The King's Servant

Chapter 4

Hinata's POV

I yawned, dragging myself out of bed. The prince called that I come to his room, crack of dawn. Gee, does he always wake up this early? I changed, making sure my clothes were neat before going to his room and knocking.

"Good morning your highness." I said with a smile, the prince waving me in. I stepped inside, shutting the door behind me.

"Hinata, would you come with me to the markets tonight?"

"The markets at night?"

"Yes."

"Aren't those kinda, dangerous, your highness..?"

"Yes."

"...Er, yes of course I'll come with you." I said with a small smile, the prince nodding and saying that was all he needed from me. I gave him a bow before leaving. What did he need at the markets that he wanted to go by himself at night, and with me? I hope nothing happens, I'm no good in any kind of combat so I couldn't really protect him. Or myself-

Time skip to that night

I met up with the prince, quietly following him outside and to the stables. The prince had a cloak on and the hood up, probably a good idea so it'd be harder to recognize him. Especially since it was getting darker. I watched as he took a horse from it's stall, patting it's snout and saddling it up.

"Wow."

"What."

"I've never seen the royal horses. They're beautiful!" I said with a smile, petting along the horse's sleek, shiny, and smooth coating. The prince nodded, making sure the saddle was on properly.

"This one is mine. His name is Jean." I nodded, admiring the sleek tan coloration before the prince climbed on. Helping me up since, well, I wasn't to sure how to get up on something so tall. The prince nudged the horse forward with a gentle kick, the sudden movement forward startling me as I wrapped my arms around the prince to avoid falling off.

"Oi, boke, what're you doing!" I quickly let go, hanging onto the back of the saddle to hang on.

"Ah..! I'm so sorry! I wasn't thinking." I said quickly, the prince sighing and turning back to look in front of him.

"You can hold onto me but not so tight." He muttered. I tried to not hang onto him, but the horse walked a bit bumpy and hanging onto the edges of a saddle didn't feel as safe. So I gave in and wrapped my arms around the prince's waist. Just tight enough so I didn't think I was gonna die.

Kageyama's POV

Tsk, scaredy cat. Hinata hung onto me the entire ride. I'd like to have trotted or even galloped to the markets since it'd be quicker, but Hinata could barely handle a walking pace. 

"Finally, we're here." I said, Hinata letting go as I got off. Hinata doing his best to copy what I did, but he ended up slipping. He fell onto me as I groan, Hinata apologizing and getting off. Helping me up as I dusted myself off and grabbed the reins to walk Jean with us. He was expensive, I'd rather not have someone take him.

"Alright, come on so we can get back before my mom or dad finds out I'm missing." I said, Hinata nodding and following me quickly. Prices were a bit high, but not like I didn't have money. I stood in front of a merchant, purchasing what I wanted when Hinata started talking. What was he going on about.

"Hey what are you-" I paused, seeing some creep trying to talk to him. Hinata looked terrified, he really didn't know how to take care of himself. I sighed, drawing the sword that was in its suspender attached to Jean's saddle. People turned when they heard the metal scrape the leather holder. Some ran, others stayed to watch. I pointed the end of the sword at the weirdo, watching him scowl at me and draw his own sword.

It looked old and rusty, but sometimes well-worn swords could be very dangerous. Hinata cowered as I and the weirdo took our stances, the sound of our swords clashing ringing throughout the whole market. Our swords clashed over and over again. I was rather lucky this guy wasn't great at sword fighting, because honestly, neither was I. I had to be trained in sword fighting as part of my lessons, but I was still a bit new at it.

I was tired, but adrenaline of possibly dying certainly kept me going. Finally, the opponent gave in. Fleeing as Hinata ran over to me while I was putting the sword back into it's place.

"Your highn- er, you're hurt!" He said in a panicked voice. I raised my brow, looking down at my arm. I didn't even feel the wound until Hinata brought it up. Bastard got a good slice through my clothing and into my upper arm.

"We should go so we can get that fixed." Hinata said with worry. I nodded in agreement since it was starting to hurt now. Once we were back at the palace, I put Jean away quickly and we headed back inside. I went to my room, setting my purchase aside and took my shirt off. Hinata knocked and came inside with a bowl of water, a rag, and some bandages. He asked me to sit down while dipping the rag into the warm water. 

"Ow.." I said as the cloth made contact with my arm.

"Sorry.. So, what did you buy?"

"Oil."

"Oil??"

"Yeah."

"What for?"

"It burns longer than normal wax candles."

"What do you need something like that for?"

"My grandpa gave me an old oil lamp before he died. It's a little rusty, but it still works. I'm going to use the oil as a light."

"What're you using a light for? Aren't you going to go to bed??"

"No. I'm going to study."

"Study, study what?"

"My father has all kinds of books and lessons and stuff he wants me to learn before I become king. I've already gone through them, but, I want to go through them again."

"Oh, I see. Um.. what I said the other night... about you being an awful king...? I didn't mean it. I was kinda mad you were calling me names." Hinata said sheepishly as he kept cleaning off my arm. I looked at him with a tilted head. Maybe he was just kinda hot-headed like I was.

"It's alright."

"Are you sure..? I feel bad. I really really didn't mean it!"

"It's okay. If I was you, I probably would've said worse." I said, making Hinata giggle. He finished cleaning up my arm and wrapped it tightly in the bandages. He made sure it was tight to keep it from bleeding to much again. I checked his work before nodding in approval.

"Thank you. I apologize about tonight, I didn't think there'd be a sword fight. But, you can go to bed now." I said, Hinata nodding as he slowly got up, gathering the medical things. He went to the door before pausing.

"Your highness?"

"Yes."

"Would, you like any company while you study?"