"Yeah, but your castle is much bigger and easier to hide in! And the market is a lot crazier! I don't think this is a good idea, Ali!" Still, he followed him across the courtyard and watched, concerned as he began climbing the vine-covered wooden frame along the stone walls. The young prince bit his lip. "We're going to get in trouble!"
"Well, you can either come with me, or I'll just go alone, and you'll get in trouble for not stopping me! Or worse, what if something happens to me and you could have stopped it by being with me?" A cheeky, scheming grin stretched from ear to ear on Ali as he looked down. Immediately, there was a look of nervous fear plastered on Snow. He knew that would have convinced him. He swung his arm down for the other to take. "Come on. Trust me! We'll be back before long. Promise!"
Each second Snow hesitated felt like entire minutes were passing. He was scared, but when he took hold of the other's hand, Ali hoisted him up, guiding him as they climbed the vines. Before they knew it they were both over the castle walls.
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Stone Roll was particularly lively that day. Ali and Snow were entangled among the city streets. Half of the time they were dodging patrol guards. The market was a maze of shops and stands selling anything from fruits and baked goods, to fine leathers and silver luxuries. A parade of scents wafted through the air, seducing the senses with savor and spice. Despite earlier protests, Snow had now become the more curious of the two, quickly dashing to anything that caught his eye.
"Hey! Watch out!" Ali shouted as he grabbed Snow by his collar and tugged him back from the street, just barely dodging an oncoming horse. "Weren't you the one who said we'd get in trouble?" he teased.
Snow stuck his tongue out at the older boy. "I would have been fine," he spat back. "I just wanted to look at the jewelry over there," he said as he pointed across the walkway. "Aren't they pretty! Those earrings would look lovely on Paribanu!"
"Hmm, they certainly would, but it's not like you brought any money, did you?" Ali smirked at him when Snow shook his head. He leaned in close, cupping his hand in front of their mouths as he whispered. "Okay just go up and talk to him. Act like you're interested in something else! I'll show you a fun little trick that me and Pari pull all the time back home!" There it was: a scheming twinkle in his eye Snow had come to be cautious, but also excited about. Ali gave Snow a little shove when the streets were safe to cross.
Snow, confused, but optimistic as ever, approached the stand cautiously. His shoulders barely came up over the shop's display table. "Um, excuse me, mister?" he called, waving his hand high to get the keeper's attention.
"Well, who do we have here? A lost child? Where's your parents?" they said kindly with a smile, as he leaned over to get a better look at the young prince. "Quite the cute kid, you are. Need some help?"
"Um, I-I wanted to look at that shiny bracelet," Snow answered, pointing directly in front of him on the table.
"Is that so? Who's it for? Got a girlfriend you want to impress, hmm?"
Snow tilted his head, a bit confused by the question. "Huh? A girlfriend? No. Just a friend's sister."
"Hmmm," he rubbed his face and scratched his beard, pretending to ponder. "Well, I don't think you can afford it, but I'll let you look so you can start saving up!" The keeper extended a fat hand out with the bracelet in question for Snow to hold and stood back, watching him closely.
Snow was initially doing as Ali asked him, but then he was immediately mesmerized. He kept turning the bracelet over in his hand, hypnotized by his own foggy, warped reflection in the polished ivory. Carving and engravings had given it the delightful shape of entangled vines embellished with tiny flowers. The child kept admiring the craftsmanship until finally, the keeper's voice perked up with his hand outstretched once again. "Alright, that's enough looking!" The bracelet was returned to its spot on the table. "You better scamper along and get back to your mother. I'm sure she's worried about you."
"There you are! I've been looking all over for you!" Ali appeared suddenly right beside Snow, taking his hand in his own. "You shouldn't wander off like that. What if you got lost!" He winked, using the eye not facing the shopkeeper, and immediately Snow understood he was acting.
"Sorry- Sorry! It's not like I went far."
Ali turned to the keep and bowed his head. "Thank you for keeping my friend out of trouble."
The shopkeeper raised a brow at Ali. His face which had been so cheerful mere seconds ago sank into a state of annoyance and almost disgust. He snorted. "He's really your friend?"
Ali and Snow both looked at each other out of the corner of their eyes, suspicious that their plan had been foiled.
"First the eastern continent and now people from the south. To think someone like you would be trusted to look after someone from our kingdom. Be gone, both of you."
They hesitated, dumbstruck and confused by the shopkeeper's sudden attitude. Ali made the first step to run away and tugged Snow along. "Let's get going. Don't want to get in trouble!"
"H-hey, slow down!" Snow asked as he tried to keep on. They raced through the marketplace and around a corner into an alleyway before they finally stopped to catch their breath. Ali was snickering the whole time, hands over his belly as he leaned against the side of a building.
"What was with that guy, anyway? He got so mean when I showed up."
"I don't know. Maybe he had never met someone from the southern continent before." Snow panted as he hunched forward with his hands on his knees.
"Whatever, the reason, you were perfect back there, Snow."
"But I didn't do anything. What are you- uh- HEY!" He barely had a moment to react as Ali tossed him something. He caught it in both hands, realizing it was a pair of silver earrings- the ones he had lured him to the stand at the start. "How did you- Ali, did you-- this is stealing!"
"I like to think of it as 'borrowing with a little risk.'" He said as he bit into an apple he pulled out of his pocket. Another one was in hand which he tossed to Snow as well. "Here's a snack!"
Snow caught the apple. "But stealing is wrong! Ali- this is serious! And you do this in your home country?!"
"Whahhhht? It's just a few apples and some earrings. They make them a lot easier than you think. It's not a big deal. Besides, you wanted to give them to Pari, right?" A few more chomps and Ali had already chewed his apple to the core.
He looked at the earrings and the fruit in his hands. He couldn't explain it, but all Snow wanted to do was shout and cry. His face grew hot while holding his breath. There was no way he could give these to anyone, now. How would he explain he obtained them? Even if she believed whatever lie he came up with, Snow would always know that they were stolen, that Pari would be wearing something that hadn't been earned honestly. Though the white jewels were as pure as the first winter snow, such would only taint anyone's beautiful face with black spots of lies and trickery.
Snow thought back to the bracelet he had held. Its level of detail in the ivory, the linework, and the carvings had made it into such a delicate, and striking work of art. The flowers on the bracelet looked as if it were blooming from the ivory itself. What Ali had said couldn't be true. There was no way any of that man's jewelry was easily crafted. Someone had to farm the ivory, metals, and the pearls. Someone had to polish it, clean it, carve and craft, and do it all with the utmost care just as when Snow practiced fencing or singing, or Ali when he danced. He wouldn't have wanted anything he did to be dismissed as trivial or simple and asked to perform for free so why was this any different? What's more, this was still a crime! If anyone else had done this they would have been jailed but Snow could get away with it just because he was a prince! The only difference between him and a common thief was that he lived in a castle and wore a crown while a thief lived in a hut and wore a hood.
Snow burst into tears.
"Th-that man wah-was so n-nice- WAHHH!" Snow was gasping, hands sweating. "H-he showed me that br-ce-l-let and we jus- mmmm! WAHHHH!" He was huffing, eyes squinted shut, and mouth hanging open as his nose began to drool.
Ali, lost for words at first, held his hands up to try to ease the other. "Hey, wow! Snow, listen- hey! J-just calm down for a second."
There was no response. Snow kept sobbing as he shoved the apple into Ali's chest, knocking him flat on his rear. He sniffled and sucked in a deep breath, and stared down at him, face scrunched together as if he was about to explode. "I'm g-gonna give them back and apologize! I don't want 'em anymore!" With the earrings clenched in his tiny fist, Snow turned on his heels and bolted before Ali could do anything.
"Wait. WAIT! SNOW!" Ali chased after him, not getting far. Just as they turned the corner, a patrol guard stood blocking their path. Both of the two children ran right into him, knocking themselves back.
"Hey there! Are you both okay? What seems to be the trouble? We heard a commotion coming from this area." He stepped forward slowly, armor crunching into the dirt. He knelt and extended a hand to help each of them to their feet.
"What do we have here?" he asked with a raised brow as they stayed silent. "Two children without their parents?" He paused, eyeing Ali's sun-kissed face suspiciously. "And one of you is from Nayzaria, aren't you? You must be with King Arthur's royal guest. What are you doing out here? Where are your parents? It's dangerous, you know. And..." His eyes widened when he saw clearly who the other boy was. "...Prince Snow? You should be at the castle!"
It was then he took note of the troubling state he appeared in. "Are you hurt? Why have you been crying? What's happened here?!" The guard's eyes were aimed directly at Ali, almost sneering at him.
"Run!" Ali yelled as he kicked up a small cloud of dirt into the guard's eyes. He grabbed Snow by the hand and pulled him along, racing through the marketplace. It didn't matter which way they went, so long as they were moving, getting far away, but how could they escape when Snow was screaming the entire time? Neither of them had to look behind them to know the patrol guards had been alerted. They were hot in pursuit, shouting for them both to stop running. Now, everyone knew Snow and Ali had somehow snuck out of the palace.
The two ran for some time until they finally took refuge in a large mound of old hay in a tavern's small horse stable. The sun was setting over the surrounding mountaintops. The crowds had begun to disperse from the streets and return to their homes. Shops were closing up their doors and windows. Yet the tavern was alive with cheerful conversation and a bard playing inside.
Drunken rambles and shouts sounded from a nearby window, as did the bard's song. A reached its head down and chomped at the hay, almost catching Ali's hair.
Snow coughed and griped as he crawled out from their hiding place, wiping phlegm and tears from his face on the sleeve of his garb. He opened his palm, seeing that the earrings were still safe with him, though stained with sweat and dirt. "I hate this!" he whimpered while looking at Ali who was pulling himself to his feet. "Y-your adventures stink."
"Would you just calm down," Ali huffed, hunched over with his hands on his knees. "Look, we'll just lay low until the guards give up and then head back to the palace."
"No! We still have to return the earrings!"
"Just forget about it. We're going to be in even bigger trouble if they find out about those!"
"You're the one who stole them in the first place!" Snow snapped, hands balling so tight that the point of earrings pricked his palm. "You said we were going to do something fun; go on an adventure! And we just stole food and jewelry and now we're lost. None of this would have happened if we had just stayed in the castle, to begin with. It's all your fault!"
"SHUT UP!" Ali's anger exploded. He stomped his foot into the hay, steam rising from the sole of his boots. "If you had just played it cool then maybe we could get outta here!" With a wave of his hand, sparks ignited, making Snow flinch and step back. "Stop blaming me! You're such a crybaby I swear I could just-- ARGHH!" Ali rammed his fist against the wooden building beside them and was immediately flung back. The impact erupted in smoke, a loud crack, and then sizzling heat. The wall, the haystack, everything: it was all going up in flames. The horses in the stable whinnied, jumped, and bucked their legs. They tugged and twisted their head about, trying to pull themselves free from the straits around their snouts.
How had a fire broken out?
Snow jumped back, confused, and frightened. "What did you do?!" he screamed.
"Nothing! I just punched the wall- aGH-UGH-HHH!" he coughed, inhaling a bit of smoke.
"Well, hit it again! Make it stop!" Snow cried as he reached up to tug one of the horses free. It kicked forward and made off into the street as people stared at the chaos unfolding. People were flooding out of the tavern, coughing. Some, too drunk to move, fell into the road.
Ali was squinting through the smoke. Frustrated and annoyed, he punched through the flames into the wall again, and it exploded. The two children flew black, knocked to the ground.
"The hell is going on here?" Several people shouted. Guards approached. The eruption consumed the stable and moved to swallow the tavern. If not controlled the neighboring buildings would be at risk, too. There were still horses and people inside, trying to escape.
"The prince! We've got him," one of the guards proclaimed as he grabbed Snow under his arms. Ali was detained alongside him and both placed near the guard's steed. "I've been looking for you two all day!"
Snow looked up at the guard that had nabbed him, frightful at the stern, familiar voice. It was Fowler. Their eyes met and his stare pierced through the young prince like a needle through linen. Fear. Guilt. Disappointment. Feelings Snow didn't have the words to describe. Everything was running through him like a storm. Today was supposed to be a fun little adventure in the marketplace.
Ali had promised him everything would be fine. And now half the city was on fire. Snow couldn't imagine the punishment his father would have waiting for him when they got back to the castle.
Another soldier rushed to set the horses loose. The entire time, the two boys watched in horror and confusion. Snow began crying again. The sky clouded with ash. Heat paraded and invaded the air around them, beating against their faces.
"Hurry! There are still people inside!"
Flames licked across the air, tasting the next structure, and then steadily, the roar of the inferno began to simmer. Sparks flickered and floated through the air. They merged into a stream of flame and light, wafting away into the thick clouds of smoke. It was dispersed by some unseen force. The air softened, and the smoke slowly continued to rise and thin out. Townsfolk chatter was all there was, save steady, heavy footsteps approaching through the remaining fog.
"Well, it looks like we got ourselves into a bit of trouble, haven't we?" A robust, thunderous voice rang out. Silver eyes pierced through with a cheeky, wide grin on his face. It was the King.
"Would look that way, yes," said Sultan Huran, following right behind him, coughing into a hand. Fire puffed from his lips. With a wave of his hand, the remainder of the smoke dispersed and the threatening fire was gone. Citizens began filing out of the burnt building in panicked frenzy, eager to get away from any lingering danger. "Do you suppose they thought we wouldn't eventually notice them missing when it was time to attend their afternoon hunting practice?"
The two boys stared at their parents in disbelief, shaking, and too stunted to speak.
"Skipped their studies. Snuck out. Ran from the guards, and now it would seem my son chose the right time to grow into his fire magic." Huran stared directly at Ali with a heavy, stern look on his face.
Arthur looked at his son and then to Fowler. "Thank you, Fowler. We can take it from here. However, I have another task for you, now."
"What might that be, Your Majesty?"
He didn't answer. Arthur took both of the children and placed them on Fowler's horse. He pinched his brows together as he looked at them both, then to the ruined tavern, back to the children, and then he nodded at Fowler before addressing the lingering audience. "Good citizens," he roared with positive assurance. "Forgive two old kings for letting their children go unsupervised. Should any of you have suffered damages please, make your claim with Fowler, here and you shall be provided for until you can carry on in normalcy." The king slapped his retainer on the shoulder, ushering him forward to the crowd.
"Guards! Assist Fowler in any way he asks. I imagine there will be a lot of claims tonight."
There were a few minutes of either king addressing the townsfolk, taking names, getting testimonies of what happened, while Snow and Ali both sat petrified on Fowler's horse with two knights beside them. Snow was still sobbing as he watched his father at work. Ali held onto his hand and stroked his thumb over the backside of the other's wrist.
"...I'm sorry," he muttered.
Snow was silent until he had stopped himself from crying. "W-why?"
"I guess I did sorta cause all this. And now we're going to get it! Look, just stop crying already!" He was irritated, refusing to look at Snow directly. Ali glanced over to the guards and saw them both staring with the eyes of hawks. He motioned his hand slowly, digging his finger under Snow's thumb as if to force his grip open. "You don't deserve to get in trouble, so let me take the blame," he muttered.
Still, Snow kept his hand shut tight around the earrings and shook his head. He wasn't speaking. Whether it was because he didn't understand Ali's intentions or not remained unclear.
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Upon returning to the castle, Snow and Ali were immediately sent to their rooms without supper. As he washed his face and readied himself for bed, his father entered his room. "Snow? We need to talk!" He called out as he sat on his son's bed. "Don't pretend you're not here." His voice was calm, but firm.
The prince didn't say anything as he appeared from his bath chamber and stood still in the doorway. His father patted a space on his bed and Snow cautiously approached.
"Do you know what I'm going to say?" His father began.
Snow nodded, keeping his eyes focused on Arhtur's knee.
"Look at me," he said. Snow obeyed and panned his eyes up to meet his father.
"What am I going to tell you?"
"Th-that I was bad? And that I shouldn't have left the castle."
"That is true, but there's much more to it than being good or bad." Arthur still spoke calmly with Snow and reached a hand around to pat him on the back. "Today we thought someone might have kidnapped you and Ali. We didn't know what happened and thought you might be in danger. We almost began a witch hunt until the guards reported seeing you in the city. We were worried, Snow."
"…Oh." Snow felt the tension in his shoulders lighten, but the guilty feeling in his chest weighed heavier.
"What do you have to say for yourself?!"
"Father, I—" he paused and then gulped. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snuck out."
"Yes. You shouldn't have. But, you know what else I heard from the guards?"
Immediately, Snow's eyes widened, and his throat became dry. His eyes darted to the side, aimed at his pillow. The earrings were tucked away underneath it. "Um..no?"
Arthur smiled as he poked Snow on his nose. "I heard that Prince Ali was the one who convinced you to go with him and that you shouldn't get in trouble."
"W-what?!"
He nodded his head. "Yes. You told him that sneaking out would be bad and to stay for your riding lessons, did you?"
"Well, yes, I did."
"So why did you go with him if you wanted to stay?"
Snow gulped, trying not to cry as he thought back to when Ali pulled him over the walls. Now he felt stupid for falling for all his tricks and lies. "A-Ali said s-something bad might happen to him w-without me." He turned his head away from his father and looked back to his hands squeezing tightly on his knees. "And I- I didn't want him t-to get hurt or a-anything. I wanted t-to keep him safe."
Arthur just nodded and rubbed his son's back again.
"Snow, it's good that you want to keep your friends safe. There's nothing wrong about that, but think about it. What would you have done if serious danger had found you? The two of you accidentally set a building on fire and you were only safe because Sultan Huran extinguished it."
Snow started sobbing again and shook his head.
Arthur understood and nodded. "It's great to see you care about others, but you need to choose your battles wisely. Sometimes the best course of action is to have a job done by who can do it best."
This time Snow nodded.
"So what do you think you should have done, instead?"
"I-I should have t-told Fowler or y-you or Sultan Huran?"
"That's right. At the absolute worst, when you ran away you should have asked a guard in the city to stay with you."
Snow nodded again, sniffling. "Y-yeah. I guess so. I'm really sorry, Father."
Arthur stroked his son's back one more time, soothing him. "There's been some damage but nothing that can't be undone. We'll fix this as needed." He felt his son's lingering hesitation to speak further on the matter and couldn't shake that there was more to this than just a little adventure gone wrong. "Is there anything else you need to mention? Did something else happen while you were out today?"
Immediately, Snow felt his stomach sink like a stone had been dropped in it. He gulped but knew he had to come clean about everything. He nodded his head again and reached under his pillow. His insides were twisting around as he extended his hand out and showed the earring.
A look of confusion and surprise sparkled on King Arthur's face. He blinked, a bit stunned. "Why...Snow? What are these? Earrings? Did you want to wear them? Where did you get them, exactly?" He hushed as he took them gently in her hand.
Snow began to choke, holding back tears as he shook his head. It all came out, how he had wanted to find something nice for Paribanu, that Ali had put him up to stealing them, and that he had been trying to return them when the guards found him. Although Ali had done the damage, Snow couldn't help but still feel guilty. If he hadn't gone with Ali then he wouldn't have seen the earrings that lead to them fighting and burning half the village, right? The only reason they had been fleeing was because Snow had been caught while trying to return them!
Yet his father just listened and kept glancing between Snow and the earrings in his palm. When his son was finished, and an anxious, fragile mess before him, he simply reached his empty hand out and patted his head.
"So you tried to do the right thing and make amends, and it all went up in smoke, hmm?" Arthur chuckled and shook his head again. "If that isn't the worst. Still, even this can still be undone," he began as he closed her fingers around the jewelry. "I'll tell you a little something… Wanting to give a gift is nice, but the greatest gift you could ever give me is simply doing what's right! Sometimes, it just doesn't go well. But then we just have to admit we were wrong and start over."
"Start over?"
"That's right. There are many times in which good intentions have resulted in a terrible outcome, but we can fix this. No one was hurt, and you still have the earrings, don't you?"
He was silent for a moment as he pondered and tried to understand everything. "Y-yeah."
"Then tomorrow, let's start over. We can go to the jeweler so you can return them and apologize. You can show me what a big responsible young man you are!"
There was another pause as Snow looked up at his father and then back at the earrings as he placed them in his hand. He turned them over, rubbing his finger across the smooth, polished surface of the pearls. He sighed as he set them on his bedside table.
"What did you learn today?" Arthur asked.
Snow gripped the fabric of his sleepwear at the knees and then thought for a bit. "To let the most suitable person do the task needed. And when things go wrong, maybe it's best to just… start over."
"That's my boy!" King Arthur said with another firm pat on his son's back. "It'll all make more sense when you're older."
Arthur tucked the young prince into bed, and they said their goodnights. As he shut the door, a draft extinguished the nearby lantern.