The Uninvited Princess ✔

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"Pranee, keep away from her. She isn't trustworthy."

Shashi locked eyes with the woman but she only stared back calmly and with amusement. Pranee found herself being shielded from the woman as Shashi stood in between them.

"Now, now Shashi. I was only educating the girl."

"Stay out of it, Wipa." Shashi turned their attention to Pranee. "We should go."

Shashi nudged Pranee to leave and she did so while looking over her shoulder in confusion. Shashi grabbed their staff with a foot the moment they got to the boardwalk. Many cloth bags hung from the staff and Pranee could tell that they must've been away so long due to shopping.

"Shashi! What's wrong?" Pranee asked.

Shashi shook their head. "Nothing is wrong. You have to be careful around the marketplace. Especially with people like her."

"How come?"

"She's a swindler. Swindlers always cause trouble."

Pranee's eyebrows scrunched together. "Really? She seemed nice."

"I'll explain in a quieter place. There are too many people around here." Shashi looked around before hopping onto the staff. "We should go, the rain is only going to get stronger."

"We're leaving? Already?"

"The faster we leave, the faster we'll get back to the tower," Shashi sighed. "Is there anything else you needed to do?"

"Well, no."

"Then we can go."

"I don't think-"

Before she could finish her sentence, the staff came at her to scoop her up like the previous time. Pranee instinctively jumped and found herself face to face with Shashi. Her arms were wrapped around their neck and she could feel herself blush from her sudden action.

"Pranee..." Shashi murmured.

The rain had dampened Shashi's hair significantly, causing it partially block their eyes. Pranee stared into their eyes with mild shock before she answered.

"Yes?"

"Could you please adjust your position? It's hard to see where we're going." They said softly.

"Oh, right." Pranee blushed even harder and leaned her head to the side so Shashi could navigate properly.

"Shashi?"

"Yes?"

"About Kiet and Chann..."

"It's alright. We'll be seeing them again another day."

"Ah no, I wanted to-"

"We should talk later. Talking like this is extremely hard."

"Oh, right."

They continued to fly but it increasingly became difficult. Pranee looked at the cloth bags and could see that water had begun to fill the bags. Pranee tried to look down at the ground to see how far up they were but only dark clouds surrounded them.

"Should we be travelling like this? It seems dangerous. I can't even see the ground."

Shashi didn't say anything but she could tell that they were displeased.

"The bags. Are they filling with water?"

"Yes."

Shashi clicked their tongue in disapproval and the staff began to descend.

"Hold on tight. I have no idea where we're landing so this may be difficult."

Pranee nodded and could feel her heart drop as she could feel the two of them drop through the air suddenly. Unlike their last landing, this landing was more chaotic and nerve-wracking.

Pranee shut her eyes in hopes that this wasn't the end for the both of them. Shashi seemed to be a skilled wizard but she couldn't trust that they'd been in situations like that before. She could only hear thunder and the pouring rain causing her muscles tensed.

"Pranee."

She only tensed at her name. She didn't want to open her eyes.

"Pranee, we're on the ground."

Her eyes snapped open and she saw Shashi's concerned face staring back at her.

"Are you okay?" They asked and she looked away in embarrassment.

"Yes, uh..." She looked around. "Where exactly are we?"

They seemed to be in the middle of the jungle but it was difficult to see any signs of civilization beyond the foliage. Pranee carefully stepped off the staff and Shashi followed. The staff still hovered in place, still carrying the bags of goods Shashi had bought.

"Not sure, but I saw a building further down that way." Shashi pointed to the right with their head. "We may have luck finding shelter there for the night."

"Do you think it would be rude to ask for lodging like this suddenly? It's very late at night..."

"We have no other choice unless you want to sleep in the rain tonight."

Pranee couldn't think of a response and just followed Shashi. She couldn't distinguish where exactly they were going but Shashi seemed to be confident at least. Before long, they came to a clearing and there was a small building with a fenced up around for what seemed to be cattle. There was a man that seemed to be retrieving laundry from a clothesline and Shashi sighed in relief.

"Looks like I was right."

"You weren't confident before?" Pranee asked nervously.

"I had seen either a building or a very odd-shaped giant rock from the sky. Seeing in the dark while it's raining isn't exactly the easiest task."

Pranee frowned. She thought that Shashi would use magic to enhance their eyesight but she didn't know enough magic to know if that sort of feat was possible. After some more walking, they reached the building and were ready to get the attention of the owners. Before they could make a sound, a voice piped up from behind them.

"Oh, thank goodness. We were able to contact a wizard."

The man seemed like an old farmer since his clothes looked thoroughly worn and stained with dirt. The wrinkles on his forehead smoothened briefly as he met Shashi's gaze with relief.

"Ah, the universe seems to have brought us together then. My..." Shashi looked to Pranee for a moment, deep in thought and Pranee stood there blinking. "Associate and I were travelling back to our homes when this storm appeared. We were wondering if you would be so kind to host us for the night."

"Of course, of course. Let's get inside first and we can discuss more."

Before they went inside, Pranee thought she had heard a strange sound behind them but when she looked to see what it was, she saw nothing.

She still felt unease as she could feel something watching her from a distance.

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Swift as a Coursing River by birthev