As they rode through the streets, the people that were outside stared at them. 

The other knights didn't seem to care but Katie became uncomfortable with all the unwelcoming looks they gave her and the men. Even though she didn't like the looks, she tried her best to ignore them like the other knights and kept her chin up.

She looked to her side at Theo and saw that he was calm and focused. He saw her looking at him and smiled but didn't turn to her.

"What's wrong?" He asked quietly and she winced at how he noticed easily. "Not used to this?"

"Yeah I guess.." Katie mumbled.

 "How are you used to this though?" She asked in the same quiet tone and he sighed.

"He might seem friendly and trustworthy because he's the treasurer but my father was not a very good role model for us or for anyone else." Theo said, his voice almost emotionless, "We had a two-faced father."

He didn't say anything after so Katie took it as a hint that he didn't want to talk about it.

"I'm sorry you had a bad father." She muttered and he nodded.

"Me too." Theo said and the twins glanced at each other.

After a few minutes of riding into their horses, Prince Oliver led them into a village that looked the same as the other villages of the Kingdom except with more friendlier faces. 

"Wouldn't it be too obvious if they were hiding here?" Keith said to Oliver and he scowled.

"Maybe, but my Kingdom, my orders." Oliver said, "We start from the friendlier villages and work our way down to the more harder to get into villages."

"Alright fine but my men, my orders." Keith said smugly and had a moment to himself to think of what he just said and how he said it.

'I'm starting  to sound like Lance..' He thought with a stone face as he remembered the time he shared with Lance. 'I've hung out with him too much.'

Keith groaned, shaking his head.

"Focus." He told himself and got off his horse and tied its leash to a pole.

As his knights followed his same actions, he followed Oliver to meet the head elder of the village.

"It's a pleasure to have you here, My Prince." The head elder said and bowed before Oliver.

"I have a request." Oliver said and the elder got back up, "Will you let Prince Keith and his knights search your village?"

The elder paused for a moment but immediately agreed.

"Of course." He said and both Princes nodded.

"Thank you." Keith said and proceeded to go deeper in the village with the knights following him.

They searched and searched until there was nowhere else to search. They went from village to village searching until the sun went down.

"So far, nothing." Keith said sighing and Oliver sighed with him.

"That's just half of the villages in Emeraldis." Oliver said.

"The other half are the harder to get into ones so get plenty of rest tonight. You'll need energy tomorrow." He said and pat Keith's back.

They returned to the palace, exhausted and went to their room. While Katie was waiting for the bathroom to be free, she realized that she forgot to buy new bandages.

"I'll be back Theo, cover for me if they ask!" She told him before grabbing her bag and rushing out of the room. She found the balcony again and jumped down from it because she knew she'd get lost if she tried to find the outdoor to the palace.

She quickly untied the leash of Bandit and got him out of the horse stable. He made noises but she gave him a look and he shut up.

"Come on Bandit, we'll be quick." She said against his mane as she climbed on.

Thankfully Bandit galloped quickly into the villages. She climbed down and tied him to a pole and pat him mumbling to him to stay. 

Katie ran into a village shop and searched for the bandages. While she was searching, she bumped into a covered person. She immediately apologized from what she learned but she looked up at the stranger, she saw the same familiar pink lilac eyes. Before the stranger could react, Katie quickly pulled the hood off the stranger's head from instinct and long golden hair fell out.

"Princess Romelle-" Katie said with wide eyes but realized that the altean marks were not there so she remembered who she was.

"You." She growled, "It's you from the Forest Bandits at Dorian."

The girl cursed under her breath and snatched her hood back from Katie's hand and ran out. Katie also ran out the store about to chase her but she needed new bandages and she remembered what happened the last time she chased someone by herself.

"Darn it." She said and groaned also remembering the warning Keith gave her for being reckless.

'I'll just find her another day.' She thought as she forced herself to walk back into the shop.

After finding the bandages she wanted, she bought herself enough to last her half a year with her earned salary from the castle and head back to the palace on Bandit. She climbed a high tree after putting Bandit back in the horse stable and climbed back onto the balcony and tip-toed back into the room with her stacks of bandages. 

Thankfully the men were still up and the bathroom seemed available so she rushed in there and did her personal hygiene and fixed her bandages.

"Why do you look so conflicted?" Theo asked once Katie got out of the bathroom and returned to her bed.

"No reason.." She said putting her bag of bandages somewhere safe and near her. Theo could tell she was lying but didn't question it.

After a few minutes, a man turned the lights out and they all retreated to their own beds. After Katie said goodnight to Theo, she laid down unable to sleep.

'Why does that girl look so much like the Princess?' She thought as she turned her back to the wall next to her bed. 

'Could it be that they are the same person?'

'Princess Romelle has altean marks but the girl doesn't.' The other side of her mind argued.

'What if they're related or maybe twins?' 

'Then why is she not introduced to us and why did she appear in Dorian to attack us?'

Katie shook the thoughts out of her head and tried to sleep.

'I'll just try to ask Prince Oliver tomorrow.' She thought one last time as she finally found sleep.

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A/N

I'm backkk!!

My vacation was pretty fun but found out my childhood friend's dad died from COVID-19 😔😔

What do you guys think about the connection between the bandit girl and Princess Romelle? And if you have any questions about the earlier chapters, I'll be glad to answer them now.

Thank you for reading and have a good day or night or whenever you're reading this 😊😊

-Silver