“Ready?” Kwon said holding the violin by its neck. Clara nodded at him smiling. He lifted the violin to his shoulder and placed his chin on the rest before starting slowly.

Clara gathered her skirts so that she wouldn’t trip as she waited for the melody to start. Kwon’s fingers flew across the strings, he began to crescendo and moved the bow faster over the strings. Clara began her dance and it caught the eye of passersby quickly.

They left the violin case open and they heard the first clanks of coins being tossed into it. Clara smiled and saw children smiling and laughing and she let go of her skirts to hold her hands out to them. They squealed with delight and danced with her as Kwon played a light upbeat melodic tune.

Kwon played around four songs before they stopped to count their winnings. They sat at the fountain as Clara put the round silver a few gold coins in their money bag.

“Not bad if I do say so myself.” Kwon said smiling to himself.

“Yeah, yeah. Be glad the mayor actually didn’t mind watching us this time.” She said playfully punching his arm. He flinched and smiled at her.

“Hey give me some of the money we earned.” He held out his hand.

“Why?” She looked at him, eyebrow raised.

“Because I want to get us something warm to eat that’s what. It’s cold out here.” He motioned his hand forward into her face and she pushed it away.

Smiling at him, a chuckle tickling the back of . She reached in the bag and handed him five silver pieces. He pocketed them and walked off. He had disappeared for a while and she sat there at the fountain looking at the sky.

Clara closed her eyes and hummed the last tune that Kwon had played softly. She listened to the sounds of horses and the people around her and smiled.

“What are you smiling so hard about?” She opened her eyes to see Kwon had returned with two fresh pieces of bread.

“Nothing much. What took you so long?” She asked grabbing the bread. She took a bite and felt it begin to work its warming magic throughout her body.

“Long line. So what are we doing now?” He began to eat his own bread.

Clara shrugged. “Take the food home and get dinner ready before dad comes home.”

Across the plaza there was a knight sitting atop his steed. He watched as the blonde man went and sat down next to the young woman.

“That can’t be…can it?” He muttered to himself. He continued to stare at them until the blonde man laughed and revealed a chain necklace with a silver ring on it. His eyes went wide when he saw the emblem set in the stone.

He urged his horse to turn and trot over to the two and they looked up at him surprised.

“May we help you, knight?” The young woman asked, her eyes wide. She scooted closer to the blonde man. The knight averted his eyes to the blonde and he nodded.

“Young man, what is your name?” He asked simply. He didn’t want to scare him away. He looked exactly like the prince, except older of course. What would he expect after ten years?

“Kwon, sir. Is there something wrong?” He answered looking at him confused.

The knight got off his horse to be at eye level with Kwon. He took off his helmet and pushed the loose curly hairs from his face.

“Do you recognize me?” He asked pointing to his face. His almond shaped eyes looked at Kwon hopeful. Kwon looked at Clara and then back at the knight and shook his head.

The knight sighed. Then he remembered the ring around Kwon’s neck.

“Where did you get that?”

Kwon looked down at his chest and gripped the ring in his hand. “I’ve always had it with me for the past ten years. Why?”

The knight grinned. “Well you may not remember me but I remember you, your majesty.”

Clara’s eyes went wide and she looked at Kwon’s reaction. His face had contorted into a very uncomfortable face.

“I am not royalty. I’m sorry if you think that but I am not.”

The knight frowned and then chuckled. “I assume you young lady have been trying to tell him. What is your name?”

“Clara. And yes. He just won’t listen to me.” She laughed with the knight. Kwon glared at Clara and she just kept laughing.

“Your majesty, it is of the utmost importance that you return to the capitol.” The knight said looking at Kwon.

“I’m not a- ugh. Forget it. Why do I need to return to the capitol?” He said no longer amused.

“Your cousin has taken your place as crown prince since your disappearance. And his father, your uncle, the duke is up to something. I feel it in my gut.”

Kwon raised an eyebrow and then closed his eyes and sighed. “May I ask your name, knight?”

The knight smiled. “All in good time. When you’ve gained more of your memory back then I’ll tell you. Or you might remember on your own.”

He got back on his horse and galloped away, leaving Clara and Kwon looking more confused than before he started speaking.

“What was that all about?” Kwon said finishing off his now cooled bread.

“We should go!” Clara exclaimed. Kwon looked at her incredulously.

“You want to go and chase after words of a knight who’s been saying the same thing I’ve told you ‘no’ a thousand times to? Have you lost your mind?”

She smiled at him. “Maybe I have. It’s also been years since I’ve been to my childhood home. Come on, let’s go!”

Kwon raised a brow at her. Her smile was contagious as one grew on his lips. He sighed.

“Fine. We can go.”

She squealed in delight and jumped to hug him. He laughed and hugged her back.

“Alright, alright. Let’s go home. We’ve got a long trip ahead of us.” She said picking up their things. He shook his head as he held his new violin following behind her on the walk home.

~~~

A hooded man stood over by one of the market stalls as he heard every word of a conversation near the fountain.

He smirked at this new information. He went into a back alleyway and wrote a letter and rolled it up. He put two fingers to his lips and whistled.