Luck in flowers 2

Nielle laughed and slammed Shane's sword down. Shane automatically reacted to the attack and pulled his weapon closer to him, but he didn't do it fast enough as Nielle's next swing knocked the blade out of his hand.

Shane blinked in surprise as he was left without a weapon to defend himself against this man. He wasn't used to being at a disadvantage in a fight and certainly not losing like these days. The lack of luck in the country and his condition had a really unpleasant effect on him.

Before he looked up at Nielle he felt the touch of the foreign sword at his throat. He gulped softly at how quickly the whole fight had happened and backed away slightly.

Nielle followed him and took a step forward with his sword still at his neck. Then another one...and another until Shane slammed his back into a tree. No sooner had he done so than Nielle smiled contentedly and pressed the blade more firmly under Shane's chin, which he lifted lightly with his sword.

"Do you think you could defend yourself against them with your abilities?" Nielle asked amused.

Shane gave Nielle an irritated look, but didn't speak. He didn't feel like talking about the fact that it was his first day in Rinsel, that he was only weakened and didn't feel like fighting.

However, as soon as Nielle pressed his sword against his neck and forced him to swallow dry, as his skin was lightly cut, he began to feel that perhaps he had come to execute him rather that save him. But Nielle knew what he was doing. He pushed harder, creating a shallow cut on the young man's throat. He leaned closer to him and with the sword still under his chin, brought his face close enough to see the details of his irises.

"Light blue...beautiful." He laughed and moved closer to his neck.

Shane wanted to protest, but it was hard to do with a sword at his throat, so when Nielle's tongue reached the slightly shallow gash and pecked at it, Shane just gritted his teeth in pain. However, he wasn't going to let this happen again. The moment Nielle stole some of his blood, Shane's neck flared painfully and he once again felt the sick feeling of his luck slipping away, he kicked forward.

Nielle jumped back amused, laughing as he expected a similar reaction and put the sword back. He motioned for the men to return to their horses and walked over to Shane again, who was just clutching his neck in displeasure.

"I appreciate all the efforts to guard my property, so I'm glad how nicely you defend yourself, but in the future, do it only if someone else tries to take it," he began and extended his hand to him, but Shane irritably brushed it away, " Lacris sent you to us for some reason, but why you are here is beyond me...all I care about is how you behave in my presence...and believe me, insolence is not a problem for me. To teach someone discipline happens to be my hobby. If you want to be naughty, I'll have the same fun anyway. I'll just use ways you won't like. So think about how you want to behave and whether it's better to be tame. Lacrisan."

After his words, Shane realized that this white haired youth was indeed the prince he was supposed to meet yesterday. He cursed in his mind, how he didn't believe that he really had more bad luck than good luck and closed his eyes in an attempt to adapt to the unpleasant situation.

"Shane," he finally said disgruntled, backing away from Nielle as his proximity irritated him, "my name is Shane."

Nielle smiled gently: "To me, you´re Lacrisan."

"I'm not a thing, I'm a person, I have a name," he frowned, "I know it's hard to understand, since it's hard for me to take your people as a humans, but if you treat me like a thing, I won't be the only one for whom it will be unpleasant." He clarified.

Nielle gently raised his eyebrows and after a while laughed with pleasure: "Really?" he chuckled lightly, "I can't wait." He looked at him with interest for a moment before walking back to his horse.

Shane looked at him with displeasure, but since he had found the person he was sent to, he wasn't about to back down. After a while he strode after him.

"Can you ride a horse?" Nielle asked him, dismounting his white horse before letting bring another one to Shane.

"Of course," He didn't understand who the prince thought he was.

However, he didn´t receive additional information. He understood that he was supposed to disembark, so he did so. When Nielle made sure that he really wasn't lying, he instructed the soldiers which formation they should keep in. He then broke into a gallop and Shane, who had no idea where they were going, set off after him. He didn't feel comfortable knowing who he was following, and the presence of eleven guys who he clearly couldn't count as allies didn't add to his vigor.

However, he had no choice, he had nowhere else to go and he knew he had to fulfill his duties. And so he followed him. He clearly wasn't beaming with enthusiasm, and Shane doubted he'll ever even crack a genuine smile in this hideous country.

There was only one thought running through his mind: "How could I end up with a Rinselan who doesn't even call the Lacrisans by name?"

***

When he arrived in the city, he didn't know what to look at first. The enthusiasm that had been filling him all day rose to a level he didn't even know was possible, and it duly showed on him. He energetically ran between the alleys, between the various shops with goods that he often saw for the first time. The world had really changed during that time, and he had no idea how many things people had invented.

He wanted to buy something, he wanted to talk to someone, but he didn't know where to stop first, so he just walked up and down, greeted people, looked at everything, and couldn't stop at one place. Until one of the merchants forced him.

„Luck with you," he greeted him in front of the flower stand, looking contented.

Rue looked at him enthusiastically and finally approached someone: "Luck with you." He smiled and looked at the beautiful bouquets that the man was selling.

"It's a beautiful day to give flowers to your bride-to-be, look around, make her happy, that's what guys are for." The merchant laughed.

Rue blinked slightly, as if for a moment he didn't understand what the man was talking about, but he smiled anyway. In the normal world, at the age he looked, it was normal to have a fiancee, or to be married with several children to feed. However, for Rue there was no such thing. In his country, everything worked differently in his customs, and he knew that he wouldn´t get a fiancee or anything like that. And he wasn't even interested.

Infey was a land where Luck decided everything. Their population was numerically stable. They all lived in it for hundreds of years before their contact with Luck was cut off. Only then was one of them, according to the layer in which Infey was absent, given permission to create a child. In other circumstances, similar acts were prohibited and sex was a taboo throughout the country. Rue considered all intimate matters to be blessed by Luck, and sex was a most sensitive matter for him, which he had never experienced, nor intended until Luck´ll command.

"I don't have an upcoming one, but I'd like to buy some flowers." He smiled and looked at the colorful goods in front of him.

The man was confused by his phrase, but he didn't show it: "Of course...flowers are beautiful for every occasion for everyone." He laughed.

"They are beautiful...which one would you choose?" He wondered.

The man was waiting for this question all the time. Ever since he spotted rich looking Lacrisan in the crowd, he was looking forward to selling his flowers to him at a high price. Recently, business hasn´t gone very well, flower shops have increased in number and he really needed to sell as much as possible. Although the quality of his flowers wasn´t above standard in the capital, as he didn´t say. However, the rich, naive and young Lacrisans were the best buyers, they loved flowers and, in a country unpleasant to them, they liked to enjoy their days with similar frivolities.

"When I see you like that, daffodils suit you," he started with the cheaper options and then closed his eyes thoughtfully and took a better look at Rue, "or no no...roses, definitely roses...red...or yellow. ..no, white, unmistakably white...rare white roses...behold." He pointed in front of him to the flowers he needed to sell most urgently and briskly tied several bouquets together.

"They look beautiful, don't they?" He laughed.

Rue, who found all the flowers beautiful, nodded: "They´re beautiful...white roses are common, but each flower is special." He clarified.

The florist objected: "Not at this time of the year...white ones are rarer...ask anywhere." He lied.

"Really?" Rue didn't know, "You have enough of them, you must be a skilled seller if you can get them when the time isn´t right for them." He stated naively and looked at the flowers.

"I'm the best in town." He lied and slowly started tying the bouquets into one big one.

"All of them?" Rue blinked in confusion.

"Flowers are more beautiful when there are more of them," remarked the guy with satisfaction.

"True," Rue nodded and pulled out a bag of money, "how much is it?"

"You´re very likeable and you love flowers. Show how much you have and I'll tell you, I'll give you discounts." He said.

"Thank you." Rue smiled and showed the man the contents of the pouch.

At that moment, the guy almost dropped the bouquet and he coughed loudly, as he had never seen so much money in his life.

"Are you okay?" Rue didn't understand.

"Ngh-agh-hhh-hh!" He coughed in shock, "Yeah...of course." He calmed down and calculated how much was probably in the pouch. However, he didn´t know if his head was even capable of creating such a number.

He had seen a lot of gold, silver and sometimes a diamond gem in his life, although he never owned them. However, he had never seen more diamonds in one place before. Even the royal family didn't pay with diamonds. In fact, he had never heard of them having many at all. You couldn't just get diamonds, you had to be really lucky to come across one through an acquaintance or be a thief. And if someone got one, he guarded it like his life, or he immediately turned it into gold, which was at least not noticeable. It was unheard of to have more diamond stones just like that, and the guy suddenly didn't know how to react.

"Do you live in Rinsel?" He suddenly changed the subject to find out what his customer might actually be.

"I just came, I'm passing through." explained Rue.

"Of course." Breathed the guy, knowing that it's probably just the disgustingly rich Lacrisan who travels the world and won't stay in Rinsel.

"How much are those flowers?" Rue asked again as the man didn't speak.

"Since it's you, one translucent stone will do." He laughed. He wanted to know if the young man knew anything about money at all, if he was raised only to spend. He wanted to know if he could happen to get a stone for the first time, which he never dreamed he would ever see so close, not that it would get into his possession.

"Just one?" Rue asked, pulling out a stone of which Infey had heaps.

"Only one." The guy smiled broadly as he began to enjoy the profit that was getting closer to him. Especially when he was relieved to find out that the young man was really stupid.

"Okay, thank you." Rue cheered, placing a shiny stone in front of the florist.

The guy swallowed hard as he almost didn't dare to accept the money. He only reached for the diamond stone with trembling hands while Rue stared at the white roses on the counter next to him. The exchange went through, the guy took the money he wasn't entitled to and Rue got flowers he didn't even know how to use.

"Thank you." The guy said enthusiastically and immediately hid the diamond stone in his pocket so that no one would see it.

"Thank you, Luck with you." Rue said and walked away.

The guy behind him stared silently, as if he couldn't believe what had just happened. When he woke up in the morning, his compass showed that he didn´t have much of his luck left and he would soon have to recharge it somehow. He really didn't think that the naive rich Lacrisan would get to him and just give away one diamond for a bunch of useless flowers.

He laughed excitedly for a few short seconds before a new person stopped by the flower shop. The sharp placement of his elbows on the counter forced the seller to jump up and look at the new customer. At first glance, he appeared to be a similar age to Lacrisan before him, but he had a completely different kind of smile playing on his face than the naive youth.

His bright blue eyes were just bursting with luck, which the florist always envied Lacrisans, and his red hair, matching the pleasant red uniform, was so striking that he immediately realized that this was no ordinary Lacrisan.

"I'm really lucky to have weird people today." He thought.

"Luck with you, would you like some flowers?" He asked after a while.

"You need the luck more than I, don't you think?" Ylre said with a sneer that made it clear he hadn't come here for flowers.