The road trip was coming to an end for now. Lady Evelyn wanted me to get a view of the palace before we entered the city, but I wasn’t particularly interested in seeing more city outlines. Traube had been mind-blowing, but inside this part of Anlage, that sort of view was more or less commonplace.

  Reading the letter from my parents was far more interesting to me.

  Dear Julia,

  Mom here. I wrote that myself this time. I am getting better. I was so worried! Your last letters took so long to arrive. And then we got five at once! Can’t you send them a bit more regularly?

  Dad here. I’ll try to get better at writing soon. So you say you visited a giant tower? Like all the homes back here stacked? That must be an impressive sight! Maybe one day I can see such a thing.

  Sally here. Why haven’t you even visited home once yet? At this point, you're not gonna make it before harvest! You're gonna make it for the winter packing right? And yes! I wrote the Sally here thing myself!

  Sandra here. Mom says I am getting better at my letters. How many do you know now?

  Allen here. You met knights? So lucky! Wait, are you bringing home a sword? I heard about swords from the priest! I want one!

  Love, your Family

  I smiled. The fact that I could read it entirely on my own made me very happy. I had received quite a few before this one. Mom was super worried about the lack of letters coming in. Funny enough, because I was in the city's part of Anlage now, sending letters was pretty easy. I could do that from any guild. But receiving a letter was a lot trickier.

  When the Baron learned I was in the cities and had a guild card, he began sending letters to the guild. When I sent a new letter, they would recognize my location and ask whether I wanted my mail forwarded to me. But even with a fast bird, this still took a couple of days. So we ended up sending them to a guild we haven’t visited yet. It became a whole thing.

  At the end of the day, it meant that Mom probably got three or four more letters before I received even one from her. And I hadn’t gotten my second cluster of letters from her yet. Lady Evelyn had them forwarded to the Royal Capital guild.

  “We are here,” Lady Evelyn said as she opened the carriage door.

  What. That. I rubbed my eyes. The city was bigger than anything I had seen so far, but that was expected. What caught my attention was the central building. It was bigger than big. It seemed to defy the concept. A mountain seemed a more reasonable word to call it. There could be no doubt. That was the home of a King. If the Malatise Manor made a Hatula building look like a toy. Than this structure… no, even a toy was too large for Malatise Manor in this thought.

  “So that is the King’s Castle?” I asked. She had informed me that a king’s home is usually called a castle or a palace. Apparently, King Rosen preferred the term castle.

  She nodded.

  Alyssa pointed to the west. A vast patch of grass lay near a circular building. “And that’s the Royal Academy!”

  “To think we’d be back here so soon,” William added.

  “Yeah, we both graduated less than a year ago,” Alyssa said.

  “So we are expected tomorrow? Does that mean we shall be sleeping at the inn tonight?” I asked.

  Lady Evelyn shook her head. “We will stop by the guild to pick up your letters. But don’t read them until you retire for the night. Then we will head to the castle. No reason to make the king wait.”

  I figured that was what she was going to say. Anxiety crept into my heart, but I did my best to just smile. Smiling was the shield I been taught to raise when I was afraid. It didn’t make me feel better, but it was better than nothing. She wasn’t kidding either; she didn’t even have the carriage park. She simply jumped out and was back in a few minutes later with a bundle of letters for me.

  By the time we reached the castle, the sun was setting. I thought perhaps that would mean I could retire tonight and meet the king the next day. But luck was not on my side. The castle was just as imposing as you’d imagine it to be from a long distance. So tall that even if I had lain down, I don’t think I would have seen it all.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  The halls were big enough that you might think giants had called this place home once. I chuckled. Perhaps they did? I made a note to ask Lady Evelyn about that later. Knights were everywhere as well. Hundreds of them, if not thousands. Yeah, given that Alyssa, as an inexperienced knight, could still kill five wolves by herself with ease. I could see the power this king held, and it frightened me.

  “Here it is,” Lady Evelyn said. “Just past these doors.”

  The knight raised his hand. “Just Lady Julia. The king has asked that you wait outside.”

  Wait! What? Alone! But I can’t!

  Lady Evelyn’s jaw twitched; it was subtle, but I could tell she wasn’t happy by that much alone. She placed the three-platinum-grade bottle of red wine in my hand. “Just don’t freakout, I believe in you.”

  Just breathe. Just breathe. Keep my face still and breathe; that is better than making a mistake. I accepted the bottle and turned. The knight opened the door, and I walked inside alone. I expected a wall of knights, but no. This room was huge, with flags draped from the ceiling. Lady Evelyn told me that these were flags of countries with which Anlage had positive relations.

  The king was so far away. He sat in a chair up a few stairs; I suppose the point of this space was simply to show how big the area was. You could probably fit ten thousand people in this room as it was. Next to the king was one knight, his helmet off and flowing brown hair just past his shoulders. On the otherside- what the hell was that!

  It was short! Like a child, but its skin was pink, and it had sharp teeth. The clothes it wore gave the impression it was a female. Right. Don’t freak out, don’t freak out! I took a breath.

  I gave the absolute best curtsy of my life. “I am ever so pleased to meet you, Your Majesty King Rosen Paul Anlage. I have brought you a gift. Three-platinum grade red wine from the vault in Traube.”

  I lowered myself to one knee while waiting for his response. At first, a smile. “Arnold, if you will. Lady Julia, you may rise.”

  I stood up and handed the bottle to the knight Arnold, who then took it back to the king. He looked it over.

  “This is a good year,” the king said, smiling. “First introductions, the man to my right is the Royal Knight Commander Arnold Beladone. And don’t let her size fool you, the lady to my left is a pink goblin ambassador, Tessa El’ber. They are both aware of your status as our Maiden of Wind. You may speak freely among them.”

  “I am ever so pleased to meet you both,” I said with another curtsy.

  The king stood up and gestured to a table over by the wayside with four chairs and sat down with the bottle. The table already had four glasses and a bottle of wine on ice, but he seemed more interested in the one I brought. He handed it to Arnold, who poured the glasses.

  “A toast,” the king said.

  We all clinked our glasses, though Tessa had to lean forward a bit. I took the first sip, since I brought the wine, which was only fair. It was really only to prove I wasn’t planning to poison him. I didn’t want to drink more than a glass. The massive headache from last time was more than enough for me to never again want to drink so much.

  “Is there something you wanted to discuss, your majesty?” I asked.

  “Hmm. It is clear to all that my Platinum Angel had one more miracle to perform. What a miracle as well. If I were to ask something, then let it be this. Be honest. Do you want to perform your duties?” he asked.

  “Of course, your majesty,” I said with my head down. I saw no value in mentioning my remorse about this situation.

  He chuckled. “Explain it to me. How does the village girl I met through the water mirror change that much? Do you truly expect me to believe you wouldn’t run home if it were an option? Do not lie to me.”

  “Of course I would run home,” I said. I had no choice. I couldn’t defend the idea of changing in a way I hadn’t. But I didn’t need to. “But as you said, that was if it were an option, which it isn’t. Given what options I do have. Playing my role, stopping another woman from becoming the Wind Maiden, and seeking to end the conflict to which I was chosen. Those are the best things I can hope for. To that end, I would rather your support, if I can gain it.”

  “That is a good answer,” he said.

  “I have a question,” Tessa said. “Why is stopping another woman from being chosen on your list? We in the goblin race consider being a Maiden a great honor. Yet, we are seldom chosen. Wishing to keep your role, I would understand, but you don’t wish others to be honored?”

  Perhaps had I been born somewhere else, then what she says would apply to me. “I don’t know what to say. I am who I am, and I feel how I feel. If my thoughts are strange, then so be it. I did not ask to be a Maiden. Luft chose me.; if that makes me strange, then it means Luft chose someone strange.”

  Tessa rubbed her chin. “I thank you for such a detailed response.”

  “Your Majesty, so may I ask what happens next?” I asked.

  He nodded as he signaled for Arnold to pour another glass. “Yes. So, we shall have your debut at the end of the week as intended. Before then, we will get you a better-quality dress. Also, I will be adding Tessa and Arnold to your retinue. After which, you can begin looking for your husband. Rest assured, you have more than met my expectations.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief. I wanted to try, but clenched my legs and face to hold it back. My family was safe. I did it! I really did it. Wait, Tessa is joining me?

  “I beg your pardon, but could you explain why Tessa is joining me?” I asked.

  “It was my request, actually,” Tessa said. “You could think of me as something of a historian. I record information to send to my homeland. Anlage was the subject of my research. But a Wind Maiden is far more interesting. Lady Julia, the Maiden of Wind, chosen by the God of Wind, Luft; I swear I shall serve you to the best of my ability. I seek only that my body be returned to the goblin homeland in the event of my death.”

  What! No one prepared me for this!