Luck in the gallop 3

By the time they reached Alycante it was night outside. There was a little over an hour left before the curfew, and since the laws of the city applied to everyone, there was no way they could make it to Zoye's mansion. However, no one wanted to spend the night in the carriages, so they stopped at one of the more expensive-looking inns.

Louis and Brelle in the first carriage heard strange noises from behind across the road, but couldn't identify them. However, the moment Nielle literally kicked Shane out of the carriage and everyone watched as Lacrisan rolled to the ground, laid there for a moment and began to squirm in exhaustion, as if he had barely woken up, everyone knew.

Brelle ran to Shane, Louis to Nielle while the king walked towards the inn as if he hadn't seen them.

"What happened? Shane, are you okay? Can you get up?" Brelle leaned over to Shane.

Shane raised his blue pupils to him in confusion, as for a moment he didn't know what was happening, but then he came to his senses. He didn't know how many hours Nielle tortured him, but at some part of the journey he didn't wake him up and left him lying exhausted. He felt sick, everything hurt and all he wanted was to sleep all night in a room without that white haired bastard.

Anyway, he wasn't in an unknown state, he was raised to be able to stand up in any situation. Therefore, he only sat for a moment before he touched the carriage without Brelle's help and pulled himself to his feet. He glanced at Nielle, who was ignoring him as if nothing had happened.

"Nielle!" Louis was visibly angry, "What have you done to Shane again?" he began, but Nielle wouldn't let him.

"Nothing special...and it's none of your business," Nielle stated.

"It's not, but we're not at home. We're in Alycante and we're not even in Zoye's mansion!" he declared, "How are you going to survive without Lacrisan here tonight? You fool!" Louis was really full of anger as Nielle didn't understand his own shortcomings. However, Nielle understood them well.

He didn't have time to say anything at all when the king called them to the inn.

"Stupid laws still haven't changed so use your Lacrisans and secure a room for the night. I bought a private section but you are still required to prove your luck. Nothing new. See you at sunrise. Good night," the king said, since today's trip to Alycante wasn't their first.

"See, Nielle?" Louis's anger lingered.

"Lui, just shut up sometimes," Nielle said.

"Nielle, how are you going to buy a room without his help? At least apologize, I don't know if it will help you, but at least you could really admit your mistakes," Louis nodded to Shane, who didn't understand at all.

Nielle laughed, "I don't see why."

"Nielle!" Louise couldn't believe that he had such an idiot for a brother, as Nielle was currently.

"Prince Louis, the curfew will bee soon, it would be good if we buy the rooms," Iuwine clarified.

"Iuwin, thank you for helping me as always," Brelle was grateful.

"I can manage two people somehow. But Prince Nielle." He looked at Nielle for a while, who knew that he was out of luck.

"No need, Iwi. Just go to sleep. I'm not a child," he nodded.

Lacriasan hesitated for a moment before reaching the stone counter where a man was standing. Taking the needle beside him, he pricked himself lightly and let the stone find out if luck loved him enough to use the rooms bought by the king. The stone glowed pale green and the guy allowed Iuwin to take the two princes with him.

"Nielle, if you don't convince your Lacrisan to share a room with you and end up in the prison, at least let me know and we'll send someone," Louis explained.

"Thanks, Lui, thanks," Nielle ignored him.

Shane, who at least by watching them understood what the system is in Alycante, reached the counter and asked the guy.

"I'll show you my luck and when it's good enough, I can go to sleep in one of the rooms right away? Don't I have to pay anything?" he didn't know.

"No, the rooms have been bought, you just have to prove yourself," he clarified.

Shane nodded, took the needle, pricked himself, and left the crystal to let it be known that even though he didn't seem like it at the moment, he was truly loved by Luck.

The crystal glowed a pale yellow, which was only one step ahead of white, making the guy whistle in admiration.

"Did I pass?" Shane knew.

"Yes, you can take three people with you if you want," he clarified.

Shane didn't look at Nielle at all, "No need," he said and walked towards the stairs with the keys.

"And you? Will you try?" the guy looked at Nielle.

"No," Nielle said, stepping away, "Luck doesn't love me, but it hates me quit a lot," he clarified and disappeared outside.

He walked for a while wondering when exactly the curfew was starting. He assumed he had plenty of time, so he headed for a nearby tea house. Although Alycante was an inaccessible place, still only one or two teahouses were obtainable. He knew that finding out the information he wanted was the main thing at the moment.

He had no idea if he would have any time to walk alone through Alycante in the coming days, so tonight he had to investigate everything. As soon as he reached the closed teahouse, he knocked and entered. He wanted nothing special, just a way to the place where the Infeys lived. And he got it.

Surprisingly, the inn wasn't at all far from the one his group was sleeping in, so he didn't walk for a long time. He didn't hesitate and went inside.

"Good evening," he stopped at the counter, "You're lucky tonight, you just met someone who will give you a nice money for a small service." Nielle stated, pulling out a pouch.

"White-haired Rinselan," the guy raised his eyebrows and laughed lightly, "Which of the princes are you?" he asked, "Actually, it doesn't matter, I know none of you can afford a room here with you luck," he didn't accept the money.

"I don't want a room," Nielle added, "I heard that a couple of guests stayed here. I want to contact them. One of them is a good-looking smiling young man, long black hair, golden eyes, the other is red haired, blue eyes, more unpleasant, they are dressed quite expensively and their luck is certainly interesting. You know who I'm talking about. I want you to contact them, let them know that I came and give this letter to them." he gave the man a neatly bound envelope with a note for the pair of Infeys.

The guy hesitated for a moment, took the pouch of money, looked inside and nodded, "Anything else?"

"No," Nielle said, looking at the counter with a pile of papers, "what is it?" he took one and started reading.

"There's a three-day tournament being organized to celebrate Miss Zoye's birthday, this year's winnings are exceptional," said the guy.

Nielle read with interest before taking the paper, "Interesting," he said and walked out.

He didn't know how credible the stuff in the paper was, but if the winnings were real, he was sure the Infeys would be staying in Alycante for a while. And although he wasn't usually interested, Nielle had a feeling it wouldn't hurt to win some of those prizes this year just in case.

Anyway, the first game was tomorrow and although there was still a chance to get into it, he wasn't going to force anything. The main current issue was the upcoming curfew. Nielle didn't feel like being on the streets when they were filled with patrols who would lock him up in local dungeons he didn't control. That's why he moved to the teahouse, where he was able to spend the night.

Nielle didn't like the local laws, but he had no way to change them. The soldiers who came with them to Alycante slept in the carriages outside the city, since spending the night in the carriages was like spending the night outside.

Nielle literally ran into the teahouse when he heard the first patrols in the streets. He walked to the back of the teahouse, behind the counter where no one was waiting anymore and moved upstairs where some employees were sleeping. He didn't require anyone to greet him, but one of the guys, who knew he was still coming, was waiting upstairs.

"Your Highness, I wish you a good night," he said, handing Nielle a lantern.

Nielle nodded, took it and walked to the back room where no one else was. As soon as he closed the door behind him, he sat down on the bed and took a deep breath. He didn't understand how Brelle could live with the fact that he was dependent on Lacrisan goodness.

Nielle couldn't live with the fact that his freedom depended on a Lacrisan, never mind Iuwine, taking pity on him and letting him sleep in an inn. It was more advantageous to secure one's own roads.

And although his influence in Alycante was weak, it was enough to equip the tea room and Nielle didn't require more. He lay down on the prepared bed and put the paper on the table next to it. There was a lot of work waiting for him in the coming days and Nielle was curious how the whole trip would turn out.

And he wasn't the only one, because not only him, but also the rest of the princes, the Lacrisans and the Infeys, were waiting for a lot of action that they couldn't yet imagine. And some didn't even want to.