Spellbound: COMPLETE

Chapter Thirty-Four: Julie

Julie's POV

"Princess Ariadne!" I exclaimed then lowered my voice. "What are you doing here? No, never mind, you should go; you don't want to be seen with me here."

She looked at me confused. "There is no one I would rather be seen with," she replied with a smile and linked her arm through mine. "And I came here looking for... Scott Reynolds."

"Why?" I asked suspicious; he was the town trouble-maker.

She got a sad look in her eye. "He is our mail boy, and I wanted to ask him a few questions."
"Good luck getting the truth out of him," I said.

"I'm sure I could persuade him."

Of course she could. She's the princess after all. 

"Now tell me, why should I not be seen with you?" She asked and I looked around and saw many weary eyes on me, and many confused ones on her.

"Because... I'm not exactly favored here," I put simply, not knowing how much she knew of my brother's accusations.

"I do not see how anyone could not like you," she said.

I thought of many mistakes I had made just that day, all of which would qualify, but I didn't mention them to her-highness, and shrugged instead.

"Me on the other hand... I am ashamed to say that I have offended some very good people, and will probably only continue doing so," she sighed and shook her head, then her eyes widened. "Do know a Simeon?"

"No... I don't think so," I said and her face fell. "Why?"

"It is just... I was hoping... Never mind, it is too late anyway." She shrugged then looked at me. "Do you need anything?"

I looked at her and saw that she really wanted to help. I debated telling her, and finally decided it would be for the best; I could pay her back.

"Some flour would be nice," I said.

"Anything else?" She asked and I sighed.

"If it's no trouble, I was hoping to get some apples and sugar as well."

"It is no trouble at all," she said as we walked into the nearest store.

We walked passed the storekeeper who gave Ariadne a sweet smile but glared at me, to which I smiled back at him.

"Flour, apples, and some sugar, please," Ariadne said. 

"Of course, milady," he said bowing and scurried off to go grab her request.

He came back a minute late with a bag of flour, a basket of apples, and another bag filled with sugar.

"Is this enough?"

Ariadne looked over at me and I slowly went over to examine the contents of the bags and weighed them in my hands.

"I'll need 6 cups of flour," I said and set down the bag of flour. "Five apples, and two cups of sugar."

He looked at me in surprise. "You know what a cup is?"

I almost rolled my eyes. "Yes, I do. I love to cook and that's how my mother measures her food."
He smiled. "It's the best way to do it."

Then he took out what I needed and set it on his counter. "Weight or negotiate?"

I looked at Ariadne and thought for a moment, remembering how much it weighed; it would be a lot of money. "We'll negotiate."

He grinned. "100 pieces of silver."

I gasped. "That's twice as much as if we'd weighed it."

He looked pleased and surprised at the same time. "Fine, 70 pieces."