The Runaway Paladin and the Half Fae Duke

The halls of the palace were beautiful, lined with all kinds of tasteful extravagance, and the finest of artworks. Multiple times as he followed the Prince, Ritt found himself stopping and admiring the beauty of the pieces that lined the wall, feeling as if he’d finally realized why people appreciated such things so. The popular artwork that he’d seen during his life in Brisillica was always so abstract, or perhaps too focused on the use of depth and much too covered in overwhelming colors for him to really ever get a feel for. There were even interactive 3D pieces, made by some of the more artsy mages that had come into fame that he’d seen after he’d been released from the mage tower, which he’d been able to admire as quite the feat, but could never truly understand.

 

But this, these beautiful, soulfully painted and realistic pictures that depicted such wonderful everyday life and events in them…

 

“Would you kindly hurry up? We’re almost there!”

 

Ritt tore himself from the painting that caught his eye, the large depiction of a peaceful town square bustling with life quickly being left behind as they hurried on.

 

~~~

 

The Prince hadn’t lied; Although Ritt didn’t much care for all the stares he was getting from everyone else in the moderately sized salon room, he couldn’t help but enjoy the wonderfully crafted selection of appetizers that were arranged on various tables. They were small enough for him to pick up with only two of his fingers, but they absolutely filled his mouth with deliciousness and flavor, and the pretty way that they’d been made to look only added to their appeal. Still, Ritt was a ravenous beast whenever he ate, and the four assorted tables on offer were beginning to be steadily emptied. The onlookers watched him as if they were watching an interesting animal in an exhibit, hiding their mouths behind a fan or a well placed hand as they snickered and talked amongst themselves about him. Ritt couldn’t care in the slightest, having grown used to such treatment by the nobles in his previous time as the Paladin, although perhaps he hadn’t been laughed at quite like this back then; If anything, the nobles in Brisillica had looked at him more like a product or something to fear, and would have never thought of him by such human standards. Still, the opinions of these people he didn’t even know didn’t matter to Ritt. Sien had watched him eat like this many times, and although he’d been told to slow down on a handful of occasions before, Sien had never once treated him meanly for it.

 

Remembering Sien’s scoldings, Ritt consciously tried to make himself eat slower, which seemed to be the signal the Prince needed to finally approach him. In his hands he carried two glasses filled with a beautiful, shimmering, rouge-colored liquid, which Ritt couldn't help but feel his eyes gravitate towards.

 

“My… You say that cousin Sien takes care of you, and yet you eat like a starving man who’d never been fed in his life. I’ll have to congratulate the chef for being able to appeal to you so.”

 

Ritt grabbed one of the napkins conveniently placed by the food and quickly cleaned himself off, knowing basic enough manners to wipe his mouth before conversing with the Prince.

 

“Ah, yes… They were truly delicious. I’m glad that I was able to come here and enjoy these, Your Highness.”

 

“Well if you liked the food, then perhaps give the drink a try too, won’t you?”

 

The Prince smiled dashingly while offering one of the glasses he carried to Ritt, who eyed the drink carefully, wondering at its nature as he obediently took the cup from him. He’d seen wine plenty of times before, and also witnessed others drinking as well. However, because he’d always been stuck in some sort of suit of armor or another, and had never been allowed to show his face, Ritt had never been able to enjoy such hors d'oeuvres or drinks before at all the parties he’d been forced to show himself at. The maids at the residence he’d been given also didn’t buy such expensive things, and had mostly stuck to buying the necessities to keep up with his great need for large quantities of food, so he’d also never been able to try it there, either.

 

Yes, Ritt was indeed curious as to what this alluring looking wine might taste like.

 

In the end, figuring that there was no way that it could ever possibly harm him, even if for some reason the Prince had laced it with something or even poisoned it, Ritt let his curiosity prevail, and took a large sip of the drink, allowing himself to fully taste its flavor. And much to his surprise, his mouth met with a light, sparkling, thrilling flavor, of which he’d never tasted in anything before! It was like his mouth was dancing and fizzling, and Ritt quickly sipped it all down, enjoying the taste immensely.

 

“...I really like this!”

 

Ritt raised his glass happily in thanks towards the Prince, and the Prince just smiled a quiet little soft smile, and swept his hand towards a table off to his right where a large amount of similar glasses of wine awaited. Ritt’s eyes lit up, and his feet quickly carried him over to the table, his hands reaching for more of the delicious cups of nectar. One after another he sipped the drinks down, taking a moment in-between each of them to savor the alluring sensation it caused. He could feel the wonderful bubbliness of its texture as he drank it down, but he could also feel the alcohol inside of it trying to take effect on him as well, even if the inherent detoxification process in his body almost immediately removed it a moment later. But still, just that small momentary taste of intoxication was just as thrilling for Ritt as drinking the delicious concoction was. The feeling of getting hazy and muddled for a moment and then becoming crystal clear again was quite fun for him; It was almost like a game in and of itself, like he was a toddler learning about some fun newly discovered function of his body.

 

And while he was busy enjoying himself like this, the watchers that had surrounded him up to this point finally decided to swoop in.

 

“Oh my, Sir Pet, you really must slow down… Hohoho!”

 

“Well if he won’t, then there’s no trouble if we keep him company during this time, now is there?”

 

“I’d love to ask you about your clothes, Sir Pet. Did Lord Tavril choose these for you himself? Are these what you normally wear?

 

“Sir Pet, Sir Pet! Tell us a bit about your relationship with Lord Tavril, will you?”

 

“Oh yes, what a good topic! Tell us, Sir Pet, what is the Lord like when he’s with you?”

 

“Does he treat you nicely? Is he caring? Is he cruel?”

 

“What do the two of you do together?”

 

“How long have you been together?”

 

“What do you think of him?”

 

Ritt was surprised at the wave of questions that came flooding towards him. He clutched the glass that he was holding against him in surprise, causing it to make a noise of protest as the sudden change of his grip brought it close to shattering. He’d never quite been swarmed like this before, so Ritt had no idea how to handle such things. In his panic and confusion, Ritt could only return to his basics, dutifully answering the questions that were brought to him, just like he did in the mage’s tower, choosing to completely ignore the rude name that they’d all started calling him.

 

“Uh, ummm, Sien did pick out these clothes for me… And he’s very kind to me, always. We eat and talk, hang out together, and sometimes go places… I may be his pet, but I believe we’ve become very close. We haven’t been together for very long, but Sien is very important to me.”

 

Some of the people present crooned at Ritt’s sweet replies, whether sincerely or mockingly, and soon another voice called out from amongst the mob.

 

“...Have you ever seen him kill someone?”

 

There was a fuss of reactions from the surrounding nobles, but many of the voices seemed to echo the same question, even if they sounded to have a hefty amount of derision thrown in with their curiosity. Ritt didn’t speak, only pulling his eyebrows more closely together and nodding in affirmation to their question. Yes, Ritt had seen Sien kill people plenty of times. Up close, and from afar. Both with a sword, and with awe inspiring, god-like magic.

 

The crowd ate up Ritt’s solemn expression, jumping on it like a beacon, and began raining down more questions upon him.

 

“Who was it, who was it?!”

 

“Was it bloody? Gruesome? Gorey?”

 

“Did they deserve it? Or was it for no reason?!”

 

“Was he angry, or did he do it just for fun?”

 

Ritt looked around the crowd like a puppy surrounded by a pack of hyenas, and his mouth shut firmly, no longer willing to answer their questions. He felt very overwhelmed and saddened by the situation. A part of him couldn’t help but wish that Sien was here with him right now to save him from all of this.

 

The flock of nosey nobles didn’t take too kindly to Ritt’s silence, however. Their questions increased in volume, along with their clambering.

 

“Tell us, tell us!”

 

“Come on, what’s the most surprising thing you've seen with him!”

 

“You have to let us know!”

 

Ritt opened his mouth, feeling a type of pressure from others that he’d never been subjected to before. He wanted to answer them, so long as it meant that all of their yelling and demanding would stop. And so, he forced out the one and only answer he could think of, the one truth that he could think to say.

 

“The most surprising thing… I guess, it’s… It’s that no matter how strong you are, you can still get sad and feel hurt by others… And that even if you’re a monster, you can still find someone out there who will take you in and accept you.”

 

The crowd grew quiet for a moment, turning Ritt’s poetic words over in their heads and trying to understand them. But soon the quiet was broken, and the dissatisfied onlookers quickly returned to their loud and pushy ways, demanding a ‘real’ answer. A few even reached out as if to grab at Ritt and shake the answers that they wanted out of him.

 

And from behind the aggressive mob, the voice that Ritt was wishing to hear suddenly called out.

 

“Hey! What the heck are all of you doing to my Ritt?!”